John Griff

I’ve had a passion for photography since my early teens and long before the advent of the digital age. With my cheap SLR and a weekend, I would use both taking pictures and then wrestling with a changing bag to get the film developed and into an enlarger.

Back then I had a love affair with Paterson tanks and boxes of 5” x 7” photographic paper - I recall one of my teachers telling me to use film and paper as much as possible because they were the cheapest parts of the process, but maybe he simply had shares in Kodak!

With the dawn of the digital photographic age - and improvements in the quality of mobile phone cameras - we all have an opportunity to produce really first rate results - and I’m delighted that that has made photography more accessible, as well as appreciated. With iPhones now offering 12 megapixel clarity, a suite of 3 separate lenses and on board editing, the creative emphasis is on being able to ‘see’ a picture before taking it - which is the very essence of the art.

The picture you see here came from a mobile phone. On holiday in Spain I’d noticed children throwing birdseed into the air, drawing huge numbers of doves down to feed. I went and stood in the middle of the square where the doves were landing, waited for the next feeding frenzy - and snapped. A few adjustments with contrast, sharpening and rendering the picture into monochrome, and the picture was complete.

I’ve been delighted - and challenged - by the quality of the work you see at this exhibition here today. My congratulations to all who submitted pictures for consideration and to those whose work is on display. If you’re an exhibition visitor this time, maybe you’ll be an exhibited artist next time... #challenge.