On February the 9th, Arjun presented on "working in projects and developing a style".
As usual with Arjun it was impeccably researched, full of detail, and thoughtfully presented. There was plenty of debate as we went through the evening with lots of members engaged and offering different viewpoints.
Commencing on working in projects, Arjun showed how some professional photographers had dedicated years to particular projects. This was illustrated with the work of Sebastian Salgado and in particular "Genesis", described as a love letter to the world. The result of an eight-year worldwide survey, Genesis draws together more than 200 black and white photographs of wildlife, landscapes, seascapes, and indigenous peoples. Arjun then went into more realistic projects which he has undertaken. These had come about by design, by serendipity, and by accident. Arjun advised that having a view of the outcome was essential for projects, not just accumulating a series of images and then collating them. A physical output was also beneficial. Arjun had collated, printed, and hand bound a book on one of his projects. One ongoing project currently on hold, is to walk and document the length of the River Tweed. Arjun suggested other examples easily achieved in these days of Covid and this generated lively debate.
On style, there was a lot of debate as to whether a photographer's style really exists or is just a series of similar images in content, tone, exposure et al. There was also debate as to whether pursuing a style was worthwhile, as this may close off other opportunities which present themselves. Trying to ape another photographer's style probably means you will never develop your own. Arjun offered several comments which sum up style in photography, the gist of the most pertinent was " if you find yourself unable to take photographs other than which you absolutely prefer, you've probably developed your own style". Another extremely thought provoking evening. Thanks Arjun.