Scottish Landscape Photography - John Lamont 12 October 18.00 for 18.30

SCOTTISH LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

The Scottish landscape offers photographers and artists a rich variety of subjects.  So the talk by John Lamont on Scottish landscape photography was eagerly anticipated by Club members.  And they were not disappointed.

Reflecting on his reasons for developing an enthusiasm for photography, John talked about his memories as a child where cameras were an important part of family life.  He remembered that even at an early age he was encouraged to pick up a camera and experiment with it.  His early photographs were taken on film, with all the pleasurable anticipation of the prints returning from processing, and some inevitable disappointments when the results didn’t quite match up to expectation.  As time went on, he progressed to developing and printing his own photographs; that, too, had its joys and frustrations.

Having qualified as an engineer, John’s involvement with cameras continued, as he experimented with early digital cameras that opened up possibilities of improved ways of communicating the details of various manufacturing processes.  Some years later, John took the decision to devote more time to photography – a decision he has not regretted.

John then questioned what constitutes a landscape: does it include buildings, whether in the background or foreground?  What about the presence of people?  Do they influence the way a landscape is perceived? Can a landscape include close-ups of elements within the landscape of, for example, a particularly visually attractive stone taken in close-up? So, there is a range of choices to be made when taking a photograph in terms of the viewpoint selected, the time of day chosen, the influence of the weather and so on. In turn, the photographer’s choices will influence how the resulting photograph will be perceived by the viewer, not only as a result of whatever choice has been made, but following the editing of the resulting image using specialized computer software – the modern equivalent of the techniques used in the darkroom in earlier days

John then showed a sequence of his photographs ranging across a range of landscapes, accompanied by an evocative music track.  The appreciation by members of these telling images was obvious. 

Recently, John has been displaying his photographs as prints. That, he indicated, has allowed his photographs to be seen in a different light to being shown on a screen. He was particularly pleased at the response to his prints in the recent local ArtBeat initiative.

John’s most recent foray has been to Harris and Lewis, which offers particularly rewarding opportunities as a result of the wonderful combinations of landscape and light.  To illustrate this, John showed a selection of his photographs in both black and white and colour, a telling confirmation of the attraction of the subject matter and of John’s skill.

John answered a number of questions, explaining how various aspects of his craft were applied, and urging members to give young people encouragement to develop their skills.  Speaker’s Host, Nick Rawlings, thanked John for his talk, and for the range of images that had so delighted members.