Ted Kinsey

Continuing with last month’s format, the first member to show and talk about their work was the very experienced Charlie Milligan, whose photography mainly falls into the area of reportage and social documentary. The first series Charlie showed us was taken in 1993, of coal miners at work, and he was able to spend two hours on each of two consecutive days underground by submitting a simple request. We noted that it would be impossible to gain access so easily these days. This project was recently brought up to date when Charlie traced and contacted all the subjects in his photographs to find out what they were doing now. He also showed us some individual images, and explained he will generally match a film/developer combination and single camera from his collection to a particular project before he begins.

Tim Butcher, in contrast (pun intended), was kind enough to show us the results of his first ever session in a darkroom, which he had finished assembling just ten days prior. It’s fair to say Tim was experiencing much of the frustration the more experienced members went through under similar circumstances, this was borne out by nods of agreement around the group as each piece of advice was offered, especially on getting the best possible negative to work with before the printing stage.

Finally, Ted Kinsey revealed he had spent the last 13 years ‘sending his film away’ to be processed before starting the Film & Darkroom Group, but has now moved to self-processing. He showed us selections from three projects, each of which culminated in an exhibition. The first drew from Ted’s graphic design background, with carefully framed juxtapositions of models and specific architectural locations. The second set were photographed in Paris and showed glass shopping arcades. The third project centred around some of the lesser known London railway arches and the uses to which they are put. Ted also showed us some individual images and finished up by passing round two of his self-assembled books which were then printed by Blissetts.

Following this, Chiara Contrini showed us a couple of her prints she felt unhappy about, but the group was able to reassure her that they were fine. This did raise the issue of whether anyone is ever 100% happy with their own work, and the value of being able to get feedback from other people.

Three more photographers put themselves forward to show work next time.

The next meeting is on Monday 1st April at 6.30pm. Anyone interested in coming along is asked to contact Ted Kinsey at tedkins@gmail.com

Roberto Arendse