Let's make friends: photography is the common bond, enabling camera clubs from different parts of the world to exchange digital slide shows and visits

PSA Journal, Jan, 2008 by Brian Davis

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The Chesterfield Photographic Society (CPS) is located in the county of Derbyshire, in the middle of England. Several years ago the Japanese Toyota car company opened a new factory nearby and the County Council asked CPS to present a slide show for the delegates from Toyota City in Japan. While visiting the area the party was shown the beauty of the county of Derbyshire. In addition to famous stately homes like Chatsworth, Derbyshire also has the Peak District National Park. After the slide show, CPS members talked to the delegates who were representatives of the Toyota Camera Club. Members from each club promised to exchange e-mails and it was agreed that the two clubs would have an annual exchange of slide shows. This ritual has continued over the years, and the show received from Japan has become a very welcome addition to CPS's programs. This exchange has allowed members to view interesting pictures, quite different in style from the ones taken in England. In recent years this exchange has become digital, as it is cheaper and more convenient to post a CD to Japan than a box of slides. Two years ago members of the Toyota Camera Club invited CPS members to visit Japan during the cherry blossom season. The trees are in bloom for approximately 10 days in April each year. Three members accepted the invitation.

Upon arrival the cherry blossoms were in full splendor, but the blossoms quickly disappeared before the end of the visit. Club members had the opportunity to meet a group of children who were learning English in preparation for future travel to other countries, including America and Europe. The students formed two lines and sang welcoming songs in English. A party followed and lessons were given on how to write in traditional script using a brush.

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Each day was planned with a very full schedule. Traveling by an electro-magnetic railway, members made two trips to Expo, which was in progress at the time of the visit and was just outside the city. While on the trip, this author used a Fuji digital SLR camera. Every evening the memory card was downloaded to a laptop and a CD was burned as a backup. Approximately 11,000 images were taken and a 35mm camera was used as a backup with ten rolls of film shot.

Highlights of the trip included meeting the mayor of Tokyo City twice, visits to the temples at Kyoto, the shrines at Nikko and Mount Fuji. Mount Fuji was a four-hour journey and at 5:00 am the sky was clear, making visible the sunrise on the mountain, with the sun catching the top and slowly spreading down. The sixteen-car bullet train was used three times during the trip. Japan is fast becoming very Western, with hotels identical to good western lodgings. The restaurants in the cities mainly have tables and chairs although they have alcoves for traditional eating. It is only when out of the cities, where all eating-houses have low tables, that one must sit on the floor. The ability to eat with chopsticks is a must. All of the food was traditional Japanese and very tasty. The only restaurant or hotel that served European food was in Mount Fuji, where French cuisine was served. During the trip, several people were seen wearing traditional dress and there was never an objection when a picture was taken. No restrictions on photography were encountered anywhere, not even in the museums.

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CPS's connection with other clubs is not limited to Japan. There was a connection with a Chesterfield twin town in Germany some years ago. But that was discontinued after two large boxes of prints were lost in transit between Germany and England. This connection has now been reestablished with a digital exchange. As a result, CPS has been invited to hang an exhibition of prints in the White Tower, which is a large circular ancient monument built in 1330, in the center of the German town. The exhibition was on display from September 5 to October 6, 2007 and representatives from the club were invited to the official opening. A party of eight traveled to the opening and some stayed and photographed the area for a week.

Our third international connection, with Troyes in France, produces a large exchange of images each year. Chesterfield has offered to coordinate a composite of all of the various clubs entries so that each club will have more than a full evening's entertainment. To compile the submissions, members use Pro Show Gold[R] and Pictures to Exe[R], which allows the club to show all of the images with background music. Submissions are then burned onto one disc and copies are given to all of the societies. Currently CPS has evening viewings of the entries from Japan and France. Next year that will include entries from Germany. The shows are very entertaining and allow members to study the different photographic styles from each of the different countries.

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Working with digital files has made this four-way exchange so much easier to manage. Participation would not be possible with prints or slides as each society submits between 100-200 images on each CD. The other big advantage of digital is that each club keeps the CD for future use. There is no reason this exchange should not include an American club in future years.