People and Places
Colin Trow-Poole FRPS FIPS MPAGB

For most of the session Colin, who is strong advocate for printing, showed us panels of work before talking in detail about each photograph in the panel. Colin explained how he composes his pictures using a “hierarchy of interest” and how he breaks with conventions such as the rule of thirds and is happy placing people on the edge of the frame, or even partially outside it. Colin said that he is thinking of how he will draw the viewer’s attention to the point of interest while taking the picture. This may be through the use of tones, contrast, saturation and depth of field depending on the subject and whether he is working in mono, which he does most of the time, or colour.

Colin’s panels included people in galleries, abandoned boats, architecture, travellers, portraits and street life but most memorable was his panel from Oradore Sur Glane. This village in France was the site where over 640 people were massacred in June 1944 by Nazi troops before they burnt the village to the ground. Colin’s use of infra-red to record the ruined buildings, vehicles, a pram and other everyday objects added an additional quality to the emotional impact of these images.

After sharing his stunning images with us and showering us with useful hints and ideas, Colin answered questions form the audience to complete one of the most stimulating Zoom meetings we have had.

Phil Whiffing