On Thursday 6th August Smethwick Photographic Society will be welcoming club member David Thomas as he gives his first presentation at the clubhouse.

David Thomas ARPS has had a life-long interest in photography, always ensuring that he had a camera with him on his travels. Looking for a way to get an objective assessment of his work, he joined the Royal Photographic Society in 2010 and, shortly after, joined Smethwick Photographic Society.

With advice from Roger Parry and other club members on print selection and panel presentation, he successfully submitted a panel to the RPS, and gained his Associateship in the ‘Professional and Applied’ genre in 2014.

David’s main interest is in figure and portrait photography. His talk’s title reflects that, while some of his work has been ‘Out’ on location, it has been mainly ‘In’ the studio. Since 2014 David has been fortunate to have extensive use of professional studio space and equipment. His ARPS panel combined location and (mainly) studio images.

His foray into club competitions started in 2015, winning first prize in Smethwick’s Members’ Advanced Portrait competition. Since then, David has frequently (but not prolifically) submitted work to UK exhibitions, achieving an approximately 50% acceptance rate. In 2018 he submitted his first entry to the Edinburgh Salon, and won a FIAP gold medal.

In other competitions, he has twice won first prize (gold medal) in the RPS Digital Imaging Group’s annual print competition, with his name featuring twice on that silver cup!

David’s images range from (almost) straight captures to substantial photoshop edits, and include both colour and monochrome work. Whenever possible, he prefers a square format. This is a presentation of both the progression of his work and how studio access has enabled his creativity.

Here’s a selection of what we can expect from David:

For information go to our Streaming page HERE