TO ALL OUR AV ENTHUSIASTS
And so this is my swansong!
A big thank you to all AV enthusiasts who supported me on so many fronts over the past six years. The going was tough at times, but then the tough got going!
A special word of thanks to those people who so willingly gave it their all to run one or more AV Salons over the years. It meant long hours and days of hard work, but most organisers vowed that they would be willing to do it again!
One regret is the low entry levels on our National AV Salons, but I hope that this will improve in future. I also hope to see a few more clubs running an International AV Salon that will put South Africa on the map as a force to be reckoned with! The first Port Elizabeth International AV Salon attracted a whopping 184 entries – I do believe that we set a world record!
Audio Visual changed drastically over time. We experienced the golden years of AV, from the slide era to the digital era. I enjoyed creating new sequences, meeting AV workers, local and from abroad, attending congresses, festivals, workshops and shows. Many valuable friendships were forged. I deeply appreciate the wonderful camaraderie that we built up through the years.
A famous musician was asked at what point he started being successful. His reply was, “When I began writing songs for myself and not for what I perceived to be my audience and their needs.” I believe that the same attitude may be applied to our Audio Visuals. If others appreciate them, that’s the icing on the cake!
Visit by John and Judith Hodgson from Australia
John and Judith Hodgson visited Port Elizabeth in September 2019. Their showcase on Australia went down extremely well with the audience. During the second half John and Judith presented us with several of their national and international award-winning audio visuals. There was no guessing as to why these AVs were so successful – all were interesting, entertaining and beautiful and most had an unexpected twist at the end. After their trip to Scotia Safaris and a Raggy Charter, John and Judith made their way to Ladybrand, to join up with members of AV Makers SA for the AV Convention. There they showed their sequences of Australian landscapes and shared their knowledge and ideas, particularly about story-telling in AV, with the attendees. Almost all attendees had brought at least one AV of their own which was shown and discussed. AV Makers report that they were all inspired and energised for making AVs.
Thank you to John and Judith, we hope to see you in the not too distant future!
International AV Festival
Saturday, 18 April 2020, 7:00pm to ~ 9:00
The Latow International Audio Visual Festival is the annual highlight of the year in the AV community. Images are presented through this dynamic medium on a theatre-size screen with audio soundtracks presented in surround sound. This is a premier showcase to see exciting photography through the use of audio-visual techniques to tell a story or to show off an artistic vision. A great evening for photographers, other visual artists, and those who simply appreciate a good entertaining show.
According to Paul Sparrow, Latow International AV Festival Director, “This is not a competition but a premiere exhibition showcase to expose and promote the productions and their creators as well as the audiovisual medium to a wider public audience. There is no charge to submit a show to the Festival. The festival takes place on Saturday April 18th, 2020 – 7:00 pm in the main gallery of the Art Gallery of Burlington as part of Latow’s major annual Photography Weekend (this year with Kas Stone) and will typically have an audience who come from all over Southern Ontario and New York State to view the shows presented. Shown on a theatre size screen with surround sound the concept is to give a new appreciation of still photography by using the AV medium in unique and imaginative ways that integrates them with dynamic soundtracks. Last year the Festival included submissions from Canada and internationally from the UK, Ireland, Australia, Norway and South Africa.”
See the 2019 event complete with shows and the presentation of the “Award for Artistic Merit” by clicking on this link,
http://latowseminar.com/av-festival/
Club News
Please note that Jeff Morris will be giving a talk at Cape Town Photographic Society on 9 October 2019. Details from Robert Maginley at mailto:rmaginley@worldonline.co.za.
Salon Calendar and Results
The updated salon calendar and salon results may be found here http://www.pssa.co.za/av/salon-scene
International Competitions and Salons
AV Makers International Competition – Celebration
Please click on the following link https://sites.google.com/site/avmakerssouthafrica/home/celebration-2019 for the AV Makers SA’s Celebration Competition brochure with all the details.
Registration closes on 30 October 2019. The link for registering is, https://avmakers.typeform.com/to/iZrVC7
Results will be announced on 16 December 2019 or soon afterwards.
Awards will be posted on 15 January 2020, at the latest.
Exhibitions of the winning entries may be held (dates and venues to be announced) January 2020 – December 2020.
Challenge 321 Announcement for 2020
321 AV Challenge
The Challenge 321 is an international contest for short Audio Visuals with a maximum runtime of 3 min. 21 sec. The idea of the competition is to have an international exchange of audio-visual work. By submitting their work, authors participate in several adjudications in different countries.
Klaus Fritsche, the organiser, is involving more stations per country to help judge this competition. Interested parties wanting to volunteer as hosts must please apply to Klaus Fritsche, info321@challenge321.org who will explain the procedure and guide everyone through the process. Once the results have been published, AVs may be shown at local, non-commercial events – a great way to promote Audio Visual at your club.
The updated rules and schedule have been published on the Challenge homepage www.challenge321.org
We hope that more clubs will participate as Challenge host. Should your club be interested, please write to Klaus Fritsche mailto:info321@challenge321.org, not later than 15 of March 2020.
40th Pomeranian Diaporama Competition
Good news is that the 40th Pomeranian Diaporama Competition this year is free of charge and has FIAP patronage. The closing date is 15 October 2019. Entry forms and rules may be downloaded from www.zamek.szczecin.pl
4th PECC International AV Salon
The first entries for our PECC International AV Salon are in! If you have not yet had a look at the Salon Brochure published on the PSSA Website http://www.pssa.co.za/2020-pecc-intl yet, the closing date is 6 February 2020. The “two little swallows”, as they are fondly known, Joan Ryder-Rathband FRPS, FPSSA, AFIAP, DPAGB, and Clive Rathband FRPS, FPSSA, EFIAP, DPAGB are our International judges from the UK. They are experts in the field of AV and have had several successes on National and International AV Salons.
Joan, born in South Africa, now married to Clive and living in Wiltshire, UK, loves wildlife, nature, and sport and landscape photography and is always in search of the ultimate ‘mood’ lighting. Favourite South African photographic spots include the National Parks of Southern Africa, Cape Town and the West Coast of SA. She also adores the beautiful English Landscape as well as the flora and fauna of both countries.
Clive has been a keen and active photographer since 1972 with a great love of the natural world. Clive is inspired by the landscape of the UK, especially in his native Wiltshire, but is also equally at home in the dry desert landscapes of Southern Africa. He also enjoys photographing the flora and fauna in the National Parks of South Africa as well as other subjects such as sport.
We are certainly looking forward to having them back on South African soil for a while!
I wish everybody many happy hours with your AV making!
Adri van Oudheusden
2019.10.02
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