EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 3770, 19 June 1899, Page 7

EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS.

WELLINGTON CAMERA CLUB

LIST OF PRIZE-WINNERS

The intercolonial exhibition or photographs under the auspices of the WeiFington Camera Club will be opened by the Mayor (Mr J. R. Blair) this afternoon in the Art Gallery. There are over GOO pictures on view. inch Ming photographs from New South Wales, Victoria. South Australia and Queensland. in addition to the numerous pictures from other parts of N-v Zealand which supplement the splendid displav made by the club lidding rim show. With so much work put, tor ward for their verdict, it is not surprising that the judges—Mr Charles Y. Fell (Ne 1 - son). Dr King, ton Fyffe and M-- Malcolm Ross—spent the greater part oi three days in coming to their derisions, which are as follows ; WINNING PICTURES.

The judges have awarded the honour of the best picture in the exhibition to “The Smithy,” by J. A. Heginbotham, Wellington. . Class A, landscapes.—First prize £2 2s second £1 Is, third rOs ; “Tods tire knell of parting day. . . . and leaves the world to darkness,” Thomas Pringle Wellington, 1; “Fishermens Huts, Inland Bay,” Alice Brus'witz, Nelson, 2; “Illawarra,” J. S. Sterling, nov, 3; “Autumn,” Agnes E. Miaw, Wellington, h.c.; “Drifting Storm Clouds,” S. George Watson, Weton h.c.; “Bush Scene,” H. Biusewitz, Nelson, h.c.; “A Summer MornThos. Pringle, Wellington, h.c. ; “Reflection,” S. George Watson, Wellington, h.c. ; “Sunset on the Marshes,' Frank J. Denton, Wellington, h.c.; “The Meadow Stream,” J. A. Heginbotham, Wellington, h.c.; “Solitude,” J. A. Heginbotham, W r ellington, h.c.; “ Jamborro Creek, South Coast, N.S.W.” John R. Yorke, Sydney, h.c.; “A sleep land where under the same wheel tho same old rut would deepen year by year,” A. Morel Macdonald, Invercargill, h.c.; “E’en Shades, ’ J. S. Stening, Darlinghurst, N.S.W., h.c. Class B. seascapes. —First prize £2 2s, second £1 Is, third 10s 6d : "Closehauled,” Thos. Pringle, Wellington, 1; “While Daylight Lingers,” A. Morel Macdonald, Invercargill. 2; “Becalmed,” Thos. Pringle, Wellington, 3; “South Coast,” J. S. Stening, Darlinghurst, N.S.W., h.c.; “Seascape, Bondi, N.5.W.,” John R. Yorke, Sydney, h.c.; “After the Storm,” A. C. Gifford, Wellington, h.c. ; “Leaving Port,” T. de C. Lewis, Sydney.

Class C, portraiture.—First prize £2 2s, second £1 Is, third 10s 6d: “Kundez (‘Parsifal’),” Thomas Pringle, Wellington, 1; “Peering into the Dark Past (Baron Mollwo),” M. Buckley Joyce, Wellington, 2; “Time’s Impress,” Frank J. Denton, Wellington, 3; “A Study of a Fisherman’s Head,” S. George Watson, Wellington, h. 0.; “Elizabeth (‘Tannhauser’),” Thomas Pringle, Wellington, h.c.; two portraits by A. C. Gilford, Wellington, h.c. Class D, genre.—First prize £2 2s, second £1 Is, third 10s 6d: “The Smithy,” J. A. Heginbotham, Wellington 1; “The Wood Carver,” H. Brusewitz, Nelson, 2; “Toilers of the Field,” J. A. Heginbotham, Wellington, h.c.; “At Play,” J. A. Heginbotham, WeiImgton, h.c. j “On the bands, J. A. Heginbotham, Wellington, h.c. : and “You to Play,” Thos. Pringle, Wellington. A special prize has been awarded for “The Laundress,” F. A. Joyner, Adelaide. Class 'E, animals.—First prize £1 Is, second 10s 6d, third 10s 6d: ctomg to the Sheep Fair,” S. George Watson, Wellington, 1; “Qui Vive,” Thos. Pringle, Wellington, 2; “Chums,- Thos. Pringle, "Whllington, 3; “Shady lastures,” Thos. Pringle, 'Wellington, h.c.; “Hesitation,” J.A. Heginbotham, Wellington; and “Sheep,” G. F. Green, Napier. ■ ■ . • . . , Class F, still life.—First prize £1 Is second 10a 6d, third 10s 6d; Dead Rabbits on Oak Panel,” O. B. Cosle., South Melbourne, 1; “Roses, Margaret Shaw, Wellington, 2; “Maman 1 chet Rose,” J. H. Copeland, - e - Class G, hand camera work i'-- - - on one mount).—First prize £1 Is. cond 10s 6d, tliird 10s 6d; G. F. Greefi, Napier, 1; Trenwith, Auckland, 2; A. C. Gifford, Wellington, 3. Class H, lantern slides (a series of not less than twelve slides with a descriptive leoturette connecting the set). —First prize £1 ds, second 10s 6d, third 10s 6d: S. George Watson, 1. In the opinion of the judges the other entries in this class were not of sufficient merit to warrant further prizes being given. Class I, any subject (limited to workers under seventeen years of age on June Ist, 1899).—First prize £1 Is, second 10s 6d, third 10s 6d: “Twilight and Evening Shade,” Fred Jenness, Hurt (Wellington College Camera Club) 1; “The Country Parson,” Fred Jenness, 2; “When Evening Shadows Fall,” Fred Jenness, 3; “Sunset and Evening Glow,” Fred Jenness, h.c. As a specimen of instantaneous work “The Sand Artist,” EnosS.- Pegler, Onehunga, was highly commended by the judges. In the competitive classes there are entered 122 landscapes, 58 seascapes, 43 portraits, 44 genre pictures, 20 pictures of animals, 9 of still life, 13 frames of hand camera work, 4 collections of lantern slides, 46 miscellaneous pictures by junior workers and 235 pictures forwarded for exhibition only. Among the latter are many that will repay study. Although some of them have been seen before, others are new, not only in point of time, but also in method. The large number of entries at once suggests the question, How can so many pictures be exhibited to advantage in the space available? And it must be confessed that the question goes to the weakness —it might almost be said the only weakness —of the exhibition. The walls are so crowded that justice is not done to some of the more notable pictures. In future years, no doubt, the club will he strong enough to make a selection of the work tendered for exhibition. When that comes to pass, the accentance and hanging of a picture by the club will be equivalent to a recognition that, it has merit. In saying this, it is not so much meant that there are matures in the exhibition to be opened 10-day that arc without merit, as that some of the pictures, however excellent they may be from an ordinary standpoint, are not up to exhibition standard. In exhibition work, photographers and the general public alike look for something that bears the stamp of original thought and technical progress as well as of good workmanship. And in the winning pictures and in many others in this really excellent exhibition these essentials are to bs found.

The judges, as was their duty, hare looked at the work submitted to them from the art point of view, whilst not forgetting other considerations. Glancing through their awards, the first tiling that strikes one is the triumph of the carbon pictures, in which the exhibition is so strong. Next, it is noticed that the Wellington Camera Club wins fourteen out of the twenty-two principal prizes, surely a splendid achievement in the face of such competition. Detailed references must be confined, for the present, at any rate, to the pictures which have gained honours. Landscapes make probably the strongest class in all respects, and here the

first prize goes to an evening scene by Mr Pringle, who. by the way, leads in three of the principal classes. lolls the knell of parting day and leaves the world to darkness” is the P o * ™, given to his winning landscape, which is at once simple and broadly ' , Tall, dead tree trunks and the bro *en line of a low ridge make soft silhouettes against the glow which is dying away m the''horizon. and the gathering clouds above and the reeds in the foreground assist wonderfully in the composition Mrs Brusewitz (Nelson) gets second prize ■ with a view of the fishermens huts a. Island Bay. There is something of flatness about parts of tie picture vlnch is, however, more than redeemed by the excellence of its detail and composition. “Illawarra,” a platmotype by Mr feten ing (Svdncy) takes the third prize. shows a boulder-strewn creek m South Coast district of New 1 Wales, with cattle grazing among nW> grass on the sloping banks. It is not a large picture but probably it is unexcelled in its class for its atmosphere, which is lovclv. The three winning seascapes are entirely distinct in character. Mr Pringle has a picture of the M aitangi coming on close hauled under cruising canvas. There is a slight swell in the sea, but the surface of the water is unbroken save at the yacht’s bows. Thei unity of the picture is its charm. "M bile Daylight Lingers,” bv Mr Macdonald (Invercaigill) is a calm harbour scene. Not tar from the shore, on which a ripple marks the water’s edge, is a boat, motionless on the dimly gleaming tide. A lad, the single occupant of the craft, stands with Ins head inclined; and the stern oar is idle. The suggestion of “The Angelas is almost inevitable, but this does not detn from the beauty of the photograph. “Becalmed,” by Mr Pringle, receives the third prize. It represents a barciue which has made the land, but lost thobreJze Taken from astern the foreshortening of tie hull is excellent; and the cordafe and canvas showing against and through the square sai , increases the effect of a piCL, ure 'vbn sh s both novel and admirable in snJ 1 ! execution. The portraiture class is bound fo pl'o. e of special interest to visitors. Mr Pringle scores again with a head to which he gives the name “Kundez, ’ a character in the opera of “Parsifal.” Everything is made subservient to the thoughtful face, and the result is a really fine imaginative study. With “Peering into the Dark Past,” Mr Joyce wins the second prize. Although scarcely fitted by the title, yet as an artistic portrait of the old Russian exile the picture ranks high. The third prize picture, “Time’s Impress,” by Mr Denton, another portrait of an old man, is unenlarged, but it is a piece of work with which it would be difficult to find fault. The genre class boasts possession of “the picture of the exhibition” in “The Smithy,” an interior by Mr Heginbotham (Kilbirnie). All photographers must share the enthusiasm with which the judges regarded this remarkably successful photograph. “The Wood Carver,” by Mr Brusewitz (Nelson), placed second in order, shows an elderly man at work at his bench; and one is inclined to forgive the all too glaring high lights in extending praise to the faithfulness with which the worker, deeply engrossed in the design before him, is pourtrayed. “The Laundress,” by F. A. Joyner, Adelaide, gains a special prize. It depicts a lady who is wearing an ample bonnet, not unlike those worn by some religious sisterhoods, standing at a wringer. Had the picture been narrowed it would have been improved, but even as it stands it is very charming. In the animal class there is marked unevenness. Mr Watson’s “Going to the Sheep Fair,” marked first prize, shows a flock travelling along a hedge-bounded country road. The sheep have come to a sudden stop, as sheep will on almost any provocation,and they have their heads up and their eyes fixed on the object ahead. The merit of the little picture lies in its naturalness. Another small photograph of sheep by G. F. Green (Napier), has deservedly beeii’ highly commended. There is marvellous detail in the. “Pair of Babbits hanging on an. oak panel,” which wins the first prize in the still life class. “Roses,” by Miss Margaret Shaw, is an artistic flower study. In the class for workers under the age of seventeen, Fred Jenness (Hutt) ••takes all three prizes; his evening „ies are wonderfully good, and so is -ortrait, “The Country Parson.” The exhibited in this class, the majority n -Vic.j comes from members of the Wellinrion .College Camera Club, reflected tluTthoroughness of the instruction given in photography at the College by Mr A. C. Gifford. This is especially marked in the work of the winner, his exhibits comparing very favourably with a great deal of that exhibited in the senior divisions. In addition to the workers already mentioned, Mr Gifford must be mentioned as a valued contributor, several of whose - exhibits have earned the commendation of the judges. And in conclusion attention must again be directed to the “exhibition only” pictures, which include notable photographs, of which “The Matterhorn,” by the late Mr Donkin, A.C. (lent by Mr Malcolm-Ross) may be instanced. The exhibition should be numerously attended, for it is calculated to instruct and please all by whom it is visited.