Minutes, October 11, 2017

[Gwen McDonald]

Minutes

SSI Photography Club

October 11, 2017

 

Wendy Rosier chaired the meeting.

 

No new members this month

 

Current shows:

     Several Photo club members are represented in SSNAP and the Parallel Show, both of     

     which continue until October 22

     Sylvia Beech will show at Country Grocer in November

     Members are reminded of our upcoming lobby show at Artspring in January

 

Opportunity: Julian Paquette, manager of the Salt Spring Forum, is looking for a photographer to cover SS Forum events. The photographer would receive a free ticket to each event with the possibility of an honorarium in addition. If interested, please check the Forum website and e-mail Julian

 

Next month’s speaker: Pierre Mineau; topic TBD

 

December meeting: Election of officers; Holiday party. Wendy reminds us that she will not continue as president.

 

Program: Greg Klassen had been invited to be our speaker for tonight. Given his untimely death this week, along with the deaths of 5 other members of our club this year (Maurice Oates, Bob Davidson, Linda Roth, Rachel Page, and Bob Rogers), it was decided to devote the program portion of our meeting to a tribute to our lost members, highlighting the ways in which their photography has inspired us. Doug MacMillin noted that over the past 67 months, these 6 members cumulatively submitted 233 images to our slide shows, with 194 of these from Bob Rogers and Bob Davidson alone.

 

The unique photographic interests and styles of each of these members were highlighted by pairing their images with photos that had been inspired by them. Participants in the pairings included Anna, Avril, Chris, Elehna, and Wendy. 

 

Bob Davidson:  his love for family and nature spoke through all his photography and he left a legacy in the photo books he created.  His images include many memorable photos of our marine environment as seen from the viewpoint of the kayaker he was. He loved the textured surfaces found in nature. He was always generous in his willingness to meet with members to discuss and help with all things photographic

 

Bob Rogers: was known for his passionate adherence to “a photo a day”; he loved photographing all things Salt Spring Island, especially seaplane landings, water reflections, often  from government docks,  images of Ganges, night photography,  Artspring, his beloved cats, and stunning photographs of flowers, often with a perfectly focused resident bee. He was a denizen of the Salt Spring Inn and is equally missed by their staff. 

 

Greg Klassen: a former member of the club, believed that photos should be “made”, not “taken”. He was a “conceptual photographer” known for his large scale, detailed and complex photographic projects, each exploring some aspect of personality, identity, self, and belonging. They were not easy to interpret, challenging us to dig below the surface of both the image and ourselves to understand the messages therein. Three recent works leave a legacy of his intellect and creativity:  the Banner project that was installed only a few days before his death, the series of Canada 150 talks held at Artspring over the summer, and the urban landscape mosaic currently showing in the Parallel show at Artspring. For those he enjoyed being with he was generous with his time, ideas, and critique, helping Avril, for example, settle on the perfect name for her “Conversations with Thomas” series. He led a series of Sunday talks in which several members of the club participated. He held strong views on issues such at the need for permission to show recognizable images of individuals, and shared these readily.

 

Linda Roth: Also a painter, she loved photographing flowers and people, occasionally using post-processing to create outstanding effects in her gentle images.  She made some memorable photographs of many of the old farm buildings on SSI.

 

Maurice Oates, with his background as a psychiatrist and enthnobiologist, and his concerns regarding the legal struggles of First Nations people, focused on images of plants and the northern landscapes he knew so well from his time near the Yukon border.

 

Rachael Page: was a bit of a renegade, tough, independent, and a free thinker spilling over with creativity and the joy of life. Also a painter, she loved color and quirky subjects. She enjoyed photographing flowers and early morning sunrises. She enjoyed using the techniques available in post processing, including negative reversals and the kaleidoscope filter to create highly creative images; she was also one of the first in the club to experiment with the technique of layering, and was generous with her time in sharing these techniques with other members.  

 

Next month’s slideshow topic: Inspired by.... (person, place, thing,  etc)

 

Next meeting: Wednesday November 8^th, 2017

 

Minutes respectfully submitted by Gwen McDonald, co-secretary. 

[timothy gibbon]

thank you, Gwen. these were weighty matters.

[Avril Kirby]

Nicely done, Gwen. One addendum--next month's speaker will be Seth Berkowitz instead of Pierre, who has kindly stepped aside until February. Seth will talk about portraiture and an idea that has come up involving both Photosynthesis and the club.