Give a highly sophisticated and devilishly expensive SLR to Steve Gosling and, as usual, he will take brilliant photographs with it. Give him a £100 simple pinhole camera and he will make magic with it!

Professional photographer, Steve has been a member of the Society for many years, hence some cheeky banter from fellow members! Calling his lecture ‘Lensless Landscapes’ the pinhole camera launched him straight into his element, taking images of his first love, the landscape; even better for Steve, whose style is one of interpretation rather than the more obvious approach of representation .

Gosling is a ‘free spirit’ and the ‘pinhole’ allows him to experiment with a simple, if perhaps naïve, minimalism. All his pictures convey mood, whether from volatile weather or changing seasons, dictating the quality of light.

The majority have been taken with Ilford Pan F monochrome film at 50ASA and have a ‘sepia’ feel to them, disguising any telltale clutter and rendering themselves ‘timeless’. Borders were fragmented in the vignetting that occurred on pictures taken with a slow shutter speed, bringing in an air of nostalgia, we found warm and comforting, drawing us in.

With just the one small camera, lightweight tripod and handheld light meter and no extra lenses or gadgets to carry, this was physically liberating for the author as well as his having the freedom of ‘speech’ in his ideology, choice of subject, its interpretation and connotation. His photographs were taken all over the North, both sides of the Pennines from Spurn Point to Scarborough and Preston to the Lake District.

Not surprisingly, Steve has found commercial success in photo libraries and has been placed and published in various magazine competitions. The Saltbox Gallery in Helmsley are giving him an exhibition in April 2008. The ‘lovable maverick’ suggested we ‘break the rules, enjoy the unpredictable results and what is more, have fun!’ (Is he on some kind of commission, or what!?!)

Kay Aldcroft LRPS

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