Peter Carr and I headed south from Harpenden to a gathering of DigiCluster, this time at a new venue on Tuesday evening in Hemel Hempstead – DeskLodge a new venture offering Hot Desking in a vibrant setting and with a somewhat nostalgic feel as it had various early examples of a photographic genre.
It was good to see both familiar faces from past events, and many new ones, with the theme of the evening provided by Jonas B Stockfleth who, once proceedings began, was introduced to the gathering by Syd Nadeem, CEO of Clock. But before that began cool liquid refreshments were being consumed amidst the throng of small groups in animated conversation, and certainly this was self-evident proof that networking was indeed at work; certainly I saw no wallflowers.
Although by my being behind a camera it might appear that I am not partaking, this is very far from the truth, my eyes and ears are wide open, and I am not totally passive in the conversations; I do get involved, but because I use no flash in these situations, I am not interrupting and do participate, and on this occasion I got involved in several chats with some very interesting people with whom I would very much like to work. One of my measures of whether I am succeeding in making meaningful contacts is in the handing out of business cards, and as in the past the fact that my cards actually feature my face becomes a topic discussing the merits of ensuring that my card is an aide-memoire as to what was being discussed when the card was handed over.
The presentation from Jonas was both informative and enlightening, and his enthusiastic flourish when clicking the next item in his show was a sheer delight; the movements were so expressive, he might have been using a squash racquet to perform a winning smash in the game, it was as if his clicker were only activated after achieving three or four G – it certainly ensured that his points were made with gusto!
The talk was in part the telling of his personal story as he followed his dream and where he felt the immersive medium he was now evangelising was heading and why it should be taken seriously, as he felt it was the future, certainly it was obvious at the conclusion that Syd Nadeem felt it was a direction he believed in taking.
Afterwards a few of the attendees tried out some of Jonas’ ‘toys’ and watching those who took advantage of the opportunity it was something I decided was worth recording in its own right.
As in the past pizzas were brought in after the presentation, and I took the opportunity to lessen the picture taking and involve myself in what I felt was very worthwhile conversations regarding the type of work that I enjoyed, and most people I find expect me to offer a speciality, whereas the subjects I tackle a fairly far-reaching, but when asked do I do Weddings, my lightning fast response brought immediate laughter and much sarcasm as to how much hesitation was involved in my negative reply! It is because I enjoy recording reality, telling a story, and finding beauty in say the curves of a piece of architecture, or a series of images that explain how a process flows, and unless I was watching a play, I do not want to be putting people into poses or specific groups – natural interaction is what I enjoy seeking and recording.
I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and meeting new people, and I hope the gallery will capture the other participants gaining equal enjoyment from the meeting.
No comments:
Post a Comment