Blue Planet cameraman at Winchester Photographic Society celebrations

Winchester Photographic Society members, family and friends met for an early supper followed by a presentation by Doug Allan at Thornden Hall on Saturday, 18 November.

His talk ‘An Eye Below Zero’ focused on his activities both underwater and topside in cold, remote polar places.

Doug’s dive experience includes more than 5,000 hours underwater with more than 650 dives under ice photographing polar bears and humpback whales. 

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His work has won him eight Emmys, five BAFTAs and five Wildscreen Pandas and he has twice won the underwater category in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year. 

Doug interspersed anecdotes of how a garage break-in ended in a stolen Emmy with shots of icebergs crashing into the sea and advice on how to photograph polar bears underwater.

He closed with some thought-provoking words: “Every moment you spend in the company of a wild animal is a moment to be savoured.”

The society continues its centenary celebrations with lectures from some of the best photographers of this century. Timothy Allen will make his own presentation at The Arc on Tuesday March 12. Timothy specialises largely in travel photography. In 2009, the BBC commissioned him to work on the landmark series Human Planet.

In recent years the focus of his work has taken him to every corner of the globe, from 19,000 feet up in the Himalayas to 40 meters beneath the South China Seas. He has also engaged on projects within communities in the Artic, tropical rain forests and remote desert locations. 

Winchester Photographic Society meets every Tuesday at 7.30pm at The Arc.

For more details, contact membership@winphotosoc.uk or visit winphotosoc.uk.