On Tues 13th December we sent Four Photographers to give a presentation at Hampstead Photographic Society. Brian Groves showed his shots of graffiti taken around the ever changing displays in Shoreditch. Jean Jameson showed her split-second street photography. Natalie Robinson talked about design, photography and our Shooting Cripplegate project. And lastly Jools showed the natural history photos that she does so well.

At exactly the same time Five Photographers presented to our own photo club. Each presented images taken by other people and explained why they liked them. Without prior discussion, they had almost completely chosen black and white photographs, and there was only one landscape - they were all pictures of people! There were pictures by Brassai, André Kertész, Cartier-Bresson, Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Margaret Bourke-White, Bill Owens and Garry Winogrand.

Three different people had chosen photos by Jane Bown. Our Chair, Bill Gilliam, reports:  “I saw the Jane Bown exhibition in the small space opposite the old Guardian offices in Farringdon Road. In a glass cabinet was Bown's diary open on a page with the line "print for Cripplegate" I contacted Bown's agent who had a word with Jane. She couldn't confirm 100%, but thought it was likely that she used to come to City of London & Cripplegate Photographic Society in the early 1960s.”

The pictures that our photographers had chosen stood in marked contrast to the landscapes, street scenes and architectural photographs we often see in the club. This seems to indicate a longing to shoot more black and white, and especially shots of people. It will be interesting to see how these aspirations play out during the coming months, especially with regard to our forthcoming Shooting Cripplegate project.

Alan Tucker