AV News 192 - May 2013
Tynemouth PS
Howard Wilson APAGB
In October 2011, Eddie Spence visited the Northern AV group at Snods
Edge. In conversation we found that Eddie hailed from the North East and
that he has a brother living in Ryton. Cogs started turning. March 18th 2013
was the 110th Anniversary of the founding of Tynemouth Photographic
Society and I am the Syllabus Secretary. I was looking for a good speaker/
lecture/ show for that week. I phoned Eddie and after a little think about it, he
agreed. Great!
I knew that most Tynemouth members would never have seen anything
like his work, but was still a bit wary, as AV is not everyone's cup of tea. So,
on 19th March Eddie came up to stay with his brother for a few nights.
Midday on 21st came and Eddie and his wife turned up with a car full of gear
(reminded me of the days with slide AV). We got it all into our first floor room
and he set it up. We also found that, rather than spend a final night with his
brother, he had to go back to Leeds that night, as he had to drive to Essex
the next morning, for a judging weekend.
After everything was set up, Eddie and Janet left us and did a bit of
exploring of the coastline, while we returned home and my wife prepared a
meal for us all. 7.30pm came. I was a bit preoccupied with 'will he show this
one or that one', as I have a few personal favourites. I was pleased to see
our room pretty full. The show started with two music/picture sequences, on
Wharfedale. These eased us in. Then 'It's all in the Mix' the story of Portland
Cement. The deeper sequences came next. Gaudi/Dhali, El Greco, the
lighter 'What Colour is the Wind', which features his granddaughter. Another,
included his Grandson. Then Scotland. His final sequence was 'Isadora's
Legacy'. Super. As some words in that sequence said, 'the end was as good
as the beginning'. (He then actually showed a short, funny, sequence to lift
the tone.)
All too soon, the end. Where had 1hour 20 minutes gone? Our president,
Larry Bedigan asked me to do a vote of thanks. I mentioned the words of a
CBBs presenter 'Look and Learn'. Well, to all aspiring AV workers, 'Look,
Listen and Learn'.
The soundtracks are sublime. You hear them when you have to but
otherwise they work away in the subconscious. If you DO listen, you never
notice a join. The pictures are very thoughtfully composed and everything is
combined - with exceptionally researched and written storylines - by a master
craftsman.
Many of Eddie's sequences are about artists. Why? He is an artist (in AV)
himself and is drawn to them. My wife said 'Hasn't he got a lovely voice?'
Over tea and cake, the room was buzzing and at 10.10pm, after lots of
discussion and questions, Eddie and Janet set off for Leeds. They would get
home at midnight if they were lucky. This was the week and night that the
weather really turned and on the 1.00 am news we heard that Leeds Bradford
airport was closed. (They did arrive safely.)
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