The following letter was left on the club’s ‘Contact Us’ page by Ian Maxwell about a day of talks at Lancaster University by 2 contemporary photographers …       

Ian Maxwell says:

Could I please draw your attention to a day of talks by Martin Parr and John Darwell, under the title ‘Getting Personal’ to be held in Lancaster on 16.10.2010, and ask that you also bring it to the attention of your club members.

This event is organised by the Contemporary Group of the Royal Photographic Society. It brings two very accomplished photographers to the North West, and provides an unusual opportunity for keen photographers in the Region to hear practitioners of the highest standard talk about their art. Both Martin Parr and John Darwell have produced distinctive bodies of work over many years, work that comments on various aspects of our contemporary society. The RPS Contemporary Group is dedicated to using photography as a means of expressing personal views of contemporary life, and this event is organised around the theme of finding and expressing through the medium a personal and distinctive voice. Hence the title: ‘Getting Personal with photography’.

The talks will take place at the Lancaster Campus of the University of Cumbria, on Saturday, 16 October 2010. The ticket price for RPS members is £20, for non-members £25 and for full-time students £15. Full details of the day’s event, including how tickets can be purchased, will be found on the Contemporary Group website – http://www.rpscontemporary.org > events. The LCPU website also contains details, and displays a copy of an A5 advertising flyer that gives publicity to the event. I can supply hard copies of this flyer for distribution to potentially interested photographers if you should want any.

I would be grateful for any help you can give in publicising this event among your membership. There are, at present, plenty of tickets available, but they are selling steadily and this situation may not stay the same for long. An informal photographic competition is also being run as part of the day’s activities, details of which are sent out with tickets, so the sooner people apply for tickets, the more time they have to think about and prepare for the competition.

Please let me know if you should want any further information. Many thanks for your help.

Best regards

Ian Maxwell

You may also wish to take a look at Martin Parr’s website here:  http://www.martinparr.com/index1.html  

and at John Darwell’s site here:  http://www.johndarwell.com/introduction.htm