Presidents Introduction 2010

As your new president I offer a warm welcome to all at Durham Photographic Society at the start of our 2010 programme. Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in our membership and we ended 2009 with more than 100 members, the highest recorded for well over 30 years.Now we have so much going on at Durham Photographic Society in addition to our weekly meetings and I want to encourage all members to take part in at least some of these other activities to enjoy the full potential of their photography.They include exhibitions where our work can be seen by the general public, on-line forums and photographic expeditions to locations and events offering picture opportunities.And in the wider photographic world the Northern Counties Photographic Federation organises annual print and projected image competitions with the winning entries being shown at camera clubs throughout the Northern Region.Our DPS website will keep everyone up to date on coming events but here I want to outline a brief idea of some things we do.

Exhibitions: The society’s main exhibition is held every summer in Durham Cathedral and is open to submissions from all members as we want to give the broadest view possible of our work. Each spring for the past few years we have been given exhibition space for a month at Durham University’s Botanic Gardens café and this year once again our prints will be shown there. The plan is for 50 prints to be shown; just one each from 50 members.

Smaller exhibitions are also regularly held in libraries in the Durham area while Durham’s main library, Clayport, encourages our members to show selections of pictures depicting themes.

Projects: A series of projects is up and running in which members visit selected locations for days of photography and then later they meet to view and discuss the prints. In addition groups of members photograph and exhibit pictures from Durham Miners Gala and the International Festival of Brass. Less formal gatherings have met for photo days at the Baltic and Sage and at the Goths Festival in Whitby and the 1940s re-enactment at Pickering. And there are so many other great opportunities to take superb photographs. 

Portfolios: The Society website is now host to several photo portfolios, including one devoted to black and white photography. Small groups of members upload their pictures for fellow group members to view and pass comment. There is scope for more of these groups to be set up so why not get together with some of your closest photographic friends in the society to create more such portfolios. Talk to any committee member to see how you go about becoming involved.

In conclusion let me wish everyone a successful photographic year in 2010 and hope the results of all your photographic efforts will give you much enjoyment and enhance the society’s reputation in the wider community.

David.