Joe Sheridan

Joe Sheridan 


This evening (12th March) we welcomed Joe Sheridan F.D.A, BA (Hons), A.R.P.S and his wife Susan to Cramlington CC.

Joe, a professional photographer from Washington is a keen advocate of all genres of photography and was here to give a talk entitled ‘How I See Photography’.

Joe had something a little different for us this evening as his presentation consisted of 9 short slideshows with music, each proceeded with a short introduction by Joe as to the reasoning behind each slideshow.

His first slideshow was an extremely thought provoking and powerful set of images taken on a visit to Auschwitz. In fact so thought provoking that at the end of the evening the assembled members requested that Joe replay it. The accompanying soundtrack ensured the maximum desired impact on a location that Joe thinks should be visited by all.

A commission by the Tyne Theatre followed when Joe was asked to record images of all the victorian aspects of the theatre including decor, architecture and engineering.  The theatre still has old wooden pulleys, ropes and block and tackle to assist in scenery and curtain movement.  The images Joe captured are available to view as framed prints in an exhibition held within the Tyne Theatre itself.

Another slideshow of note was one entitled ‘The Ragged Victorians’ a reenactment group based in Bristol who visited our own Beamish Museum. As the title suggests this group, including children adopt the ‘ragged’ clothing of the very poor and destitute of the Victorian era.  Arriving early before the crowds Joe had time to engage with the actors and capture some stunning images.  The images were further  enhanced by the post editing undertaken by Joe resulting in the finished sepia toned images looking like they could have been taken on a glass plate camera over 100 years ago.

Joe has also published some children’s story books and one slideshow entitled ‘The Little People Save The Day’, using little Duplo figures, telling the story of how these little figures came to life to make a sandwich for a little boy shows how it is sometimes good to think ’outside the box’. Permission for the use of the figures in a publication was sort from the manufacturers of Duplo and given.

At the end of his presentation Joe stayed to answer questions from the assembled members who then showed their appreciation in the usual way.

Joe provided the members with a very entertaining evening for which we offer our thanks.

Bob Finlay (President)