The Journal met with the Chair and members of Norton-Radtock Photographic Society last week to discuss all things photography.

The club, affiliated to the Western Counties Photographic Federation, was formed in 1974 by Albie Seymour. His daughter, Margot, became Chair in the late 90s when he was no longer able to attend. Margot is now honorary President and her husband, Mike, who was the long-standing Secretary until two years ago, will receive honorary membership at the upcoming AGM.

Meeting weekly at the Midsomer Norton Social Club, the group are hoping to get more people from the community involved and share their love of photography.

Club member, Jill, said: “We would love to see new faces, and for younger people to get involved.

Jenny Short, club Chair, added: “We have always had guest speakers, even as a small club, but we are struggling to make ends meet, with some of our older members becoming too ill to attend.

“We currently have around eighteen regular members, which is great as we rely on people coming to our meetings to keep us going and enable us to get the incredible speakers that we do.”

In June, when the weekly meetings end for summer, the group visit local places in the evenings to explore and photograph the environments. An annual three day trip in August, usually to cities, sees the group photographing their findings at the sites they visit ular. Our group is a great place to learn and be inspired by the other members.”

Geoff, recent winner of Photo of the Year, joined the group in 2002 after leaving the Bath Photographic Society where he ran competitions. He said: “I used to carry my father’s box camera around, I suppose that is how I became interested in photography, but I had a particular interest in colour photography and develop- ing in the darkroom. I worked in film but when digital photography took off, I sold my film camera to a college student. I knew some of the Norton- Radstock members so I joined this group as it was nearer to home and because it has an audio-visual club within it, something that I am interested in.”

A regular feature of the club has been to hold exhibitions of their work, and to discuss it with one another. They currently hold an annual exhibition, which is held in the Methodist Centre in Midsomer Norton. Jenny said: “We have always involved the local community in our exhibitions and do not charge them to come and see our work. I personally find the joy of it all is seeing the photographs in physical prints. It is nice for people to have something right on their doorstop, and for club members to see people reacting to their work.”

“To expand our memberships, and involve the public more, we are looking at opening up our guest speaker talks to the public, and other photography groups, so that everybody

can enjoy them.

“We also want to run local guided walks and workshops for those who have a camera and want to learn how to use it in a fun environment.”

“We are currently awaiting results from Radstock’s £1,000 grant-scheme, as we want to be able to accommodate more people and get others involved and loving photography again.”

The club are hoping to move to the Midsomer Norton Town Hall for a more central meeting place, so that everyone in the community is able to find and access the room.

To find out more about the group, visit: https://www.nrps.org.uk. For more information on joining the club, contact: [email protected]