Horsham Photographic Society has secured the renowned guest speaker, Paul Mitchell, and we are happy to share with you the opportunity to see him.

Born in East Yorkshire, Paul's interest in photography began at school. He then studied graphic design at art college and soon after began his design career in London working for many well known FMCG companies and brands. He now lives, and runs his own design consultancy, in Buckinghamshire and tries to devote most of his free time to photographing the landscape.

Paul has had numerous exhibitions in London and the South East and has had articles and images published in many photographic magazines. He is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and currently serves on the Fine Art Distinctions Panel, a member of the prestigious Arena group and a founder member of The Landscape Collective UK (LCUK). Paul is also a well respected photographic judge and lecturer.

Paul has also been successful in the prestigious Landscape Photographer of the Year competition, winning the Sunday Times Choice Award in 2013 and being the Urban Category winner in 2015. He has also had recent successes in the Outdoor Photographer of the Year and the International Garden Photographer of the Year.
Apart from his self-published book on pinhole photography, “Spirit of Light”, he has collaborated with four renowned photographers to publish “The Coast – a personal view of the English coastline”.

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"I often admire the creativity of the digital fiddlers who spend hours in front of a computer creating and assembling their imaginary images. It is just not for me. I like the purity, honesty, and integrity of location photography, the thrill of chancing upon the unexpected, and the discovery of an exciting shot in an initially unpromising place.

We all see the world slightly differently. It is never my intention to mimic another photographer's shot, but to bring my own vision to bear to produce an individual and personal point of view. I constantly strive to produce images that are different. Deep within me is a creative urge, and probably a frustrated artist too. I realised long ago that I do not have any real ability with a pencil or brush, and so I turn to my camera, and photography, to express my vision.

In this lecture I discuss the creative process that I use, both when out shooting, and subsequently when producing my prints. The lecture features many of my latest prints, and culminates in the work that I produced to earn my RPS Fellowship.”

​Horsham Photographic Society has had numerous successes this year with some members gaining photographic distinctions from The Royal Photographic Society, Licentiate (LRPS) and Associate (ARPS). 

Eleanor Coate has gained her ARPS and as a result of her success, Eleanor’s prints were retained by the Royal Photographic Society for future reference to be used as an example of a successful panel for obtaining this distinction.

It’s now our pleasure and pride to announce a first for the club, Eleanor has also gained a Gold Medal in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Portfolio Photography Competition. 

In order to achieve this medal from the RHS, Eleanor submitted six botanical prints titled ‘Where Art Meets Science’ and Eleanor says, “My portfolio is inspired by the artists of the golden age of botanical painting. The RHS Lindley Library supported my research, providing the opportunity to see original works and first prints. My objective is to capture in a 21st-century medium the essence and purpose of this genre. Digital techniques including focus stacking and image blending have been used to provide the required level of detail and accuracy. All images were taken in my home.”

Her prints were judged behind closed doors and Eleanor did not get the results until the following day when she went to see her prints for the outcome and found the Gold Medal certificate displayed with them. These photographs were produced to be similar to hand painted botanical prints, and depict the detailed stages of growth of the flowers which were portrayed in the original paintings. 

Eleanor has an eye for detail and each photograph is superbly intricate and a fascinating, inspiring, clear account of each specimen, which leaves a lasting impression of her skill, as shown here.