04-12-25 'My photographic journey'

​One of our longest standing and best attending members, Adam Burness, presented My Photographic Journey to the group on 4th December. Adam had never before made a presentation to a group but said that he was keen to explain his passion for photography to the group and had spent a good deal of time preparing his talk.
 
Adam stated that his interest in photography had been inspired from the age of about 5 by a colour photograph which had been taken by his mother, probably in the 1960s. He showed the photograph which featured the old YMCA building in Newcastle and a number of trolley buses which were operated for 31 years between 1935 and October 1966. 
 
He went on to showcase some of his images from around Newcastle. These included the inside of churches. Over the years Adam has taken many photographs around the city of buildings and structures being demolished and in the different stages of construction. These provide a fairly unique history of the city since the 1990s and include the building or restoration of the Sage/Glasshouse, the Baltic and the Millennium Bridge. Adam had visited the development of the Millennium Bridge so often that he had got to know the workmen involved. He had been given the opportunity to walk across the bridge before the official opening but had declined the offer because he wanted to wait until it was open to the public. 
 
Adam also likes to take photographs of music gigs, and he has had some success with these in competitions. He had also been invited to hen parties where he had taken on the fun role as "official photographer".
 
Adam is attracted to sepia photographs and has converted a number of his shots to sepia or, sometimes, black and white.
 
In addition to his talk, Adam exhibited 5 Nikon cameras which he owns and explained that he has 6 lenses, including a 600m lens which he had used to take a close-up photograph of Earl Grey at the top of his monument. Prior to using Nikon equipment, Adam had owned Olympus and Canon cameras.
 
Adam also exhibited some of his favourite prints from amongst his photographic collection. These included a large print of the Red Arrows and another print of 12 arches along walkway of the Tyne Bridge. 
 
The members appreciated Adam's talk which helped us to better understand his motivation and approach to photography.
 
Ray Barnes
CCC Programme Secretary