Outdoor Exhibition in Edinburgh & Beyond
Howard Klein
Having loved hills for many years, I am naturally drawn to landscape photography. I really do feel at home in North-West Scotland, but am often on the more local Sussex coast.
I joined the RPS after retirement, then gained my Licentiate during Covid. It seemed natural to take on this Landscape Group exhibition having worked in the trade-show industry (albeit different); although the exhibition would not be possible without the help of some of the RPS members who volunteered.
The Landscape Group of the RPS have launched an outdoor exhibition across several cities for 2022. Having just opened in Edinburgh and running until 18th June, the event will move next to York, then south and finally moving towards London in the autumn. We chose an outdoor exhibition to show the genre to a wider audience, including passers-by, and to give a standard “look & feel” as the event moves around the UK.
This is a first time exhibition by the group to show members’ work, with images chosen on a Selection Day back in February. The 61 images have been printed onto vinyl and onto 22 high-quality, weather-resistant boards; local RPS members have very kindly volunteered to support each location. We are pleased with how the first event looks, 2 runs totalling 25 metres at opposite corners of St. Andrew Square, by the major tram stop. The York location is also central, on the riverside in front of York Museum Gardens
- · 22nd May to 18th June St Andrew Square in central Edinburgh.
- · 26th June to 10th July Dame Judi Dench Walk, York (*on the Riverside adjacent to Museum Gardens.)
Further locations and dates for the exhibition as we move south will be announced in due course.
More details are here: https://rps.org/Landscape-EXPO22/
Here are four images, with a few comments from the photographers.
Church in the Sea, by Rolf Kraehenbuehl ARPS
I consider myself fortunate to live near the North Wales Coast, with many stunning locations. Living near these places allows repeat visits throughout the different seasons and at various times of the day. St. Cwyfan's Church, often also called "Church in the Sea", is a small, lovely chapel off the west coast of Anglesey. Before the pandemic, it was still used three times a year for service.
The chapel is accessible by foot only, via a tidal causeway. The church is often photographed when completely surrounded by the sea, or with the causeway partially submerged and with the still visible tops of the rocks along the causeway serving as a leading line towards the chapel. Looking for a different composition and viewing angle - away from the main tripod holes - it took me many visits at different heights of the tide, and a good deal of crouching and crawling on the beach, to finally spot this small rock formation, which I've chosen as the foreground, to create an image which is hopefully a bit different.
Loch Tay Island, by Janet Lowe LRPS
I took this photograph from the shores of Loch Tay in the town of Kenmore in Perthshire. The mountain in the distance is Ben Lawers, one of Scotland’s highest mountains. I waited for the evening light to be reflected in the loch and chose an exposure that captured the lovely stillness of the scene. I am delighted to see my image included in this exhibition. The RPS Landscape Group organises many interesting projects and motivates me to continue to develop my practice as a landscape photographer. I hope the photographs inspire members of the public to see the world in new ways.
Contemplation, by Ingrid Popplewell
This is an image of an iconic lighthouse at Burnham on Sea on the north Somerset coast. But rather than being about the lighthouse it is about the mood conveyed by the little structure seemingly contemplating its vast, and on this occasion, calm and peaceful, seascape. This image is only possible at certain times of the year when there is a particularly high tide which coincides with the sunset.
Reach for the Sky, by Alastair Purcell LRPS
The photo was taken at Win Green Hill, the highest point on Cranborne Chase in Wiltshire, where there is a copse of beech trees. The copse lends itself to a fisheye lens shot, for which I had to lie on my back and shoot vertically up, producing a converging picture of tree trunks and branches, giving the impression of veins in a human body. It was shot with a high ISO giving a fast shutter speed to minimise movement due to wind on that cold January day.
Notes on RPS Landscape Group
The RPS, current patron HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, was founded in 1853 to promote the art and science of photography. Today, the RPS mission is to bring inspiration, creativity and connection through photography to people of all ages and backgrounds.
The Landscape Group is one of the biggest of the 16 special interest groups within the RPS. It exists to promote landscape photography in all forms with a very broad definition of landscape ranging from urban, though industrial to classical.
The RPS Landscape Group has over 1,000 members, producing a wide range of images across the genre. This multi-city exhibition of members’ work is the first to be held by the group. For further details, contact: Howard Klein.