My first Blipmeet

What a great day. Thank you whoever organised it (Rose??) - it was lovely to put names to faces, or at least faces to obscure Blip names. I'm sorry I had to dash off, but I didn't want to be stranded by any snow (not that it looks very wintery right now).

The exhibition was fascinating. My favourite quote was from Moholy-Nagy;

"The enemy of photography is convention, the fixed rules, 'how to do'. The salvation of photography comes from the experiment."

Hear, hear. The more time I spend online, the more I find myself unconsciously taking photos similar to everything else. From time to time I think we need to try something radically different. Don't know what yet, but stay tuned.

I loved seeing how techniques we think of as new were being done at the real cutting edge, back in the 1930s: overlaying textures, long exposure light painting, and extreme perspectives. Imagine how it must have been, with truly radical advances in technology opening up new photography opportunities every 5 years. I think the most radical thing to happen in my lifetime was the drone. Even digital didn't really change the fact we're just recording light in 2 dimensions - it just made it cheaper and quicker.

The photograph which reached out most to me through time was Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother. Such a privilege to see the original. But my favourite was Ansel Adams' church. What a genius composition. Take the two tiny white gravestones out and it becomes just another photo of a clapboard church. Including them finishes the image.

Well I made my 4 o'clock train, I'm envious of you all enjoying your cup of tea, but I should make it home OK.

(The other highlight of the day was witnessing a spectacle new to me - the expert and patient herding of Blippers.)