The Image Circle | alan frost photography

The Image Circle Exhibition opens today

A5 Flyer General Invitation (2 sides)

I am very proud to be a member of The Image Circle, a group of six like minded photographers who got together 18 months ago and today our inaugural exhibition opens to the public at The Oxmarket Centre of Arts in Chichester, West Sussex. The exhibition is on until Sunday 19th November.

All the photographers share an interest in the art and craft of outdoor photography and the exhibition will be an opportunity to view a broad cross section of their combined work. Many of the images on show will represent local wildlife and landscapes as well as other areas of Britain.

The photographers themselves have a wealth of experience spanning several decades and including clients such as the RSPB, South Downs National Park Authority as well commissioned articles for the likes of Outdoor Photography magazine. The have also achieved prestigious awards and accreditations.

Many of the images are the result of personal project work, in particular my own body of work – ‘Still by the Water’ – evocative monochrome prints of Chichester Harbour; Sean Lewis’s wildwood and Dorset coastal imagery and John Dominick’s continuing fascination with the heathlands of West Sussex. Gerry Gavigan is widely travelled and this is reflected in his broad vistas of UK landscapes. The wildlife lover is sure to be enthralled by the images from Matthew Gould as well as the creative imagery of Tony Stevens.

If you live nearby I do hope you will be able to come along.

Exciting new challenges in the year ahead – including my first exhibition

There are many reasons why I am looking forward to this year. In early April I have been invited to present an evening talk to my local camera club; something which I have not done before. Later that same month I will be traveling to The RPS Headquarters in Bath with a panel of fifteen images for an assessment in the hope that I will be granted an Associate Distinction of the Royal Photographic Society. And finally towards the end of the year in November, I will be exhibiting my work for the first time.

All of these events come with their own set of challenges and as the year progresses I expect to share my thoughts as I plan and prepare for each one.

Perhaps the most exciting but also the most daunting of the three, is the exhibition, and fortunately I am not alone. There are a total of six photographers who have formed a group called The Image Circle. A WordPress site was published at the end of last year, so do visit that site to find our more about the group and to see the work of the other photographers.

The exhibition is to be held in the main gallery at The Oxmarket Centre of Arts in Chichester, West Sussex, starting on Tuesday 14th November and finishing on Sunday 19th November. The group will be getting together on a regular basis between now and then, as we all have to decide what work to exhibit, how it should be framed and presented, and what can be done to best promote the event as we naturally wish to attract as many visitors as possible.

Although the exhibition is still many months away, I know how quickly the time will pass, so early preparation is key. Perhaps the most important decision for me to make at this stage is what work do I wish to exhibit? Should they be images from my current portfolio or new work which has yet to be taken? Should there be a specific theme? How many pictures do I display and how should the work be framed and hung? Many questions and in my mind some of the answers are becoming a little clearer.

As I write, I have reached a decision to exhibit a new body of work which will be taken in and around Chichester Harbour. It will be my vision, a personal portrait of this rather special Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which is close to where I live. All the photographs will be in monochrome and likely to be square format. The process of making images is already underway and a recent photograph accompanies this post.

Plenty more to consider and do in the weeks and months ahead, but 2017 is certainly a year I am looking forward to with great anticipation.