AV News Magazine | Page 24

AV News 177 - August 2009 GREAT NORTHERN AV WEEKEND 2009 This year's Great Northern AV Weekend will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 4th, 5th & 6th December at the usual venue - Wilmslow Guild Centre for Adult Education, (about 4 miles from Manchester Airport.) Events will follow the usual format:Friday 4th December, 7.30pm - "On Home Ground" with Denis Thorpe. If you live in Manchester, you are likely to know Denis Thorpe who was a photographer with the Guardian for many years. Outside Manchester, whilst you may not know the name, you will probably be familiar with his work. He has exhibited in many locations - most recently at the Lowry in Salford (for the second time.) Possibly his best known pictures are those he took in the house of L. S. Lowry just after the artist had died. He has received numerous awards for his work, but the quality which shines through is an empathy with his subject, whatever it might be. His work goes way beyond mere reportage of events. Tonight he will be talking about his work as a journalist, illustrating his stories with many of his memorable pictures. The title of the talk is "borrowed" from that of his excellent book, which we hope will be on sale. This talk will be open to the general public, so we recommend advance booking to ensure a seat. Saturday 5th December, 10.00am - Great Northern Festival. A National AV competition open to anybody resident in the British Isles and to overseas members of British AV Groups. There is a special prize for the best beginner's sequence, so everyone is in with a chance. This is an excellent opportunity to see both National/International standard AV and what can be achieved by relative newcomers, all in one competition. Finishing time will depend on the number of entries. The Chairman of the Jury is: Eddie Spence FRPS AV-AFIAP Thank you for inviting me to chair the jury panel at the Great Northern Festival. I am honoured to be awarded this prestigious responsibility. I am looking forward to working with my fellow jurors, whom I'm sure, will work well together. I have thoroughly enjoyed my involvement in the Audio Visual Medium, both in the making of AV's but equally the many friends Janet and I have made over the years. I have entered many AV Competitions over the years and I was successful in winning this competition last year and more recently the Geoffrey Round competition. There have been a few close calls and lots of complete misses in the many competitions I have entered. The lesson is to keep trying and don't give up, a lot can be learned by entering as many competitions as you can even if you are not among the award winners. Page 22