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u3a Eye

Get involved in u3a Eye

We are running a rolling photography project to encourage members to take and submit pictures of their surroundings. We post a different theme every two months and invite you to submit your photo on that topic.

This is not a competition and it is not only about your photographic skill – we are looking for any interesting photos and interpretations of the theme. Anything which has captured your imagination or caught your eye.

At the end of every deadline, we will choose and publish up to 15 photos in the online gallery below.

Please only submit one photo per person, per theme. Your photo should also not include any people.

This time, we are looking for your best and most interesting photos on the theme of 'Unfolding'.

Judges pick based not only on the quality of the image but also on the interpretation of the theme.

We are now opening each theme for submissions for two months.

Deadline for submissions: 12 midday on Thursday 22 May 2025.

To help you plan ahead, the theme for June and July is 'Fresh'.

February and March's Gallery - Cutting Edge

Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to submit a photo between Febrary and March 2025 on the theme of 'Cutting Edge'. We hope you enjoy the chosen photos.

Close up photo of a knife and fork

Silverware

My Mum wouldn't have ever let us place cutlery in this position and it didn't feel right doing this for the photograph!!

Jackie
Ems Valley u3a

Photo of a vintage train

Sir Nigel Gresley

This locomotive was named after its designer Sir Nigel Gresley. He was one of the leading designers of steam locomotives in the 1920's and 1930's. This class, his A4 Pacifics, were built in the mid 1930's and were at the forefront of steam locomotive technology. On July 3rd 1938 a sister locomotive 'Mallard' set a new world record for a steam locomotive of 126 mph. This record has never been broken. These locomotives really were cutting edge.

Noel
Mawdesey Villages u3a

Photo of leaf cutter ants

Leaf Cutters in Action

There is a fascinating colony of leaf cutter ants in Stratford Butterfly Farm. Having neatly cut out a large portion of honeysuckle leaf, this ant is heading back to the colony.

Susan
Balsall Common u3a

A photo of the components of the colossus computer

The Ultimate Cutting Edge Programmable Computer

This is image shows some of the inside components of the Colossus Computer, at Bletchley Park. It is the replica of the original machines that designed and built by the GPO. They used familiar and available components, like relays and thermionic valves. The machines were built between 1943 and 1945, and were all dismantled by 1960 and were kept secret until the mid 1970's. GCHQ have even only released new photographs as recently as 2024. The work of Colossus at Bletchley was to decipher intercepted German encrypted messages.

Alan
Interest Groups Online

Photo of pepper being cut with a cleaver

Pepper Cut

The photo was taken remotely by myself with the camera on a tripod using a trigger. The two halves of the pepper were suspended by fishing line and the cleaver placed between the two halves. The "seeds" were tossed into shot by my wife and the photo taken. The seeds were the only moving objects within the photograph!

Pete
Ware u3a

Photo of colourful scissors which have cut out the word edge

Cutting Edge

We loved this colourful and unique interpretation of the theme. If you look closely you can see that each of the scissors has a different cutting pattern.

Joy
Mawdesley u3a

Photo of a plastic knife taken under polarised light

Real Cutting Edge

This is a photoelasticity image of the serrations on the blade of a plastic knife, taken in linear polarized light behind the subject, and with a circular polarizing filter on the camera lens. The result shows the stresses within the plastic. This is real “Cutting Edge” photography. If you haven’t tried it yet, it is easy, and great fun to do.

Robert
Norton Radstock u3a

Photo of a saw blade against the sky

Saw tooth

Up close, the cutting edge of a rip-saw looks particularly vicious.

Alan
Leigh Estuary u3a

Photograph of a scalpel being used to engrave a fingernail

Newly Cut Nails

Having my nails done.

Alisoun
Market Harborough u3a

Photo of harvested rice and a blade

Rice Harvest

This tool is used to cut rice on the terraces of Banaue in the Philippines. All planting and harvesting has to be done by hand here, just as people have done for generations, as using machinery would be impossible on these steep hillsides.

Sarah
Ealing u3a

Photo of a striated boulter

Mystery Boulder Stone

I spotted this large boulder stone at low tide within the harbour entrance at Runswick Bay on the North Yorkshire coast. The deeply cut straight lines on the face of the stone are uniform in depth but random in pattern. This left me with a puzzle as to how they were cut. Were they created by the force of the sea & tide rising and ebbing within the harbour? Or were they cut into the rock by sea craft tripping in & out of the harbour? Finally I settled on the the lines being cut by a tool when the stone was quarried, although I haven't seen this type of tooling marks previously.

Richard
Interest groups Online

Photo of very small figures walking on a knife

Walking on a Knife Edge

Came up with this one when I was thinking of sayings with Edge in it. I had great fun trying to stand up these tiny 'Railway modelling ' figures, a glue stick came in handy in the end. My U3a Photography group also ran the Theme of Edge and this seems to have gone down well in the group.

Christopher
Caterham and District u3a

Photo of pinking shears casting a sinister shadow

Pinking Crocodile

The cutting edge casts a great crocodile shadow. I do hope this makes the final CUT.

Chris
Teignmouth and District u3a

Photo of the heads of three pink razors

Twin Blade Razors

I was interested in the way the blades reflected the light of a small torch placed in front. The double edge safety razor must have been a 'cutting edge' innovation when patented in 1904.

Angela
Harborough and Welland u3a

Photo of a circular saw blade

See Saw!

Blade of 12inch die electric bench saw. Machines was the title of a recent Ruddington and District u3a photography group meeting. We loved the optical illusion here - the saw blade looks like a strange coastline.

Peter
Ruddington and District u3a

View our judges' selections from previous themes:

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