Meeting the Man

Guest report by Roger Bradbury; photos by John Cross

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I’m Roger Bradbury, from Milton Keynes in England. I volunteered to organise a get-together for TOP readers to meet Ctein while he was on holiday in London. Ten of us met Ctein and his partner Paula on a sunny May Saturday afternoon at the Photographer’s Gallery Cafe, just off Oxford Street.

I’d made a table sign with ‘Ctein’ written upon it in big red letters to distinguish us from all the other photographers there and when our man had arrived a bit before our 2:30 start time, there was already a crowd waiting for him.

I think that everyone who had emailed me to say that they were coming was there, plus one chap who read about it and just turned up. I made him welcome. We happily chatted about Photography. Some of us brought our own work and passed it round. I had brought to show a 1962 Ilford Sportsman given to me by a relative, and we explained to Ctein the hire purchase agreement that was still with it.

L. to R.: Paul Parkinson, Ctein, Paula (partially hidden behind Ctein), [unidentified], Vid Stojevic, Chris -----, Steve Jacob, Mike Farley, Roger Bradbury

We all stood up to look at the pictures that Ctein had brought to show, many of which we had already seen online. But as has been said here before on TOP, there’s a big difference between looking at a JPEG on a screen, and looking at a print. He had also brought some of his dye transfer prints to show us. He had a lot to say about various aspects of photography and printing, and I tried to remember it all.

Paul Parkinson, Ctein, and Paula

It all went very well, and the meeting broke up at about 5:30, when Ctein and Paula had to leave to catch a train.

A few of us went for a pint afterwards. We talked about meeting up again in London, perhaps to see exhibitions. I went home a contented man.

Roger

©2016 by Roger Bradbury and John Cross, all rights reserved

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Chris: "I very much enjoyed that story, and I'm now kicking myself for not going (although we are 100 miles outside London). I would have loved to see those prints up close and personal, and to hear what the printer has to say about them!

"One thing that would have slightly increased my enjoyment would have been some photo captions that identified the people in the images (other than Ctein, of course). Is that me just being nosy?"

Mike replies: If people will please identify themselves, I'll add the info as captions to the pictures.

Jed Soane: "If I ever open a pub it's going to be called The Dodge & Burn."

SeanG: "For me, these get-togethers are a significant part of photography. I've had the pleasure/fortune of meeting and chatting with Ctein, and other fans/enthusiasts, at the Minneapolis Photo Center and I can't express how pleasurable it is to be in the company of such pleasant, curious and knowledgeable people. Thanks for the story. Cheers!"

Paul Parkinson: "That'll be me in the Dodge and Burn t-shirt! I, too, thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and wished I could have stayed longer. A memorable afternoon for sure. As to where you get it—try here."

Comments

[Dennis]

Apparently, Ctein didn'tknow about the monochrome dress code ;)

Looks like a very worthwhile get together !

[Chris]

I very much enjoyed that story, and I'm now kicking myself for not going (although we are 100 miles outside London). I would have loved to see those prints up close and personal, and to hear what the printer has to say about them! One thing that would have slightly increased my enjoyment would have been some photo captions that identified the people in the images (other than Ctein, of course). Is that me just being nosy?

[John Camp]

Like that Dodge and Burn tee-shirt.

[Ben Rosengart]

It'd be great to do one of these right here in the Bay Area.

[Ed Hawco]

I want that "Dodge & Burn" T-shirt!

[Nigel]

Cool jacket.

[Mike Farley]

In the second image, I am second from right with my hands held up and my face obscured. Like a lot of photographers, I am not particularly keen on having my picture taken, so that suits me just fine.

I have written a couple of articles about the meeting for my own blog. The first is a description of the meeting - http://lightintotheshadows.proimageblogs.com/meeting-ctein/. I added a further post about what I could remember of what Ctein said - http://lightintotheshadows.proimageblogs.com/cteins-observations/.

Hopefully I have got all the facts right, but I am happy to update either post with any corrections needed. Simply leave a comment and I'll do the rest.

[David L.]

I visited the Photographers Gallery off Oxford Street on a June day in 2010. Such a nice place to appreciate photographic prints.

[Darlene]

What a neat little meet-up! Wish I could have been there.

[Tim Bradshaw]

A London TOP ('The Offline Photographers') branch would be interesting.

[Mike, could you pass my details to Roger as someone who would be interested in such?]

[Steve Jacob]

It was indeed a very enjoyable and informative encounter. Thanks to Roger for organising a perfect venue, and to Ctein and Paula for giving up some of their vacation to talk to us and show us some prints. As usual I learned a lot and only remembered some of it.

Also very impressed by some of the work presented by other attendees. I think Ctein will be going home with a nice collection of signed prints...

For the record, I'm the contemplative looking chap opposite Ctein staring at one of his dye transfer prints.

[John Leathwick]

"If I ever open a pub it's going to be called The Dodge & Burn."

As long as it doesn't turn into 'The Crash and Burn"

[adamct]

Jed Soane: "If I ever open a pub it's going to be called The Dodge & Burn."

I find that absolutely hilarious. It's so spot-on, it almost feels impossible to believe there isn't a pub that is already named that...

[Robert Waddingham]

As an attendee (albeit one that managed to stay out of the way of the cameras...) I would like to say a big thank-you to Ctein and Paula for taking time out of a busy trip to come and meet with us TOP readers. Wonderful experience to see such a number of high quality prints 'in the flesh'. Equal thanks must go to Roger for his smooth co-ordination of a very enjoyable afternoon.

[ctein]

Dear Ben,

I'd be entirely fine with a Bay Area meet-up. Someone (else!) just has to organize it.

pax / Ctein

[Roger Bradbury]

My first reaction to the middle photo was, "I didn't realise my belly stuck out that much! Gotta lose more weight!"