THURSDAY 7th JANUARY 2021
ALEKS GJIKA DPAGB, EFIAP – In search of the ‘Je ne sais quoi’
Because of the restrictions still being imposed on us we were delighted that Aleks Gjika DPAGB EFIAP was more than happy to give his talk – In search on the ‘Je ne sais quoi’ – over Zoom.
He began the evening by giving us an insight into his background and although he now resides in Gloucester, he originates from Albania. Apart from his passion for photography, he also speaks several languages and has an Open University Degree in psychology.
Aleks explained that his interest in photography began around 2004 whilst working at Gloucester Museum and he became even more motivated after gaining good results in competitions within Cheltenham Camera Club, he has since done very well in national and international competitions culminating in winning the “My View” category of Landscape Photographer of the year in 2020.
The evening was split into three sections and he ‘kicked off’ with a selection of photographs taken just a couple of years ago whilst on a visit to Albania. As each image was shown Aleks told the story of the shot and explained the culture, nature and geography of his beloved homeland. The ‘je ne sais quoi’ he found in most of these images were the smiles and connection between eyes and mouth of the characterful faces of the locals in the images.
Gloucestershire, his adopted county, was the next set of images he shared with us. He told how he has fallen in love with this area and how different the light, seasons and skies are in this part of the world compared to where he grew up. His photographs took us all over this beautiful region, springtime bluebell walks accompanied stunning images of wet woodlands in Autumn and the landscape views of The Slaughters and from Coaley Peak, accompanied the intimate images taken down by The River Severn on freezing Winter mornings.
To conclude his presentation Aleks talked us through his competition winning photographs. Each of these sensational images had ‘mood and drama’ attached to them and with each one he had managed to create a ‘work of art’.