the Photographer - Issue Three 2022

The Magazine of the BIPP / 2022 / Issue Three

the PHOTOGRAPHER 2022 / Issue Three

AI Technology Reconstructing Reality How ‘text to image’ programmes could transform the creative landscape

BIPP Awards

National Print Competition Winners

Datacolor Christmas Promotion Save up to £100 on Datacolor products - the ideal Christmas present for the photographer in your life.

Datacolor has announced its Winter Christmas promotion, with savings of up to £100 across its product range. Included in the discounts is the brand-new Spyder Check Photo, as well as many customer favourites, such as the Spyder X Elite. Valid until 31/12/22. Shop the range now for the perfect gift this Christmas!

Find more at spyderx.datacolor.com/shop-products

ISSUE THREE, 2022

BIPP Awards 6 National Print Competition Winners BIPP Qualifications 26 We take a look at the latest qualifying panels from BIPP members Tech Proof Your Business 35 Peter Morgan breaks down the best tech solutions for elevating your business Humanity of War 38 Edward Matthews captures the impact of the Ukrainian conflict

the Photographer is published four times a year by the British Institute of Professional Photography, The Artistry House, 16 Winckley Square, Preston, Lancashire PR1 3JJ T: 01772 367968 E: admin@bipp.com W: www.bipp.com

CEO: Martin Baynes President: Jon Cohen

The Descendants 44 Exhibition from Ian Flanders ABIPP celebrating the heritage of descendants from the African diaspora in Liverpool Every Day is a School Day 36 Dr Paul Wilkinson breaks down the BIPP’s Qualification and Competition process AI Reconstructing Reality 54 How ‘text to image’ programmes could transform the creative landscape

Directors: ABIPP Monir Ali ABIPP Barrie Spence LBIPP Johanna Elizabeth (Chair) LBIPP Lucy Newson ABIPP Karen Massey FBIPP John Miskelly (Treasurer) Regional Ambassadors: Barrie Spence FBIPP (Scotland) Argha Dutta LBIPP (North West) David Taylor FBIPP (Midlands) Irene Cooper ABIPP (Yorkshire) Monir Ali LBIPP (South East) Matt Curtis LBIPP (Cotswold)

In Their Footsteps 58 Exploring the archive of a historic photographic studio Ripon Spa Bath 60 The exploration of heritage, community, and personal connection Me & Asian Weddings 62 Monir Ali walks us through how to create impactful images of his culture’s special day

Editor: Joel Hansen, editor@bipp.com Advertising: Tel 01772 367968 E-mail: admin@bipp.com UK Subscribers £30, Rest of the World £60 ISSN: 0031-8698. Printed and bound by Magazine Printing Company, Hoddesdon, Herts

Neither the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP) nor any of its employees, members, contractors or agents accepts any responsibility whatsoever for loss of or damage to photographs, illustrations or manuscripts or any other material submitted, howsoever caused. The views expressed in this magazine are the views of individual contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the BIPP. All advertisements are accepted and all editorial matter published in good faith. The Publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, that any particular product or service is available at the time of publication or at any given price. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means whatsoever, or stored in a retrieval system, or broadcast, published or exhibited without the prior permission of the publisher.

This magazine is the copyright of the BIPP without prejudice to the right of contributors and photographers as defined in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Registered at Stationers’ Hall, Ref B6546, No. 24577. © BIPP 2022

1

CEO M A R T I N B AY N E S

W

elcome to the winter edition of the Photographer.

What can I say, I have probably just had the busiest three months of my life.

But what a three months, with qualifications, national print competition, the awards, and finally being able to talk about the RPS BIPP proposal. This edition is packed with information and amazing images - Joel has done a great job capturing the energy.

Most of the above is covered in the magazine, and I want to personally thank everyone who entered competitions, which continue to go from strength to strength. Well done, and huge congratulations to Su Kaye, who, as I type this, has also been awarded The London Portrait Group Photographer of the Year.

I thank the members who put themselves through the qualification journey and the judges who give up valuable time. To everyone who attended the awards, we had 90 members and a great day with talks from one of Ventures Directors, Alicia Hall ABIPP, Simon Hill FBIPP HonFRPS on the proposal and Karl Taylor on a very thoughtprovoking AI talk.

To all the members who received awards, to get a bronze this year, you needed to score an 80, so you should be proud.

Thanks to Paul Wilkinson for putting up with my… let’s say, lively debates along our way to finding the best path.

Congratulations to Irene Cooper for receiving the Beer Conboy Award for services to the BIPP and to Kirsty Ann Wilson for the Presidential Award.

A special mention to Jon Cohen, who received an Honorary Fellowship not only for his commitment to the BIPP as President but also for his work in our industry for so many

years. As his term comes to an end, Jon, besides doing a fantastic job as President, has been an active member of the working group, putting the BIPP RPS proposal together and has promised to stay involved and continue to help me with trade in the industry. Jon really does keep me on the straight and narrow.

For what seems to have been an eternity, we have worked hard with Simon Hill FBIPP Hon FRPS, Dr Michael Prichard, and a team at the RPS. Simon has dedicated so much time to the proposal along with the BIPP team, who I would like to thank, John Miskelly FBIPP, Jon C Hon FBIPP, Emily Hancock FBIPP, Karen Massey ABIPP and myself as I write this, we have had a successful town hall meeting which will now be voted on at an EGM. This is one of the biggest decisions in the long history of the Institute, and myself and the Board hope you agree and vote for the proposal.

The EGM will be held on the 9th of January at 7pm. For those members who cannot attend, we have put something in place to allow a proxy vote allowing all the members to be involved.

I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to all our trade partners who have supported us throughout the year, Graphistudio, Digitalab, Fuji Film, Datacolour, Wex, The Flash Centre, Aim Insurance.

Congratulations to Ian Flanders ABIPP on his exhibition, which you can read about in this edition. Welcome to new member Edward Matthews who has been documenting the war in Ukraine; truly amazing and brave work. Also, well done to Kirsty Anne Wilson, who exhibited her journey and to Aneesa Dawoojee FBIPP FRPS, who, after achieving her Fellowship, has also exhibited her wonderful work.

We are well into plans for next year, and it is likely to be busier than ever. Hopefully, as the professional arm of the RPS, the BIPP will bring you much more value for money to be the best and biggest professional photographic Institute.

From the team at the Artistry House, Sharron, Joel, and myself have a wonderful Christmas and let’s look forward to a busy and prosperous 2023.

2 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

PRESIDENT J O N CO H E N

T

his is my last formal column so I’m allowing myself to touch on a few things that interest me as well as, you probably won’t be delighted to know, including a holiday picture, it’s my last column after all.

Firstly image assessment, I’m fascinated by the whole process of judging images, in professional photography it has been pretty variable in the past, ranging from thoughtful assessment with generous feedback, George Dawber as just one great example, to sometimes totally obscure decision making.

It’s so good now to see to a careful and and balanced process evolving, with high quality training available to prospective judges on every aspect of image assessment, including importantly the social and cultural values of both the photographer and the subject.

I found the 2022 Award images themselves amazing and very thought provoking, a visually striking image like Catherine Beltramini’s swimmer, winner of the Environmental Portrait section, I felt must have had a really interesting back story, or in the case of Su Kaye’s Documentary Wedding winner perhaps a very poignant back story.

Su is our overall Photographer of the Year and her animal portraits were stunning, is it that Su and indeed all the animal portrait photographers only shoot interesting animals with great personalities or is it 100% in the skill of the photographer? The latter I suspect and it demonstrates exactly why the word professional is so important.

Several winners weren’t able to attend the awards so I was dispatched to receive them on the winner’s behalf, very enjoyable, one that particularly resonated with me was the Classical Wedding winning image, by Nagayuki Kojima from Japan. Having just returned from Japan and really missing it (think joined up, on time public transport, a novel idea indeed) it was a nice link to a place I’m close to, so here comes the holiday picture…

For me this image obviously holds a story, chilly dawn and the sun just rising over the mountains at a small settlement called Fushiogami, this is on an ancient pilgrimage trail, part of a network dating back 1000 years or more collectively known as the Kumano Kodo.

How photography can help individuals and communities and make a real difference in their lives is really important to me, Emma Case in Liverpool is a great example of mixing a strong professional practice with social engagement.

Emma is a strikingly good wedding photographer who also created the RED Archive, (www.theredarchive.org) a community archive which collects and shares the personal stories and photos of Liverpool FC fans over the years. Emma and husband Pete also do much work with local communities, using photography to help people navigate real life challenges like social isolation, lockdowns and mental health.

I’ve written in the past about Carolyn Mendelsohn’s work with young people, using photography to help them tell their story of life during lockdowns and I really believe that photography as a business practice is much stronger when it has a grounding in social engagement, I know many BIPP members support charities and projects in exactly this way.

On a larger scale our biggest photo dealer in the UK, WEX Photo Video also tune their advertising to help or give a voice to important areas like discrimination or mental health. Does this devalue their advertising in any way? Not at all, their engagement with users of imaging products and services is, if anything, higher because of this.

This makes the prospect that our Institute could move under the umbrella of the RPS so interesting, It could be a massive help in creating wider initiatives that use our professional skills, or maybe just our old equipment, to help groups who don’t easily have access to camera equipment or guidance.

Certainly some of Carolyn Mendelsohn’s young mentees have gone on to study photography at university so who knows, they may well be very prominent in future awards line ups.

I’ve enjoyed the Presidency, so many interesting conversations, quite fun when the pandemic allowed and quite Zoomy when it didn’t but always fascinating.

3

E D I TO R ’ S N OT E 2022

A

fter finding myself laid up on a couch for several weeks after my motorbike accident, it was nice to return to the office and begin to restart a regular life in September.

Since getting back, it’s been an eventful time for the Institute with the proposal put foward by the RPS, which could create a new era for the organisation, its members and photographers across the UK. We also had the judging and awards evening for the National Print Competition, which saw new categories and an updated scoring system that received the best submission rate in recent years. Having witnessed the prints being judged in 2021 and 2022, I saw a much higher standard and greater diversity this year. Hopefully, this will continue improving year after year. And the best part for me as an editor is getting a perfectly fitting front cover shot, and Su Kaye’s unique take on a pet portrait does precisely that.

I tackled the emergence of ‘Text to Image’ AI in this

Patrick Lichfield, The Queen on Board of the Britannia (Indian Ocean), 1972. C-Type print. Stamped, numbered and authenticated by the estate of Patrick Lichfield.20" × 24" 4 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

edition and its role in photography, which only brushed the surface of the subject. As fun as it was to play around with creating images, as a photographer, it provided little creative fulfilment compared to capturing a photo with a camera. Yet, a person’s artistic satisfaction is of no interest to the profits and efficiency of a business, and AI could provide the better option if it continues on an everimproving trajectory.

I decided to cut my column short for these images, as one of the celebrated areas of the BIPP’s history is its members photographing the Royal Family. I’d initially hoped to make it an entire feature but found licensing costs prevented me! Still, the Karsh archive and Lyons Gallery kindly permitted these incredible two shots representing Queen Elizabeth II, interestingly showing two worlds with a candid, informal moment and a powerful, wellconstructed portrait.

Queen Elizabeth II by Yousuf Karsh © Karsh cibachrome print, 1966 13 1/4 in. x 10 3/8 in. (336 mm x 263 mm)

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N JUDGES

National Print Competition Chair of Qualifications & Awards

Hon FBIPP Sean Conboy: internationally renowned photographer who works with a broad range of clients from architects to advertising agencies.

FBIPP James Musselwhite: award-winning portrait photographer, mentor, judge and speaker with outstanding knowledge of social photography.

FBIPP DR Paul Wilkinson: trainer, author, podcaster, retoucher and award-winning photography.

Judging Panel

T

he judging for the National Print Competition is one of the most exciting and significant events in the BIPP calendar year and took place in The Artistry House this November.

A cornerstone of the Institute, the competition brings the highest calibre of prints from inside and outside the membership across various photography sectors. It’s a time when we can see the full extent of a photographer’s talent, from their creative and technical abilities to their understanding of print and mounting.

We appreciate the effort every person puts into their submissions and ensure every print is meticulously critiqued and analysed, and scored correctly by an expert judging panel.

We want to thank this year’s judges for doing an incredible job; they were Hon FBIPP Sean Conboy, FBIPP James Musselwhite, FBIPP Annemarie Farley, FBIPP Fiona Elizabeth. FBIPP Panikos Hajistilly. David Stanbury FBIPP

FBIPP Annemarie Farley: multiple award-winning photographer who worked within the medical field and now specialises in flower imagery and producing Cyanotypes prints.

FBIPP Fiona Elizabeth: an educator and award-winning photographer specialising in high-end wedding photography and portraiture for clients across the globe.

FBIPP Panikos Hajistilly: a multi-award-winning studio photographer specialising in family, newborn and pet portraiture that captures incredible memories for clients across the UK. FBIPP David Stanbury: a multiaward-winning photographer focusing on family portraiture and weddings for clients across the globe

Issue Three / 2022 / the PHOTOGRAPHER 5

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N 2022

Peter Lik FBIPP S k y Titan

6 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

A D V E R T I S I N G & CO M M E R C I A L PETER LIK

“A

s an artist, nothing is more fulfilling than sharing my work with the world. I am truly honoured to receive this prestigious award from the BIPP for my image Sky Titan. Being a part of this esteemed organization is something I am incredibly grateful for.

Sky Titan is a tribute to the heroic pilots who took on the skies, and the ingenuity that gave them the promise of safe passage.

I am continually drawn to these aviation masterpieces. Every sheet of aluminium so purposefully placed around a honeycomb of metal boxes held all together by thousands of rivets. The legends who built these planes were true artisans!

Beams of sunlight streamed through the windows of the classic hangar — light reflecting off its metal surface, creating a scene that was both eerie and beautiful. Imagining the pilots flying it into battle — I felt a deep respect for their courage.”

Judges comment

“T

his grand panoramic of a vintage aircraft carries with it the weight of time and legacy. The symmetry used in the shot allows the viewer to step back and admire the history and nostalgia conveyed in the dimly lit aircraft carrier, and the use of smoke creates an atmosphere in the air that you can almost feel off the canvas. A stunning image.”

Image © Peter Lik

the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three 7

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N ARCHITECTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL

8 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

Image © Paul Reiffer

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N 2022

FBIPP Paul Reiffer Heavens Above

“W

hat better feeling can there be than winning an award for your images – than winning two at the same time?!

It’s been an incredible year of photography - being able to get out and about with our clients and partners around the world following so many restrictions in the past - but to have the work I’ve created in that time recognised again by the BIPP judges is truly humbling.

Both the Landscape and Architectural images were shot in Iceland – but at literal opposite ends of the season:

Aura (Landscape) was shot in the peak of a winter’s night, and captures a display unlike any I’ve seen before overhead. (I have to admit to being slightly concerned on the way back that my image might not have done it justice at the time!).

And Heaven’s Above (Architectural), equally shot in the dead of night (1:30am) – only this time, during the June “midnight sun”, which gave me a 7 hour “golden hour” to enjoy and capture on the north-west coast with this stunning black church in Budir. Using the Phase One XT shiftable lens kept the verticals straight while also delivering that huge vista out to the sky above and mountains in the background.”

9

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N CLASSICAL WEDDING

Nagayuki Kojima Late fo r the Cerem o ny

“I

was lucky enough to be able to do a photo shoot at the Tokyo National Museum for this piece.

To make good use of the architecture, I chose to divide the couple between the first and second floors. However, this required some ingenuity. One idea came to me; it was a story about a groom being late for a wedding and the bride being angry. With that in mind, I gave them posing instructions.

natural light was coming in, so some retouching was needed to blend it in. Also, when I printed the image, the stains and dirt on the walls of the old building were very noticeable, so I had to make a number of corrections and prints to get it right.

I used strobes to match the colour temperature of the lighting, but some

Thank you to everyone at BIPP. Congratulations to all the winners.”

10 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

I am very happy that the BIPP judges highly value the standard I have built up over the years as a photographer. It is an honour to receive the award.

Image © Nagayuki Kojima

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N D I G I TA L C R E AT I O N A N D F I N E A R T

Callum Ollason Whis k y & Ice

“I

am absolutely delighted to have my work recognised at the BIPP national awards, particularly given the very high standard of my peers.

This is the first time I’ve entered the awards since graduating in 2020, so it’s extremely encouraging to receive this accolade. It is validating, motivating, and completely unexpected.

This image was created as part of a series concerned with the play of light refracted through glass objects, such as drink bottles and perfume bottles. The dispersed light through these objects was always beautiful and unexpected.

When I came to experiment with this lead crystal whisky tumbler, I was amazed at the intricate refraction it produced. It was completely different to what was achieved with regular glass.

As I have since learned, this is due to the high metal content of lead crystal raising the refractive index, which in turn increases dispersion. This is what gives the crystal its brilliance and sparkle. At least that’s my limited understanding of the physics!

Judges comment

“T

his is a beautifully constructed image with everything about it being nigh on perfect. The slightly cooler tones of the background contrast so well with the warmth of the whisky. The reflection/shadow beneath the glass shows off the texture of the glass so well. This shows the meticulous lighting skills of the author, as well as their ability to produce an incredibly detailed, sharp and well made print which would have required a huge attention to detail.

In my mind a flawless print – a worthy category winner, well done indeed!”

The debate continues, however, on whether ice should be anywhere near whisky!”

Image © Callum Ollason

11

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N D O C U M E N TA R Y W E D D I N G

FBIPP Su Kaye Co n f lic t in g Emo t io n s

“T

he first weddings after the first lockdown were allowed to take place from 4th July 2020 and this was 3 days later. I’m not a wedding photographer but as they were only allowed about 20 or so people to attend I said to not waste one of their limited number of invitations on a stranger and I’d take some photographs for them.

We were only allowed to meet, have the service and then leave. There could be no congratulatory hugs, family groups or party so I felt a wedding photographer would have been able to take very little for them anyway.

This is Cara. Her family were all in South Africa, Israel and America, and because there was no knowing when they would be allowed to travel, the couple decided to go ahead with the wedding and stream through the computer to the rest of the family. She wasn’t even allowed to have anyone close enough to walk her down the aisle, I had to be fixed in one space, so had three cameras at my feet, and the few guests who were allowed to attend had to be sat apart from each other.

Cara was coping really well until she saw her family on the computer screen and then, quite understandably, she became very emotional but pulled herself together quickly.

I called this ‘Conflicting Emotions’ because of the sadness that was underlying the happiest day of her life.

I hope the emotion of the situation, and the sadness and loss we were all feeling as a result of the pandemic shows through, and also records a moment in history for society as well as the wedding couple.”

12

Image © Su Kaye

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N D O M E S T I C AT E D A N I M A L S

Image © Su Kaye

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N B I P P P H OTO G R A P H E R O F T H E Y E A R

FBIPP Su Kaye Thing s Are Lo o k ing Up

“H

ow do I feel about winning?

48 hours later and I’m still gobsmacked!! The competition was huge and many extremely talented, respected and creative photographers had entered.

I said the day before I would have bet a lot of money that I wouldn’t win and wouldn’t have bet a penny that I would win!!

Absolutely, totally, utterly delighted - is that a good enough description?

This photo is of Eddie, a British Bulldog in my studio. He was such a great model that I just carried on and on and he posed and behaved beautifully. When I know I have enough definite variety and content to show the client I try to get something different that the client won’t be expecting. I’ve been trying to come up with some ideas that you don’t see everyday and fortunately this one has been really well received.

I actually can’t remember how I took this but I work with my camera on a stand so often pre-focus. I then stand near to the dog, getting them to do different things, and use a remote to trigger the camera. I assume that either the owner or I held a treat up in the air and then directed his gaze where I needed it.”

15

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N E N V I R O N M E N TA L P O R T R A I T

16 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

Image © Catherine Beltramini

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N 2022

FBIPP Catherine Beltramini Tw il ig ht

“I

t is such an honour to receive this award - thank you to all who made it possible.

What inspires me the most to be a portrait photographer is the opportunity to photograph so many interesting people.

Ray, pictured in this image, is no different. I met him when I started swimming in a sea swimming group.

He started swimming in the sea just as WW2 ended after they had cleared all the mines from Brighton Beach. He has never looked back since and is still going strong.

What I find amazing about Ray is that he swims in the sea most days of the year to keep fit - with no wetsuit for most of the year!

A true inspiration to me and many others. Ray is 87 years old…”

Judges comment

“T

his lovely portrait of an open-water swimmer captures the joy and reward of the sport. The colour harmony throughout the images is wellbalanced and helps us, as the viewers, to be captivated by this image. As with the colour harmony, the lighting is well balanced with the natural light, as we are just about to lose as the sun sets.

What makes this image so strong is the pose of the swimmer; the author has a clear understanding of how to pose to create a strong story within the portrait. The swimmer is clearly very comfortable taking direction, which is half the battle when creating this type of work.

To top it off, the decision to keep his swimming goggles on adds more character to this portrait.

An excellent image.”

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N FA S H I O N & B E AU T Y

Art of the Fairytale Lorna Griffiths and Lorraine Taylor

Tree B eard

“A

ffirmation that we are on the right track! Still not sure it has fully sunk in!

Fantasy and mythology feature in much of our work and when the opportunity arose to shoot with fashion designer James Clarke this year, we saw an opportunity to weave these elements into the finished portraits. ‘Tree Beard’ celebrates maturity in fashion; a reminder that an ‘old oak’ knows a thing or two about style!

18 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

Making this portrait winning just a little more special for us is that ‘Tree Beard’ is, in fact, Lorraine’s father, Robert.”

Shot on location: Court Coleman Manor Tailoring: James Clarke Hair: Shelley Lane Equipment: Nikon D800e Nikon 50mmf/1.4 Exposure 1/200 sec f8 iso 100 Image © Art of the Fairytale

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N LANDSCAPE

Paul Reiffer FBIPP AU R A

“A

ura (Landscape) was shot in the peak of a winter’s night, and captures a display unlike any I’ve seen before overhead. (I have to admit to being slightly concerned on the way back that my image might not have done it justice at the time!).”

Image © Paul Reiffer

19

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N N AT U R A L W O R L D

Neil McKellar Tang l ed K ites

“I

unfortunately had to cancel attending the awards evening at the last-minute, so it was with disbelief that I started receiving messages stating that I had won an award for Natural World, even more astounding when I saw the other amazing entries.

My shot was of two red kites clashing in mid-air. I remember the sound of them swooping down and me pressing my continuous shutter, hoping I had managed to capture the moment. Fortunately, I had, and I think my image was helped by the moody sky and the fact that red kites always look angry (in my opinion). I titled the image ‘Tangled Kites.’”

20

Image © Neil McKellar

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N NEWBORN

Elli Cassidy The Tr io

“I

’m absolutely blown away to win the newborn category, especially with such a prestigious association.

It’s the first time I’ve made a sketch of an idea and then carried it out to completion, so I’m really proud of how it turned out.

I had the shelf custom-made for this portrait, and I knew I wanted to evoke a warm and cosy feeling. The day before I laid out the different outfits and played around with colour placements, and then realised the wood was photographing far too light. I had to make a mad dash to a DIY store for wood stain, and work on it the night before!

Each baby was photographed individually in situ, with a spotter, and then photoshopped together. For it to be believable, I photographed them as they are seen, rather than laying the shelf flat on the floor. I wanted every component to look like it belonged, and to sit together seamlessly.”

Image © Elli Cassidy

the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three 21

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N NON-MEMBER

Soulla Petrou S iren

“I

t’s amazing to win Photographer of the Year in the NonMember category.

I’m totally honoured to receive this award from the BIPP as it’s such a prestigious and internationally recognised organization. I think it’s wonderful they have a non-member category open to all photographers to showcase their work. I feel valued and included despite being outside of the association and I thank you for that.

My winning image ‘Siren’ was shot for Huf magazine as part of a fashion series. Shot on an overcast day at Seaford, East Sussex using my Canon 5D mark 1V and 24mm lens.”

22 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

Image © Soulla Petrou

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N R E P O R TA G E A N D P H OTO J O U R N A L I S M

ABIPP Mark Theisinger R oyal Vis it

“H

is Majesty King Charles lll and Her Majesty The Queen Consort (Formerly HRH The Duke of Cornwall & HRH The Duchess of Cornwall) came to visit Launceston in July which I was booked to cover. It’s always a challenge when events are fast paced and it’s chucking it down. On this shot I briefly dropped to knee level to get the “under and upwards” view I hoped to catch and although officially allowed to be reasonably close, I still had to keep moving and clear at all times whilst making quick decisions on angles and views etc.

I didn’t use any flash and managed to catch some of the rain against his umbrella and most of the shoot was pretty close with a wide zoom. It’s one of my favourite images showing his joy and interaction with people and its amazing that a few weeks later he became king. I’m absolutely delighted that it became a winning picture.”

Image © Mark Theisinger

the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three 23

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N STUDIO PORTRAIT

Katie McCormick Wis tf u l

“I

was beyond thrilled to just get through to the finals for the National Print Competition, so you can only imagine how overwhelmed I was to come away with Studio Portrait Photographer of the Year 2022.

Still on cloud nine.

I was asked to give a little bit of detail about me to share, so here we go.

I run my small studio in North Wales, where I focus on my passion, children’s portraits. I get so much joy from their feedback, especially older children. I’m also a full-time student

at Wrexham Glyndwr University studying for a degree in BA Hon’s Photography and Film. Attending University has sparked a new passion for portraits for me, the power they hold for the participant and their viewers, so I began to try and push my technical skill.

This led me to attend two classes with the well-known lighting master Gary Hill. His knowledge and sharing nature did wonders for my confidence, and I captured my winning image the week after one of his classes.

Recently I’ve been exploring being more creative with my portraits and story-telling.

Receiving this award has gifted me a little more confidence to keep pushing, thank you.”

Image © Katie McCormick

N AT I O N A L P R I N T CO M P E T I T I O N STUDENT

Sofia Conti

Pres c r ibed Addic tio n

“W

hen I was informed that I had won the BIPP National Print Competition Student category I was completely taken by surprise. ‘Prescribed Addiction’ is taken from ‘Return, O Backsliding Children’ which is a multimedia based collaborative project that explores each participant’s connection to crime and how it has indirectly and or directly affected their way of life in Greater Glasgow.

Image © Sofia Conti

Five years ago, Donna was in a secure relationship, a mother to a beautiful baby boy and in her final year of university. This all changed when Donna was prescribed medication for a work-related injury and in turn being sharply cut off the medication resulted in her purchasing illegal prescriptions. Spending hundreds of pounds every week Donna had to turn to shoplifting to fund her addiction. Currently in recovery Donna volunteers at the South Community Recovery Network and actively campaigns to raise awareness on prescribed medication addiction.” the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three 25

B I P P Q U A L I F I C AT I O N S

F E L LOWS H I P

In Conversation with FBIPP Simon Mackney S

imon began commissions as a photographer in 1996, working part-time for Mix-Mag and the Ministry of Sound, photographing the thriving 90s club scene while studying at college, followed by a year’s stint working as a photographer on the Royal Caribbean cruises. However, it would be a summer job at a chemicals company Lubrizol, where he met David Taylor FBIPP, who supported Simon’s photographic aspirations, and 20 years later, they’ve remained friends, with David mentoring Simon on this successful Fellowship panel.

Simon also credits working with Carol Taylor Hon FBIPP in her studio when he decided to re-enter the portrait industry, which led to him setting up his own photography business. As the workload grew, Simon’s wife, Wendy, joined the company, and over the years, they have built a strong team of staff – crediting much of their success to the collaborative work with his photo editors. Today, Simon and Wendy run several successful studios, some covering large commercial and advertising campaigns and others high-end fantasy-branded kids’ portraits, franchising Pop! Studios in 2019.

Editor Joel Hansen speaks to Simon about his latest achievement.

How does it feel to have achieved your Fellowship?

Incredible. It feels like a long time coming; it’s given me a boost, especially in the studio. With Covid, the energy crisis, the Ukraine war, and having the studios and staff to look after, it’s been nice to have the distraction to work on the Fellowship, and it’s something I wanted to do for a long time but wasn’t sure if I had images that were good enough.

I had a fantastic mentor, David Taylor, who’s been my friend for over 20 years - he helped a lot. It is important to have a mentor, especially when getting advice on the written work, which for me, is a bit more daunting than creating the actual images.

What was the inspiration/influence behind the style of images you produced in the panel?

I’ve always been interested in photographing people, even the industrial stuff I used to do back in the day; it was about bringing people in, so it sort of related back to that. I’ve always had an illustrative style - bold and graphic - it’s the style that our studio brought in. It first came from the Bobsleigh team coming to us for an idea for a shoot prior to the Olympics.

Straight away, I knew I wanted low angles and superhero-style poses to display strength to create powerful, bold images with striking light. It was all about them looking epic, and that’s what we sold to them, and they loved it.

B I P P Q UA L I F I C AT I O N S F E L LO W S H I P

How do you prepare before the shoot?

We have it all planned out in mood boards in our studio and have everything ready for when the clients come in, so we can show the pose and stance we want, which the clients find easier and say, “yeah, I can do that”.

It helps to plan everything out instead of taking loads of photographs; we already know exactly what we need to capture.

The images in the panel all fit together nicely in the same style, although they’re from different shoots. Did you edit them prior to your qualification to add continuity?

This is the style we love to shoot, and we stand out for it. We began to get agencies, and even athletes themselves see our work and come to us directly to create something in the same style. We use lighting to freeze the water, and we want everything to look as real as possible but in a stylised way; everyone knows this isn’t shot on location. They’re made to stand out, they’re used for marketing or banners on a website, and they need to be eye-catching, bright, bold and have graphic lines.

We did make tweaks for the panel. Speaking with my mentor and a few other people, we got an idea of what the judges may be looking for, images on the left to right facing inwards, the tones matching, so we did re-edit for the panel; we even flipped stuff as well and took off logos. We also edited it, so it started off dark in the corners and then lightened up the images in the middle, so it would flow that way and balance it out. I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Framing for doing such an excellent job printing the panel.

28 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

Image © Simon Mackney

B I P P Q UA L I F I C AT I O N S F E L LO W S H I P

Image © Simon Mackney

the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three 29

B I P P Q UA L I F I C AT I O N S F E L LO W S H I P

What does your postproduction process look like?

With a lot of the stuff we do, we work closely with our in-house editing team, we’ve got 3-4 editors, and we all talk through ideas and what styles would work. I’ve edited a lot of the stuff myself, but nowadays, it’s more of a team effort. We usually shoot tethered so the clients can see the images. We sometimes already have the backdrop ideas in place, so live on a shoot, we can quickly throw in a background to get an idea of how things will sit.

After that, we keep sketching out stuff, and on certain clothes shoots, it’s all about making sure the colours are spot on, but some clients want it enhanced and want to see more definition in the stitching and the material. We also do a lot of dodging, burning, and sharpening to bring out the muscles and the skin. Sometimes there can be around 40 layers of different elements built up in an image.

What was the planning process for the Fellowship?

I spent a lot of time going through all my old negs to get some background for my supporting evidence, which was nice. There’s a part where you talk a bit about your life and your journey, bringing back many memories. I worked with my mentor David Taylor and looked back at the commercial photography we did when printing in the lab; we’d do black and white, colour, process films and all kinds of creative stuff. So, it was nice putting together my supporting evidence and looking at my cruise ship days and my college days. I ended up printing everything on art paper and putting it all together with nice binding bolts, and I’m quite proud of it now and looking back on it as my life so far.

I’d imagine it’s nice to look back and reflect?

Yeah, because you never really get the time and then suddenly, 20 years go by. Looking back at negs and you forget all the things you’ve done. I’ve lost loads of digital files, but you always have your negs and contact strips – I don’t even want to think what I’ve lost digitally on my journey with drives gone down. We’ve now got everything in the cloud, but I think you should try to print what you can and make books – it’s memories, it’s your life, it’s important.

What was the most important factor in the Fellowship process?

The one thing that sprung to mind was getting back into the buzz and art of photography – that’s what I’ve taken away from it. Working on the business day to day, sometimes you realise you haven’t picked up the camera for weeks, and it made me realise that I should get back into photography more and get my creative juices going and do what I love. So, it’s nice to have a project that you can really hone in on and put your focus into.

What was the most challenging part of the Fellowship?

For me, the written side was the hardest – making it presentable, making it interesting, trying to make it creative. I think talking about yourself is really hard and figuring out the why in what you’re doing, but at the same time, really enjoyable, I’d recommend it to anybody, and I’d recommend getting a mentor to guide you through it. Talk to the CEO, Martin Baynes, and Paul Wilkinson, Chair of Qualifications, because they helped a lot.

Image © Simon Mackney

“

They’re made to stand out, they’re used for marketing or banners on a website, and they need to be eye-catching, bright, bold and have graphic lines.”

Issue Three / 2022 / the PHOTOGRAPHER 31

B I P P Q UA L I F I C AT I O N S A S S O C I AT E S H I P

S

tephanie runs the Yorkshire-based company, Wild Berry Designer Images, alongside her commercial photography business. Starting her career in Essex at the age of 14, Stephanie has never not worked in a photography studio. With a passion for performance, fashion and theatre, Stephanie work with a range of different clients and creative briefs.

32 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

She tells the Photographer: “It feels great to finally get around to going for my associate, I started my photographic journey with the BIPP back in 2012, after my mentor, Len Dance, made it very clear to me how it was the best route to becoming a professional and recognised photographer in the industry. After all the difficult times after the pandemic, it felt like the right Images © Stephanie Thornton

B I P P Q UA L I F I C AT I O N S S T E P H A N I E T H O R N TO N

time to go for new things.

This project came easily, it sprung from a small project earlier this year all focused on passion. When I thought about passion, I couldn’t help but think of my dancers. I work with dancers for their portfolios. Not professional working dancers, but the long hard working journey these kids take to hopefully one day become professional

dancers. It’s all about their drive and passion, they give up so much time and energy to their art, they may not always be the best ability but they are the best they can be at that time. After my little project, it sparked an interest in showcasing the different abilities and stages a dancer goes through in the many years they train.”

Issue Three / 2022 / the PHOTOGRAPHER 33

B I P P Q UA L I F I C AT I O N S L I C E N T I AT E S H I P

Dave Dodge

“T

he image was taken during Stage One of the 2021 Tour of Britain. It was the first time that the tour had ever visited Cornwall. I work for the UCI Continental Pro Cycling Team, Saint Piran. They are based in Cornwall and take their name from the Patron Saint of Cornwall.

Being a Cornish team, having the Grand Depart in their home county was a big deal. I was asked by the team to try and capture the tour with an iconic Cornish landmark in the shot.

The day before the race started, I did a recce of the whole stage looking for potential locations, which is when I came across ‘Carn Galver Engine House’, on the North Coast between St Just & St Ives.

I arrived there at 9am on the Sunday morning as I knew it would be busy and there was very little parking. I was

34 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

greeted by thick fog, you couldn’t even see the engine house !!!! I considered moving to another spot, but decided to wait and see if the fog lifted as the Peloton wasn’t due through until 12.00.

Thankfully the fog began to lift during the morning. Then some actresses from a local theatre arrived dressed as the devil and an angel to create a Cornish version of the world famous ‘El Diablo’ (a German fan that follows the Tour de France dressed as the Devil). By the time the peloton came through, there was still a mist on the hills that I thought created a nice moody background with the devil ‘clawing’ at the riders as they passed. The bemused looks on some of the riders faces adds a bit of humour too.

The day after being awarded my Licentiate, this image also won the “Sporting Events” Category at the 2022 Event Photography Awards.”

Image © Dave Dodge

TECH PROOF PETER MORGAN

20 Ways to TECH PROOF your photography business Hardware 1. Consider replacing your

2. Never use cheap memory cards in your cameras. Go

3. When it comes to computers,

4. A UPS is required if you connect

5. Calibrate, Calibrate, Calibrate.

If you have two screens and want them both to be accurate, calibrate them. Remember to calibrate your paper if you print at home (basically this means discarding a few sheets in order to save the profile and remember to leave the calibration device open for consistent data collection near the screen). This ensures that artists, clients, other photographers, and art editors are more likely to view your photos as they were

6. Editing is a process that requires

company’s computers every few years. Macs are pricey since they retain their value and have a longer shelf life than PC laptops, allowing you to go longer without having to buy new ones. If you’re in business, don’t put it off until something breaks or becomes so sluggish it affects your productivity. Consider leasing through someone like Hardsoft UK or Apple Business if you can’t afford to purchase outright.

there is no such thing as a budget.

Buying the best computer you can afford when you purchase is crucial. It’s obvious, but individuals are frequently lured into buying a specific bargain at PC World or Curry or over the internet. Get some expert assistance in determining what you need for not just your job now, but also for a few years down the road.

for reliability and speed by choosing brands like SanDisk or Lexar, even if they come at a slightly higher price tag.

They’ve earned their reputation for a reason: much lower failure rates and faster transfer rates.

a NAS to the outside world and use it regularly. If there’s a power outage, an uninterruptible power supply will keep the electricity on for a short time, but make sure your router and NAS are connected to it or you won’t be able to access it remotely.

time and effort. If you’re editing your own work, we recommend looking into the Loupedeck range of tools to help improve your speed and efficiency. The CT model is especially good! Give it some time and learn the system so you can work more quickly in the future.

Issue Three / 2022 / the PHOTOGRAPHER 35

TECH PROOF PETER MORGAN

Software 7. Never put the most

recent version of Mac OS in your company’s computers if you’re expecting them not to break. Always keep one version ahead of it, since they’ve given developers at least a year to make sure that software and hardware are compatible with the current version. In fact, I don’t recommend that you upgrade your operating system unless there’s a feature on a newer version that you just can’t live without. (At present, Big Sur is the best edition I can recommend.) Monterey is performing better but there are still some issues with devices connected to it.

9. Make sure Creative Cloud is

activated on the start-up of your PC or Mac. This will take up only a tiny amount of resources, but it will let you know when there’s a new version with crucial updates

11. Run Disk Cleanup on your

PC every few weeks - use the clean system files option and check all the boxes. This will tidy up your computer by deleting old temp and unnecessary files, making it run faster.

13. A CRM system is an excellent way to keep your

business organized and automate time-consuming tasks.

I’ve used Lightblue for a few years; it’s easy to use and helps me stay on top of my workload. If you decide to give it a try, use the discount code techfortogs for 20% off your subscription.

8. Make sure the latest updates are

installed on the operating system you’re using. Apple and Microsoft react swiftly to problems that affect their platforms, so there’s usually a solid cause for the patch’s release.

10. Consider setting up remote

software to access your computers at home if you need a file on your desktop whilst away from the office, for example. I use Teamviewer (there’s a free version), although other excellent alternatives include Chrome Remote Desktop and even Zoom.

12. Disk Utility on

a Mac computer can be found by going to Applications, then Utilities, and finally Disk Utility.

Running First Aid on your main and secondary drives every few months will keep them in optimal condition and repair any permission issues.

14. Look at Noise reduction software if

you’ve managed to take noisy pictures.

Topaz de-noise is possibly one of the best on the market and reasonable to purchase.

TECH PROOF PETER MORGAN

15. A multi-drive-based

16. You’ll need a working graphics

17. If you can afford it and don’t want

18. Have a separate time machine

raid system is your best bet if you can afford it.

Look for ones that feature a raid5 array, but raid 1 will be cheaper as it uses fewer disks and can still provide some level of protection. Synology makes great units specifically for creatives. The DS1821+ and the DS1520 are both good options because they store data across multiple drives so you get better redundancy and faster access. to take time off. Keep a spare internal NAS drive on hand in case something goes wrong. When you have the drive to hand, rebuilding a NAS is considerably faster than ordering a replacement before installing it. Look at WD RED and Seagate Ironwolf.

editing drive. Ideally, look for an SSD with a higher storage capacity so you can delete and modify your photos faster. Don’t erase the images on your cards until they’ve been edited and copied to your NAS or other secondary backup storage. The Lacie Rugged SSD Pro is quite quick, but it’s USB-C only and not USB-3 backwards compatible.

(Mac) or Windows backup backing up just the operating system so in the event your computer dies, you have all the work you’ve completed on your computer saved up to date.

On Location 19. If you’re going to sell prints

after the shoot, at an event, or any other circumstance, set up the gallery on your website first and include a QR code for the event.

Print it and hang it where people will see it. It’s generally simpler to give them directions to the gallery ahead of time than attempting to contact individuals afterwards and provide them with a link. .

20. If you’re going to be gone for an extended period of time, use a Lacie BOSS system to back up your photos.

Systems like the Lacie BOSS let you save copies of your memory cards on-site, so if something bad happens, your pictures will be safe on an additional drive.

the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three 37

H U M A N I T Y O F WA R E D WA R D M AT T H E W S

Capturing The Humanity In War When signing up as a member at The Photography Show 2022, Edward Matthews’s images brought the attention of the entire BIPP stand as members stood in awe of the impactful and intimate shots capturing the Ukrainian conflict.

Curious to know more about the 24-year-old from York, Editor Joel Hansen caught up with the man behind the camera.

A

n unorthodox happening kicked off Ed’s career, as he reveals a photograph captured on an iPod Touch 4, age 15, was pinched from his Facebook page by a photo agency who sold the image without consent, “I didn’t know much about copyright, but I knew something wasn’t right and that someone had stolen my image, so I pursued it and managed to get a little settlement fee, and I actually used the money to buy my first camera.”

Continuing photography into education, he admits, “I really struggled academically, although I really enjoyed image creation.” After dropping out of his A-Levels and later a university photography course, he says, “Then an opportunity come up to go back to university to finish the degree. I started, but then Covid hit halfway through, and financial struggles came along, and once again, it meant that university wasn’t viable – so I’ve dropped out of uni twice!”

Yet success came alongside his educational pursuits after setting up his own company covering music venues and festivals across the UK, “I really still had the passion for doing something with my photography work, and it just proves you don’t have to be academic, it’s all about passion, and I knew I was capable of producing images that have an impact.”

Ed has also volunteered at a water-based search and rescue charity for several years, and it was a combination of his professional and charitable pursuits that drove him to cover the conflict in Ukraine.

“Seeing it unfold, I just could not try and help; I realised this was far bigger than just a war, it was a massive humanitarian crisis that was going to affect the entire world, and I thought it was important to go.”

After connecting with photographer Sean Tucker, Ed was 38 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

Image of Edward Matthews © Sean Tucker

introduced to a Czech Republic photojournalist called Ondrej Vacheck, who supported his desire to cover the conflict. “I’m not interested in glorifying war; I’m more interested in the humanitarian element of how people are affected by war and diving into the personal stories of the people affected by it; I just find it really fascinating and want to give some visibility to the ordinary people in these extraordinary circumstances.”

Meeting up with Ondrej in Krakow, they drove towards the border to document the refugees pouring into Poland.

“A few hours after arriving, the gravity of the situation just hit me; I didn’t just start taking photos which a lot of photojournalists do, I actually contacted a local volunteer group to see how I could help, and that’s

H U M A N I T Y O F WA R E D WA R D M AT T H E W S

“

Image © Edward Matthews

I realised this was far bigger than just a war, it was a massive humanitarian crisis that was going to affect the entire world, and I thought it was important to go.”

A patient in a rehabilitation hospital in Lviv, Ukraine

H U M A N I T Y O F WA R E D WA R D M AT T H E W S

where the volunteering side come from, and through the volunteering, I met more contacts who wanted images or were open to portraits or sharing their story with me.”

After returning to the UK, Ed was back on a flight to Poland a week later, “I wanted to capture more portraits of volunteers at the time, so I set up a little portraittaking kit to bring.”

“I’ve been using a Sony A73 and Sony 7R3, with a variety of Sigma prime lenses, and I also took a Godox, 80-200mm and Lencarta beauty dish. I also managed to borrow a little bit of extra lighting equipment when I was out there.”

The second trip brought his first venture across the border into Ukraine after a request to join former military soldiers doing extraction work, “this was early April, so things were still pretty hot in quite a lot of

areas. We went into Bucha, and the surrounding area of Kyiv had only just been liberated again, so there was a lot of military hardware discarded at the side of the road and a lot of minefields that were extremely dangerous.

He recalls rockets and a Russian jet flying overhead while in the city of Dnipro, “it is difficult to feel emotions when you have something like that fly over because in one way it’s a sense of relief it’s not targeting you, but at the same time, you know where it’s going to hit, it’s going to cause utter devastation, so you kind of feel a little bit numb.”

“In those situations, it’s entirely natural to feel scared, but you have almost to compartmentalise those emotions and feelings and suppress your initial emotions to keep yourself and the other people around you safe.”

While out in Poland, he pursued a training course run by acclaimed photojournalist Paul Conroy, most notably

Taken in a small village outside of Kherson of a volunteer called Andriy, who received an aid delivery 40 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

Image © Edward Matthews

H U M A N I T Y O F WA R

Image © Edward Matthews

E D WA R D M AT T H E W S

An internally displaced Ukrainian citizen in a shelter, which was a former Soviet-era nuclear bunk, pictured knitting socks for the Ukrainian soldiers

H U M A N I T Y O F WA R E D WA R D M AT T H E W S

known for his partnership with multi-award-winning Times journalist Maria Colvin, who was killed in the Syrian conflict in 2012.

Ed explains, “Paul uses his knowledge and experience to help others through skills like first aid – that course was a real eye-opener and really fascinating in understanding how to save your own life or somebody else’s life.”

A further opportunity opened up for Ed after the city of York adopted the Ukrainian city Lviv as a sister city in a show of solidarity before the war escalated, which led to him bestowing a gift to the Mayor of Lviv on behalf of his home city. He explains, “when I was there, they asked me if I would like to go to the hospital to meet the families and the young men to capture some images. It all just kind of fell into place - it was quite natural – it wasn’t forced.

“

If you spend time volunteering and building a rapport with people, they’ll want to tell their story and really show people what it is actually like.“ I’m very keen to support these people, and I never want to be seen as having taken advantage of a situation because I see a lot of photographers turn up and take photographs of people in really vulnerable situations.

If you spend time volunteering and building a rapport with people, they’ll want to tell their story and really

A destroyed Russian T-72 tank on the outskirt of Lviv in April 2022 42 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

Images © Edward Matthews

H U M A N I T Y O F WA R E D WA R D M AT T H E W S

show people what it is actually like. “ The experience changed his view on life and his photographic practice. He states, “for an image to be powerful - it doesn’t have to be technically perfect - it’s all about the interaction between the subject and the photographer. If it’s a good interaction, it can be a powerful image, even if something is not technically perfect. As a person, I learnt a lot about myself and how I view the world.

So far, Ed’s trips have been supported through charitable contributions towards his living costs. More recently, a friend made a personal donation for him to continue his work, and he returned to Ukraine in November 2022, where he will stay into the New Year.

“It’s just made me appreciate the simple things in life – it really puts things into perspective of what’s important.

Materialistic things are just so unimportant in those situations- genuine positive interaction with people and making people smile, and trying to bring a little positivity to an environment are a lot more important than physical items.

Follow Ed’s Instagram: @emrismedia Website: www.emrismedia.com

“I’m not out there to make a profit; I just want to be able to make a living from what I’m producing and genuinely make a positive difference.”

A Ukrainian refugee family who fled to Poland living in temporary housing while they await visa approval to travel to the UK 43

THE DESCENDANTS IAN FLANDERS ABIPP

The Descendants: an exhibition from Ian Flanders ABIPP The BIPP is highlighting the work of member Ian Flanders ABIPP, whose upcoming exhibition, The Descendants, pays tribute to creatives, artists and activists within the Liverpool region, celebrating the heritage of descendants from the African Diaspora.

Ian describes the project : “People from the African Diaspora have made a significant contribution to the Liverpool Community past and present, and these contemporary portraits aim to acknowledge this.

The recent scandal surrounding the Windrush Generation concerning their mistreatment has been extensively documented in the media. But what are the experiences of these descendants studying, living and working in Liverpool and the UK.

Images © Ian Flanders

The history of Liverpool can be traced back to the 12th century when it was known as ‘Liuerpul’, meaning a pool or creek with muddy water. People of Black African ancestry have been part of United Kingdom’s oldest and

longest-established black community, going back several generations to the 1710s.

44 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

THE DESCENDANTS EXHIBITION

The photographic images attempt to document how these people from the African Diaspora shaped, expressed and developed their art forms with their experiences while living and working in and around the Liverpool area.

It was due to economic necessity that people were invited to help rebuild Britain back in the 40s and 50s especially from the New Commonwealth countries, the Caribbean, West Africa, the Indian sub-continent. Back then, these people were British subjects; they had full British nationality to reside anywhere in the UK.”

Details Exhibition dates: Sat 28 Jan – Sat 6 May 2023 with preview opening event on Fri 27 Jan 2023 Victoria Gallery & Museum University of Liverpool Ashton Street Liverpool L69 3D Bottom left image - Levi Tafari: A crucial, rhythmic, poetic, consciousness raiser and urban griot. Levi was born and raised in the city of Liverpool by his Jamaican parents.

Middle image - Cherise Weaver: Actress, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts Bottom right image - George Williams, A soul singer and business owner from Liverpool

45

E V E R Y D AY I S A S C H O O L D AY D R PAU L W I L K I N S O N

I had no illusions about what I was taking on when Martin asked if I would step into the Chair Of Qualifications and Awards role.

and had a celebratory beer (well, who wouldn’t? Sarah was driving.) I was still shaking. I hadn’t realised how much it meant until I sat thinking it through.

Every volunteer involved with our industry’s associations shoulders both responsibility and workload - it is done for free, which means it’s on top of our day job rather than instead. However, there are weeks when I wish I could focus solely on one task!

Photographic qualifications are not an exam; they are a peer review: a panel of eminent photographers assess your panel and answer the question, “Does this panel of work represent the standard we’re assessing?”

I have always loved image judging, possibly because I get to see incredible creativity regularly, or maybe it’s just that I love being a part of a team of judges. Whatever it is, I have been hooked since I first attended the MPA’s training day in 2009. Twelve years later and I still feel the same way about it.

The role of the chair is a little different to that of a judge, but it is no less exciting.

Qualifications For me, at least, qualifications are the pinnacle of everything the various associations bring to the industry.

Not everyone agrees with me; many photographers regard them as having no value to them or their business, but I would argue the opposite.

When I first turned pro as a photographer, I had no idea if I was any good and had no qualifications (a PhD in Artificial Intelligence is of no value as a photographer!).

But, like many, I was uncertain if I had what it took and I wanted to test myself, so I submitted for my Licentiateship. And passed.

Sarah and I stopped at a brewery on the drive back south 46 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

I love that.

And as I sat with my bottle of beer, it struck me how much it meant to me and to our business.

Roll the clock forward a couple of years, and I put myself (and my loved ones) through the stress of my Fellowship assessment.

And here’s the thing: the day I gained my Fellowship, the standard of my photography shot up with it.

To me, that is the power of qualifications: the process of doing it changes how you approach your photography always for the better.

Approached correctly, it is also an enormous marketing opportunity for you and your business, but that is for another article.

Anyway, that whole experience from ‘L’ to ‘A’ to ‘F’ is still with me. Like all mentors and judges, we remember our own journeys - we know precisely how it feels.

I have chaired two qualifications sessions since taking on the role; they are always highlights for me. Of course, all our hearts break when a photographer’s panel “isn’t successful this time”, but when someone’s work achieves the qualification they hoped for, that is such a high point for all of us.

E V E R Y D AY I S A S C H O O L D AY D R PAU L W I L K I N S O N

Whatever the outcome, one of the judges will combine all the comments and act as a spokesperson, providing feedback for the applicant. This is the most valuable assessment moment and is audio-recorded as it can be hard to digest through the adrenalin.

Today Throughout the past twelve months, we have been working to make the BIPP Qualifications and Awards the best they can be - industry gold standards.

It’s a shame that not everyone can be there behind the scenes to hear the conversations. The thrill of success or the disappointment of a not-there-yet always sparks a debate about mentoring, judging, printing, panel design, determination, inspiration, you name it. If we could bottle that wealth of knowledge and sell it to everyone, we would!

We are designing processes so that everything slots into place and there are clear guidelines and criteria for both judges and entrants.

Awards

We are working towards making this happen in every way (we have even re-designed our award and qualifications certificates so that successful candidates will proudly display them - every detail is essential!)

Entering competitions is slightly different to submitting for qualifications: with qualifications, you compete with yourself to produce a panel of work, while with competitions, you compete against your peers, and one image wins. Two very different things.

Gaining a qualification or winning an award should be something to aspire to and shout from the rooftops when achieved, particularly with the BIPP.

The Future

In a print competition, you could create and submit the best image of your life and still may not win the title if one of your competitors enters something that scores higher.

We have some of the strongest judging in the industry and are building on that strength, improving our processes and facilities and setting out a strategy for some of the challenges ahead.

But each has its place. Qualifications tend to be a quiet journey, while competitions are all glitz and glamour, winner takes all. Qualifications are harder to explain to your clients (though it’s a huge opportunity to do so!) while “Photographer Of The Year” is easy to slap on a banner and sound the trumpets for your customers.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is hurtling into our industry like an express train. Some of this is incredibly valuable, such as automated selections in Lightroom or Photoshop, or smart colour correction with tools like ImagenAI.

And I love both of them for their differences.

However, some of it throws up questions about authorship and intellectual property. This year we ran a blind test in the print competition and asked the judges to assess four unique AI images without knowing what they were. The highest scoring of these scored a Bronze. the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three 47

E V E R Y D AY I S A S C H O O L D AY D R PAU L W I L K I N S O N

We must figure out how to deal with this to certify the provenance of all entries.

We are constantly evaluating whether we should move further toward all-digital judging (and there are voices in the industry asking the same thing.) I love print as it is the culmination of many factors, showing a photographer’s craft, and a print reveals flaws in a file that viewing on a screen doesn’t. That said, most professional photography is destined for digital viewing rather than printed product, so it is under constant review.

Things I’ve Heard So in the spirit of the article being valuable (rather than just me summing up my year), here are a few things I have picked up from judges, candidates and head office.

1. A print competition is a print competition - the

judges will assess the print and how it is mounted and displayed. A well-prepared file is critical, but the work isn’t complete there: the print must also be flawless, showing a full range of tones and the correct colour tone.

2. In twelve years of judging, I can only recall one

judge saying, “this print needs more sharpening”. I hear the phrase “this print is over-sharpened” several times every single year! Don’t oversharpen your files - they nearly always don’t need it. If you’re in doubt, turn the sharpening down or remove it altogether. If you want to be wise, study ways of selective sharpening.

3. Skin should look like skin, not plastic.

4. Make sure there is no colour-cast from the printer/ paper.

48 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

5. Match your paper colour and mount colour. If you love a blue-white printer paper, then use a blue-white mount board so that the colour tones match up.

6. For qualifications, ALWAYS work with a mentor.

It needn’t be a week-upon-week affair, just enough for someone to cast their eyes over your submission and provide insight into how it might be assessed. I cannot stress this enough.

7. A qualification panel is assessed both as a single entity

and as twenty individual images. Make sure you consider the design of the overall panel as much as you do each unique picture.

8. Allow enough time for your prints to arrive before a

competition deadline. If your image makes it through the first round, immediately start producing your prints, so you have as much time as possible to fix anything you spot. It’s incredible how a print draws your eye to a defect you may never have noticed in a file.

9. If you’re using a third party to create your prints/

mounts, always have them sent to you first to doublecheck. Do not just have them sent directly to head office.

You cannot blame your print producer if you don’t score well - you must check everything.

10. Give your images a meaningful title, drawing the

judge’s eye to your story. Honestly, I don’t particularly like having titles on competition images, but, as a pragmatist, if they’re part of the entry, then make them count.

E V E R Y D AY I S A S C H O O L D AY D R PAU L W I L K I N S O N

11. Check your print (not just your file) for blown

Thank you

12. If you’re sending your prints up to head office,

The strength of qualifications and awards with any association is down to three groups of people: the photographers who enter, the judges who assess the images and the team who co-ordinate and make it happen.

highlights or blocked-up blacks. Judges will penalise areas of paper-white or black nothingness.

package them properly (preferably in a dedicated print-case.). Some brown paper and bubble wrap is not enough to protect those precious prints from a courier’s bootprint!

13. Choose your categories carefully. Although, in

theory, we reserve the right to move prints from one category to another, this is rarely practical.

14. If you add textured backgrounds in Photoshop,

ensure their sharpness is appropriate and that we can’t see any edges around the subject. This goes for comping skies too. We always see pin-sharp backgrounds when they should (optically speaking) be slightly soft or out of focus!

Firstly, I have to thank the photographers who have produced and submitted the most incredible and varied work as competition entries and qualification panels. It has been an honour and a privilige to be involved in the judging and peer-reviews of such beautiful photography!

Secondly, I’d like to thank the judges who have been involved over the past year:

17. Look out for bits of the subject getting too close to

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

18. When creating monochrome prints, use the right

If anyone fancies joining the judging team, please do let us know. You have to have a Fellowship, a love of photographs and the ability to work as part of a team.

15. If you apply vignettes, they (typically) shouldn’t be

noticeable - they should always look like natural lighting.

Viewing a thumbnail grid where vignettes always leap out at you is a quick way to spot if they’re right.

16. Avoid odd things breaking a smooth line - for in-

stance, fingers poking out from behind someone’s back. the edge of the image (or being slightly cropped at the edge.)

colour mix (for instance, if you have a preset with a blue filter applied, this will turn red areas, such as the lips on a face, black.)

Annemarie Farley David Taylor David Stanbury Emily Hancock Fiona Elizabeth Gurvir Johal James Musselwhite John Parris Panikos Hajistilly Sanjay Jogia Sean Conboy Su Kaye Catherine Beltramini Eric Jenkins

Thirdly, I would thank Martin, Joel and Sharron at Head Office, who make it all happen!

2022 is done, here’s to 2023! the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three 49

W O R L D P H OTO G R A P H I C C U P TEAM UK

Team UK Assembled for WPC As England and Wales fight for football dominance amongst the 32 nations of the Fifa World Cup in Qatar this year it is worth noting that there is another world cup competition also involving 32 nations taking place in Singapore.

The World Photographic Cup is now in its 11th year and has grown to become, arguably, the most prestigious photographic competition in the world today.

Team GB 2023: Richard Bradbury Tim Wallace Jonathan Knowles Peter Rooney Ian Taylor

There have been a few changes this year and I believe they are for the good. In 2019 whilst attending the awards in Norway I was asked to sit on the post prize-giving consultation panel. I proposed something that I felt very strongly should change in the awards format. I asked that the Nature/ Landscape category should be split into two separate categories. It was always my feeling that combining these two, very

different disciplines, made no sense. I am pleased to see that finally this year the committee have decided to do exactly that. They have also split the popular ‘Portrait’ category into ‘Natural Portrait’ and ‘Illustrative Portrait’ giving more opportunities to showcase the creative talents of the world’s finest photographers. It is good to see that the World Photographic Cup is a living breathing organisation open to changing ideas and the development of a more inclusive competition.

As captain of the UK team I believe we have our most diverse group of talented photographers yet and I am very proud of the final 24 images spread across the 8 categories. As well as a few familiar names I have tried to introduce some new talent to the team. Sofia Conti and Paul Reiffer were both winners of the recent National BIPP awards and I

Sarah Wilkes James Musslewhite Scott Johnson Sanjay Jogia Matt Davis Zaki Charles Sofia Conti Gerry Slade David Keep Nikki Goodeve Paul Reiffer Tony Moore 50 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

Conceptual Portrait / Image © Richard Bradbury

Wedding / Image © Sanjay Jogia Commercial / Image © Jonathan Knowles Reportage / Image © Gerry Slade

the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three 51

W O R L D P H OTO G R A P H I C C U P

The top ten results will be announced live from Imaging USA in January 2023 and the final winners will be presented in Singapore on March 17th.

We have some great talents in the team so let’s hope for success in Singapore.

See all entries here: www. worldphotographiccup.org

52 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

Landscape / Image © Scott Johnson Commercial / Image © Tim Wallace

am pleased to say they are in team GB. Sofia has images in both ‘Reportage’ and ‘Natural Portrait’ categories and Paul’s landscape portfolio is so diverse that I was spoilt for choice. Other talented new-comers include Matt Davis whose clean crisp technique and an eye for representing everyday people in a different light gives his work a super-real quality. In the nature category we have Nikki Goodeve with her beautifully observed Herring Gull image along with the equally stunning talents of David Keep and Ian Taylor.

Jonathan Knowles is quite simply one of the most sought after and awarded commercial photographers in the world today and it is a privilege to be able to list him amongst this year’s line up. Whilst attending TPS this year I first saw the work of Gerry Slade.

His black & white image of a police dog handler is one of my favourite shots. The final new-comer is Zaki Charles featuring in the Wedding category. His work is simply breath-taking. Beautifully conceived and exquisitely crafted.

Wildlife / Image © David Keep

TEAM UK

the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three 53

Natural Portrait / Image © Matt Davis Conceptual Portrait / Image © Sarah Wilkes

T E X T TO I M A G E A I T E C H N O LO G Y

Text to Image: AI Technology Reconstructing Reality

I

heard about ‘Text to Image’ AI technology’s ability to simulate artwork within minutes by inputting a written description in May this year, but I hadn’t grasped the extent of the impact it was going to have on the creative world until a few months later.

In August, the story that hurtled AI technology into the public spotlight was Jason Allen’s AI-generated work using software Midjouney, entitled Théâtre D’opéra Spatial, when it took first place in the Digital Creation category at the Colorado State Fair.

The story got picked up by global media platforms, and discussions broke out online about the ethics, artistic validity, and economic impacts of the emerging technology for creatives.

Birds eye, ariel drone shot of Yellowstone park, abstract, ultra realistic, professional photo

Although AI art software has existed for a few years, the ease of using it and its accessibility is now widely available. Along with Midjourney, several different companies are now creating their own programmes that are rising in popularity, such as DreamStudio, DALL-E and Imagen.

Most text-to-image AI programmes follow a similar user input model. For this article, the BIPP used Midjourney, which operates through a Discord server.

How it works In the simplest terms, the user types out sentences of the image they want to create; how specific these demands are up to the user, but in general, even the most bespoke request will spit back results.

On Midjourney, you use ‘prompts’ to affect the aesthetic of the image further; this allows you to ask for the image as an acrylic or an oil painting, in the style of a specific artist/photographer, aspect ratio, type of lighting, camera and lens used – the list goes on. The words are interpreted, and the AI creates fully original images, meaning you can insert the exact same description and never get the same result.

When you use software DreamStudio and Dall-E 2, they also allow you to upload a photo of your own, clear out a section of the image, and then type a request for something to fill in the space.

54 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

Once the user inputs their instructions, the AI software scours the internet for thousands of images by finding captions and metadata related to the words and then deconstructs them through a complex mathematical process. The next stage is called diffusion, which turns the array of pixels collected from the search into something resembling what the user requested; this is done by the AI recognising patterns from the images sourced.

The standard results returned in Midjourney are 4 squares, each containing a different version of your request; you then have the option to continue to develop any of the four results. You can either upscale them to a higher resolution or create an alternative version of the ones you like, and you can continue to do this infinitely until you’re satisfied. You can then download the image directly as a JPEG. BIPP & AI After a suggestion from CEO Martin Baynes, I put AI technology to the test against the critical eyes of the judges in the National Print Competition. After starting to experiment, I found it took a lot of work to get anything worthwhile; after learning the correct prompts to create photorealistic images, it was then a case of hours of inputting different ideas and slight variations to try to get results that were not only realistic but visually interesting and met photographic standards.

T E X T TO I M A G E R E CO N S T R U C T I N G R E A L I T Y

When trying to replicate digitally created portraits, I leaned into the heavily edited and manipulated image style. Anything too realistic seemed inauthentic and just felt off - an ‘Uncanny Valley’ type of vibe - you could get away with it when it looked like an experimental photoshopped portrait.

After seeing examples shared by other Midjourney users, I began using prompts to replicate analogue photographs, specifically high contrast and grainy b&w styles. It helped simplify the picture and diminish the number of glitches - the more detail the more could go wrong. The biggest challenge came when generating eyes and hands, which always end up skewed.

The next test was getting AI images to look good in print, which I thought could be their downfall. a famous singer, symmetrical face, smooth skin, black and white, silver nitrate, full frame, ilford hp5, film noir, F/1.4, However, the four chosen images you see 35mm lens, monochrome, film grain, sharp scene, in focus, orton effect, ultra realistic, professional photo, bright and throughout this article held up strong, and I’d like to clear, octane render thank Digitalab for printing and mounting them free of charge in generated images would not be accepted on its platforms. The support of the idea. company said that the decision was made because of copyright liabilities and usage rights concerns.

The one print that got a bronze in the Nationals was a dronestyle landscape shot, as it gave licence for the image to be unfamiliar, and it was harder to detect faults in an abstract scene.

What could the impact be for photographers in In hindsight, I wish I’d focused more time on creating still life or the UK? landscape images, but the lure of generating a life-like human Between October 2021 and January 2022, the UK Intellectual was too compelling.

Property Office held a public consultation on the intersection between artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property laws.

Copyright One of the outcomes was that the UK government has now Pushback is coming from copyright concerns due to the AI proposed to introduce a new copyright and database right programmes essentially harvesting data by casting a net into an exception which allows Text and Data Mining (TDM) for any online sea of images and bringing in millions of results from artists, purpose, i.e. including commercial uses. Meaning licensing of designers, illustrators, and photographers without their consent or any material will no longer be an issue, and rightsholders will not providing any benefit to the creators. Even knowing where and be able to opt-out of their work being used. what material the AI has used is unknowable in most cases.

Photography membership organisation the Association of More direct copyright claims can be made when a user inputs Photographers (AOP) have been vocal on the subject in a well-established figures to mimic their signature style, meaning detailed statement on their website. It says, “This new proposed there is an option to create a portrait in the style of David Bailey Text and Data Mining exception for commercial purposes – by or a painting in the style of Picasso. the UK government – undermines this by freely allowing the machine mining of all imagery published online for any use by One of the world’s top visual media and photo supply anyone, including AI developers. It would cover both copyright companies, Getty Images, announced in September that AIworks and those protected by the UK Database Right.”

55

T E X T TO I M A G E A I T E C H N O LO G Y

“With serious economic consequences for any creator, but most especially photographers with data-rich images, this proposal completely short-circuits the licensing process allowing AI developers and others free commercial access to content for which, under normal circumstances, they would have to license and pay for.”

To combat the potential law change, the AOP has created an online survey for photographers to fill out to gather support against the ‘harmful’ consequences it could have on the industry.

Entering the post-truth era The terrifying reality of ‘text to image’ is its ability to warp authenticity. The systems are now on the cusp of producing real-life quality images of anything your imagination wants. So what happens when you produce images of influential figures in an uncompromising position to diminish their reputation?

Could this not cause damage? Create mistrust? And blur the lines between what’s real and what’s not?

With this in mind, some text-to-image AI companies have limits on explicit content, although this varies; DreamStudio, for example, allows hyper-violent scenes, whereas Dall-E 2 won’t allow you to recreate any public/celebritybased images or graphic content.

Jobs The fear for creatives is that commissions may disappear in favour of AI, as customers who need a generic image, design, logos, storyboards, or artwork can technically now generate it directly using AI programmes at a much cheaper cost price.

Expert at the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies (CIFS), Timothy Shoup, estimates that 99 per cent to 99.9 per cent of the internet’s content will be AI-generated by 2025 to 2030, especially if models like OpenAI’s GPT-3 achieve wider adoption.

Simon Staffers, CEO of ReThink and a multi-media practitioner of over 30 years, is a vocal figure on the subject.

He tells the Photographer, “AI art - such as Midjourney or Stable Diffusion can have a place in the creative process of films, series etc, there are most certainly limitations to AI, even though the platforms/bots are continuously learning. I can understand and appreciate the concerns of designers, artists, photographers etc. There might be a need for regulation. However, there is no putting this genie back in the bottle.”

“Having AI-created content be clearly labelled would help differentiate between hand-crafted content and AI. This will become increasingly difficult to police as AI becomes better and better at iterating and creating. Ultimately, I believe it will be more feasible to rule on what pieces of content are allowed to label themselves ‘handmade’. I think the question is moot, though. There is no way to prevent AI from impacting the creative economy. The cat is out of the proverbial bag.”

56 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

a woman with decorative makeup with closed eyes, colourful lighting, fantasy, sci-fi, very realistic, in the wild, micro details, hyper realistic, hyperdetailed, insane details, full frame, 85 mm lens, F/1.4. Cinematic lighting, dramatic lighting, cinematic, realistic, High Contrast, highly detailed

Can a machine really create art?

Opinions online dismiss any real artistic validity towards AI, mainly claiming that a machine is the one creating the work and that real art is born from true human expressions and skill – something a machine can’t replicate.

Although there is human input and creativity within the process, as the user does input the description and adds certain prompts to shape the results, so, the question is, does this qualify as being an artist? Is putting words into the text box art?

Well, it’s not the first-time machines creating art have been called into question. In the early years after the first camera was invented, painters rejected the medium as something that could not produce any artistic value. The 19th-century French poet and art critic Charles Baudelaire referred to photography as “art’s most mor­tal enemy.”

T E X T TO I M A G E R E CO N S T R U C T I N G R E A L I T Y

Simon says, “In a sense, we’re where the previous generation of artists and photographers were when Photoshop and computerbased paint and image programs appeared; that was not considered ‘real art’ either. I think a lot of people will ultimately start working with AI as a tool in their toolbox.

“Personally, I do not consider myself an artist of any kind for being able to write an intricate prompt and churn out images through Midjourney. As such, I can’t say I believe the pieces of art have much integrity either.”

Simon adds, “However, if I take a piece of AI art and use what else I know - writing, painting, illustrating etc - to turn it into something else, I believe there is both validity and integrity. To what extent is open for debate - can it be 70% AI and 30% artist? 50-50? 80-20? As always, it’s in the eye of the beholder.”

Sculpture and experimental artist, Asher, uses Midjourney to create his models digitally and then buys materials to sculpt the designs. He tells the Photographer: “I cannot afford an illustrator.

I started using AI (text to image) as a means to generate the images I need to work on a large project telling the stories of the world that my sculptures inhabit. At this stage, it takes a great deal of finesse to get anything that I feel would be professionally usable and reasonably close to what I want. I do like the ability to give it style guides of some cinematographers or photographers. Since that command will help generate work that has composition, colour, layout, and often things like film stock, so even the grain of the final output is realistic. To not use those guides, I find the works to be very plastic looking.

Overall, the negatives will be putting a lot of artists out of work.

But then again, there is not a single human on this planet that is immune from having an AI/machine replace them. It’s time to have the discussion about our end goals as a species and not the short-term profits of capitalism.”

Adobe’s Beyond the Sea In October 2002, Adobe announced the latest prototype AI software called Beyond the Sea, which can turn a 2D photo into a 3D scene using artificial intelligence to extend uncaptured boundaries. One example of its capabilities displayed by Adobe shows a large mirrored object edited into a picture, and it then creates accurate reflections of the surrounding scene. Although it can’t know for sure, it uses a plausible version through machine learning.

a techno priest, symmetrical face, Fantasy, sci-fi, magazine front cover, beauty shoot, fashion shoot, studio lighting, magazine front cover, full frame, studio lighting, F/1.8, 35mm lens, sharp scene, in focus, orton effect, ultra realistic, professional, photo, bright

Generated Photos Amassing a dataset by taking tens of thousands of real-life images of people in their studio, Generated Photo uses the vast collection of portraits to form new versions of people using AI technology. All the images are taken in a controlled environment to ensure all the faces are consistent in look and quality. The images are then tagged, categorised, and added to a dataset to produce faces that have never before existed. Further machine learning processes take place after the faces are created to identify and remove flaws.

All portraits are model-released, and any images that are used are completely copyright free.

Shutterstock Although certain photo agencies have rejected AI image generation, Shutterstock announced in October that it’s integrating text-to-image software DALL-E 2 into its website.

The feature will work like the other programmes but use the Shutterstock library to source the data to produce AI conducted images, and the company said it plans on launching a fund to compensate artists by providing royalties to the content that inspired the work. Also, Shutterstock says it will ban third-party AI art on its platform due to the lack of clarity around the copyright.

E D WA R D R E E V E S A R C H I V E E S T 1855

Edward Reeves Archive A lineage of BIPP members going back three generations celebrated their photographic heritage in an exhibition of historic images of the town Lewes and its residents by displaying lightboxes throughout the town centre during September & October 2022.

E

stablished in 1855, Edward Reeves Photography is believed to be the oldest continuously operated photographic studio in the world. It houses an archive of over 250,000 glass plates in addition to over 400,000 images on film and in the form of digital files. With much of the original paperwork intact, this archive is a unique record of daily life in and around Lewes and the history of commercial photographic practice. The Victorian studio is still in daily use, and the business is now owned and run by Edward Reeves’ great-grandson Tom Reeves with his wife, Tania Osband.

The exhibition was curated by Tania Osband, Tom Reeves and Brigitte Lardinois. The research project is led by Brigitte Lardinois, Director of PARC, the Photography and the Archive Research Centre at LCC, University of the Arts London.

A current BIPP member, Tom Reeves LBIPP, has been with the Institute since 1982; his father and grandfather were members through the days of the BIPP’s former names, such as the IIP, the IBP and the PPA. Tom’s great-grandad was simply a photography pioneer and started Reeves Studio - he died in 1904!

Tom Reeves says: “It is really exciting that, through the efforts of our volunteers, we have been able for the first time

58

to search our archive for specific named subjects, so in this exhibition we can include portraits of people exhibited in the windows of the houses that they once occupied. That sheds a fascinating light on a past Lewes and its people. The standard of the images in the exhibition is a testament to the quality of work encouraged by the Institute and aspired to by its members.”

The exhibition includes formal portraits taken in the Reeves’ Studio as well as Lewes street scenes; it reveals the world in which the subjects lived and the people they may have encountered. Contemporary newspaper reports and guidebooks have provided personal back stories, describing family life, work, and leisure pursuits.

Illustrated with stunning photographs showing the amazing quality of the images taken from the original glass plates, the lightboxes are placed in locations relevant to the subjects in the pictures. The exhibition allowed the chance to meet Edward Reeves and his daughter Mary Elizabeth, also a photographer, their neighbour Ruth Simmons who married twice and then emigrated to Canada, and from just across the High Street, Caroline Napier and Annie Mullens, who ran a school for young ladies. In their daily life, they may have bumped into Thomas Weston, ‘haircutter and perfumer’ out on his penny farthing bicycle or passed by Edwin Battersby, managing clerk of the Lewes Probate

E D WA R D R E E V E S A R C H I V E E S T 1855

Registry and attempted murderer. Among the street images, some scenes witness to an early car crash, a town celebration for a coronation that didn’t happen and the lively aftermath of a general election result with the report of eggs thrown and fireworks discharged!

Brigitte Lardinois, Director of the Photography and the Arts Research Centre at LCC, UAL: “The Edward Reeves Archive project is very important in the history of British photography, and I am delighted that with the help of our many volunteers, we are able to once again share some of this unique collection.”

R I P O N S PA B AT H S H E L E N TA B O R

Ripon Spa Baths – A photographic memento Helen Tabor published a book on her documentation of a grade II listed building built back in 1905, which has become a local hub in her community and a place of personal connection. The photo book is ‘dedicated to all those who learned and loved to swim in Ripon Spa Baths’ and features 36 pages capturing the incredibly intricate designs of the building. In this feature, Helen details her motivation behind the project.

1. 40 years of swimming at the pool, from those

awkward teenage years on the occasional ‘date’, and doing my first ever dive there to becoming a regular ‘early riser’ (though not that early!) once I returned to Ripon 15 years ago. It became a real community in the mornings, and the social aspect of meeting other swimmers there was an important part of my week, as I know it was for many others as well.

2. Family memories – my son Jamie had lessons there

from the age of about four; I would swim widths at the same time, the other side of the rope, and duck under to watch him when the swimming teacher, Sylvia, let him go and he had to doggy paddle for his life to come to the surface again – very scary! My mum also used to swim there until well into her eighties – at the end they’d hoist her out with a special chair contraption which could be rotated and lowered into the water.

3. I always enjoyed the play of light in the building,

60 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

4. When Jamie was small we used to do the ‘Green

Man Trail’ (looking for ceramic faces nailed high up in the trees) in the adjacent Spa Gardens, and this brought to my attention the curious faces (or ‘masks’) on the outside of the Baths building. Digging into the history for the book has made me see other things now, too, including the 1904 references on the entrance and cast iron downpipes, the foundation stone by the front door, the Ripon Rowel and Ripon horn motifs, the terracotta pomegranates, the ‘swimmer’ wrought iron railings and the gargoyles on the water tower at the rear. I hope with the book that people will look at the building with fresh eyes and maybe notice little details they’ve never noticed before – and point them out to their children as I have my son. Certainly, the old photos of the building as a spa in its heyday are wonderful to see.

Images © Helen Tabor

image © Christina Mitrea

either whilst swimming, with the shafts of sunlight cutting through the water and hitting the green tiles of the pool itself, or in the foyer with the light reflected off

the house opposite and bringing to life the colours in the stained glass and giving a special sheen to the faience tile work.

5. Ripon Spa Baths has meant a lot to many generations of swimmers over the years – since 1936. So I thought people would appreciate a book of photos making the foyer especially look its best, now that the building is closed and we may not gain access to it in the future.

6. I’m a firm believer in taking professional-quality

photos rather than using a mobile phone. Other people were taking phone shots in the foyer that last morning when I was there, and the quality of the images that I’ve seen since wasn’t a patch on what my camera and I

can achieve. Everyone has a camera on their phone, but that doesn’t mean they know about composition, exposure and depth of field. So it’s an opportunity to bang the drum for professional photography and to show the building off to its best advantage with my carefully-crafted images, which people can now enjoy with the book and the greetings cards which no-one else has produced. I suppose as a swimmer too, I feel some ‘ownership’ of the pool, so this book has brought everything together.

Inspiring

4.9 out of 5

based on over 40,000 reviews

photographers

Your local camera experts are just a few clicks away Providing professional knowledge, inspiration and the right tools to take your photography to the next level.

12 STORES

NATIONWIDE

• Huge range of products • Impartial advice • 45-day returns§ • Trade-in • Second-hand • Sensor cleaning† • Repairs • Rental†

image © Christina Mitrea

§

w w w. t h e f l a s h c e n t r e . c o m

T&Cs apply. †Advance booking required. Visit wex.co.uk/stores for more information.

To find your nearest Wex store visit wex.co.uk/stores

Me & Asian Weddings

By Monir Ali They say, when you have photographed one wedding, you can photograph any wedding. This is true to a certain point, but not all weddings are the same. The enigma of Asian Weddings is a lure for many lifestyle and wedding photographers, and they seem up for the challenge of photographing a “Big Fat Asian Wedding”. But can you approach an ethnically, culturally and religiously diverse wedding in the same way you would say a Church or “White Wedding”.

What is an Asian Wedding: We have all heard the term “Asian Wedding”, but even within that description we are already in a minefield of differences. The images conjured up when you hear that phrase are filled with opulence, colour, big weddings, loads of group shots and days and day of celebrations. But there is much more to them. Let’s break down the collective “Asian Weddings” – this refers to an ethnic group mainly from the South Asia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Then within those you have a further breakdown, which falls into 4 key religions within; Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian. The breakdown continues in to subgroups, based on sects and regional breakdowns… this can go on for a long time, but its these differences that will challenge any photographer, and knowing the difference between a Bangladeshi Muslim wedding, Pakistani Muslim Wedding a Sikh wedding will dictate the way you photograph and capture the essence of the wedding.

What is so special about Asian Weddings?

Like all weddings, they are not merely a milestone in the life of a couple in love, but a celebration of the coming together of two people and more importantly two families and a community. The Photography must take into account these elements as well as the fundamental and practical aspects of the wedding ceremony, and the not so obvious cultural nuances that go to make up the 62 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

wedding story. Understanding these will ensure that you capture and reflect the cultural personality and religious identity of the wedding.

Best shooting style?

Since the beginning of my Wedding photography career, I opted to follow the style I had been comfortable with in my stint as a documentary photographer, and favoured reportage which I felt would capture the essence of the wedding, and provide my clients with a reflective look at their wedding. However, going this route did cause some challenges for me, more so because this was a move away from what the clients had experienced in the past. Photography for Asian Weddings up until I started, was very formal staged pictures of the wedding, and very much controlled by the photographer, as well as being very traditional based on the techniques and values and cultural traits, image representations, and the accepted norms of photography from the sub-continent. Brides would be depicted as shy, sad and forlorn, grooms on the other hand will be depicted as heroic, dynamic and dashing.

As with any community adapting to a way of life in a new society, these slowly changed, as new photographers like myself, came along with fresh ideas, and new experiences, the change was coming. The change was being brought forward by not only upcoming new Images © Monir Ali

photographers, but the client mindset was changing.

The clients, were now what they called “Second Generation British Asians” 25 to 30 year old, brought up in the UK, and living with a foot in each cultural sphere, the British way of life fused with their South Asian lives and traditions.

Young Couples wanted more, they wanted stories of their weddings, and not just group shots, and shots of them standing in doorways and looking lost.

My style of photography appealed to them, a cross between the east and west culture, fusing the traditions with some energy, life and storytelling. I understood what they wanted because I wanted what they wanted, a fresh retelling of their story.

But the process had been difficult, clients would also look at non Asian Photographers to photograph their weddings, but what changed the game was that more and more photographers came on to the scene, who had the same background, cultures and mindset as them, and the new wave of Asian Wedding Photographers broke onto the scene.

Over time, as I slowly introduced new elements to the wedding photography, parallel to weddings my fashion photography career was kicking off so I started to introduced these techniques of editorial style couples portraits, and these resonated with the couples and became a big part of my style and service.

Over time, things have changed, trends come and go, spot colours, first looks, cinematic styling, 3D imaging, smoke bombs, but Asian Weddings will never change, the way we approach and nurture the image of the weddings, and they will always be centred around the cultural, religious and traditional nature of the wedding. Which will result in beautifully documented wedding stories. Remember the best photography stories are ones that tell themselves.

63

O B I T UA R Y ROGER GOODWILL

Goodbye Roger Goodwill

Roger Goodwill was a father, husband, eager fisherman, former photographer, tutor, and lecturer at Blackpool College, known for his endearing and charismatic character. During his time at Blackpool College, he taught generations of pupils and supported them to have successful careers in commercial and social photography, many of whom went on to be instrumental members of the BIPP. After Roger sadly passed away in September, his daughter provided an obituary in memory of her dad.

O

ur dad was born in 1933 in Stockport to May and John Goodwill. His mum was an English teacher, and his dad was a printer for the local newspaper.

From an early age, it was clear school was not for him...he preferred working with his hands and soon became interested in photography and set up his first darkroom in his mum and dad’s box room. The rest is history!

He met our mum at Reynolds, where he was a production photographer and my mum Ann was a chef. They married in 1962 and had 58 years together. James was born in 1964, and I was born in 1966. Family life was very important to dad, and we were so lucky to spend 6 weeks a year travelling around Europe in our caravan, and as you can imagine, he always had a camera in his hand. We had amazing times on those holidays and made lifelong memories. We have so many cine films of our holidays and family days out...that was the beauty of having a photographer for a dad.

He had many hobbies, including model making, watercolour art, and, more recently, making steam engine models, which of course, he excelled at. He won many art competitions at his local fair, which meant so much to him. He was also a member of the Poulton-le-Fylde photographic society, where he was a judge, and I used to be a flower girl when I was 6, presenting the flowers to the mayor’s wife, so it was quite a family affair and he stayed a member until he passed away. There are so many memories James and I could tell you, but we would be here forever. His family and photography were the two most important things to our dad.

He is greatly missed.

64 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2022 / Issue Three

The Ede & Ravenscroft group provide photography for students and families on the most special days of their lives at schools and graduations.

Would you like to photograph next years graduates?

We are looking for professional photographers

Our team of professional portrait photographers ensure our customers receive an exceptional image of themselves and their loved ones to cherish.

We are currently looking for new members to join our team with many events in 2023 already scheduled.

• Full time or freelance positions available • Competitive rates of pay • Events held across the United Kingdom • Basic kit required including a camera capable of large images with a fixed lens 50mm or 35mm for cropped sensor. F2.8 zoom lenses preferred. Two 500 watt flash heads with wireless trigger. Tripod and two posing stools or equivalent.

Get in touch: info@graduation-ser vices.com Visit: graduation-ser vices.edeandravenscroft.com/photo