Sunny 16 Photographic Exhibitions

Carl Abrams

I have been a Tunbridge Wells resident for 20 years, and am married with a family. I am also chairman of Bedgebury Forest Cycle Club. I have been a photographer on and off for the past 30 years, but my most recent venture into digital SLR photography began about one year ago. I particularly enjoy shooting landscapes, and using natural light to 'paint' the scene.

Jon Bolland

I am a local photographer who lives and works in the Tunbridge Wells area. After initially dabbling in photography as a hobby 25 years ago, I have rekindled my interest in all types of picture taking over the past few years. I enjoy the opportunities that the digital age gives a photographer –in terms of both the opportunity to experiment and the fantastic community spirit between photographers through picture sharing sites like Flickr.

My inspirations are many - local and (more) well known, but I especially like the “strobist” lighting techniques of David Hobby and the reportage photography of Martin Parr.

Dan Clinch

am a Chemistry teacher at a local grammar. I try to shoot the unusual and unexpected - minimal landscapes, people and unusual scenes around Kent and London, and have recently been bringing things together into a number of projects. I am interested in capturing and celebrating people's enjoyment despite discomfort; development despite nature.

I was recently chosen from over 2500 entries as the 25+ winner of the Taste for Life competition run by Magnum and Tanqueray for one of my photos and was covered in national and local press and radio. I am looking to exhibit locally later this year or next year.

Simon Courcha

Photography became my main hobby seven years ago when my interest was piqued by the possibilities offered by digital and the web. In particular, the ability to share and access images of lives and environments with fellow photographers - regardless of distance or location.

My main interest is photography of place - particularly coasts, estuaries, industrial and built environments. The images in the Sunny 16 exhibition were all taken where people, land and water meet.

James Galpin

am a 38 year-old, father of three and partner in local Kent architecture firm Hazle McCormack Young.

I love macro, portrait and landscape photography and, perhaps not surprisingly, have a special relationship with architectural imagery. I love the fact that up until the point when the buildings are complete, they exist only as models in my head. I can spin them, explore them and bisect them in my brain, but once they are built I am at their mercy. I can only photograph them in ways which they will permit. The buildings inherit the upper hand and it's sometimes enlightening for me, to see the buildings in a new light, but often intensely frustrating that I can no longer master them!

My choice of images for the exhibition revolves around the colours that appear after dark, both from artificial lighting in urban contexts and from natural lighting at dawn and dusk.

Mike Houghton

I'm a Tunbridge Wells resident and director of a one-man web development business, who has found photography to be the perfect bridge to the thriving local music scene. Over the past 18 months I have concentrated mostly on gig and event photography, centring on the artists who play at local venues and festivals, with more recent steps into promo photography and portraiture.

Max Kimber

I'm a student at the University of Creative Arts in Canterbury, studying for a BA Hons in Fine Art. I've been passionate about photography for four years now. I am exhibiting large, hand-tinted photos. Hand-tinting is something my mother used to do - my father was a keen amateur photographer… Although her work resulted in each and every flower being coloured red, regardless of type or natural shade - and people's faces being similarly daubed with reddish cheeks...I guess she had a limited palette to work with! Luckily the range of specialist photographic oils available to photographers is much wider now… :) Each of my hand-tinted photographs is a unique work of art, as it is impossible to ever recreate exactly the same shades. The oils I use give my work longevity and light-fastness. This may not be uppermost in a buyer’s mind, butit is important to me. The photographs I'm exhibiting include images of Tunbridge Wells and naturalistic subjects such as pebbly beaches (hard to colour all those pebbles!) and woodland scenes.

Declan Lehané

As an 18 year-old, I'm relatively new to the world of photography. I found myself studying it as I needed a subject to fill the final space in my A level selection at St. Gregory’s. As a subject, it stood out to me for being different and exciting. As I had had little previous experience on the subject, this felt quite a risk and it was a battle to be accepted on the course. But I soon found my niche and quickly fell in love with the subject, both in and out of school.

Like most, I started by shooting film, learning the basic aspects of photography such as aperture, composition and depth of field. But I soon found myself moving to the digital side - and whilst still retaining the skills learned from film, I quickly developed other methods of photography like studio lighting techniques and post processing techniques such as HDR. I photograph a broad range of subjects in contrasting styles. This allows me to find personal strengths and helps me develop my own skills and attitudes towards photography.

Having lived in Hever most of my life, my photography is mainly located in the Kent area. This is one of my main reasons for wanting to exhibit in Sunny 16. I feel that it's important to value your local area... and what better way than through photography? I am currently entering my gap year which is heavily focused on photography and art. From this, I hope to go on and study an art foundation course, eventually leading to pursuing photography at university.

Chris Marwood

It was having kids that prompted me to take up photography as a serious hobby. That was nearly a decade ago - I knew I could save money and accomplish better results than some of the family and lifestyle photographers out there. However, I soon wanted to experiment with different techniques and find more tolerant subjects.

The unusual and the unpredictable feature heavily in my work. I like to capture movement and an interesting quality of light, both natural and artificial.

Gradually, my photography moved from hobby to career and I'm now the photographic director of Torpedo Juice, a full service creative agency in Tunbridge Wells . My art photography is on display in our shop in The Pantiles. I also work commercially in my own studio and on location. Whilst still relishing the weird and wonderful, I'll take on anything from fashion shoots to product shots.

Mark Massey

I'm a 39-year magazine designer living in Essex and working in London. I've only been taking my photography seriously for a couple of years and this is the first time I've ever exhibited anything. As a result of time constraints, I've concentrated a lot of my photography on the everyday things that I come across, and I will be showing some of this work in my exhibition. Composition is the most appealing side of photography to me, and I always work with natural light. I am married with an 18-month old daughter.

My ongoing photoblog is at http://oneway.shutterchance.com/

Barbara Meyer

Photography started for me through my travels to various countries; when I just wanted to show people at home what the landscape and wildlife looks like in other parts of the world. Last year, after spending the majority of my professional life in banking, I took redundancy and herewith the opportunity to move into photography professionally.

Since then I am focusing mainly on wildlife photography and the support of wildlife conservation. Images, I will display at the Sunny 16 Photographic Exhibition, will be around my special subject, Big Cats.

Some of my work has been recently published in the newsletter of the Amur Tiger and Leopard Association (ALTA), and also in the June edition of the Kent Life magazine.

From the proceeds of the exhibition, I will make donations to either the Landmark Foundation in South Africa (from sales of my South African images) or the Wildlife Heritage Foundation (from sales of images, I took of their tigers and leopards). This will be in addition to the share of the proceeds that will be going to a local charity and to the Friends of The Grove.

My ambition is to make a difference, in particular to the endangered big cat species and to assist in establishing the possibility to release these animals back into their natural habitat. In this sense, I am offering also talks on Big Cat Conservation in cooperation with the Wildlife Heritage Foundation. More details can be found on my web page

Andy Newson

I was born in Pembury in 1973 and I’ve lived in this area all my life.

I’m influenced by a great number of people, from photographers such as Alec Soth, Martin Parr & William Eggleston to the people around me, my family, my daughter and even my pets!

I have just shot a series of images to show at 'Sunny 16', they are studio portraits of dogs. Sighthounds, such as greyhounds, lurchers, whippets and salukis. They have such wonderful character and faces, I have wanted to do this project for some time and Sunny 16 seemed liked the perfect excuse.

I'm also currently exhibiting at 'The Big White Wall', to be found in the main library in Tunbridge Wells and this will run from the 3rd July until 31st July 2009. This will feature a range of images from different on-going projects.

I have had work featured in various magazines and websites and was recently commissioned to photograph the CD cover and inlay booklet images for The Benny Andersson Band's new album 'Story Of A Heart.

My goals for the future are to be successful at what I do, to continue working in an art form that I adore with art projects and hopefully build on my wedding and portrait business.

Richard Partridge

have been taking photos for as long as long as I can remember. I never leave the house without at least one camera. For me, photography has changed the way that I see the world around me, be that noticing the overlooked, catching a fleeting moment, appreciating the ephemeral or just spotting the extraordinary in the ordinary.

My interest in poetry (that's reading it not writing it!) has become a significant influence upon my work recently and it's this theme that I shall be exploring in my images for Sunny16.

Annik Pauwels

I was born in Gent, Belgium, but came over to England in 1996 and have been living in Tunbridge Wells ever since.

After having a Graphical Design education, I neglected my photography the first few years, but a few years back I took up photography again and haven't looked back since. I love taking portrait pictures, animals as well as people, but also enjoy taking wedding and motorbike pictures.

I love photography because it makes me feel as if I look through a little window that makes me look at things completely differently and in much more appreciative detail.

For a few more examples of my work, visit my website: www.annikpauwels.co.uk

Toni Rodgers

My passion for photography began during a teenage love affair… today taking pictures IS the love affair. I am particularly interested in capturing ‘moments...’ of joy, of sadness... tranquillity. If I feel my own heart beating a little faster... then I reach for my camera and press the shutter button. As a former editor of Elle Decoration interiors magazine, I am aware of the impact of pairing striking visuals with informative text... but also know that a single picture can often say more than one thousand words. For my part, I keep my images simple. In the Sunny 16 exhibition, I will be showing predominantly beach shots... The sea.. the shore... the sky... and how people and objects inhabit that space… where land ends and endless possibility begins...

Competition Winner

The sixteenth tree will have a selection of photographs from The Friends of The Grove Young Persons Photographic Competition.