the Photographer - Issue Three 2018

The editorial look Jason Bell and ‘owning’ high-end style

For richer, for poorer The three lives of Richard Bradbury The Magazine of the BIPP / 2018 / Issue Three

All around the world Kevin Wilson explains how he’s never standing still

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Valued members, On November 28th the BIPP AGM was held in Aylesbury. As per the Institute’s Articles of Association, the outgoing MSAB members were replaced by the new nominees, who then selected five members to sit on the board of directors for the next two years.

The new board’s first decision was to authorise an independent review of the Institute’s financial and operational standing. This review is already underway and the key findings will, of course, be made available and shared with BIPP members when completed.

What we can tell you now is that the directors and Chris Harper have mutually agreed that Chris will step down as CEO of the BIPP with immediate effect.

All other staff remain in their current roles, their support and hard work in handling this transition smoothly and efficiently is enormously appreciated by all involved.

The future of the BIPP is bright. We cannot wait to work with the MSAB and the membership as a whole to craft an Institute that does this wonderful community, and the industry we’re all part of, proud.

Many thanks, Jonathan Beer FBIPP Sean Conboy FBIPP Emily Hancock FBIPP Ioan Said LBIPP Kevin Weatherly LBIPP Directors of the BIPP

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I SSUE THREE, 2 0 1 8

Cover image © Kevin Wilson

Kevin Wilson / Travel 2 Always a man with an eye for an opportunity, Kevin Wilson’s extended his repertoire to travel portraiture, so illustrating his endless fascination with the journey of photography

Richard Bradbury / Children 30 A career in photography can be a long and varied road – Richard Bradbury talks about taking control of working life and how there’s reason behind each and every rhyme

Jason Bell / Celebrity 14 Known not least for bringing highend editorial style to photographing the new Royals, Jason Bell discusses the world of film from both sides of the Atlantic

George Rodger / Sudan 42 One of Magnum’s founding fathers, George Rodger’s ‘allocated’ area of the world is celebrated by the book Southern Sudan, showing his mastery of composition and expression

Photography Awards 2019 26 Call for entries, submission deadline 31 December 2018

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2018 48 A look at this year’s competition and exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery

the Photographer is published four times a year by the British Institute of Professional Photography, Ardenham Court, Oxford Road, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP19 8HT. T: 01296 642020 E: info@bipp.com W: www.bipp.com President: Kevin Wilson Hon FBIPP Company secretary: Michael Lane Directors: Emily Hancock FBIPP, Jonathan Beer FBIPP, Sean Conboy FBIPP, Kevin Weatherly LBIPP, Ioan Said LBIPP

Membership Services Advisory Board Chris Wright ABIPP - National Jonathan Beer FBIPP - National David Campbell ABIPP - Northern Ireland Sean Conboy FBIPP - North West Dan Freeman FBIPP - South East Tony Freeman Hon FBIPP - National Emily Hancock FBIPP - National Alan McEwan Hon FBIPP - Scotland Ioan Said LBIPP - National Denise Swanson FBIPP - National

Dr Will Anderson / Training 54 Photographic training can take many forms and Will Anderson (a Forensic Medical Examiner) specialises in helping clinicians ‘get it right’ when they use digital photography BIPP pages 60 Company partners, member benefits, portfolio reviews David Taylor FBIPP - Midlands Kevin Weatherly LBIPP - North East David Wheeler FBIPP - South West Katrina Whitehead LBIPP - Yorkshire Editor: Jonathan Briggs, editor@bipp.com Advertising: Tel 01296 642020 Email: jack@bipp.com UK Subscribers £20, EU £40, Rest of the World £50 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 2018 Issue Three / 2018 / the PHOTOGRAPHER 1

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KEVI N W I LSON TRAVEL PORTRAI TURE

The never-ending journey of photography

‘H

ardly a month passes by without some chatter on social media concerning photographic qualifications,’ says BIPP President Kevin Wilson, almost stating the obvious – but it’s a subject that is genuinely close to his heart. Indeed: there’s no doubt that the subject is guaranteed to create diverse opinions no matter who is talking about it and let’s be honest, social media is just about the worst place to gain a balanced opinion.

The rub almost always comes down to what the benefits are in the real world. Is it about what your customers think? Does anyone take any notice of professional qualifications in photography anyway – be that in terms of the general public or commercial clientele? And most critically (in all senses of the word), why should an industry body have a say in how effective any given photographer might be at what they do? Just who do they think they are?

But Wilson disagrees with all of that: ‘“What can it do for you?”, is more likely the question I would respond with. There are endless opportunities that can arise from the pursuit of “letters after your name” if you want to describe it as that,’ he explains. ‘People who push themselves – those who are competitive, if you like – have always fascinated me, and in photography it is no different. When a photographer moves into a mindset where they actively want to develop in their professional life then they need the way of doing that – the pathway, how to go about it in terms of peer review and professional-level assessment and then proper recognition at realistic but challenging milestones. This has to be wrapped up in a consistent approach that can be refered back to time and again.’

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Romblon Island, Philippines | Image © Kevin Wilson

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KEVI N W I LSON TRAVEL PORTRAI TURE

So why is Kevin Wilson so bothered about it all anyway? And whilst we’re at it, what’s all this travel portraiture about too? He provides some context: ‘Photography has and always will be a great passion for me in life. I tend to assume that most photographers feel the same way – but perhaps that’s where I begin to get into trouble! Personally, once photography has taken hold of you, there is a constant desire to improve. Even though I’m getting on a little bit now, that remains true for me today. This isn’t hot air – it’s honestly how I feel about it. Each and every time I have a camera in my hand I feel the need to make something meaningful and thought provoking – it’s not something I have ever really considered a “job” in the “nine to five” sense of the word. Over 25 years ago now I bought a small barn and transformed it into a studio – somewhere I could exhibit my work properly, show frames, albums and of course have a space to project my work on large screens. It also allowed me to separate work from home better.

But in truth the bigger decision was to head out from the studio back in the ’90s and be undertaking portraiture sessions out on location, using the wonderful natural landscapes around me in Dorset as my backdrop. My preferred locations were old buildings, fields, streams, barns and woodland – all with varying levels of light that could be manipulated with reflectors. Many photographers at the time were unwilling to step outside the comfort of their studios – and that provided an opportunity to grab a niche market. You could say I took a good piece of that.’

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KEVI N W I LSON TRAVEL PORTRAI TURE

It’s no secret that Kevin is able – if so he wanted – to create the longest set of letters ever seen on a business card. He has continually put his head above the proverbial parapet and allowed his work to be shot at, point blank. He’s set himself numerous challenges to develop and redevelop his portraiture work far from the well-trodden environs of weddings and the location niche. Fellowship is the most prestigious qualification that a professional photographer is able to achieve and requires the production of a collection of work that truly reflects an individual style – one that can be attributed to the author of the submission – and that consists of 20 faultless images that must hang together as a complete set and be recognised as the body of work of one person. This work has to demonstrate individuality, symmetry, graphic design, composition and a true mastery of light control. Awarding of Fellowship is the ultimate recognition of artistry and attention to detail in pursuit of excellence.

Very few photographers achieve this status, and Kevin has a hat full (7 within the BIPP). But he does not stop there: ‘Once you have achieved the highest qualification that the BIPP and other associations provide, it would be easy to say “that is it, I have done it, I have arrived, I can sit back and relax – school is over”. But that would be to miss the point of qualifications entirely. Photography is different to other professions. You don’t learn it and know it and then perform it: game over. There’s always the chance to take yourself creatively to places that you had never even thought could exist for you – be that yesterday, last week or years prior.’

Kevin’s travel portraiture work shown to accompany this article is the result of finding opportunities whilst undertaking another job altogether – one in itself that would not have come about without the previously discussed attitudes and perspectives. He says: ‘Crystal Cruises provides luxury all-inclusive cruises and have two ships, Serenity and Symphony, complete with teams of photographers providing an excellent service working extremely hard. But after being named Top Medium Cruise Line for a record-breaking 25th year, Crystal wished to provide their discerning clientele with an opportunity to have a very special portrait taken on board. Currently only five photographers who have achieved their Fellowships in the UK provide this service on behalf of Paragon Pixels – a bespoke cruise ship photography business providing products and on-board photographic services to the luxury cruise market. Each of us is treated exactly the same as paying guests on board, and the work takes me around the world, and gives me an opportunity to do something different all over again when we go ashore.’

Social media is littered with life-affirming sound-bite quotations about making your own reality and success, which has precious little validity in the short term. But even here in the real world, given focus, drive and a long-term outlook there’s no doubt that you can form your own success by means of the decisions you make and the opportunities you decide to take. Kevin’s a fine example.

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Port of Gizo, Solomon Islands | Image © Kevin Wilson

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KEVI N W I LSON TRAVEL PORTRAI TURE

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He expands on the experience: ‘We have been visiting countries that in themselves offer beautiful light and environments, and subject matter that appeals to me and my available light portraiture. During the Amazon river cruise on port days we had the opportunity to go ashore and explore. We arrived in a village called Boca de Valeria in Brazil. This is probably the only mainstream way to get there and it was here that I met a young local child outside her school (below and cover image this issue). It was just a small hut with around 20 pupils and walking inside I was very taken by the large globe and colour of the

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wall. I gestured to her mother, asking if I could take her portrait – stepping inside and not being able to speak Portuguese it was just a case of sign language and smiles. That particular image was lit from the shuttered window to the left, and a reflector was placed bottom right. The image of a mother and child from same village (left) in their bedroom has a similar light pattern. Again no English or Portuguese was spoken so it came down to communication by smiles alone.’

Another location Kevin has visited is Romblon Island in the Philippines. Romblon has been inhabited by aboriginal Filipinos prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1569. The inhabitants of Romblon are divided into three groups: Romblomanon, Onhan and Asi. These groups occupy specific islands in the province and have their own language and customs. Romblomanon is mainly spoken in the town of Romblon, in all of three towns of Sibuyan Island, and the town of San Agustin in Tablas Island. Kevin was out with his 35mm lens, and stumbled upon some men playing pool (second spread of this feaure). He comments: ‘They were not the friendliest guys, but I soon managed to convince them I was only wanting to capture an image, unposed and just as it was. I loved the casual look of the guy leaning against the column, and the way there’s a path through the image that resolves on him. I’m not sure why the guy sat down was so amused at what I was doing. This was taken with available light from an open doorway. Sometimes I am warned not to venture into this area or that place, and when someone mentions that to me, it means it could be interesting… and usually it is! This gentleman (below)was keen to show me his home. Managing several different backgrounds and very low light, I had also been told that thieves would rob me of my camera. After I’d taken the image I was walking down the street when his grandson came running down after me, with my camera bag and sunglasses that I’d left behind…’

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KEVI N W I LSON TRAVEL PORTRAI TURE

It’s not the first time that Kevin’s formed a full body of work far away from the types of portraiture he’s usually known for. In 2012 he decided to look into a generation of often-forgotten elderly people. ‘Having spent a lifetime photographing handsome couples, and families with young children, I decided to track down 20 centenarians,’ he says. ‘There is a real beauty to be revealed as a result of the ageing process – lines on faces and hands that have become expressive through the passage of time. It was far from straightforward, and I allocated a maximum of just 15 minutes with each. The thing is it’s not the camera that takes the picture and it’s not just your lighting or being able to create some efftect or other. The picture is created by your subject’s personality and character coming up against your own personality and will. With a number of my subjects on Centenarian I wasn’t able to say much if, for example, they were suffering from dementia. But nonetheless in those few words we interacted and responded to each other in a way that was unique, that was different than anyone else because it was them and me. That’s how the pictures were made: one light, one window, one camera… plus two personalities. I believe this formula is what makes photography different to other art forms.’ It’s easy to appreciate how the exact same sentiment applies across any situation anywhere in the world.

Kevin’s view of the qualifications structure at the BIPP is that it is simply a formalisation of the will to get better – a means of finding appropriate, constructive, creative criticism and of developing work in a meaningful way. He says: ‘I believe you have to continue to push forward and prove that you are current – to the world out there and to yourself. If you undertake that improvement you will most certainly be giving your clients better images and better service, and who would not want to do that? I think that I naturally embrace change and that is something that doesn’t follow for everyone. However, I do think that it is important to not settle too deeply – even subconsciously – into wanting the status quo to remain. Professional development is self development, it is business development. Don’t see it as being forced to reinvent yourself all the time. See it as an open pathway forward. If I can do it, so can you.

Start by finding a mentor – someone that has a style you would like to become involved with. It can be a very rewarding experience and provide the kick start you want.’

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J ASON BELL C ELEBRI TY PORTRAI TURE

Stay true to your ideas

I

t’s good to know that there are still proper ‘Jet-Set’ photographers out there, traversing the globe week in week out – and you can be sure that Jason Bell fits this bill perfectly. It’s been thus for a long while now, with a work rate that shows no signs of abating. When a photographer (or more likely their agent) claims they ‘work between London and New York’ it’s usually sales speak for the odd trip across the pond each year. No such gentle schedule for Jason – servicing some of the big editorial names (British Vogue and New York-based Vanity Fair) demands it. Now there’s the ‘new’ media streaming monoliths, such as Netflix, to keep sweet too.

Just as hardly anyone who’s anyone consumes live television any more, the streaming entertainment services have dragged us all unconsciously into a world of endless box-set binges. It’s a not-sosubtle step change that has simultaneously provided a new and slightly different client base for a photographer such as Jason.

Which leads us to immediately ask, just what exactly is he bestknown for? Is it for producing creative and dynamic portraiture of the likes of Keri Russell (right), for six seasons star of FX Networks’ The Americans, playing an ice-cold KGB spy who kills many men and beds more besides? It’s a curiously good question. Jason’s not at all short of media coverage himself and is commonly tagged as a ‘celebrity photographer’ as we have here. However, it was hard to decide exactly what strapline to give him in this feature – but let’s be clear (even though it is obvious already), this is not the red carpet variety of celebrity photography, or indeed a life dashing around with a couple of location lights for 90-second sittings, and by no means does he see himself as a celebrity figure. Even so, it can be

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J ASON BELL C ELEBRI TY PORTRAI TURE

to do things differently) – and he backed up the choice by introducing a new era of Royal photography that threw out the sombre textures and moved the Royal Family into a frame enlivened by cinematic ‘natural’ light. He says: ‘I wanted people to wonder whether it had been lit at all, and to make a happy feel to the picture.’ So to many, he’s a Royal photographer who brought editorial style to the era of Wills and Kate, and in so doing helped to reinforce the perception of the ‘new’ Royals. And when he came to shoot The Crown campaign for Netflix in 2016 he was even described in the press as a Real Royal Photographer. The link did and does him no harm at all.

Forging a path since the 1990s through Sunday Supplements all the way up to the high-end glossies, Jason Bell’s magazine work has come to mean he pretty much

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Image © Jason Bell

argued that Jason Bell is actually quite publicly famous, in a far more significant way than numerous ‘name’ photographers really are (you can use your imagination there). It’s in no small part due to the Royal connection that came along in 2013. His commission as the official photographer for Prince George’s christening brought him sharply into the public eye, coming a few months after Michael Middleton’s informal back garden efforts were less admired (even though that indicated to Jason that they wanted

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owns the high-end editorial ‘look’. Therefore, via his representation in London and New York with Soho Management, Jason can be extremely selective about the commissions he accepts. He explains: ‘In the editorial world I am driving the work, coming up with the ideas – the production, big or small, flows from there. For the major portfolio productions for Vanity Fair there’s a lot of work going into getting everyone looking good at the same time, but the creative idea is the driving force and that’s what makes it a big number.’

His 2015 Hollywood portfolio amounted to 24 separate location productions to illustrate ‘The British Are Coming’, focusing on a wave of talent from the United Kingdom leading Hollywood’s hottest projects. Stars featured included Tom Hiddleston, Orlando Bloom, James McAvoy, Eddie Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch. Jason’s attitude to celebrity remains simple and straightforward: ‘I’m not interested in celebrity or fame, but if you photograph a famous actor it tends to end up on a cover. The public’s perception and the subject’s baggage mean there’s extra tools at your disposal to make it a great picture. How are you going to make it yours?’

His enviable track record extends to being a ‘go-to’ photographer across film, television and the arts which in recent years has led him to be revered as a producer of seriously high-quality editorials placed to promote films and series. Think Downton Abbey, Man of Steel, and again The Crown. It’s been an agile side step by Jason, since the big-budget film poster work of the past has been largely halted by use of big-pixel D-SLRs for film unit stills.

Even so, these major set-piece editorials can be huge operations in their own right, requiring their own set builds. Jason says: ‘There’s something interesting about how we consume something like The Crown.

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Tilda Swinton. Image © Jason Bell TP-2018-3 02-64.indd 19

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Benedict Cumberbatch. Image © Jason Bell

J ASON BELL

With this work, pretty much everything I shoot gets used – there are multiple campaigns and multiple posters released over time. Back in the day, one poster was used and the rest of the work didn’t ever see the light of day.’

British Vogue and Vanity Fair have recently seen new editors arrive following in the footsteps of long-term incumbents.

Is this the kind of event that brings a photographer out in a cold sweat? Jason disagrees: ‘They don’t want to repeat the past, that is true, but the onus is simply on me to move with them. The culture might shift a bit, the appetite for images might change in flavour, but it’s up to me to respond and communicate. It’s all about the wider relationship and everyone is different. Sometimes it can be quite a short-hand relationship with a magazine with not much in the way of discussion.

You are always seeking the right clients – who let you get on doing what you want, which is also what they want…’

Vanity Fair’s brand position has shifted delicately in recent times, being a touch less ‘out of reach’, which in turn repositions the role of Jason’s work. He says: ‘One of the important things is Vanity Fair continues to be very respectful of the photographer and of the image. The idea is King – what the story in the picture is.

I’m very involved right through the production process. There might be a slight issue getting an image on a spread exactly how it needs to be and they’ll come and ask if I can adjust an element. I’m not only about making people look pretty. I am interested in pictures that have something going on and working with those who want the same.’

The Marvel Studios covers for Vanity Fair were a set of four published in 2017 marking a decade of film-making. Ten years prior, Marvel launched a ‘superhero’ in Iron Man that most thought would go unnoticed. It was effectively an ‘indie’ movie. The thing is, most people

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C ELEBRI TY PORTRAI TURE

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Image © Jason Bell

have been proved entirely wrong, since $13bn has flown in through the box office and Iron Man and his fellow Marvel heroes spawned a total of 17 movies.

The cover shoots capture the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Black Panther, Spider-Man, and many more. Jason comments: ‘These were my creative, but I’m very collaborative.

I am the captain of the ship, I set up the shoot, however I am never in competition with the people I am working with to take the glory. I might make a change in the studio and then a make-up artist might then say they want to make the eyes darker and I will ask why – I always want to know why – but if it all makes sense then we work forwards. You have to understand that I am photographing for a third party and none of us are truly conscious of what we look like. The client might be saying “fantastic” but the actor might not be that happy. The best people to work with are those who aren’t interested in anything but the story. They will ask about the idea for the story and then they’re always going to be brilliant to photograph.’

Jason continues: ‘There’s of course the practicalities of getting the list of people to shoot and then breaking them out into groups, thinking about the movie characters and things like Spider-Man really needs to be hanging down into the frame from above. But having grown up with film I do try to do almost everything in camera. It is harder to have that natural creative flow in a shoot now with digital capture and monitors in the studio making it almost “live”. If the style of it is right and you are doing it in camera then you can show capture on the fly. But remember with film you would only ever show the “good” polaroids, and I don’t like saying I will only shoot to card as people can get very uncomfortable with that approach. I feel quite lucky that I can do it in camera.

The more CGI-style of work is not what I’m known for so to be honest

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I don’t get that pressure – there’s other people out there who take that kind of work on.’

A question on many people’s lips is always ‘how did you get to this level?’ and the assumption is often that it has much to do with acquiring an agent. Jason has been with Soho Management for more than a decade and again, it’s all about the relationship. He says: ‘For me, work gets a little bit messy without an agent. A really good agent makes the process a whole lot easier. I don’t want to have a conversation about what someone is going to pay me, and they help you get in to the right people and places. In my expercience, it’s not a matter of “get an agent and then you’re working for Vogue”.

What it allowed me to do is free up more time to do the bits I am interested in. They take a managerial overview, suggesting that you should nudge your work this way or that. Agents cannot promise you the world – the idea is coming from you – but the agent might be able to monetarise it better. I have established the balance I have right now, but there’s not really a rule book I work to. I recently shot a chapter for a book on Aston Martin. It’s a big luxury project with another nine photographers working on the other chapters and we’re asking who the other nine are, seeing that we’re in good company.

It shows you that I don’t have a very clear game plan and I’m a little bit suspicious of the whole ambition side – about status and wealth – for me that isn’t connected to the pictures. It’s not a competition, and I’m looking for that joy of making a great picture. That’s mine.’

The long-term goal for Jason is to keep taking pictures he feels good about, be that for Netflix, Aston Martin, it’s not fixed. He knows that the game keeps changing but has a simple question that sorts everything out: ‘Am I being asked to do this because they want my vision? If they do, it makes me much less fearful,’ he says.

‘There’s a major difference between taking pictures and being a photographer – it’s about the intent, it’s the idea, creating all of it and telling that story. It doesn’t actually matter if one certain type of media or other ceases to exist because there is always a place for stories and for the images that are creating them. In my head, all the best stuff I have worked on has come from ideas I have pitched.

There’s the hard graft of getting in the room with the right people, but then a concept is successful because you say “this is how it should be done”. Yes, some things land on my desk – it’s lovely when a good job comes to you and you don’t have to hussle for it.

But there’s the fantasy too – just like the myth of a successful actor who cherry picks the best jobs. The reality is that the best actors actively drive their own best parts. It’s completely the same for me as a photographer.’

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P H OT O G R A P H Y AWA R D S

Professional Photography Awards 2019 DE A D L I NE FO R E N T R IE S TO BE RECEI VED: 5 P M M O N D AY 3 1 S T D E C E MBER 2018

C AT E G O R IE S : W E D D I N G & P O RT R A IT C O M M E RC IA L S C I E N C E & TE C H N O L O G Y V I S U A L A RT S N ON - C OMMIS S IO N E D FRIEND PROVISIONAL

The BIPP Professional Photography Awards are open to: • Qualified BIPP Members – enter for your chance to win a Gold, Silver or Bronze Award, and the opportunity to be the BIPP International Photographer of the Year 2019.

• Provisional BIPP Members – gain valuable experience as you work towards your qualification by entering these international awards.

You could be the BIPP’s Provisional Photographer of the Year.

OP E N ( NO N -ME MB E R S )

• Friends of the BIPP – your chance to enter professional-standard international awards – and be titled BIPP Friend of the Year – a great way to kickstart your career in photography.

With the exception of ‘Non-commissioned’, these categories are for images produced with commercial intent, and they must have been commissioned or available to purchase or exhibit. If you are no longer in practice, please consider the ‘Non-commissioned’ category.

• Professional Photographers who are not BIPP Members – BIPP always looks outside of the box – make the most of this opportunity to have your work judged against some of the very best in the profession – you could win the BIPP Open.

Remember that we want to see the ‘wow factor’ with fresh, creative work – please take your time in choosing your portfolios.

Image © Janice Alamanou LBIPP, Bronze, Visual Arts, 2018

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CALL FOR ENTR I E S

S E L E C TIN G & P R IN TIN G Y OU R I MA G E S

NAM I NG YOUR I M AGES

• Entry is by a portfolio of 5 prints.

We would suggest that you title each portfolio that you enter. Please also number the individual images 1-5, so the judges can view them in the correct order.

• The work should be fresh and creative.

• Each set of five images must sit together as a portfolio.

• You can enter any category as many times as you like.

• Each portfolio entry must consist of 5 (10x8 or A4) prints, numbered 1-5.

• An image may only be used once within the competition.

• Entries must have been taken within 5 years of the entry date of the competition.

• No text or way of identifying you, as the photographer, must be seen on the front of the image.

• An image can bleed to the edge of the paper or have a thin key line around, with a white or black border. No other mounting or overlay is required.

• Any shortlisted photographers will be asked for a high-res digital file after the first round of judging.

• The judges are explicitly looking for fresh, creative work, but some of the factors in their decisions will include: image content, subject matter, interpretation, composition, centre of interest, perspective, direction, use of and control of light, style, expression, narrative, print quality, tonal range, graphic stability, design, texture, workmanship and technique.

• By entering the Awards, you acknowledge that permission has been obtained for that entry to be published and exhibited by BIPP and any necessary copyright or release has been obtained.

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Any incorrectly labelled entry will be disqualified, as will any which exceed the maximum entry requirement or are deemed to have been placed in the wrong category.

COM PLETI NG YOUR ENTRY FORM & PAYI NG • A completed entry form must be included with each portfolio (available at bipp.com).

• Each portfolio is £15 plus vat (total of £18) and should consist of 5 images. For example, if entering a portfolio in Commercial and a portfolio in Visual Arts, you would send in two portfolios of 5 images (10 images in total) and the charge would be £36.

• PAYMENT – please call the office on 01296 642020 to pay for your entries over the phone.

• You must read the full rules before entering (see over).

POSTI NG THEM OFF Note for international entries: ensure your package is marked ‘Temporary Importation – Exhibition Material.

No Commercial Value’. BIPP cannot be responsible for VAT/Customs duty on packages with a declared value.

Post your prints to: BIPP 2019 Awards Ardenham Court, Oxford Road Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP19 8HT Deadline for entries to be received: 5pm, 31 December 2018

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P H OT O G R A P H Y AWA R D S

The rules • BIPP reserves the right to disqualify any entry that fails to meet the criteria or, in its opinion, may breach or contravene legal guidelines on public decency or may otherwise bring the photographer or the BIPP into disrepute. Any costs incurred by the BIPP in such a situation will be reimbursed by the photographer.

• All entries must have been taken by the person named on the identification label.

• BIPP Members & Friends must be in current membership during the entry period, through to and including the presentations.

• Entries that have already been entered into any other national or international competition cannot be submitted (including those of other associations).

• The entrant must have been the official photographer for the shoot from which the image originates.

• Entries produced on workshops/training courses (as a delegate) cannot be submitted.

• BIPP reserves the right to use any image, and the photographer’s details, for publicity purposes.

• BIPP will take all reasonable care in handling entries, but can accept no responsibility for loss or damage, however caused.

• It is the photographer’s responsibility to ensure all appropriate criteria are met.

Images © Simon Mackney ABIPP, Gold, Commercial, 2018

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CALL FOR ENTR I E S

• No entries will be returned, unless you expressly wish them to be and you pay the full cost of postage and packing.

• By entering the Awards, non-members agree that BIPP may contact you from time to time regarding our services.

If you do not wish to be contacted in this way, please email info@bipp.com, with your details, using the subject heading ‘do not contact’.

• The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Information correct at time of publication BIPP reserves the right to change any of the above without prior notice.

Checklist • Check every portfolio is labelled correctly and in the correct category.

• Check none of the images have been entered into another national competition.

• Check you have full permission to use the image and have obtained all necessary releases.

• Check you have read the full rules of the competition.

• Be sure that your images will reach BIPP by 5pm on 31 December 2018.

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RI CHARD BRADBURY PORTRAI TURE

ROAR and the world will listen

R

ichard Bradbury has more than 30 years behind him working for major brands such as Sony Playstation and Coca Cola Corporation, and has seen his work appear on the covers of Time in New York and Time Out in London. However, he also runs a hugely successful child portraiture business that produces an annual book The Children Of London. You could say that he has a double life – but in fact there’s even a third ‘Richard’ who is a respected photographic business educator. He’s written a trilogy under the title ‘Rich Photographer Poor Photographer’ that takes the whole idea of the business of photography to another level.

The story of Richard’s career has a certain beauty to it: from almost accidentally assisting David Kilpatrick in the early 1980s, to his relationship

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Image © Richard Bradbury

with design agency EBW and the late 80s recession, then getting in front of the major advertising agencies. He learnt that (particularly at the time) specialisation was everything… and you had to be seen to be actually charging enough to be taken seriously. Richard says of that period: ‘I have always believed that specialisation should come naturally from within you.

You can’t be someone that you are not as it will always show. I loved brightly coloured, dramatically lit images with a hyper-real feeling to them and I found that most of my best work fell into that bracket. I concentrated on ensuring that my book had a distinctive, memorable feel to it that was recognisable as my work and only my work.’

He eventually found himself bang in the middle of ad-land with a 1,000 sq ft studio in Covent Garden. He then met something called Photoshop. He continues: ‘I was spending long days sitting with an operator at the Tapestry post-production house in Soho giving instructions to an operator using a £0.5m Paintbox machine.

My style was well suited to multi-part photo comps so most of my work benefited from extensive post-production. When someone told me that I could do all of that myself on my own desktop I knew that I was looking at the future of high-end photography.’

Richard’s tale, detailed entertainingly across the introductions of each book in his trilogy, reads a bit like the story of a rock band and, true to form, he decided that he really should crack America: ‘I designed and printed a large A3-sized gatefold mailer with three of my most recent cartoon-styled images

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on it and the title: PHOTTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD BRADBURY. It had no contact details on it and I sent it to every photographer’s agent in New York.

You really couldn’t fail to stop and look at it. It was very large, very colourful and totally unique. A week later my assistant rang every one of them saying that I was going to be in New York for one week only and I would love to drop in and see them. Literally every one of them made an appointment. I am willing to bet that most of them had never even heard of me before that mailer but they assumed that anyone who didn’t need to put their contact details on a mailer – that was clearly an expensive piece of work – must be pretty damned important.’ To cut to the end, so to speak, let’s say this plan absolutely worked.

But as everyone knows who has been associated with this industry for more than five minutes, everything changes all of the time. Richard was very much a leader in the digital field – an early adopter of numerous approaches that every photographer now takes for granted – but that did not insulate him from the perfect storm that was to come. By the early 2000s digital was everywhere, children were being born with a working knowledge of Photoshop and uttering ‘pixel’ as their first word… so to speak. In short, the value of the

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RI CHARD BRADBURY PORTRAI TURE

service of photography was about to fall off a very big cliff. It was a long way down with plenty of sharp, nasty-looking rocks.

Things got properly bad in 2008, the credit crunch and all that jazz. It’s a common tale, this, amongst the creative industries. From freelance designers at one end literally waking up to discover that every single project they were working on had been cut, to top-end advertising photographers suddenly contemplating a load of debts that were likely never to be paid and an even bigger list of overheads that were serving little or no purpose. Richard comments: ‘It was one of the most poignant moments. It fascinates me how many people talk about that exact time. I was shooting almost exclusively advertising and I did not have any plan for survival. I definitely didn’t really believe it was happening. The stakes were high – a commission worth £100k was not unusual. So a month or so when you didn’t do very much was not that bizarre. But then the months start to go by and you realise “hell, this is terminal”. At first I went off-piste – it was no good trying to see loads of art buyers as there was a bloody queue. I became a very “weak” lifestyle guy with a weaker version of my book.

About a year later I offloaded my studio.’

Image © Richard Bradbury

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RI CHARD BRADBURY

Image © Richard Bradbury

PORTRAI TURE

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Richard began looking at broader markets, but now and again a big job would come in and keep him going for a bit. However, he was always quite a good marketeer, and fell back on those basic instincts.

The plan for the children’s portraiture business came first with three distinct prongs of charity, public access to high-level photography, and income generation. ‘Selling to the public was a new market for me,’ says Richard. ‘I had no preconceptions, so very much used my ideas from ad campaigns and formulated a basis from that in portraiture.’ In the end, The Children of London was born. The concept is a simple one. Richard explains: ‘Parents apply on-line for their child to be photographed and featured in an annual publication. We collect the applications and then select the lucky candidates based on having all ages, colours, creeds and all areas of the city represented. We organise a photo shoot for them on location in their favourite place in the city and after the shoot the parents have an opportunity to buy prints if they want to. I decided not to charge a shoot fee but ask every parent selected to make a donation to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity. In addition to raising a lot of money for charity, this also ensured that the family felt relaxed and secure in their application to the project.’

Richard’s overall perspective on business is cuttingly simple: ‘Without having a clear understanding of who your clients are, what drives them and why they should pay for your services, you will never be able to control your work flow – the reasons why your clients come to you will always be, at best, an educated

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RI CHARD BRADBURY PORTRAI TURE

guess. I call my approach “ROAR” and that stands for Research, Organise, Action, Response. Each stage follows the next, and you need to perform each of these processes, in that order, every time you begin a new marketing campaign.’

Since then, Richard’s children’s portraiture work has gone from strength to strength and Richard is now one of four photographers working on the book. He has similarly created quite a name for himself as a business educator, recently selling out a business of photography day for the AOP. Since so many photographers generally work by themselves, the business angle can sometimes get all a bit personal. Richard comments: ‘Can you do absolutely everything yourself in your business? I don’t know. I don’t go about telling people how to micro-manage their business. I’m talking about concepts and principles. Not every single moment of every single day is about making money and literally no one does this to be a millionaire. There should always be a principle and concept behind what you do. I often ask “Are you happy creatively? What would be your perfect job?” Like loosening your collar a bit, it’s the first step in getting you sorted, letting the real creative self come through. You’re able to take on the world and apply the principles of marketing and then do the hard work. With the nice bit sorted – making sure that people are fulfilled – then the rest can follow on from there.’

Richard agrees that it might actually turn out that a photographer doesn’t want to run the business they’re currently involved in. ‘If it’s mundane you actually might not want that, for example. That could be the biggest success you can have. In the practise of photography we all do something every day that loads of people around the world would pay to do. But all the same, don’t fool yourself – don’t blame the world if you don’t achieve what you want.’

The Children of London is now in its 9th year, with ever-more applicants, a bigger response, a bigger rate per client. So it’s finely tuned and has an energy all of its own. The bedrock of Richard’s business is portraiture now – he’s shortly off to Paris to edit the current book saying, ‘I like to go away and take my time with it’. Certainly, this represents the ‘second phase’ of Richard Bradbury but he doesn’t think photographers should feel they have to reinvent themselves all the time – his experience was pushed by circumstance: ‘As a photographer, as a creative person, you should naturally consume the style and the feel of the market around you. That happens less as you get older. I would say I am less in tune now than I was when I was 25 years old, but that’s no big surprise. Trust in your instincts and be honest with your work – make decisions on that basis and you will naturally gravitate towards the feel of the time. For example, I started off as a still life photographer and changed and developed thanks to many things. But I went to Paris a few years ago and saw a Van Gogh self portrait – it just took my breath away. My work got a lot richer and grainier.

I think it’s all good to see new colours in your work and be gradually moving.

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RI CHARD BRADBURY PORTRAI TURE

Image © Richard Bradbury

Richard ponders the photographer’s lot: ‘If you feel that a commercial photographer is what you want to do with your life then yes, it can be the best thing in the world. But as a haphazard choice of career that’s something else.

I see people on work placements, and they’re checking their social media feeds and won’t stay late. They don’t understand that photography is a super-vocation.

Realise there are millions of people out there who want to be photographers.

You need to want to do it. So dive in, and the opportunity is endless. As the American poet and civil rights activist said: “People will forget what you said, people forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” That I can create a feeling through my work continues to be a huge inspiration for me. The difference now in my life is that my business does not control me. I love what I do and really there are very few people who can say that.’

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GEORGE RODGER SOUTHERN SUDAN

The Quiet Englishman

‘I

n the heart of the Sudan, and to the west of the White Nile, there is a strange and unreal land which the hand of time has hardly touched in passing,’ wrote photographer and Magnum co-founder George Rodger. At the start of 1948, he arranged with the Sudanese government to be the first authorised photographer to document indigenous people of the Nuba mountains, in the former central Sudanese province of Kordofan, and the Latuka and other tribes of southern Sudan. In doing so, he created some of the most historically important and influential images taken in sub-Saharan Africa during the 20th century.

The Nuba area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. In the 18th century, the region became home to the Kingdom of Taqali that controlled the hills until their defeat by Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad. After the Mahdi’s defeat by the British, Taqali was restored as a client state. It was after Rodger joined Cartier-Bresson, Capa and Seymour in the foundation of Magnum in 1947, that there was something of a global assignment of regions each founder wanted to focus on. Rodger selected Africa and the Middle East. A classic image of Roger stood on the bonnet of a Land Rover, camera in hand, sums up the idea of ‘The Quiet Englishman’ exploring remote and seldom visited parts of the African Continent. Should your interest be piqued by the images shown here, you will want to head over to YouTube and search for ‘Kordofan movie by George Rodger’. It will yield a remarkable 25 minutes of rare 16mm footage including Nuba bracelet fighting, Latuka Rainmakers and an original soundtrack from 1949. This was part of an epic two-year journey that would cover nearly 30,000 miles and it would be another ten years before Rodger and his wife settled back in the small village of Smarden, in Kent, where he wrote and illustrated for magazines but still continued his travels and fascination with Africa.

His perspective, however, had come through WWII. Prior to the War he had drifted out of school and into the Merchant Navy, and then over to America during the Depression. Returning in

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GEORGE RODGER

© George Rodger / Magnum

SOUTHERN SUDAN

1936 he joined the BBC and then between 1939 and 1947 Rodger served as a war correspondent for Life magazine, covering some of the most violent atrocities of the time: from the brutality of the Burma campaign, to horrific piles of corpses and desperately emaciated survivors discovered at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after its liberation in 1945. His assignments took him to 62 countries where he covered more than 18 campaigns. Rodger is on record as saying: ‘When I could look at the horror of Belsen – and think only of a nice photographic composition – I knew something had happened to me, and it had to stop.’ Some of his most notable photographs during the war included the London Blitz, West Africa with the Free French, and the fall of Burma.

Interestingly, looking at his African work that could be said to have created a genre, we’re witnessing multiple tiers of times past.

With the 70th anniversary of George Rodger’s exploration of

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GEORGE RODGER

© George Rodger / Magnum

SOUTHERN SUDAN

Southern Sudan in mind, his work exhibits a quality of composition and expression that feels indelibly linked to the analogue medium. It’s not just about the subjects that we know for certain that the feel of his images could not be recorded now. Equally, the globe has become ever smaller in the intervening decades, and the Nuba peoples are ever closer to modern media. As a result, it seems like the perfect time to revisit this landmark body of work: ‘Working directly with the Rodger family to curate the exhibition and book, we have included many lesser-known, and some previously unpublished, images from this genredefining piece of photojournalism,’ says David Hill, of the David Hill Gallery.

Southern Sudan is released to coincide with an exhibition of the same name at David Hill Gallery, London, running until 18 December. The book, 88 pages in hardback, is available for £25 from www.stanleybarker.co.uk

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Above: Winner, Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2018. Wakiesha Titus and Riley Van Harte, Cape Town, South Africa, 2018. From the series Drummies © Alice Mann

T

he annual Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition is one of the most prestigious photography awards in the world and showcases new work that has been submitted by some of the most exciting contemporary photographers. For the first time in the competition’s history, the judges have awarded first prize to a series of four pictures rather than an individual photograph. Alice Mann spent three months photographing different teams of drum majorettes across South Africa’s Western Province. Many of the ‘drummies’, come from South Africa’s most disadvantaged communities. Mann is a South African photographic artist based in London whose intimate portraiture essays explore notions of picture making as an act of collaboration. g

Right: Enda Bowe is an Irish photographer based in London. His work is concerned with storytelling and the search for light and beauty in the ordinary. The photograph selected is from a series titled Clapton Blossom. Bowe says: ‘The series focuses on finding the colour and beauty in the urban, the light in the grey.

At the centre of the housing estate where this project was made stands a huge cherry blossom tree, the unifying heart of the estate. The beauty of the blossom, symbolising hope, optimism and new beginnings connects the people within the project together.’

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TAYLOR WESSING PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT PRIZE 2018

Second prize: Cybil McAddy with daughter Lulu from the series Clapton Blossom © Enda Bowe

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Girl Outside the Pizzeria at Night © Andy Lo Pò

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TAYLOR WESSING PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT PRIZE 2018

Below, Joint third prize: Untitled from the series Londoners © Max Barstow

Above: Max Barstow’s work is inspired by a combination of studio and documentary photography. He says: ‘I began creating this series with the aim to make un-posed portraits with the intensity of images made by great studio portrait photographers such as Avedon and Penn. The photograph selected is a strongly composed and graphically-arresting image. It is peculiarly interesting as a portrait in that it was taken swiftly in the middle of a crowd of passersby – it is, unusually, both a formally successful portrait with a classic studio aesthetic and a street photograph in the broad idiom of Cartier-Bresson and Winogrand.’

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Randy #029454 from the series Randy © Robin de Puy

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TAYLOR WESSING PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT PRIZE 2018

Eimear © Trisha Ward

Now in its 11th year, the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize has remained a hugely important platform for portrait photographers and offers an unparalleled opportunity for celebrated professionals and emerging artists. The diversity of styles in the exhibition reflects the international mix of entries as well as photographers’ individual and varied approaches to the genre of portraiture.

For the fourth year, photographers were encouraged to submit works as a series in addition to stand-alone portraits. And for the third year running, the rules also allow photo­graphers to submit photographs on different supports – to encourage the demonstration of a range of different photographic processes. Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, agreed: ‘What was particularly striking about this year’s entries was the variety of approaches, techniques and styles submitted from around the world.’

This year’s judging panel comprised of Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Chair (Director, National Portrait Gallery, London); Miles Aldridge (Photographer); Shane Gleghorn, Managing Partner, Taylor Wessing LLP; Sabina Jaskot-Gill (Curator of Photographs, National Portrait Gallery, London); Renée Mussai (Senior Curator, Autograph ABP) and Sophie Wright (Global Cultural Director, Magnum Photos).

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DR W I LL ANDERSON CLI NI CI AN TRAI NI NG

Patient focused

D

All images © Will Anderson

r Will Anderson has been a full-time Forensic Medical Examiner (FME) for the past 13 years and is currently the lead FME for Hampshire and British Transport Police. Most in the profession would agree that it is a challenging, yet rewarding role. Certainly, when we’re striking up conversations that lead to features in the BIPP magazine, it’s not so often that discussions are punctuated by ‘wait, there’s been a murder…’ However, that’s the way it goes in this walk of life. He’s on call and puts in the night shifts. Detainees don’t generally concern themselves with keeping sociable hours and victims of sexual assault require the services of an FME as a matter of some urgency. As a part of his work, Will records wounds and injuries as crime records and was the lead author of the recent guidelines on Photography in Custody and SARCs published in May 2017.

He says: ‘I’m a medical doctor, qualifying in 1991 and spent 14 years in surgery. My plan was to become a neurosurgeon… but I suppose I came to the conclusion that drilling holes in heads isn’t quite as sexy as it sounds, and clinical forensic medicine became my calling. I decide, for example, whether someone is fit to be interviewed by police. The documenting of injuries used to be done by hand in the form of sketches. Over the last 10 years, the use of

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digital photography has taken over.’ He continues: ‘Despite the widespread availability of cameras, doctors very rarely take photos.’ Will, therefore, set up a training service to educate clinicians in how to do it properly – together with Søren Moore and Nick Bishop. Søren is one of the UK’s most experienced photography trainers, and offers photography training throughout the UK and internationally. He is a former Crime Scene Investigator with 20 years’ experience of operational police photography. He has spent the last eight years as a qualified forensic trainer with the College of Policing where he was also a senior photography trainer. Nick qualified as a Medical Photographer at The Royal London Hospital in 1980 and worked there for five years before joining the Metropolitan Police in 1982 as a Forensic Photographer. Their mission is simple: getting a photo ‘right’ can make a huge difference in

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All images © Will Anderson

managing patients – whether it’s a skin lesion or injury that needs to be discussed with colleagues, or a rash or ulcer that has to be monitored – a well-taken photograph can be invaluable to the clinician and can make an important contribution to daily practice.

Their courses, under the banner ‘Patient Focused!’ have been very popular indeed with attendees coming from all around the world.

This is currently the only such medical photography course in the UK specifically designed for clinicians.

There are a number of key concepts that Will’s work and the PICS guide revolve around. One is the ‘three photo principle’ that denotes that an area of concern should have at least three photographs taken. Firstly, an overview or location (‘context’) shot should be taken to allow the observer to orientate themselves to appreciate which part of the body is being considered. This

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should include important local anatomical landmarks, wherever possible. The rationale behind it is different parts of the body can look very similar in close-up and could easily cause confusion at a later stage if photographed in isolation. Surrounding anatomy and landmarks help to explain the location of the injury.

Secondly, a close-up photo should be taken, by either physically moving closer to the patient, allowing the injury to be seen in greater detail, or by using a zoom lens. As many patients in the custody and SARC environments are unpredictable, invading their personal space by moving closer to them may be intimidating for clinician and patient alike, and could antagonise a situation. A zoom lens may therefore be preferable as it will allow the frame to be filled without occupying their personal space. Thirdly, the close-up photo should be taken with a linear scale adjacent to the wound (above, left), with local anatomical landmarks being

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visible whenever possible. Different forms of scale are available, including straight rules, L-shaped rules (Odontology scales), disposable, flexible and rigid. The scale should be as flush with the skin as possible, but should not distort the skin. Ideally, the scale should be aligned so that the length of the rule highlights the maximum length of the injury, where possible.

The work is not always about the graphic and sometimes shocking. It is relatively common to find that there are no apparent injuries despite vehement claims from the subject. Therefore, it may be appropriate to document negative, pre-existing and inconsistent findings as they may be significant at a later juncture.

Patient Focused! three-day courses are accredited with the BIPP and attract 18 CPD points via the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine (FFLM). All courses are conducted by experienced photographers, doctors and make-up artists.

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C O MPA N Y PA RT N E R S

B

arrett & Coe are the largest Portrait studio franchise in the UK. They also provide marketing support services to over 100 independent studios, making over 5,000 family portrait appointments and a similar number of baby portrait bookings annually. Barrett &

F

ujifilm is a global leader in imaging technology, products and services including digital cameras, photofinishing, digital storage and recording media, consumer and professional film, motion picture film, professional video, printing systems, medical imaging, office technology, flat panel displays and graphic arts. The company employs more than 73,000 people worldwide, with 178 subsidiaries stretching across four continents.

Uniquely placed to be a market leader in digital imaging, Fujifilm develops and manufactures its own sensors, lenses and processing technology. In addition to its production plants and R&D operations in Japan, the

Coe are passionate about helping studios increase their profitability through training, national contracts, and their Baby of the Month and Family of the Month Facebook competitions.

www.barrettandcoe.co.uk

company has key manufacturing facilities in Europe and the USA for core products such as colour film, colour paper, single-use cameras and CTP printing plates and has further factories in Brazil and China. It has a global turnover in excess of £13 billion.

In the UK, Fujifilm has been supplying the imaging, printing and graphics industries, as well as consumers, professional and enthusiast photographers, with high quality, innovative products and services for over 25 years. Fujifilm UK currently employs more than 400 people and has become one of the country’s most popular photographic and imaging brands. www.fujifilm.co.uk

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COM PANY PARTNE RS

H

aselblad has been synonymous with photography since its earliest days. But it was Victor Hasselblad’s invention of first the 1000 and then the 500 series in the 1950s that turned a camera into an icon. Here in a small, robust, rectangular box was an unrivalled combination of camera reliability and image quality. Such was the lead that it had over its competitors it became the choice for NASA’s space programme. Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin’s shots

O

ne Vision Imaging are one of the largest professional photographic laboratories to be found in the UK. For well over 30 years, One Vision Imaging have been servicing professional photographers with the very highest standards of processing and finishing. As imaging specialists they also cater for many other sectors such as design and advertising agencies, graphic designers, Government-funded bodies as well as keen enthusiasts.

of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, were taken with a Hasselblad 500EL/70.

The same relentless pursuit of excellence motivates Hasselblad in the digital age. Today they are the authors of the world’s most advanced medium format digital system and the owners of a truly global brand. Photographers who want to excel in their craft can now get their hands on a Hasselblad in 75 countries. www.hasselblad.co.uk

Not only do they offer the most comprehensive professional photographic services to be found anywhere in Europe but they pledge to ensure that their service is an unrivalled experience and that this is matched by their quality of product and product range. www.onevisionimaging.com

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B E N E F ITS

L

aw Express is the BIPP legal advice and helpline provider and is a benefit available to all fully qualified BIPP members. If you ever have any concerns regarding legal or business issues, Law Express are the people to call.

I

nfocus Photography Insurance provides protection for Photographers & Video Makers. Helping to protect your business and recover from catastrophes as quickly as humanly possible. As a member of the BIPP you will benefit from a generous discount on all of our policies.

If you’re confused by the world of insurance then we’ve broken down our policies into digestible chunks -

T

he Benevolent Society of the BIPP (or ‘BenSoc’ to give its familiar name) is run by a dedicated team of volunteers and assists people in need due to illness by means of single grants or loans in case of emergency or long-term hardship. BenSoc also provides help, gives encouragement and provides friendship.

All BIPP Members are automatically considered to receive its benefits. However, BenSoc heavily relies on financial support from Members and continuing generosity is needed to support an ever-growing need. Money

Their services include access to a free 24-hour telephone advisory service on legal issues and links to both personal and business-related legal issues. All of these features can be accessed via the Members’ Area of bipp. com, under the ‘Benefits & Discounts’ tab.

https://www.infocusinsurance.co.uk/insurance-explained/ Read our latest blogs for helpful tips, advice & industry news https://www.infocusinsurance.co.uk/blog/ Visit our website www.infocusinsurance.co.uk, or contact our experienced team on 0161 925 5051 for a quotation. All we can ask is that you try us out, we hope you will be pleasantly surprised.

is raised by annual donations, fundraising at regional events, and through bankers’ orders and legacies.

Please ‘like’ the BenSoc Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/BenSocTheBenevolentSocietyOfTheBipp to keep up to date with activities.

BenSoc runs the 200 Club where, for an annual £20 donation, Members can win cash prizes. Every month there is a prize of £50, plus an annual prize in December of £250 for the lucky winner. For more information please vist www.bipp.com.

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Portfolio Reviews If you are thinking of going for your first, or upgrading to your next, BIPP qualification you might like to take advantage of a Portfolio Review to gain an understanding of what you need to do to qualify and how long the process might take.

Portfolio Reviews offer professional photographers the opportunity to receive face-to-face advice on their work from one of BIPP’s Approved Assessors. Our Assessors fully understand the requirements for qualification and are highly experienced photographers with a wealth of industry knowledge.

We recommend candidates seek guidance on preparing for qualification at a Portfolio Review before booking a qualification date.

2019 dates to be released shortly

Important information • Portfolio Reviews cost £50.00 for Members, £90.00 for Friends, and £100.00 for Non Members (inclusive of VAT).

• All Portfolio Review sessions run for 45-50 minutes.

• Please bring approximately 40 low res images (no more than 5MB per image) on a laptop or tablet.

• If you are a non-member interested in applying for Provisional membership please bring copies of your insurance.

• Please note portfolio reviews are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Visit events at www.bipp.com for more information TP-2018-3 02-64.indd 63

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EDITOR’S COMMENT

Image © Kevin Wilson

J

ust as the genre of photography has expanded enormously in recent years into the public domain, out from the dark quarters of the mysterious professional realm, so the idea of photographic awards has spread like proverbial wildfire. Every way you turn now there’s an awards going on across just about every field of photography. Similarly, this means that the phrase ‘award-winning photographer’ gets bandied about left, right and centre and you have to wonder whether what one photographer might be referring to could be significantly different in nature to what another does with the exact same words.

So the value of entering awards might be called into question, you might wonder whether it’s really worth your while – the bother, the prints, going to the Post Office damn it… At the end of the day – and this is a

view that Kevin Wilson has certainly encouraged – it really isn’t the winning that counts, it’s the taking part. Yes, getting into an exhibition, picking up a prize and being recognised for what you do best in print and before your peers has lots of real value, but it is what you have done differently just because of the fact that you decided to enter any awards – but particularly the BIPP’s Professional Photography Awards that has a submission deadline of 31 December this year – that actually makes a difference to you as a photographer in the next period of time, servicing your clients to the best of your ability. The effect on your day-to-day working life because you had a fresh look at your work and because you paused to analyse the way you create can can be massive.

So before you decide that Christmas has entirely taken over and you’re done for the year, take a short while to remember that one additional task still remains – and that is to enter the BIPP Awards this year. All the information you need is to be found on pages 26-29 of this issue, so good luck and Merry Christmas to you all.

Jonathan Briggs, Editor

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