The Dove Valley Arts Society presents a lecture by Brian Stater on "photography as art".

John Ruskin, leading critic and aesthete,  wrote in the 1850s that ‘Photography could never be Art ‘. This lecture traces the struggle to overturn that view, beginning with the Pictorialist School of Victorian photographers and closing with the most recent emergence of photographic art inspired by digital technology.  Also we examine the contested virtues of colour images and the present revival of old-fashioned film cameras.We are very pleased to welcome back Brian Stater, who lectured at University College London for 25 years, retiring in 2021 as a Senior Teaching Fellow. His principal academic interest lay in the appreciation of architecture and he has a lifelong enthusiasm for photography, exhibiting most recently at the Royal Academy Summer show in 2025.

There is a £5 entry charge for non-members.

This is one of a series of events - please be aware that if you attend more than one event then you will be asked to become a member.