FOCALPOINTThe Official MIPP Newsletter October 2015

www.mipp-malta.comIssue No. 56

Editor:Therese Debono

Assistant Editor:Kerstin Arnemann

Design:Therese Debono

Article Vetting:Vince DeBono

Articles:Various contributors

Editorial Advice:Kevin Casha

Contact:newsletter@mipp-malta.com

Newsletter Team

I wish to apologise for the late issue of this month’s newsletter however the editorial team managed to pull this issue through regardless of the circumstances!

We would also like to let you know that this year’s Annual convention will have 3 great speakers: Damian McGuillicuddy, Ramon Sammut and Christina Venedict. May sure you grab yourself a seat to enjoy this two day convention finished off with the Annual Awards.

Meanwhile we compiled a good list of exhibitions and photo opportunities.

EDITORIAL If you want your photos featured on the newsletter’s front page just send the images to newsletter@mipp-malta.com. Your contributions are always welcome!

There is also the milky way very visible at this time of year.

Regards

Therese & Kerstin!

Top Image:EditorTherese DebonoAbove:Assistant EditorKerstin Arnemann

Find us on:

CONTENTSpg 2 President’s Viewpoint October Viewpointpg 4 Featured MIPP members Meet Tonio Polidanopg 10 Out & About October Eventspg 16 MIPP Event MIPP November Conventionpg 18 MIPP Calendar Mark your diaries!pg 19 Member’s Gallery IOC 5th Round Standings

OCTOBER 2016

cover artist Romana Wyllie

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Congratulations to Romana Wyllie for grabbing a silver with this image in the latest edition of International Online Competition.

Image title: Silver

Protecting Out Seas

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Recently, I was honoured by being invited to be part of the selection panel for the OUT OF THE BLUE Prince of Wales’ Commonwealth Environmental Photogra-phy Awards. The competition, held under the auspices of HRH the Prince of Wales, aimed at encouraging Commonwealth Citizens to showcase the beauty and bounty of oceans and marine environments.

The judges’ task was to select the winners of each competition category as well as the images which will eventually be exhibited in Malta during the forthcoming November CHOGM event. The judging panel consisted of a further three judges coming mainly from environmental backgrounds. All the judges’ CV’s are highly impressive and, apart from their vast experience, are all photographers in their own right. Besides myself, the group consisted of Terence Dormer, a diver and founder of the British Sub Aqua club; Hanli Prinsloo - multiple South African free diving record holder and founder of the I AM WATER Ocean Conservation project; and Daniel Beltra - a Spanish born photographer working from Seattle who specialises in aerial environmental photography.

The judging, held at the prestigious St James Palace in London, was not an easy task, with nearly 900 entries coming from all ends of the Commonwealth. The works were under different themes and categories with one category for under 18 participants as well as a Mobile Phone category. This was also another opportunity for me to learn more about selection processes and the organization of judging panels. Naturally the work, coming from so many different areas of the common-wealth as well as the cultural diversity of the participants, made for different levels and standards of entries – there were the obviously top notch images coming from professional photographers and then entries from hobbyists and youths. It made for a very intriguing mix of images. I could not help notice that some of the work was of the documentary side – just recording a scene or a holiday snapshot – yet other images had an important message as well as an obvious thematic involve-ment by the photographer. It was also curious that the weakest section was the mobile category. With the use and proliferation of mobile phones, I would have expected much stronger images in this section.

october viewpointby Kevin Casha

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From a personal point, it was also a pleasure that recent efforts of the MIPP to work with Atlam sub aqua club photographers are paying off. I successfully encouraged them to put in their impressive work for this competition. In fact, the Malta entry was noticeable and a good number of entries left a good impression on the experi-enced judging panel.

Official results have yet to be announced so at this point, I cannot divulge anything but let’s keep our fingers crossed! Whatever the results, the Maltese entry did me proud.

Photo Caption: The OUT OF THE BLUE selection panel in London.

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MEET TONIO POLIDANOLooking back at how my interest in pho-tography grew, I can safely say that there was always a photographer in me, it just took a long time to come out. Since I was young I usually carried a small camera with me and never went abroad without one. My pocket Canon Exilim was a faithful friend I carried around for many years until disaster struck one day in 2010 when I dropped and broke my beloved camera.

I did some research online and pushed on by a friend, decided to move up to a Canon 1000D which I originally used solely in auto mode. For no particular reason other than curiosity I took a Malta Photographic Society course which for me was like the opening of a door into a brave new world. The course showed me where I could go with my camera by just switching over to manual mode and taking full control over the photos that I took.

I found the experimentation quite intriguing and supported by a fellow photog-rapher and mentor I soon found my niche – light painting photography with an artistic twist. I was drawn in as if by a magnet. I started experimenting with light and artistic creations using simple everyday items. I started looking at inanimate objects and saw them in a different light and as if through a different lens – puns totally intended.

Bit by bit the results I started achieving were more to my liking and got great pleas-ure besides, not to mention confidence to explore the subject further and broaden my horizons.

By this time I had outgrown my first body and kit lens and gradually invested and upgraded my equipment, which in turn led me to further experimentation in what now seemed to be an exciting new world. I took some more advanced courses to improve my technique and together with my new found confidence and equipment I started looking elsewhere to broaden my photographic horizons.

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“One of the joys of photography is that you never know what will come at you from around the next corner.” Tom Ang

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“One of the joys of photography is that you never know what will come at you from around the next corner.” Tom Ang

In my early days I was struck by the phrase “We photograph light” and have since adopted it as my motto. It may sound clichéd that there can be no photography without light and my main photographic mission is that of capturing my subject, whatever it is, in the best light and shadows possible, something I believe make my images stand out.

With the help of family and friends opportunities started arising to diversify and I moved from purely artistic material into more commercial and traditional areas such as landscapes, models, events and commercial photography.

I am a big fan of Adobe Lightroom, mainly for its cataloguing features. I am not totally enamoured of Photoshop as I am a firm believer that the work of a photog-rapher should be done by his or her camera and not by a computer. I am a strong advocate of the line of thought that favours capturing images with the least possible amount of editing unless absolutely necessary.

My next step, a natural one I feel, is to enter some of my work for competitions. I am bracing myself for the ups and downs of competitive photography but I look forward to having my work judged, and yes why not, critiqued by masters in this field.

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I am aware that I am far from being the finished article but when I look at my work I can see a pattern emerging which I hope is taking me down the right road. I still have a lot to learn from my mentors and professional colleagues who have seen it and done it all before me. I keep my feet firmly on the ground and my eyes wide open in my quest to learn and improve. I am currently attending an MIPP Still Im-age course led by Kevin Casha. In the past four months since I joined the course my thirst for knowledge has increased even more, very much a case of the more you know the more you want to learn.

Image pg.4: A stairway in BirguImage pg.6: This image was shot a few years back. One single long exposure and light painting.Image pg.7: This image was shot at the start of the 2014 Middle Sea RaceImage pg.8: One of my favourite topics and work - Artistic manipulation - Model wearing an ear-ring

Article & Images by Tonio Polidano

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October EventsOUT AND ABOUT

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Multiples in the City:https ://www.facebook.com/events/1796911357202188/

This paintings exhibition by the MOSAICO group of artists with-in the City of Valletta has been thought out as a representation of 14 artists’ perspectives on the is-lands of Malta and Gozo and the cultural changes presently going on. Multiples in the City refers to the different people that walk, work and come into Valletta eve-ryday, bringing in a new language tied in with the multiple cultural layers of what is Valletta.

The group will also be joined by the photographer Francis Darma-

nin with an exhibition of his multiple human portrait photography based work.

The Exhibition will be open to the public, free entrance, at the German Maltese Cir-cle, everyday excepting Sunday, during the month of October. The Opening hours are Mondays to Fridays from 9:00 - 12:30/ 16:30 - 20:00 and Saturdays Mornings only.

There shall be a special late opening for the Notte Bianca, Saturday 3rd October till Midnight, with the artists present for discussion.

We look forward to seeing you there!

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Ziffahttps://www.facebook.com/events/537906696364033/

30th September - 31st October

Art Exhibition Opening VGB Art Gallery, Valletta, 30/09/2015 Claudia Chircop, Leanne Lewis, Sarah Mifsud and Thea Vella.

After having exhibited together over two years ago, we decided to get together once again. This time, with a wave of new ideas. We started off by graduating together with a B.A (Hons) in Fine Arts. The four of us then took different paths and we all emerged with new thoughts, developed different concepts, and took new ap-proaches. In this exhibition we all gathered our most recent work, some of which can be considered as very particular others are based on pure development.

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VALLETTA STREETSCAPEShttps://www.facebook.com/events/526560550830700/

16th September - 18th OctoberPalazzo Pereira, Valletta

Photographer Jacob Sammut and poet Miriam C team up once again with offerings in and about our unique and precious Valletta

This time the artists are tackling Valletta with respect to its uniqueness, its dynamic personality and its mysterious elements.

Jacob and Miriam would like to thank Palazzo Pereira - freedom of expression and Café Society for their collaboration and sponsorship.

There will be a closing party held at Café Society, more details to follow!

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DEAR YOUNGER MEhttps://www.facebook.com/events/1642053982741062/

02 October - 31 OctoberPalazzo De Piro, Mdina

Dear Younger Me is a watercolour exhibition consisting of 25 paint-ings all done during the past year by artist Paul Caruana.

MALTA RAILWAY FOUNDATION Location Visit - Floriana Under-ground Railway Station

https://www.facebook.com/events/1506094883044210/

The Floriana Local Council will be

organizing the annual event ‘Genna Ta’ Gonna’ on Sunday 18th October 2015, in collaboration with The Malta Railway Foundation, organised guided tours to the the Floriana Railway Station Tunnel will commence from the Floriana Method-ist’s Church. For the fifth consecutive year your host and guide will be Paul Galea. Raiders of the lost railway will also be helping in attendance.

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CULTURAL MAPPING- Debating Spaces

22nd - 23rd OctoberMediterranean Conference Centrehttps://www.facebook.com/events/859494487463973/

This conference will bring together academics and practitioners to share knowl-edge about and debate cultural mapping and its implications within a Euro-Medi-terranean context, in order to develop a better understanding of how various forms of cultural mapping can serve as a tool for artistic practice, cultural policy, and critical thought.

Speakers include local and international experts within the fields of cultural aca-demia, policy, artistic practice and cultural heritage.

For more information, including speaker biographies, abstracts and bookings, please visit the conference website: www.valletta2018.org/cultural-mapping-de-bating-spaces-and-places or contact the Valletta 2018 Foundation at research@valletta2018.org or +356 2124 2018.

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BRIDGING THE GAP

26/09/2015 - 19/10/201509:00 - 17:00http://www.visitmalta.com/en/event-details/2015-09/bridging-the-gap-8594

September 2015 sees an exhibition of new work inspired by the unique Gozitan landscape, at Il-Hagar: Heart of Gozo Museum in Victoria, Gozo, Malta. Opening on Friday 25th September at 7.30pm, the exhibition continues from 26th Septem-ber - 19th September, open daily from 9am - 5pm, free addmission.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

Rolex MiddleSea Race17.10 - 24.10.2015

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MIPP NOVEMBER CONVENTIONWe are very excited to announce that this year our

Annual MIPP Convention in collaboration with The Societies from the UK, will take place over two days on the 14th & 15th November. This time round we will be

hosting you at Monte Kristo Estates, with guest speakers, Damian McGillicuddy, Cristina Venedict and Ramon

Sammut.

Programme of events can be found here including prices:http://issuu.com/mipp-malta/docs/convention_book-

let_2015

See you there!

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CALENDAR

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6th OctoberSimple Steampunk Composite by Romana Wylie19:30hrs, Le Meridien

3rd NovemberBulgaria - A Reachable Destination for Photography

19:30hrs, Le Meridien

12th DecemberMIPP Xmas Party

TBC

14th & 15th NovemberDetails on Website and FacebookMonte Kristo Estates

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MEMBERS’ GALLERY IOC 5th Round

Above: Sadness by Renata ApanavicieneSilver Award: Sisters by Podge Kelly

Silver Award: Blue Maiden by Podge Kelly

This page: Musical Emotions by Johann Debono

Silver Award: Untitled by Marika Mallia Scerri

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