Join the club
This monochrome-focused, informal group has an admin-free ethos
When was the club founded?
November 2017.
What does your club offer to new members?
We offer a welcome to an informal group who enjoy conversations about monochrome photography, encourage each others’ projects and develop a wider appreciation of the eld. All members can have their photos in our quarterly zine published through Blurb.
Describe a typical club meeting
If the group had a mission statement it might be ’Turning up with a few images and a pint in hand’. In normal times we are fortunate to meet in the separate Barn at the New Inn, with the bar just across the courtyard. Before the break each member who has brought prints puts them on the print stand for discussion. During the break we look at books which have been brought along, followed by the projection of members’ digital images in the second half.
Do you invite guest speakers?
No, having guest speakers would challenge the ‘admin free’ ethos of the group and alter its dynamics.
What is special about the group?
Most of the members are also members of other camera clubs so the group’s activities are entirely complementary. There’s no need for a formal organisation, subscriptions, administration or competitions.
The discussion format means that we can
follow along and encourage each other’s projects. And we learn a lot – some of it unexpected. It’s been an eye-opener, for example, to look at the results of one member’s access to an antique shop with an amazing collection of props, including a medical skeleton, a butcher’s block and a sewing machine, to which Barry Barker added an umbrella. For this photo in the sequence he was inspired by a couple of popular expressions from André Breton’s surrealist group: ‘The Exquisite Cadaver will drink the new wine’ and ‘As handsome as the chance encounter on a dissecting table of a sewing machine and an umbrella.’
Do members compete in regional or national competitions?
Some members compete through their clubs but we don’t normally enter as a group. Though see below.
How many members do you have?
15
Are any residential trips or outings planned?
So far we have restricted our activities to the Barn meetings, not least because members have other opportunities through their clubs. Visits to exhibitions will be on the agenda after the lockdown.
Do you have any funny stories about the club?
Though competitions are not a priority for the group, in 2019 we did enter a Welsh inter-club mono print competition, competing with 44 other clubs. Not deterred by nishing in 45th place, we were ready for a return in 2020. The competition was run with projected images and streamed online. We packed our entry with FRPS and ARPS distinction holders and were suitably rewarded with a leap to 23rd place. That was out of 24 entering and we did feel a bit sorry for the one club which nished below us.
What are the club’s goals for the future?
When lockdown ends we look forward to resuming our programme of meetings, sharing ‘real’ prints and extending our zine publications. We are also hoping to nd a regular exhibition venue.