Friends of the Gallery

First Photography Exhibition.

Introduction.

This exhibition is of friends' photographs, friends from far and wide: friends from the UK, from New Zealand and a few other places in between.

I gave a broad spec for submitting photographs to be in the show, under headings of 'People', displayed in Room 1, and 'Scapes' displayed in Room 2. This call for photos has resulted in images from 14 different countries from around our planet, taking in Fiji and going the long way round to New Zealand.

My thanks to all the contributors to the show and I hope you enjoy their collective effort.

Contributors

Christiane

Christiane Merz-Trinques.

Christiane is presently working with Voluntary Service Overseas, a global development NGO that promotes social inclusion and fights poverty through professional volunteers.

Frank

Frank Cartwright.

Frank was born in Milton on the South Island of New Zealand in 1934, of Lancashire parents, and raised in Dunedin. In 1959 he married June and they raised two kids before moving to Christchurch in 1975 where they lived for 18 years before finally moving north to beautiful Blenheim. Frank's career was mainly in the field of sales & marketing holding middle management roles. He's an avid fly fisher, fishing articles writer, compulsive do-it-your-selfer, camera-clicker, piano player and Merlot wine aficionado. Retirement in 1993 gave him the freedom to expand these and other hobbies. His current aspiration is to live as long as possible.

John

John Larsen.

Born in Queensland Australia in 1941, John says he is not a photography nut, but has developed a lifelong interest in places and cultures. Introduction to photography began some 60 years ago aged 12 with a Kodak Box Brownie operating with black and white film rolls, which is still in his possession. As a teenager, John upgraded to an easy to operate, point and shoot Mini Brownie, a simple Bakelite camera, which was easier to carry and produced smaller B&W prints.

John graduated to a manual 35mm SLR with two telephoto lenses in around 1980 when he took the family on their first international holiday to the UK. John enjoyed the freedom of having full control over the shots, and spent hours sorting through his growing collection of colour slides and a times holding slide nights. Tired of carting around his "camera bag", John downsized to a much smaller shoot and point print camera (pre digital) until he bought his first digital camera in China in 2003. Now he operates a Panasonic still digital with inbuilt telephoto.

Richard

Richard Lomax.

Richard is an ex-motorcyclist and retired lawyer living in London.

Margie

Margie Agaled.

Not a photographer. Just a person who admires the different shades of beauty and many facets of life through pictures. Sometimes she easily forgets to take photos because she's busy admiring and aaahh-ing and ooohhhh-ing. But such is life to someone who likes engaging in the moment!

Marvin

Marvin Couldwell.

Received his first camera at the age of 8 from a father who was deeply into Kodachrome. Joined the school photography club at 11 which involved learning how to develop and print black and white as well as how to make the chemicals to do the job. Gave it all up for ten years and then bought a real SLR and did weddings and stuff for a few years. Bored with carrying around 600mm lenses and tripods and having concluded that aspirations to emulate David Bailey were not to be; managed to sell all the 35mm SLR kit just before digital killed the 35mm SLR market. Moved on to a pocket digital camera and is now content.

Rayso

Raysolyn Natividad

M.R.Natividad, (Rayso, Marlyn, or Lyn for short), is a maverick lady who hails from a small town in the exotic province of Zamboanga del Sur in the Philippines. She took the road less-travelled in her quest for professional, academic, and personal development and found life-changing adventures, priceless friends, and unforgettable memories along the way.

Richard

Richard Grant.

Richard retired in 2009 after a long career in various research and policy posts in the Scottish Government. Although he likes to think of himself as a renaissance man, or at least a child of the Scottish Enlightenment, he has never really learnt to take decent photographs and allowances need to be made. He has been an enthusiastic cyclist and runner for over 30 years as it is important to know how to keep warm in his part of the world. Recently he has had to drop running and has taken up swimming as a replacement to protect his ageing limbs. He is also addicted to modern fiction and recommends the novels of David Lodge for an insight into alma mater and the recently deceased and much missed Iain Banks for contemporary Scottish literature at its best. A self professed honorary Scot he hopes that he will not have to become an asylum seeker after the forthcoming independence referendum but, for the meantime, recommends Edinburgh as one of the most civilised cities in the world.

Wilfredo

Wilfredo Mercado.

An engineer turned development advocate, Wil is back home in the Philippines doing consultancy service on rural development, while awaiting the next chance to explore more places. He likes taking pictures of ordinary things in life that capture his sentiments.

Robert

Robert Cheesman.

Rob is an architect who established his own practice, Cheesman Architects based in Adelaide, in 1986. Rob is also an Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide and as a 'Malaysia My Second Home'er (MM2H), he makes frequent trips to Penang.