Pembroke Art and Photographic Society

PAPS is the College's Arts and Photographic Society which promotes the use and appreciation of the creative and fine arts in the Pembroke.

We encourage participation in a variety of media, from pencil through clay to digital photography and host a number of competitions through out the year. There are regular induction sessions and classes in a variety of media, including free weekly Life Drawing classes, funded by a generous bequest from Jack Lander. We also arrange talks and tours of art galleries. One of the highlights of our year is the Winter Exhibition where we display much of the work produced in our classes throughout the year, as well as artwork produced independently by students, either from their schooldays or in their free time at university.

The Society has an art room on H Staircase, under Red Buildings, in which classes are held and which students are encouraged to use as they please. Certain materials are left available to be used by anybody who visits. In addition to this our dark room has been recently refurbished and we love to see people taking advantage of this. If you want to get involved, please email htr22@cam.ac.uk. Our pages on Facebook and on Flickr show just some of the fantastic images that have been produced by PAPS members over the past months.

This year’s edition of The Avenue, featured photography by John Hale (2007), Chris Uglow (2006), Henry Rivers (2007) and Joanne Perry (2007). Further examples of their work can be seen by clicking on the names below.

John Hale

"I'm currently in my second year studying engineering. Outside academic work, my interests have always been in music - playing the sax, and sports. That is until 2006 when I was given my first 'proper' camera. Initially I started taking photos of sport, mainly rowing and skiing. However I quickly became interested in macro photography, and this remains my favourite area of photography. It is surprising how many interesting photo subjects can be found if you just look closely!

"After having my first camera stolen after only six months, I upgraded to a Canon 400D, which is a great camera for the money and together with a long 70-300mm zoom lens covers both sport and macro photography quite nicely. I also have a very old Nikon macro lens that can be fitted onto the Canon for some great close-ups."

Joanne Perry

"I rarely set up a photograph. Directing models, or using artificial lighting is all more effort than I'm willing to put in. Generally something pretty, or unusual, or interesting catches my eye and I try to record it as best I can with a camera. If I had more money, that would be a variety of cameras, both film and digital. But as it is, I shoot with a Panasonic Lumix; a basic digital camera.

"I joined Pembroke in 2007 to read Engineering. So it's unsurprising that I love the geeky side of photography as well as the artistic. Knowing a bit about my camera's inner workings hopefully lets me take better photos too. Away from Pembroke I live in the Yorkshire countryside, and by no coincidence my subject matter is usually nature and wildlife. This is where I'm comfortable, but I would love to branch out in the future."

Henry Rivers

Henry is the Photography Representative on the PAPS committee and is in charge of organising the Society’s photography competitions. He won the Photo Journalism Category in last year’s University Annual Photography Competition and is currently part of a team which is documenting the University's Architecture for its 800th anniversary.

Henry is actively considering going into photography after finishing his degree in architecture. He self-published a book of travel photography (mostly from Egypt, India and Greece) last December.

Chris Uglow

"I first started taking photos seriously when my parents bought a digital camera, which allowed me to freely explore and develop my creative skills."

I enjoy trying to capture the world in unusual ways that people haven't noticed before. This might explain why my subjects tend to be macro, nature and abstract; although recently I have been branching out into portraiture."

Being a 3rd year mechanical engineer, I'm also attracted to the technical aspects of photography, and the ability to control every detail of the image making process. Photoshop can be a fun tool to create bold and surreal images, and I often tweak my photos, but I like to maintain a level of realism. As well as for my own enjoyment, I have taken photos for a number of student publications and events, and I'm the official photographer for Cambridge University Eco Racing."

More details about CUER can be found here: http://www.cuer.co.uk

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