PHOTOGRAPHY ABROAD

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 870, 14 January 1930, Page 10

PHOTOGRAPHY ABROAD

MR. H. J. SCHMIDT RETURNS FROM EUROPE IMPRESSION OF TOUR After ten months spent In England and on the Continent, duriiui which time he naturally interested himself largely in the photographic work being done overseas, Mr. H. J. Schmidt, the well-known grapher. returned to New Ze». land firmly convinced that the portrait work of the English photographic artists leads the world. Mr. H. J. Schmidt, accompanied bv Mrs. Schmidt and the Misses Muriel and Ruth Schmidt, returned to Aucii. land on the Marama this morning after a very interesting tour, which took i» Holland. Germany, Switzerland, Attstria. Italy. France and Belgium. Mr. Schmidt was very interested in the photographic exhibitions at the Ixmdon and Paris salons, but what impressed him most was the exhibition conducted by the British Professional Photographers' Association. The portrait work, he said, was of a very high standard. For exhibition purposes retouching was forbidden, and any sign of retouching would immediately disqualify an entry. This was an attempt on the part of the association to en-

courage true portraiture, and although it was impossible to prevent retouching irt business the photographers strictly kept it away from their exhibitions. Among the leading photographic artists he met were Marcus Adams, R. Speaight, A. Basil, Bertram Parks, Reginald Staines and S. Watson, of Edinburgh. While in London Mr. Schmidt attended the thirteenth Rotary Conference. He said it was quite unnecessary to stress the warm welcome visitors received. The spirit of service was everywhere apparent, and one could not help but be impressed with the living force of the movement. Two of the principal speakers were Mrs. Philip Snowden and Canon Thompson Elliott. Mrs. Snowden was a remarkably brilliant .orator, and easily the most outstanding speaker there. Although he could only regard the politics of England as rather from a distance, he gained the impression that the British Cabinet contained some very capable men, the most outstanding being Mr. Philip Snowden. Both Mr. MacDonald and the Chancellor were doing great work and caruing the praise of the Press and the great British public. The work of Mr. Arthur Henderson, the Foreign Minister, still remained in the balance pending the result of his experimental treaty with the Soviet. Despite the efforts of a Labour Government, however, unemployment, appeared to be even worse than when it took office. There was a general realisation that the question was much deeper than that of merely finding superficial aid. He was very pleased to find in England that New Zealand stood highest among the other Dominions. New Zealand and New- Zealanders were regarded very highly, said Mr. Schmidt, and it was only necessary to mention that you were a New Zealander to receive the friendliest of welcomes wherever you went.