Picture: Copyright Justin Fielder, courtesy Temple Island Collection Ltd
Photographers who compose a picture in a similar way to an existing image risk copyright infringement, lawyers have warned following the first court ruling of its kind. Read the article in Amateur Photographer - click on link.
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The film crew
Only four minutes of fame for a morning’s work will certainly be well worth it, as we have had the most amazingly interesting and enjoyable experience filming around Liverpool with John Sergeant on October 2nd!
John Sergeant is to present Britain’s First Photo Album a 10×30-minute series on the extraordinary achievement of Francis Frith, the pioneer Victorian photographer who embarked upon a colossal project to photograph as much of the United Kingdom as possible during the second half of the 19th century.
Photo L to R - Tony Myers FRPS, Ted Baker FRPS, John Riley ARPS, Martin Reece MBE ARPS. Waiting for the crew to arrive and wondering what the day had in store for us.
Top: John Riley chatting to John Seargent Bottom: Tony behind the lens, not wanting to miss one moment.
Frith was a founding member of the Liverpool Photographic Association in 1853, so acknowledging the local connection, former presidents of the South Liverpool Photographic Society were invited to critique a selection of Frith’s images of Liverpool and to discuss how the association has developed.
From L2R, Colin Thwaite, Martin Reece, Irene Drummond, Ted Baker and John Sergeant
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Checking the Photos
We had certainly not anticipated a photo challenge and were sent out in the rain with an open brief and only 15 minutes to get there and back with a picture ready to print!
Anxiously uploading our images – no editing allowed! John chose the best image BUT if YOU want to find out who won, then you will have to wait until next spring and watch “Britain’s First Photo Album”!
Martin was thanked for all his efforts, for time spent with the producer beforehand and for bringing along such an interesting (though uruly at times) group of members of the South Liverpool Photographic Society.
Martin Reece and John Sergeant
Each programme will feature two locations, so this Liverpool shoot will get about 5 minutes at most….if we are lucky.
John Riley ARPS, Ted Baker FRPS, Tony Myers FRPS. Irene Drummond (Publicity), and Colin Thwaite.
Reg Coleman FRPS
1920 – 2010
Reg was first a member of The Liverpool Amateur Photographic Association until he joined the relatively new South Liverpool Photographic Society where he remained as a Life Member for some 55 years. In addition Reg became a member of Heswall Photographic Society which made it easier for him travelling in later years from his Wirral home.
It was as a member of SLPS that Reg helped to pioneer home colour processing and as a consequence he was partly responsible for establishing the name and success of South Liverpool Photographic Society in producing quality competition images. During this time Reg became one of the first Royal Photographic Society members to attain his Fellowship distinction in home printed colour images. He also served for a short period of time on the Executive of Lancashire & Cheshire Photographic Alliance.
Reg was an avid photographer who had used all of the best cameras available at the time but he always returned to his beloved Agfa Super Isolette which he would always have with him, this camera delivered many great images for him. In his photography he was a master of recording images with pictorial lighting, communicating to the viewer mood and atmosphere. In addition he was renowned for the quality of his Contre Jour images. That said Reg would not pass up the opportunity of capturing humorous images. When showing his many humorous images he would chuckle and smile like a naughty schoolboy as if embarrassed at capturing the moment, there was never the need for a title as his photographs would communicate the humour to the audience who would instantly laugh.
Reg was an established National level Judge and was always happy to help and mentor new and up and coming photographers, he assisted numerous members of the South in attaining distinctions with The Royal Photographic Society.
He was a brilliant photographer a pioneer darkroom worker and a true gentlemen who always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. He will be sadly missed by his wife Lilian and her family and everyone who had the pleasure to know him; however his spirit will live on in his photographic work and this will hopefully bring enjoyment to audiences old and new in the future.
RIP
Martin Reece MBE ARPS
President SLPS.
BY JOHN DWYER
My interest in photography first surfaced at around the age of five. My father was a cinema operator at the Princess Cinema in Kirkdale. There I was allowed into the projection room where I could see how it all worked. Film fascinated me. As time went by, my father changed jobs and became a bus driver, but my interest in cinema and the visual image never changed. Photography was expensive in those days and the only camera I could aspire to was a box Brownie, which was given to me by an uncle when I was 14 years old. I also became a cinema operator at that age so that I was able to indulge in my passion for film and the wonders of moving pictures projected onto a big screen.
By the time I was 15, I was working as an invoice carrier in the British Enka Silk works (which is now a large outlet alongside Aintree Racecourse). My camera by this time was a larger box camera, which used 118 format – eight exposures on a roll, with a negative size that was almost as big as a quarter plate.
By this time I was processing my own films and enlarging them (courtesy of the firm’s darkroom, which they furnished for their workers’ pleasure). I didn’t have a developing tank so would develop the films by holding both ends in the dark and running one end to the other through a bath of developer (following the same process immediately after with the fix).
I joined the Royal Navy when I was 17 and a half, and after the initial six months training aboard HMS King George V in Portland Harbour, I was assigned to a Destroyer HMS Wizard (which came to Liverpool twice) where I started my photography in earnest. Small ships in those days didn’t carry an official photographer, so I quickly realized that there was an opening for a budding young cameraman. Seizing the opportunity, I asked to speak to the captain for permission to be the ship’s official photographer. My wish was granted.
Moving on from there, my next ship was a cruiser, HMS Bermuda, which did carry a photographer and had a wonderful darkroom. We were on our way to Cape Town via Malta, and were not destined to see England again for two and a half years.
In Malta during trials I visited a photography shop, and there my eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the site of the biggest array of cameras I had ever seen. I certainly had never seen the like in the UK. My eyes settled on a Rolleicord (which everyone is by now familiar with). The cost was £55 including leather case. To put this into context, my wages in the Navy at the time were £7 every two weeks (Gulp!). I solved this by buying it “on the drip” (Navy allotment).
I now had a camera that would do all things I wanted from a camera. On the way back to the ship, which was at anchor, I took some photos of the ship with my new purchase. Pretty certain I was getting some cracking pictures, I couldn’t wait to get on board to develop them and see my masterpieces.
It was then that I got the shock of my life – all 12 negatives where grossly overexposed, something I had never experienced before! “What had gone wrong?”, I asked myself. Then came the dawn. I was used to shooting pictures at 25th of a second on practically a pinhole camera. This Rollie was a whole different ball game. I suddenly realized that I knew nothing about taking pictures at all!
Anyway, it didn’t take too long to learn about light and speed, etc. I soon got the hang of things and was making extra money to fund my new camera by taking views of places we visited and selling sets of eight for half a crown. Three other people where doing the same, so I had competition.
During my two and half years in the South Atlantic (stationed at Simons Town) we cruised both coasts of Africa four times, calling at places that most people in the 1950s could only dream about. Unfortunately, my photography was confined to taking places of interest for commercial gain, so I never gave any thought to competitions and didn’t produce any large format prints. It was a bit difficult anyway because the ship was moving about all the time and it was all I could do to keep my enlarger still.
On my last ship, HMS Salisbury, I had quite a few good photo shoots. When we where visiting London, moored in the pool near Tower Bridge, I photographed the then Mayor of London inspecting the ships’ company, and the cast of “Sailor Beware” (Peggy Mount was the star). They all came aboard for cocktails, where I was given carte blanche to wonder among them, changing the film every 12 shots. I was the photographer of the day when we visited Salisbury, to present the ship’s Ensign to Salisbury Cathedral. I could go on forever, but I know space is limited.
I served nine years altogether and saw many wonderful places. I was married with one child by this time and my photography suffered somewhat due to the lack of cash. So on leaving the Navy I was more into bringing up a family, and took pictures mostly of my three boys growing up … until 20 years ago.
I was talking to Anne (nee Farrar) Stanford one day and she suggested I come along to the SLPS, which was held then at Olive Mount Hospital hall. I bought myself a 35 mm camera (Pentax ME Super) and started photography once again using the knowledge I had gained in the Navy. I even set up a dark room, started developing colour, entered competitions, and notched a few small successes. My biggest success was winning the Mersey River Festival Monochrome print category in 2003, and the 200 quid and glass trophy weren’t bad either. Also notable, with my son working as a journalist in East Asia during the 1990s, I had photo essays printed in major English language daily newspapers in Hong Kong and Tokyo to accompany his travel articles.
Today I just battle on with no great ambition and continue to enter some competitions – mostly monthlies. Maybe I will regain some motivation and get cracking again, who knows? Whether it is entering (and hopefully winning) competitions, or just snapping my grandchildren, there will certainly never be a camera far from my reach wherever I go.
My equipment today: I am using a Nikon D70, and all my old lenses from my previous Nikons. I still have my faithful Rollie–it’s a bit battered but I wouldn’t swap it for anything.
Grand Turk at Sunrise
Location: Tony Myers’s House, Anfield
Date: Friday 12th May 2006
Written by Tony Myers FRPS
Andy Logan has been a member of the South Liverpool Photographic Society for two years, a member who attends the club on a very regular basis and enjoys most types of evenings from competition nights to presentations by specialist speakers like Denis Thorpe. He also enjoys evenings with a practical side to them.
Apart from holding down a demanding full-time job, Andy’s main passion is mountaineering which he has enjoyed for many years. It was about ten years ago while on an early mountain climb in the Alps that he tried to capture the sun rising over the mountain peaks on film. Unfortunately, the image didn’t really work out for him; the photograph he’d captured didn’t bear any resemblance to the image he’d seen. It was only after this disappointing result that he started to look at improving his photographic skills.
Alpine Reflections – Andy Logan
Andy decided to enrol on a GCSE evening course in Monochrome Photography at St Helens College. He was fortunate enough to get on a good course with excellent tutors who soon pointed him in the right direction. About twelve months after he’d finished the mono course, he went back to do an advanced City and Guilds Photography course where he developed his colour printing skills. By now, Andy was getting the bug. He purchased a quality Nikon F80 SLR and went off to put all his new found skills into practice.
Faulhorn – Andy Logan
Andy has recently started to enter club competitions and is pleased to be competing alongside some of the best members in the club. He likes the idea of the one league system and is looking forward to the new season. Some of his favourite club nights are when lecturers present an unusual theme on photography, such as Andy Polakowsky and his concept of “ultra banality”. He also enjoys the occasional photo journalistic style presentation.
His favourite style of photography, however, would have to be mountaineering and aerial landscape work and he has been encouraged and inspired over the years by an American landscape photographer named Bradford Washburn. Washburn has specialised in photographing mountain scenes for many years and even images that he took some fifty years ago can still be compared with modern day mountain images. He is also an admirer of Elliot Erwitt who he recently met at an exhibition in Bradford.
Velodrome – Andy Logan
Andy still gets a great buzz from his newly built darkroom although he also has a digital compact camera. His main preferences, however, are still with film and chemical processing; his favourite film being Agfa Scala for mono slide work and Fuji Velvia for his colour work. He would like to broaden his photographic experience with more studio still-life photography and is hoping to extend the existing loft darkroom in the future.
Andy regularly reads the Photography Monthly magazine and manages to get a look at the occasional RPS journal in order to keep up to date. He also has a wonderful taste in Belgian beers which he kindly produced during this pleasant evening working on Chat Lines.
Please send any comments to Tony
Speed Demon – Steve May
Date: Tuesday 4th April 2006
Location: Steve’s Place
Written by Tony Myers FRPS
Steve is one of our busiest photographers in the club and one of the clubs true professionals. When I asked Steve if he was available to do chat lines he was in the middle of preparing for a weekend shoot in London photographing for BMX magazines a typical weekend for a very busy pro.
Ruff Rider – Steve May
Steve joined the South Liverpool Photographic Society ten years ago after talking with Anne Gilmore, following an enquiry about entering the Mersey River Festival competition.
He learnt his basic photojournalistic skills at the Liverpool College way back in 1980, and has pursued that area of photography ever since, but is always ready to have a try at any type of project that may come his way, other than wedding photography!
When he joined the club he got a good buzz talking photography with many like minded members, this always kept him in touch with the latest technology. Steve soon made many friends including the late Wally Free. He made name for himself with his special type of photojournalistic type of photography and over the years has won many of the clubs competitions; as well as being very successful in the Mersey River Festival, which sadly will not be available this year. His favourite photographers are Don McCullen, no surprise, Cartier Bresson, Terence Donovan and Bob Carlos Clarke, (recently deceased).
Geese at Dusk – Steve May
The other main passion Steve has is music, growing up Steve (self taught) played the guitar, became involved in the 70′s band scene and toured the States. He found inspiration from his personal experiences and applied that to writing lyrics…which he still plays around with today. He still has a great passion for live music and uses his stage experience when photographing Rock musicians around the country, including musicians in recording sessions. He recently had to buy a new zoom lens when a fan had jumped onto the the stage and jumped off onto his 300-mm zoom lens causing severe damage, fortunately the camera survived but the lens didn’t. Steve has always been a Nikon user and uses the D 2 X camera body.
Portrait subjects interest him most with confidence and respect he always asks permission before taking any portrait and would not impose himself on any suitable subjects. Steve quotes:
“When I look through my camera into the eyes of a portrait subject I’m looking into their soul, their life I feel I’m invading their privacy and their past and future and is a very powerful thing.”
Eva – Steve May
Philomeina – Steve May
He has a lot of admiration for many of the clubs fellow members including Ted Baker FRPS and some of the many up and coming photographers including Frank Rooney and Patricia Prentice ARPS.
His main Photographic ambition, is to have to work less hours, this would then give him the time to start up his photo library. He would also like to get into the sale of famous signatures, images and memorabilia of famous people he has taken pictures of over the years. He has built up a fantastic collection ranging from Paul McCartney, Neil Young and Clint Eastwood to name but a few.
He certainly enjoys the challenge of difficult and sometimes dangerous photography including action in Northern Ireland over the past years, and working with all classes of people in many difficult and dangerous locations, risking all for the shot.
Steve says that many of the competition judges are out of date fail to miss the point of his images, however there are still a few he has a great deal of respect for including Margaret Salisbury. He feels new digital technology is fine, but he says: “Its easy to become a technophobe snapper, if people don’t learn all the basic skills of photography, they are really missing out on the great art of photography.”
Shapes in the Rain – Steve May
Please send any comments to Tony
Terminus – Reg Coleman
Date: Tuesday 28th Feburary 2006
Location: Reg Coleman’s house, Neston, Wirral
Written by Tony Myers FRPS
When talking to other SLPS members at the club, it had often been suggested that we include Reg Coleman FRPS in one of our Chat Lines interviews. As a life member of the South Liverpool Photographic Society, Reg is a highly respected photographer and an excellent candidate to join our list of members in the Chat Line Interviews. It brought back to me memories of some of the truly legendary members that we have had in the SLPS over the past 50 years, and Reg is certainly high on that list.
When I arrived slightly late for lunch with Reg and his wife, Lillian, he was out on the front drive of his home eagerly awaiting my arrival and he greeted with a very hearty welcome. Although now 85 years old, he is still just as passionate about his photography as ever and we soon got into photography mode.
He was very keen to know how the club was progressing and how many of the old members were still regularly attending.
Scrubbing the steps – Reg Coleman
Since I contacted him the week before, he had been sorting through his hundreds, probably thousands, of prints to find his own personal favourites. We set about looking through as much of his work as possible, an oeuvre spanning over 55 years, and he was happy for me to photograph a selection and put them onto a CD so that SLPS members could all get the pleasure of seeing his work at a later date.
Keep to the path – Reg Coleman
Apart from taking pictures he has been a very active judge both at regional and national level and was always willing to critique any members’ work. He particularly enjoyed judging and had a great eye for detail, especially the subtle use of red in an image. He has used very many types of cameras over the years including the Leica, Linhhof, and Hasselblad, but one of his real favourites has been the Agfa Super Isalette, which was a superb camera for Contra Jour imaging.
Returning – Reg Coleman
Winter Gale – Reg Coleman
Reg has also had many photographic successes over the years at both national and international level, including a competition organised by Hasselblad. The prize included a visit to Sweden and the factory where the cameras are built.
Reg gained his Fellowship with the Royal Photographic Society in 1955, and participated in many RPS workshops where he was able to apply his skills for putting panels of prints together. He was always willing to assist any members with panelling their images.
He now has a digital darkroom and has moved over to digital printing, however, I think he was probably much happier working with wet printing and the analogue system he had perfected for many years to produce his excellent quality prints.
Reg was never happier than when he was critiquing and much preferred to judge work on the hoof. He was often called to judge at international level where he would gain great insight and experience through looking at the many images taken at the international competitions and he was able to pass on that experience at club level.
Peeping tom – Reg Coleman
When I asked him who his favourite photographers were he said that there was never really one photographer–he just enjoyed looking at any good quality images. He did mention, however, that he had met Patrick Lichfield and the great Ansel Adams, and it is easy to see in some of Reg’s photographs that he has obviously been influenced by Adams’ landscape work.
Sadly, our meeting came to an end after a very interesting three hours. I felt so privileged to be given the opportunity to look briefly inside the world of this extraordinary photographer, judge and lecturer.
Vanity – Reg Coleman
Please send any comments to Tony
Cathedral – Pam Clarke
Date: Monday 30th January 2006
Location: Pam Clarke’s house
Writen by Tony Myers FRPS
Pam has enjoyed taking photographs for as long a she can remember, having been encouraged by her father, David Clarke, who was a keen photographer himself.
During the eighties Pam studied O Level and A Level photography at Hugh Baird College, and attended numerous photography workshops run by Derek Massey and John McDonald at the Open Eye.
Her first SLR camera was a Nikon FE which she bought with her first proper pay packet in 1983, and which was stolen 15 years later in a house burglary. Its replacement is a Bronica SQB – a manual, medium-format camera, with 120 and 35mm backs. Pam also uses a Gossen Lunasix 3 light meter and a Sunpack flash unit. She carries these in Lowepro bags. She also has a Manfrotto tripod.
She has had her own darkroom since 1984. She shoots most of her monochrome work on Ilford Delta Pro 100 and prints the negatives on Ilford multigrade (usually resin-coated) papers. Her colour work is produced on Fuji transparency film (Sensia 100 and Astia 100).
Pam’s primary passion is monochrome portraiture (using available light). She is currently working on a number of assignments for friends and acquaintances, and is ‘progressing’ from people to poodles and ponies. Her favourite photographers include Dorothea Lange, Edward Steichen and Edward Weston.
Daughter – Pam Clarke
Man with bars – Pam Clarke
Pam first joined South Liverpool Photographic Society (SLPS) in 1987, having been introduced to the club by former member David Rawcliffe. Her involvement in the club was re-kindled in the late nineties when she moved from Wallasey Amateur Photographic Society (another friendly club where she learnt a great deal). Before long Pam was playing an active part in the SLPS, serving on the committee and regularly entering competitions.
Baby in bath – Pam Clarke
Pam Clark with trophy
The proportion of female members has steadily risen. (When Pam rejoined the club there were only two!) Pam would like to see an increase in the diversity of the membership, reflecting South Liverpool’s community in respect of gender, ethnicity, age, culture and identity. She values the club for the opportunity to: learn more about photographic techniques; obtain critical feedback on her work; and meet other people who are passionate about photography.
Please send any comments to Tony
Night Blitz – Frank Rooney
Date: Friday 2nd December 2005
Location: Frank Rooney’s house
Written by Tony Myers FRPS
During my telephone discussion with Frank Rooney inviting him to be our second Chat Lines guest, I felt that it was very clear that Frank, although only having been a member of SLPS for less than one year, was a person extremely passionate about his photography. Frank is also a member who in such a short time has come on in great strides to produce some excellent images.
Frank kindly invited me to his house and it was a pleasure to meet his wife Rithu and family. Frank and I quickly got talking about our shared passion of taking photographs however it wasn’t too long before Frank was asking all the questions in his usual enthusiastic manner.
Runcorn Bridge – Frank Rooney
Frank’s interest in photography first started when he was eleven years old and on holiday in the Isle of Skye in Scotland where he was fortunate to spot a Golden Eagle. That experience inspired him to buy a book on nature photography.
Midnight Blue – Frank Rooney
Some years later, in 1985, he purchased his first camera, a very sturdy Minolta 300 SLR. However, the camera got put away in the drawer for a few more years and it was only after a serious illness that he started photographing again. After coming through the illness he realised that he’d got the yearning to do all the things you wish you could do some day.
San Marco – Frank Rooney
Frank decided to join a camera club and after surfing the web he located the South Liverpool Photographic Society and decided to give it a try. He purchased a Casio 6 megs camera and decided to get into the digital world of Photoshop photography. He didn’t really know what to expect from the camera club but decided to make the monthly competition night his first night. He was amazed at the level of photography and was truly inspired by the photographs and by the people who had taken the images. After experiencing the friendliness of the SLPS members, he decided to join the club’s photography trip to Venice from which he was able to use all his new found skills to shoot some very high quality images which can be seen in his portfolio.
Masts at Sunset – Frank Rooney
Frank names Robert Capa, the famous war photographer, as one of his favourite photographers particularly for the passion, character and feeling that Capa managed to get into his war images. Frank himself would like to develop the portrait side of his photography and is presently working hard in converting his loft into a studio area. He particularly enjoys listening to members’ lecture nights and feels that the club should exploit the photographic skills and knowledge of the existing members.
Twighlight on the Lake – Frank Rooney
Finally, I would say that for someone who has only been a member for less than 12 months, Frank is a good example of what camera clubs are all about. This is shown by the general high quality of Frank’s photography which saw him win his first monthly competition in November last year.
Please send any comments to Tony
Banjo man
SLPS MEMBER SINCE 1955
Location: Joe’s House, Aigburth, Liverpool
Date: Sunday 16th October, 2.30 p.m. 2005
Written by Tony Myers FRPS
Joe was delighted to be the first SLPS member to be interviewed for the new SLPS website with a chat about his 50 years as a member of the camera club. I thought Chat Lines would be a good way for members to get to know a little more about club life over the years and its fellow photographers in a little more detail, and Jane our new web manager agreed to give it a try.
I set off to meet with Joe with just few preconceived ideas and to let the conversation unroll in old fashioned chat style, something I really enjoy doing. Joe started by telling me about how tough it had been being an amateur photographer and coming from a family of 14 including three sets of twins. Luckily, he was able to earn enough money as a can lad on the building sites to buy himself his first camera, an Agfa Super Isalet, which cost him a hard earned £25.00 and is still a very well respected camera today renowned for its high lens quality and suitability for contra jour photography, something Joe enjoys immensely.
Jam Session
Being a very enthusiastic member of the SLPS, Joe quickly got involved with committee work taking on many tasks from organising exhibitions to selling raffle tickets, and he soon became the friendly face who was always there to greet you. He also had an uncanny way of making the visiting judge or lecturer feel at ease by throwing out the odd comical comment which always made the evenings go with a swing.
Festival Band
The highlight for Joe came after 46 years as a member when he was awarded the South Liverpool Photographic Society Life Membership Award for his distinguished services to the club, an evening he says he will never forget. When it comes to taking photographs he is just as happy being out with his medium-format camera taking architectural photographs as he is recording big events in Sefton Park using his 35mm Nikon film cameras. As a traditionalist, Joe hasn’t moved over to digital as he prefers to use all the tricks he has learnt over the past years rather than learn all the new digital ones.
Pavement Artist
Joe feels that as the size of the club is growing it should reintroduce a two-tier competition system to encourage new members to enter all competitions. Joe thinks that this would give the beginners an easier chance to develop and show off their photographic skills. Joe believes the club is going from strength to strength probably due to it getting onto the digital stage in the very start of digital photography. He says he enjoys the summer syllabus, especially lectures from the clubs members as this is unique to the SLPS and he would like to see the ideas expanded.
Joe has now outgrown many of his old favourite club friends for various reasons but will always remember fine photographs from skilled SLPS members such as Reg Coleman FRPS, John Riley ARPS, Len Brecknell, Wally Free, and the late Peter Kay, Alec Balmer, and Bill Connell. He also enjoys the work of present members such as Steve May and Eric Garnett ARPS.
Albert Dock
Joe’s own claim to fame came after coming high up in the top of a National GPO Photographic competition with fellow member Len Brecknell and narrowly missing out on the big money prizes. After 50 years as a member of the SLPS he is still as passionate about his photography as he was the day he bought his first camera and believes that the standards of photography are higher today than they have ever been.
Joe and I could have discussed club life and photography all afternoon but I was already one hour late in leaving this very contented member.
Please send any comments to Tony
