I thought I would give you all an update for the plans for this year’s Portfolio projects. There is no doubt that last year was a great success with 17 members finalising their portfolios (and several more that I know wished they had joined in). If you want to have a look at last year’s results, the final portfolio master images and artist statements can be viewed in our Portfolios 2022 gallery.

So what is planned for 2023…

Firstly, ‘What’s good about a portfolio’?

• Portfolios are a private collection of work based around something you are passionate about. The theme, or topic, has to be something you are interested in. This might be a topic, a technique, a new skill, a documentary or following an event in your community.
• This is non-competitive so there are no winners, just the best work you can do at the skill level you are at.
• By sharing your portfolio journey you can get support, advice, education, tips and praise from other members of the club
• and… if all goes well, you get a nice certificate of achievement at our end of year dinner.

This year we will relax a few rules and expand some opportunities.

Some things stay the same… you will need to come up with a theme that you will base your portfolio on, and start collecting images that tell the story you want to share. You will need to take a number of images (between 10-25) that sit within your theme and you will still need to write some form of artist statement.

And some things will be different… How you present your portfolio is only limited by the capacity of your imagination and creativity – think photobook, poster, printed on wood, as an AV, written as a story, put to music, as a jigsaw… the creative possibilities are endless. If you just want to make a master image – that’s fine too!

Our first get together will be in April (I will be away for most of March) and will be an in-person session at our usual venue. The date is to be confirmed. We will look at last year’s portfolios, discuss what was good/difficult, what worked and what did not, and I will share the process and rules for this year’s activity.

For now, get your thinking caps on, and start to think about what you might use as your theme and envision what the end result might be. Try not to leave everything to the last minute but start with a plan, and work on this throughout the year.

I’ll see you all in our group meeting in April. If you have any questions or concerns just ask.

Congratulations to everyone who joined in the Portfolio project for 2022. As mentioned at the awards night, the outcomes of this project far exceeded any of my expectations, and the result is 17 outstanding portfolios. I have enjoyed watching the development of ideas, the sharing of images and statements, and final results are something to be proud of.

Thank you to the committee for embracing something ‘different’.

Here is the list of members who were successful in achieving a 2022 Portfolio Distinction:

• Kerry McFarlane – 8 seconds to Supremacy
• John Noble – Brown Boobys
• Rebecca Kashyap – The Heya
• Geoff Shaw – Life, close-up
• Colleen Singleton – The Charming Seagull
• Vicki Moritz – Coastal Impressions
• Jill Anderson – Emma
• Jenny Adams – Present and Past
• Jenny Hartman – Kimonos
• Jill Shaw – Faces of birds
• Tim Keane – Bunjil Place
• Helen Warnod – Men of Northern Ethiopia
• Lyndel Holt – Magnolias in Spring
• Daryl Lynch – Jess’ Night Moods
• John Crawford – Cultural Window of Passers-by
• Alan Bennett – Flight, Contour and Down
• Jen Fawkes – Empty Melbourne