Film & Photography Society goes scavenging
32 participants, 4 universities, 19 themes, 1 winner.
On 21st November 2009, the Film and Photography Society of the University of Portsmouth (UoP) pioneered the first event of its kind in: The Southern Photographic Scavenger Hunt. This event was fully organized by the University of Portsmouth Film and Photography Society and was the brainchild of Adam Parkes, the President.
This event included photography societies from the southern region in the UK. The participating photography societies were from University College London (UCL), University of the West of England (UWE), Bournemouth University and the University of Portsmouth. For those who are new to the field of photography; a photographic scavenger hunt is a fun-based team event which enables enthusiastic photographers, regardless of ability, to travel around in a certain location to capture interesting photographs based on a list of themes. This team-building event develops collaborative efforts and the sharing of photography knowledge between the participants.
The two day event was held in London from 21st November 2009 to 22nd November 2009. The first day of the event focused on the Photographic Scavenger Hunt while the second day was reserved for University of Portsmouth students.
The participants from UoP left Portsmouth at 8am on Saturday morning. Upon arrival, participants were divided into teams of five with a selection of members from different universities. The division of groups and the coordination of the event were entirely handled by Adam.
Each group was well-balanced with students from different ethnic backgrounds and ability in photography. Therefore making photography more of a social experience as the students were given the opportunity to meet new people and share new ideas and creativity. Prior to the event, a list of themes were created by participating university society presidents. These themes had to be captured on the first day and could be interpreted in any way the participants chose to do so. The winner of the Scavenger Hunt is yet to be announced. There were nineteen themes including; Transport, Passing By, Cold, Human Connection and an open theme.
The primary aim of the event was to provide a platform for enthusiastic photographers to exchange ideas and viewpoints, develop new skills and share resources. The event was indeed a success as participants were able to build new networks and learn new things in a short period of time. As Gary Way, the Vice President, puts it:“the event was a huge success and we managed to meet a lot of new people”. In addition, Jonathan Edwards, the Treasurer, also stated that, “’I would like to see the collaboration between photographic societies emulated by other groups at our university.”
Both Gary and John added that another event similar to this will be organized in the near future (February 2010) and people who are interested, regardless of photography skills, are encouraged to join as it is very exciting.
For more information please contact Adam Parkes of the University of Portsmouth Film & Photographic Society: president@filmandphoto.org
