This Friday at KPS ...

Kingswood Photographic Society is absolutely delighted to welcome Tony Cooper, as their speaker on Friday 6th April, who will be giving a print talk entitled The Spike Island Project.

Tony says:  “I suggested the need for a project which would force us to concentrate; Gordon James suggested Spike Island as a source of photographic images and then we both simultaneously proposed Peter Brisley as our third collaborator. The advantages were immediately apparent.  Ease of access, diversity of subject matter and good pubs.  The social aspect should not be underestimated in any project.  Each of us tested out ideas on the others.  When image fatigue set in the others were there to pull you out of it.  Constructive and objective criticism by friends you trust is essential. Having a laugh over a pie and a pint on a bitterly cold November day is to be cherished and remembered.

Our point of departure was to produce a coherent body of work from which we could produce a 70 image book.  All three of us favour images that are in a series or a panel of work but we did not want to produce a RPS style ‘Documentary Panel’ just those random images which we drew out of or about the Island.  During the course of exploration we stumbled upon the Create Centre and were offered a great exhibition space over an extended period of time.  The RPS HQ picked up on the project and offered us a month to exhibit 30 prints on the walls of their Lobby.  So our collaboration has produced a book that the children might occasionally pull off the shelf and two exhibitions that fed into our egos and our 15 minutes of fame.  We are delighted to share our imagery with our friends in Kingswood.”

It was very much hoped that Gordon would be well enough to join Tony tonight but he sadly passed away last month.  Tonight will be a tribute to Gordon when we will recall his friendship, his positive contributions to KPS and the way he offered support and guidance to others on their photographic journey, especially those involved with pursuing the hope of obtaining the Royal Photographic Society Associate distinction. 
If at all possible, Peter will accompany Tony.

We know that this promises to be an enthralling and special evening so we hope to see you there.

Kingswood PS meet Fridays from 7.30pm to around 9.30pm at St Barnabas Church Hall, Warmley, Bristol BS30 5JJ.  Visitors are most welcome and the cost for this evening is £3.00.