Black & White - Pure Delight
This was the title of the talk by Alan Angel FRPS on Tuesday 15th September. In a scintillating presentation Alan argued the case for Black and White photography and its ability to emphasize Texture, Grain and Shape. He backed his case up with a variety of stunning images, 20 x16 inch in size with no edging board. Indeed, edging mount boards would likely have been a distraction to the strong images. And strength was the operative word for his first sequence of images showing the bodies of Fitness aficionados and Boxers. Using a home-made black background cloth Alan argued that a minimum amount of light, from one side gave form to the images. He emphasized the value of the triangular or diamond shapes in composition, and with the chin down and the subject looking up; the "canoes" under the eyes gave added effect. In any facial image the eyes have to be perfectly sharp, since the eyes convey the expression.
Alan preferred film to digital since he felt it gave him more latitude and in particular gave him more detail in the shadows. He used FP4 120 sized film in his Hasselblad camera, though he would also use his 35mm film camera
After the tea break Alan showed a variety of Manchester Buildings, pointing out how, for the buildings chosen, the Black and White image produced the effect that he sought. His three passions were the three F's - Fotography, Fitness, and Football and his most recent project was to capture the image of the stars of his favourite team - Manchester City. Here he found a soulmate in Colin Pickles, and they discussed the whereabouts, in the new stadium, of their respective season seats.
Alan now represented Ilford, using only Ilford papers and developers. Colin used to work for Ilford - another bond between them!
Alan kept his audience amused with a variety of anecdotes. His most memorable one related to the time when his car broke down, and although he is a motor mechanic he couldn't fix it. Being near to a Monastery at the time and desperate to get the car fixed he called for assistance from the Monks. The sequence of events which followed is too great to record here, but can be recounted to absentees by any of the audience present! (a tale well worth discovering!)
In his Vote of Thanks Tony Redford commented that he was not a good Black and White photographer. Like Alan, he was keen to visit the Gym, where he found the Double Diamond effect worked wonders. The jokes were good but were outclassed by the quality of the images. He found it easy to propose a vote of thanks to such an entertaining speaker. Alan's strengths were clearly in the Black and White league. Tony was tempted to give Alan hints on the use of Colour, but now that he knew Alan was an official Monk, Tony was forbidden from doing so!!