October round-up: Pioneers of photography

October saw two talks about the pioneers of photography on and around Wandsworth Common.

The first focussed on the mid 19th century and included Geoffrey Bevington, who took a famous picture of the telescope that used to stand on the Scope.

The second focussed on Paul Martin and Harry Dorrett who worked together from a studio at 16, Bellevue Road. Martin pioneered the technique of ‘shapshots’, taken with a hidden camera, and images taken with very long exposures at night.

Meanwhile, Nick Rutter ran another early morning bird walk, this time to catch early incoming migrants such as the red wing. Nick is also a great photographer and his work will feature in his upcoming leaflet about the Birds of Wandsworth Common.