RPS Contemporary Group North Activity Group Members' Showcase February 2026

Members’ Showcase

provides a platform for contributors to our monthly meetings to display the work they have shared. Contributors have curated their own images and provided the accompanying text making this a collaborative group venture.

21st February 2026 —Meeting via Zoom

Chaired by Patricia Ruddle

Contributors:

Prem Muthu

Philip Pearce

Adrian James

Anastasia Potekhina

Images and content of this publication are the copyright of the photographer unless stated otherwise

Prem Muthu ….. Impermanence

This body of work emerged from helplessness. The COVID-19 pandemic took the young before their stories unfolded, and I carry a quiet guilt for surviving while they did not. I watched a generation’s light dim before me.

I created these metaphoric art images to understand and accept impermanence. Through mourning, I began to see impermanence not as punishment but as law. Grief reshaped into awareness.

Everything arrives already leaning toward departure. In honouring what fades, I honour those lost.

Impermanence is no longer cruelty alone—it is truth, and within that truth, I find quieter peace.

Stairway decaying balusters

Philip Pearce

Philip presented the genesis and development of his project, 'IndustrialArt EN'. The initial idea arose from his exhibition 'Industrial Transformation' in early 2023.

He explained how the concept for the new exhibition was developed and how several photo shoots, such as this one at the Lohmann Steel Company in Witten, were conducted very early on.

He then outlined how establishing contact with the companies and museums was far more timeconsuming and complex than originally anticipated.

Finance was another major question –public funding bodies would only fund exhibitions with three artists from two cities. Thus a sculptor and a media artist were also included in the art project.

Curating the exhibition involved planning the hanging of the images and the placement of the sculptures based on floor plans for the three museums: Museum Haus Kemnade, Museum Haus Martfeld, and Museum Zeche Nachtigall in Witten.

Project promotion included flyers published by the artists and the museums and posts on the art project's Instagram account to announce the exhibition in advance. Roll-up banners at the exhibition gave more Information about the project and the artists.

Exhibition opening at Museum Haus Kemnade in October 2025 and Museum Haus Martfeld in January 2026.

Philip reported that the media response was very positive, with reports in local newspapers, on a local radio station, and on the online platforms of several towns in the Ennepe-Ruhr district.

Adrian L. James ARPS

I hesitated about sharing street photographs at the contemporary group meeting because I was uncertain about whether such images are really part of this genre. In the end, I was persuaded the images I shared could be defined as contemporary because they are not just images of people, they are, in essence, images about people.

I don’t think this is true of all street photography though. At its heart, street photography capturing what Henri Cartier-Bresson called ‘the decisive moment’, does not necessarily involve or focus on people. When it does there are various ways in which it can be done, including taking carefully composed street portraits, or finding an interesting backdrop and waiting for the right passer-by to complete the image the photographer is trying to create.

As with all genres, what street photography means can vary widely. When I was a teenager, I was brought up in Margate, and I spent a lot of time observing holidaymakers enjoying the seaside. I think it is this early experience of people-watching that has underpinned and informed my recent interest in and approach to street photography. For me, it is all about capturing images that tell stories about the people in them and encourage us to get in touch with their humanity - the intention is to make images that enable the viewer to connect with people in them as subjects, not objects, and to try to capture human environments and emotions with which we can identify.

It is widely accepted that colour in an image can distract the viewer’s eye from the subject, so I have converted most of my images from colour to black and white in order to enhance the stories they tell. However, in some cases I have not done so because the colours in an image can also make a powerful contribution to the story or give added meaning or impact to the context in which the image was taken.

In making these images, I have struggled with a range of ethical issues, some of which remain unresolved. Street portraits address many of these issues directly. However, whilst they can be compelling and human, and are taken with the subject’s consent, they often lack the spontaneity and candour that can come with capturing the decisive moment. Most of these images were taken discretely or covertly, either using a zoom lens in a setting where taking photographs was unexceptional or using a camera without appearing to be doing so. I leave it for others to decide whether this is ethical or not, and there is always a risk of being spotted, which may then be evident in the image! What I hope these images do, however, is to draw the viewer in, to invite them to explore what the people in them are experiencing, and to reflect on what the image says to them about what it is to be human.

Conversation killer

Happy Families

Taking the takings

Spreading the word

Anastasia Potekhina FRPS

Contemporary Group North Activity Group Meetings

Saturday 21/03/26 12.00 GMT Clements Hall, York

Saturday 18/04/26 13.00 BST Online

Saturday 16/05/26 12.00 BST Clements Hall, York

Saturday 20/06/26 13.00 BST Online

Summer Break

Saturday 19/09/26 12.00 BST Clements Hall, York

Saturday 17/10/26 13.00 BST Online

Saturday 21/11/26 12.00 GMT Clements Hall, York

Saturday 12/12/26 13.00 GMT Online