The Isle of Man Photographic Society this week enjoyed an open prints competition, the second of our regular open competitions in our season just started (‘open’ in the sense that any subject matter is permitted rather than being a specified assignment topic).
Our judge was Eddie Fryer, a regular and very popular judge from the Western society, who can always be trusted to give a comprehensive and well considered assessment of our efforts – and with a disappointingly small entry of just under 40 images, Eddie was able to take full advantage of the time available to give a very full and constructive commentary on each image.
Thomas Carr won the standard mono section with a river-side image of rocks and rushing water, whilst Jonathan Carey took the colour section with a quite stunning image of an alleyway filled with windows, washing, TV aerials and air conditioning units – a jumble of distracting items but executed with real aplomb and to a very high quality.
Barry Murphy’s portrait of an elderly man won him the intermediate mono section, the image handled with sympathy but loaded with character and with all the signs of age and experience, whilst a strong close-up shot of an Iberian Wolf earnt Richard Shafto a first place in the Intermediate Colour section.
In the advanced section, Bob Servante topped the list with a lovely image of a sheep shearer hard at work, the fleece falling around his ankles whilst the next sheep waiting its turn could be seen over the fence.
In the advanced colour section , a subdued and understated image of an american great blue heron with its catch in beak gave Chris Blyth a first place and perhaps surprisingly, the award of “best image on the night”.
Our president, Tony Curtis, gave Eddie a well-earned vote of thanks, pointing out that for the first time in many weeks, all sections had been won by male competitors – but perhaps a situation unlikely to be repeated anytime soon!
Our next meeting on November 30 will include a presentation from well-travelled and well-known local photographer, Phil Kneen – sure to be a stimulating and interesting experience.
IOMPS meetings are held at Thie Ellyn (the Art Society building) in Withington Road, starting at 7:30pm. Meetings are open to the public - non-members with a charge of £1 - and all will be given a very warm welcome.
Full programme details are available on the website www.iomps.com.
Results - Standard Group. Mono Prints – Thomas Carr (1), Jonathan Carey (2). Colour Prints – Jonathan Carey (1), Thomas Carr (2). Intermediate Group. Mono Prints - Barry Murphy (1 & 5), Joy Brodie (2), Richard Shafto (3), Sue Leeming (4 & 6). Colour Prints – Richard Shafto (1), Joy Brodie (2), Sue Leeming (3 & 5), Barry Murphy (4 & 6). Advanced Group. Mono Prints – Bob Servante (1 & 5), Ron Shimmin (2 & 4), Chris Blyth (3). Colour Prints – Chris Blyth (1 & 3), Bob Servante (2 & 4), Janet Servante (5 & C), Ron Shimmin (6) Best Image in Competition – Chris Blyth with “ American Great Blue Heron”
Chris Blyth