From time to time, the group is set a challenge and the photographer is required to produce a set of photographs that demonstrates their perception of the task.

Fran by Mel from the portrait challenge

Past Challenges

• Portrait challenge - this iteration of this challenge to be assigned in pairs to take photos of one another
• Create a triptych
• Curation challenge
• Photo+Poem
• Negative Space - take photos that focus on the negative space - see here
• Travel - see here
• Making Strange - take photos in response to the theme - see here for examples and explanation
• Urban Interventions - we set this as a theme and challenge before lockdown but lockdown ended up with us noticing interventions everywhere. There are three posts about that idea urban interventions 1 life during lockdown, 2 clap for carers, and 3 colonialism, street art and earthquakes.
• Abstracts - take abstract photos - see here for some examples
• Zine - the challenge is to produce a zine. Varu=ious group members have risen to the challenge - see here, here, and here.
• Oblique Strategies - photos taken in response to a randomly drawn oblique strategy card from a deck of cards designed by Brian Eno. The explanation is here and results here.
• TAG - this ended up being an exhibition but was also a game and challenge. Each photographer takes an image in response to a ohoto taken by the previous photographer - like a game of tag.
• Portraits - as below names drawn at random and group members paired up to produce a portrait of each other - see here for results
• Suburbia - people were given letters of the alphabet to shoot images based on the theme of suburbia - the resulting A-Z is here.
• Portrait Challenge 1 - names were drawn at random and members were then asked to shoot a portrait of the member they drew.
• A few of us went to the Tate Modern to visit How It Is by Balka, an art installation that is a cavern of darkness. How do you film darkness was the callenge? See Ray's Into the void | Out of the void and Jonny's flickr set
• Trafalgar Square Challenge 08. Ealing extended an invitation to the Queens Park, Enfield, Greenwich, Shoreditch groups to join them for their first photo challenge of 2008. The challenge was to transpose a poem by William Henry Davies and produce a panel of 3 photographs depecting their individual perception of it.
• Bermondsey Challenge 07. The group had to contemplate a Louis Sullivan quote and produce a panel of 3, 5 or 7 architectural photographs, each one having a link with the other.
• Garcin Challenge 09. A few of us were inspired by an exhibition by Gilbert Garcin. He took up photography aged 65 when he retired! His approach is to take self portraits, cut them out literally and create scenes that are often comical or absurd with him in them in which he explores the human condition. The challenge was to create a Garcin-esque photo. We created a group on flickr that anyone else can add their attempt to. If you are interested download this pdf take up the challenge.