Interview 20
Photography News Issue 45 absolutephoto.com
Exeter Camera Club’s Dance & Movement Group set out on a mission to capture the beauty of motion. Find out all about the project here, and how individual members tackled the theme in different ways... KeepMoving Still If you’re looking for photographic inspiration, there are far better places to look for it than thin air. Ideas and themes can come to you in a flash, but play the long game dedicating yourself to one genre, and it can be far more successful and, ultimately, very fulfilling. Many photographers have Interviewby Kingsley Singleton
multiple projects on the go. It’s a great way of concentrating the mind, and the production of themed work is more coherent in your portfolio than a random collection of subjects. One of the best projects we’ve seen in a while comes from Exeter Camera Club, and it’s all about capturing dance and movement. The project has spawned a collection of images that covers a wide range of dance from contemporary, ballet, Indian, tango, and flamenco. Exeter CC, like many clubs, has various specialist groups within it, such as Black & White and Visual Art cadres, that meet on a regular basis and set their own agenda. Membership of these groups is open to anyone in the club, but as John Sanders, former club president told us, “they tend to be populated by the more ‘active’ photographers who have a specific photographic interest.” The interest in forming a dance and movement group “arose froma danceworkshop formembers organised by myself and held at David Snowden’s studio in Tedburn St Mary in November 2015.” The Dance & Movement Group The Dance & Movement Group comprises five photographers, each with a distinction from the Royal Photographic Society: John Sanders ARPS, Di Wilkins LRPS, Alan Bastin LRPS, Miranda Wood LRPS and David Snowden LRPS. You can see images from each of them here, and read their individual thoughts on the project over the following pages. But let’s go back to the genesis of the project for a moment. The group first met in early 2016, so what was the driving intention? “It was to help one another to develop our skills and knowledge in this particular collective interest, and explore the many different ways to capture and express movement in the still photograph,” says John. “There was an emphasis on dance and performance as we already had links with artists in this particular field. The dance world has a relatively close network and we were able to tap into this initially through contact with the dance specialists at Exeter
wasn’t the end of the story. The exhibition
College and Plymouth University.” Collaboration was a key aspect, it seems, both between the photographers involved, and the performers, but photographers shot solo, too: “Di Wilkins and Miranda Wood did a ballet shoot together in London whilst Di with Alan Bastin had a day’s shoot in Bristol based on Latin American dance.” Of course, as with any project, things didn’t always run smoothly: “Two early morning starts on Exmouth beach were frustrated by bad weather, and we have yet to complete those, but when it comes to inside shoots we are very fortunate in that David owns a professional studio just on
the outskirts of Exeter.” Meeting the challenge
Great images deserve a public airing, and during discussion between Exeter CC’s Di Wilkins and the Arts Officer at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital, it was suggested that an exhibition of the Dance & Movement group’s work be held at the hospital in summer 2017. The Royal Devon & Exeter, which like many hospitals has a proud tradition of exhibiting local artists’ work, will be running the exhibition until 31 August. Organising an exhibition comes with its ownchallenges andrewards, as John describes. “Picking images
To keep focus and support each other along the way, the Dance & Movement group met (and continue tomeet) every sixweeks or so, “using those sessions to review our images collectively and to plan shoots,” says John. “We found that each of us has something specific to offer the group, in terms of knowledge or experience and individual skills.” By mid 2016 the group had a large collection of images, so decided that they should have their own website. Di and Miranda set about building it and you can find it at danceandmovement.co.uk. But that
The dance world has a relatively close network and we were able to tap into this
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