1st June 2021
Mike O'Connor - F8 and Be There
We had another engaging club night on Tuesday - called "F8 and Be There (Arthur Felling: "Down and Dirty street photography” sic) “ presented by Mike O’Connor all the way from Calgary North West Canada. The title underlies the subject of the presentation which was a trip around the Bucket List World but chosen for photographic opportunities. Mike's list seems endless as he takes us through the world - Namibia, Burma, Greenland, Falklands, to mention only a few I might just as well list the countries on an Atlas.
As an introduction Mike explained Style in terms of technical preferences, geographic choices, social interactions and subject matter. I thought this was a good way of explaining it as trying to describe what style is I always find difficult.
I found many of Mike's images to have interesting perspectives - his angles and his immersion into the photographs themselves generated some striking images which have been, using Mikes words “processed for feeling”. He shoots for pleasure and gives unusual perspectives, showing the lesser known aspects of a country. I love his perspective of the London Eye which showed a different angle entirely. Interestingly - in some of his images he does not show the environment and those images are as a result very "art like”. Keeping with this theme Mike likes to ignore the rules of photography being guided more by what he feels about the image - so for example figures walking out of the frame become more desirable than walking into the frame because of what the figure might be leaving in its wake.
Relationships are his favourite theme - but the genre is stretched - examples are man and religion, man and signs , work - and you end up seeing relationships in everything it's just a matter of highlighting them. It is a refreshing way of seeing. Basically interaction is his passion and Mike really likes to "get up close and personal” to his subjects….. but not before establishing some relationship with them first. Some of these incidents are humorous as his persistence pays off in the end! There was an example of a woman who eventually just couldn’t help smile for him after she had resisted doggedly for some time!
Some classic “travel” topics were covered like the Calgary Stampede and Camargue Horses: and he also showed an image of the Cassowary (a bird which is nearly extinct I believe and only lives in Australia - lucky Mike)
A big hit with us all were Mikes images of Gorillas in Uganda - he and his wife trekked to find them and some of the images were so intimate we all felt the connections. Some very precious moments were shared with us.
One of my favourites was of a little boy from a tribe in Uganda (I think it was the Bantu tribe) - 3 portrait images taken at different stages revealed the little boy softening towards Mike and the camera. They were not shown as a triptych but I remember them as such.
Mike also shared some tips about how to get the best out of a guide: in a nutshell the guide needs to be a good photographer with local connections who can speak the local language. This was demonstrated by the good positions Mike and his party were found at the Pongal Festival and Jallikattu Bull Festivals on India. With good guide connections they were allowed into monasteries in Bhutan which are otherwise inaccessible for tourists. Another example which required precise timing as well was a visit to the Timkat festival (Ethiopian epiphany) at Lalibela on Christmas Eve.
Mikes basic message was "Embrace your adventures - communicate and be curious" But don't forget the timing - both light and action.
Thank you Mike for a terrific evening.
Mike O'Connor - F8 and Be There
We had another engaging club night on Tuesday - called "F8 and Be There (Arthur Felling: "Down and Dirty street photography” sic) “ presented by Mike O’Connor all the way from Calgary North West Canada. The title underlies the subject of the presentation which was a trip around the Bucket List World but chosen for photographic opportunities. Mike's list seems endless as he takes us through the world - Namibia, Burma, Greenland, Falklands, to mention only a few I might just as well list the countries on an Atlas.
As an introduction Mike explained Style in terms of technical preferences, geographic choices, social interactions and subject matter. I thought this was a good way of explaining it as trying to describe what style is I always find difficult.
I found many of Mike's images to have interesting perspectives - his angles and his immersion into the photographs themselves generated some striking images which have been, using Mikes words “processed for feeling”. He shoots for pleasure and gives unusual perspectives, showing the lesser known aspects of a country. I love his perspective of the London Eye which showed a different angle entirely. Interestingly - in some of his images he does not show the environment and those images are as a result very "art like”. Keeping with this theme Mike likes to ignore the rules of photography being guided more by what he feels about the image - so for example figures walking out of the frame become more desirable than walking into the frame because of what the figure might be leaving in its wake.
Relationships are his favourite theme - but the genre is stretched - examples are man and religion, man and signs , work - and you end up seeing relationships in everything it's just a matter of highlighting them. It is a refreshing way of seeing. Basically interaction is his passion and Mike really likes to "get up close and personal” to his subjects….. but not before establishing some relationship with them first. Some of these incidents are humorous as his persistence pays off in the end! There was an example of a woman who eventually just couldn’t help smile for him after she had resisted doggedly for some time!
Some classic “travel” topics were covered like the Calgary Stampede and Camargue Horses: and he also showed an image of the Cassowary (a bird which is nearly extinct I believe and only lives in Australia - lucky Mike)
A big hit with us all were Mikes images of Gorillas in Uganda - he and his wife trekked to find them and some of the images were so intimate we all felt the connections. Some very precious moments were shared with us.
One of my favourites was of a little boy from a tribe in Uganda (I think it was the Bantu tribe) - 3 portrait images taken at different stages revealed the little boy softening towards Mike and the camera. They were not shown as a triptych but I remember them as such.
Mike also shared some tips about how to get the best out of a guide: in a nutshell the guide needs to be a good photographer with local connections who can speak the local language. This was demonstrated by the good positions Mike and his party were found at the Pongal Festival and Jallikattu Bull Festivals on India. With good guide connections they were allowed into monasteries in Bhutan which are otherwise inaccessible for tourists. Another example which required precise timing as well was a visit to the Timkat festival (Ethiopian epiphany) at Lalibela on Christmas Eve.
Mikes basic message was "Embrace your adventures - communicate and be curious" But don't forget the timing - both light and action.
Thank you Mike for a terrific evening.