EPS Wednesday Meetings - Overview

1980s

Photography and Art

During the 1980s, Photography and Art again became a popular subject for lectures, just as it had been a hundred years earlier.

Lectures were given by visitors from Scottish Galleries:

-   Contemporary Scottish Photography [Murray Johnson:  Stills Gallery]

-   The Contemporary Artist and the Camera  [Michael Tooby:  Third Eye Centre]

Other lecturers on Photography and Art included:

Tony Worobiec - a renowned exhibitor from England: formerly a lecturer in Art

Marion Boron - lecturer in Photography from Napier College, Edinburgh.

There was also An Evening with the Holyrood Art Club comparing and contrasting the work of artists and photographers.

The f5.6 Group

In 1989, three EPS members - Peter Bain, Roland Fortuna  and Douglas Mackie presented their work: An Evening with the 5.6 Group. The group's name follows the style of Ansel Adams'  f/64 Group.  

One member on the evening of the lecture suggested, instead, that they had been named after their average mark in the EPS Monthly Competitions!

This evening provoked criticism from some members "Is it art / photography? - I don't understand it", and enthusiasm from others, including Chris Morris wrote to the EPS Bulletin strongly supporting the work of the group.  

Controversy in the EPS Bulletin, is not what the Society had been used to!

RPS Lectures

John Bardsley, a Former President of the Royal Photographic Society gave a lecture entitled:

-  Towards a Distinction  (1985)

Jim McDougall, renowned EPS derivative worker gave two lectures showing how he had  as he worked towards his RPS Distinctions:

-  Third Time Lucky  (ARPS:  1985)

-  Just Six More         (FRPS:  1989). 

Looking Back

Throughout the 1980s, there was a steady stream of respected amateur photographers arriving at EPS to give lectures.  

Many had the theme of "my work and how it has developed over the past  10. 20. 30. or 40 years:

-   Photographic Development [from gaslight to Cibachrome]

-   Evolution of a Club Photographer

-   An Evening of Self Indulgence [a photographer's autobiography]

-   Medical Photography - One Man’s View [illustrated account of 25 years' experience]

It was interesting to see that one of the lectures in 1980 was a series of monochrome pictures taken on cycling tours::

-  Pictures from a Cycle   [Chris Peat]  

This was a reminder an EPS lecture, 111 years earlier, entitled:  

- The Velocipede as an adjunct to Landscape Photography
   [Dr Nicol].

Travel

Travel lectures included North & South America, Africa, the Orient and the Antipodes, as well as journeys closer to home.

Surprisingly, there is more evidence of lectures from England and Wales than Scotland - thanks in part to lecturers who wished to be known as

-  "The Sassenach"       [ Bill Wisden]  and

-  "The Welsh Dragon"  [Margaret Salisbury]

Other Subjects

Other lectures during the 1980s included stereo presentation by Pat Whitehouse:

-   A Presentation with Three Dimensional Slides

-   Three Dimensional Magic  [stereo slides with sound]

and underwater photography, covered by two different speakers:

-    My approach to Underwater Photography  [Gordon Ridley]

-  Underwater and Natural History Photography  [James Mair].

Other topics included the use of cameras in sport, action, archaeology, biology and the detection of crime.

Fewer lectures were given than in previous years on equipment, processing the negative and making the print.  

Do it Yourself

It appeared that a theme from the 1950s - building your own photographic equipment was about to be revived in 1983 with lecture by F L Gandolfi', Hon Member of the RPS, entitled:

-  Constructing Wooden Cameras  [demonstration + exhibits]

Unfortunately, this lecture was cancelled.  I don't know whether or not it was ever rescheduled.