Visiting speaker Neil Hulme, gave a master-class in black and white photography last Friday.
He emphasised simplicity, or in art-speak ‘minimalism’. Setting up a shoot he would often point towards on-coming clouds so that a long time exposure would produce exciting cloud movement.
From original landscape or seascape scenes he removed distractions, reducing the image to key inter-acting elements. The rigid line between water and sky was typically blurred to create a mysterious depth. Often a corner was carefully placed to anchor the image.
Then the final creative touches were added, by which stage a few glasses of red wine could be relied on to help the artistic judgment. The results were compelling and beautiful.