FEEDBACK from members on our most recent Zoom gathering indicates just how much they appreciated the presentation given by Pamela Bruce-Lockhart, writes Jenny Short.

It was certainly a very different evening in which she revealed, through her selection of images, past and present, her intriguing family history, as well as her current passion for somewhat abstract mono street photography. This, together with a compelling, humorous, often self-deprecating, but always lively, narrative, was a great recipe for success, and had us glued to our screens.

As a child in the 1950s, Pamela was whisked away from her home farm in Hereford, to Australia with two siblings, her mother and a small selection of livestock, by an adventurous and enigmatic father, hoping for a better life for his family.

Travelling by boat with a bull, eight cows, two calves a couple of tractors and, of course, two dogs, their journey to Sydney took seven weeks and four days, but they finally settled inland some miles to the north.

Pamela, the most adaptable and adventurous of the family, settled well (apart from at school) embracing the “feast or famine” farming existence. On a promise of having “as many animals as you want”, she took her father at his word, collecting dogs and wild pigs along the way.

How she left that life and returned to England was a story for another day, but we are glad she did, and that she also shared with us her growing collection of outstanding, abstract, mono images that are gaining her a great deal of local recognition. Her memories were warm and engaging, and it was an evening that will be hard to follow.

Next week Simon Carder will try, with his presentation that features winter wildlife in Japan, and we will ensure that our Triptych entries reach Jill Toman by midnight on November 6.