Page 6 - Cape-Camera-June-2022

June 2022 Cape Camera

his career, he was also known for mentoring and assisting as-
piring photographers and celebrated for imparting his acute
technical knowledge and artistic advice with great generosity.
All CTPS members are invited to view the exhibition.

The Eternal Scholar
In 1978, he was awarded an Associateship of the Photographic
Society of South Africa (APSSA) in monochrome prints and a Fel-
lowship of the Photographic Society of South Africa (FPSSA) in
1984, an honour bestowed on very few other photographers at
the time. Accolades and awards soon followed, including a gold
medal from The Photographic Society of America for The Eter- The Face of Adversity
nal Scholar in which Arnold dramatically transformed a work-
ing class, glass-grinding craftsman into a scholarly Rabbi. With
a number of extraordinary works in his growing repertoire, he
co-produced two exhibitions with his dear friend and mentor
Roy Millington at The Shell Gallery, opened by the then Mayor
of Cape Town, Solly Kreiner.
Throughout his career he constantly sought out new mate-
rial and techniques and submitted countless prints to Salons in
South Africa and abroad. He also served as a respected judge on
many photographic panels. For a man for whom photography
was merely a ‘hobby’, he achieved an extraordinary level of ac-
claim amongst his peers, whilst remaining extremely humble.
He only ventured into colour photography when digital pho-
tography became the norm. By then, he was well into his 70’s,
yet was committed to learning an entirely new skill set. His
Hasselblads and Leicas were replaced with digital SLRs and the
darkroom was replaced by a computer loaded with Photoshop
and Paintshop Pro. With the help of his friends and technical
whizzes Paul Meusberger and Michael Groenewald, he im-
mersed himself in the world of digital editing and manipulation,
shifting genres to his other passion - landscape photography.
Until his passing at 87, Arnold continued to develop his craft,
producing award-winning photographs captured on field trips Mavis
throughout South Africa and on his global travels. Throughout

All photos by Arnold Castle
All photographs are included in the upcoming exhibition.

5 Cape Town Photographic Society