the Photographer - Issue Three 2019

A white Christmas Grahame Soden goes Reindeer herding

Shooting the darkness Stanley Matchett: war correspondent The Magazine of the BIPP / 2019 / Issue Three

Atrophy

Fiona Ingvarsson’s voices from lost places

Team UK Spirit of the Amazon

The United Kingdom’s entry in the World Photographic Cup 2020

Sue Cunningham records a world on the edge

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I SSUE THREE, 2 0 1 9

A white Christmas Grahame Soden goes Reindeer herding

Shooting the darkness Stanley Matchett: war correspondent The Magazine of the BIPP / 2019 / Issue Three

Atropy

Fiona Ingvarsson’s voices from lost places

Team UK Spirit of the Amazon

The United Kingdom’s entry in the World Photographic Cup 2020

Sue Cunningham records a world on the edge

Cover image © Scott Johnson

CEO’s column 2 Martin Baynes says thank you to the good people who took action Grahame Soden / Swedish Lapland 4 Ever fancy a bit of adventure and swapping the big city for snow, low temperatures and slower pace of life?

Grahame did, and now calls it home Stanley Matchett / Shooting the Darkness 14 The Troubles in Northern Ireland meant photographers found their lives and role fundamentally changed.

Stanley Matchett talks about his work from conflict to celebrity 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: info@bipp.com W: www.bipp.com Company secretary: Michael Lane CEO: Martin Baynes Directors: Kevin Weatherly LBIPP, Tony Freeman HonFBIPP, Chris Wright ABIPP, Emily Hancock FBIPP

World Photographic Cup / Team United Kingdom 26 In a spirit of friendship and unity, Richard Bradbury has put together the UK’s team for this international photographic competition Fiona Ingvarsson / Atrophy 36 We take a look at this unusual Fellowship project that brings social purpose together with production and personal challenges

Social media column 56

Sue Cunningham / Spirit of the Amazon 44 An epic journey, an epic book, an epic photographer. A timely account of environmental and cultural change

Who’s who in the regions? 60

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

Who’s who on the board? 58 Keith Duerden FBIPP 59

President’s column 63

Kevin Weatherly LBIPP - North East Irene Cooper LBIPP - Yorkshire Editor: Jonathan Briggs, editor@bipp.com Advertising: Tel 01772 367968 E-mail: admin@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 2019 Issue Three / 2019 / the PHOTOGRAPHER 1

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CEO’S COLUM N M ARTI N BAYNES

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eason’s greetings – I hope you’re all looking forward to a wonder­ ful and profitable few months in what is, for the most part, the busiest time of the year.

Since I last wrote, most of the back office work to rebuild processes and procedures has been completed. I have now turned my attention to ensuring every one of you is getting value from your BIPP membership. This has included arranging proper annual funding for every region, enabling them to put on a quality programme of events.

Additionally, the salesman in me couldn’t resist offering a bo­ nus to the regions when a new member signs up through one of their events – so make sure you bring your photographer friends to meetings to help your region get bigger and better!

We have been working hard to build a strong calendar of events for 2020, and you will find a pull-out guide included with this magazine. Along with headline events such as our flagship photographic conference and the regional and national awards, you’ll find all the regional events organised so far. As new events come on-line they will be announced via e-mail and social media, and we’ll publish an updated calendar in six months to cover the second half of the year.

If you are interested in knowing more about events in your region, or want to become more involved then you’ll find the contact details of all the regional chairs in the magazine. They are all lovely people and will be delighted to hear from you.

Hopefully, you have noticed that the Institute’s social media accounts are ticking along nicely. Engagement is through the roof and there is a real buzz – but we cannot keep up these vibrant feeds without quality content. I’m not worried about that though because I know you’re all producing great images every day. If you would like to showcase your imagery and stories to the wider photographic industry then send the details through to jamie@bipp.com for consideration.

I believe that the BIPP’s AGM should be something we all look forward to rather than avoid. It should be a chance to meet and celebrate our wonderful organisation, which is why I am so pleased that November’s AGM was such a great success, and the best attended in many years. There was discussion of the April 2019 accounts, digging into the detail, along with discussions about the work done to steer the Institute in the right direction financially. We also discussed and agreed on the changes to the Articles of Association that we wrote to you about in the last edition of The Photographer.

My thanks go to John Miskelly who devoted a huge amount of time to the writing of these updated Articles.

Saraya Cortaville, our president, then presented the most beautiful images from her travels with Raleigh Inter­ national – humbling and beautiful. We finished with some lovely food, a couple of drinks and a good chat.

I want to close by thanking two of the most dedicated and resilient people I have met. Two years ago, two pho­ tographers – disillusioned – almost left our amazing organisation, instead deciding to give it ‘one more year’, and in their words ‘shake some people by the ankles to see what falls out’. They never imagined where the journey they started would ultimately lead, but to cut a long story short, during late 2017 and 2018 they mobilised our membership to stand up and ask difficult questions, which eventually led to the uncovering of major mismanagement and corruption. They then went further and with the help of others stepped into the breach in November 2018 and saved the organ­ isation from imminent bankruptcy… literally weeks before it happened. They went on to restructure the organisation, move buildings, reduce office overheads by 80% and so much more.

Their journey has been hard, brutal and time-consuming. We, as an organisa­ tion, cannot thank them enough as they now step down from being directors to go and rebuild their businesses and lives after spending three days a week working for free for the Institute. As member Michael Weeks commented: ‘For evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing. Thankfully, a few good men and women stepped forward in possibly the darkest hour.’

Sean Conboy and Jonathan Beer – we thank you, we salute you.

Please feel free to contact me on martin@bipp.com or by calling the office

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Image © Grahame Soden

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GRAHAM E SODEN ABI PP

Reindeer herding in Swedish Lapland A journey to the far North

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very time a reindeer’s foot leaves the ground, the two halves of its split hoof click softly together. When a whole herd is moving, it sounds like the leaves on the silver birches rustling in the wind. But there are no leaves, for this is winter-spring, and the Sami are driving the herds back to the hills.

There are Sami tribes in Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden – they are the northern most indigenous Europeans – and here in Swedish Lapland where I live, they are the only people permitted to own commercial herds of reindeer. I live next to the Vindelälven River which, being undeveloped by the power companies, still freezes over for many months of the year and becomes a smooth, white highway for dog-sleighs, skiers, snow-scooters, and reindeer herding…

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G RAHAM E SODEN ABI PP SW EDI SH LAPLAND

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Image © Grahame Soden

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There are around ten Sami lang­uages (a few of which are near to extinct) which can vary depending on which country, or even which part of that country you are in. The Sami year has eight seasons: our four plus win­ ter-spring, spring-summer, and so on.

There are two distinct groups of Sami, the skogssamer (wood Sami) who have a fixed base where they live and keep their reindeer, and the fjällsamer (moun­ tain Sami) who keep their herds in the mountains during the warmer months, then in the autumn-winter bring their reindeer from the hills to overwinter on the lower, forested land near to the river.

While the river is still frozen in win­ ter-spring, they herd them the 200km or so back to the hills, camping out with the animals en route. The reindeer are their principal source of income. They sell the meat and hides and use antlers and bones to fashion knife handles and ornaments. The Sami supplement their income by the sale of handicrafts: leather goods, jewellery, drinking cups and bowls of birch wood and hand-made knives which range from simple utility pieces, to stunning museum-quality works of art.

Every February for the last 400 years, the Sami have hosted a winter market in the town of Jokkmokk, just inside the Arctic Circle. The town has some 4,000 inhabitants but the market, which is on for three or four days, attracts up to 40,000 visitors from all over the world.

Accommodation is at a premium, to say the least, as are seats in a restaurant. To have a chance of a bed for a few nights, prospective visitors have to register with the Jokkmokk Tourist board in the previous September and then keep their fingers crossed. As -20oC is common

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Jokkmokk

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All images © Grahame Soden

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and -40oC possible, it is a little too cold for camping out, or sleeping in the car! It is well worth the effort though. The main road of the town is given over to market stalls selling everything from jewellery to foxfur hats, from knives to air-cured elk meat, and it is packed with visitors enjoying the spectacle and taking in the live entertainment.

Like other indigenous people such as the Native Americans, Inuit, and Native Australians, the Sami have not always lived in harmony with ‘civilised soci­ ety’. Up until the 1960s, Sweden had eugenics statutes that directly affected the Sami, and some others. A re­ cent film Sami Blood (Sameblod) tells the story of how a teenage girl ‘is taken from her home and family and sent to a state school where indigenous students are converted into acceptable members of Swedish socie­ ty’. Also, the nomadic lifestyle has a deleterious effect on their education, health and well-being; a recent survey found that some 30 per cent of young Sami had considered suicide, and physical health problems can become an issue when you are a long way from a health centre or doctor.

On the positive side, the Sami now have representation at government level, plus their own Sápmi Parliament and their culture is celebrated at Gammplatsen (historical sites) in most of the larger towns. In fact, a Sami singer took part recently in the Swedish heats for the Eurovision Song Contest!

Recent times have, however, also brought conflicts of interest between the Sami and developers, miners, and Forestry Commission. Small chang­ es to the eco-system can have serious consequences, as reindeer are quiet and nervous creatures, sustained by a narrow range of food. Although many residents here own forested land, these are managed traditionally, usually just for firewood, leaving most of the ‘old woods’ in good condition for reindeer; however the forests managed by the Forestry Commission are industrially

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harvested – almost a ‘scorched earth’ scenario which can leave the land unfit for reindeer grazing for many years, as the reindeer feed (almost exclusively) on one specific type of moss (plus grass) which needs the old woods in which to grow properly.

A year or so ago a developer submitted plans to build timber and glass holiday ‘tents’ on a disused bridge over our river, together with restaurant and conference facilities near to the bridge. The Sami objected and the plans have still not been passed.

Similarly a new mining proposition near Jokkmokk was vetoed. When I took the photos illustrating this article I explained to the herders where I would be shooting from (a bridge) and was asked to stand near one of the pillars and keep very still and quiet as the reindeer are easily spooked.

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Global warming is having an effect too. Reindeer can easily survive in a constant -30oC with deep snow; they dig through the snow with their antlers and hooves to access the moss and grass beneath. The problem arises if the snow starts to thaw then refreezes, as their moss and grass is then embedded in a smooth layer of ice and they cannot reach it. A recently published survey, conducted over 16 years on Svalbard, has shown a drop of some 12% in aver­ age reindeer body weight. Global warm­ ing has also meant that the pastures pro­ duce more reindeer-friendly food in the summer, so the females produce more calves. Thus the reindeer population can be increasing whilst the access to winter grazing is diminishing.

Image © Grahame Soden

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GRAHAM E SODEN ABI PP SW EDI SH LAPLAND

I’m not sure how much longer the traditional Sami way of life can continue. The external pressures from the 21st century are huge. The world has an insatiable need for timber, iron-ore, infrastructure, and leisure activities, all of which impact on the Sami way of life.

The Vindelälven River is one of very few major rivers in Sweden which does not have a power station on it, but one day the need for renewable energy might be greater than the need for preservation. There are in­ ternal pressures too, as new generations of Sami might want to enjoy a life without reindeer, in a fixed base with ‘mod cons’ – the latest technology, education and healthcare.

One glimmer of hope on the horizon is the pros­ pect of the Vindelälven area becoming a UNESCO Biosphere. To be approved for Biosphere status, there must be plans in place to preserve natural amenities, habitats and history, and to encourage low-impact sustainable tourism and leisure activities: the

application for Biosphere status is at an advanced stage and the results should be announced in the next 12 months.

Life here can be hard enough even for those of us living a ‘normal’ lifestyle.

There can be a metre of snow lying on the fields from December to April. A recent winter saw a low of -38oC and now, in early May, it was snowing yes­ terday and the river is only just running free again. For five or six months of the year you have to be ‘layered up’ before venturing outdoors, and chopping wood and kindling is an everyday task. Getting around is hazardous on foot or by car, and we’re 45km from a proper town. I can’t imagine what it must be like living in a kåta (Sami tent), a simple structure of poles covered in reindeer skins.

There are benefits though in the solitude, wildlife, scenery and the Northern Lights. Also, one of our party tricks is to stand outside when it’s really cold and throw a cup of boiling water directly overhead. It vaporises long before it lands on your head!

Grahame Soden ABIPP Vormsele, Swedish Lapland photograhame@gmail.com

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Image © Grahame Soden

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GRAHAM E SODEN ABI PP SW EDI SH LAPLAND

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rahame Soden lives 300km south of the Arctic circle in Vormsele, Sweden. He’s been there since 2013 with his German photographer wife. At the time of writing, it’s -9oC in the afternoon with on and off snow showers. After living in Berlin they decided that there was more to life than the big city and ended up – as you do – in Lapland. Grahame explains: ‘We love travel and a bit of adventure – beginning down in central Sweden and then up here to see a proper winter. We were not supposed to stay but we saw a little house, bought it and moved. It’s our base camp and I haven’t been back to the UK for six years. Lycksele, 45km away, is our nearest shop – it’s quite a long way to go to the shops.’

After Grahame left school he joined the Police force aiming to be a photographer, but when that didn’t work out he joined the RAF and later the Civil Service. His big love photographically is digital printing, which he began with in 2007 – a time as he says when ‘there was nothing to tell you how to do it, so I taught myself and then a number of others’. He dryly states that his other half is the better photographer, though it’s Grahame who has the interest in the technical aspects. Back in Germany he was a sports photo­ grapher: ‘I enjoyed the routine of shooting 1,000 images over an event and then spending the weekend editing and working the files and getting them up on press portals. Now, a little later in life, I’m doing wildlife, landscapes, the Northern Lights – along with a bit of Reindeer racing, of course.’

He says it was the slow pace of life in the North that took the most getting used to: ‘It’s very different – everybody is helpful; no one is in your face all the time but I know that people here will be there for me. Round here there’s an average of two people per square kilometre and there are more reindeer than people by quite a margin. Autumn gives you amazing colours and the migratory birds passing through. I don’t let a day go by without taking a photograph – you naturally sync in with the seasons. Right now we’re waiting for the snow. That is a state of being. Recent years have seen more snow than is usual – there’s something happening up in the far north and the snow that would have fallen up at the North Pole has been forced south. That means we’ve had big melts too.’

A lot of life is based around wood, Grahame explains: ‘Buying it, storing it, burning it. You need to know everything there is to know about it. You live very close to nature – it’s a big wilderness out there but you can go anywhere you want. You can walk, you can camp – it’s a very open society, though you have to be unafraid of dealing with animals. In many ways it’s just like a more respectful England, but a lot colder.’

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STANLEY M ATCHETT S HOOTI NG THE DARKNESS

From conflict to celebrity Tales from the Northern Ireland Troubles

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n the early 1960s, Belfast was a normal British city like any other. In the years before the Troubles, big-time celebrities would visit Belfast – just like The Beatles did in 1963. Less than 18 months before the now infamous events of Bloody Sunday, President Richard Nixon visited Ireland in October 1970. That was just a week after photographer Stanley Matchett started work at Mirror Group which had head-hunted him from the Belfast Telegraph. He recalls: ‘It was no bad thing at all, because I got used to working with the CIA and all the rest of the circus. I loved the buzz.

I would go on to photograph four more American presidents, but would also end up becoming a war correspondent in my own back yard.’

But it wasn’t always this way for Stanley Match­ ett. In the early 1960s, he was employed by a civil engineering company that was constructing the first motorway in Northern Ireland, the M1 from Belfast to Lisburn, and his boss decided that, Rolleiflex in hand, he was a good enough to take pictures for the firm. Stanley was also sending freelance pictures to the Belfast Telegraph and they were actually getting used.

When a photographer’s job was advertised, he got an interview. Stanley picks up the tale: ‘The editor, John Sayers, who was ex-Royal Navy, always called you by your surname. “Matchett,” he said, “I really like your work but I’m a bit worried that you’ve never worked for a news­paper.” They usually recruited from the weekly papers. In those days, 200,000 copies of the Belfast Telegraph were sold daily and they claimed a readership of three times that – which in today’s terms is astonishing.’

He got a job as a staff photographer and people told him he’d be an alcoholic in six months. He stayed for ten years, until the approach came from Mirror Group Newspapers that had opened a state-of-the-art printing press in West Belfast. Stanley says: ‘The picture editor invited me to join him for dinner. I took along a lot of

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Shooting the Darkness was first a documentary film directed by Tom Burke about the men who became war photographers on the streets of their own towns. Released on 30 January 2019, the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, it was widely acclaimed. The book of the same name from which extracts are taken here, similarly covers seven photographers who found themselves in the thick of it. Stanley Matchett was the first photographer in Northern Ireland to be awarded an MBE for services to photojournalism and holds an Honorary Fellowship of the BIPP. His career beyond the Troubles has seen his work published in Life, Paris Match and Der Spiegel.

Shooting the Darkness (134pp) is available from www.blackstaffpress.com in hardback priced £19.99

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From Shooting the Darkness: ‘I took this photograph of a boy and girl guarding their street on the Crumlin Road, Belfast in August 1969 – although I still think it looks as though it could have been taken in the 1950s. Years later, it was in an exhibition of photographs from the Troubles. The poet Michael Longley was at the opening and he told me that he thought it was the best picture in the show. As we were looking at it together, I heard a group of women nearby say, “I wonder where they are now”. That made me wonder the same thing, and so I got in touch with a colleague from the Belfast Telegraph, Eddie McIlwaine, to ask if he could help me to find them by running a “where are they now?” story. And, thanks to the story, we found them both and heard how life had gone for them since the time the photograph was taken.’

Image © Stanley Matchett

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From Shooting the Darkness: ‘Thirteen people were killed when British paratroopers fired on a civil rights march in Londonderry on Sunday, 30 January 1972. Another man died of his injuries four months later. The day became known as Bloody Sunday. In this photograph, Father Edward Daly leads the men carrying the body of Jackie Duddy (17).

The image was described as the ‘iconic image of Bloody Sunday’

by The Sunday Times.’

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Image © Stanley Matchett

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STANLEY M ATCHETT S HOOTI NG THE DARKNESS

From Shooting the Darkness: ‘It was a Sunday morning and a beautiful day – blue skies, sunshine, a lovely day for a winter drive to Derry from Belfast. I expected to be home at half eight that evening, and I ended up staying for three weeks. Chamberlain Street is a long narrow street. We were at the end of it and I think it was probably about 3:30 in the afternoon. At that time of year, the light is starting to go and there was a mist coming down after the clear-blue-sky day.

We spotted this group coming down the street towards the end of Chamberlain Street – there seemed to be a film cameraman in the middle and other people carrying someone. I have shot after shot after shot of them getting closer. When they got up really close, it became clear that they were carrying the body of a man, who we later learned was 17-year-old Jackie Duddy – just a youngster.’

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my work – especially the colour images, including many record sleeves that I had shot – and by the end of the evening he’d offered me the job. It was a difficult decision to leave the Telegraph but in the end I went for it – to be working for a national paper was just unbelievable. My salary doubled immediately.’

But as the Troubles really got into their stride, the benefits weren’t always so welcome. Mirror Group offered all their journalists and photographers based in Belfast a sabbatical month, on the basis that they ‘didn’t know how you stick it over there’… Stanley explains: ‘The civil rights marches were impossible to predict. Sometimes it was a damp squib and sometimes it was the story of the decade. The Troubles were world stories – all the most awful things you All images © Stanley Matchett

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could imagine really did sink us into the ground. As a photographer you were part of it, the sectarian groups “invited” you to their press conferences – they needed the PR content. So we’d be blindfolded and driven off by the Provisional IRA, to be taken to see their training locations.

They were all wearing balaclavas. Because they’d done it, the UVF had to do it too.

It would have been very funny if it hadn’t been so sad, so tragic. Touting all the big weapons, they went around all the newspapers doing that.

‘But reporters and photographers could also be targets – accidental or otherwise. Anything could happen inbetween. You know, what do you call the guy with the machine gun? Sir. There was always a comedian in there too… You thank God for the characters to balance

out all the horrible stories that you have faced in your work.’

He continues: ‘The Provisional IRA wanted to level the score after Bloody Sunday – it was the best recruiting tool they could ever have had.’ On Monday 27 August 1979, Lord Louis Mountbatten, second cousin of the Queen, was killed by the IRA. Stanley describes his experience of it: ‘Reporter John Hicks and myself listened to the 1 o’clock radio news – all quiet, so we phoned the picture desk and newsdesk with our contact number. But we heard a tailpiece to the news… “Reports are just coming in from Mul­ laghmore, County Sligo…” Lord Louis Mountbatten’s family fishing boat Shadow V had been blown apart by a bomb hidden on board, just after leaving the har­ bour on a fishing trip. Enniskillen boy Paul Maxwell (15) and Lord Mountbatten’s grandson Nicholas (14), along with Lord Louis are dead, with several others seriously injured. Another passenger, Dowager Lady Brabourne, died the following day. John and I were on

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our way… to the remote west of Ireland. A few hours later, at Narrow Water, near Warrenpoint, County Down, a farm trailer parked in a lay-by with nothing more dangerous than hay bales exploded – 18 soldiers from the Parachute regiment were killed by an IRA bomb hidden under the hay and detonated from across the border in the Irish Republic.’

Moving on to the late 1980s – on Sunday 8 November 1987 came the Enniskillen Poppy Day bomb. Stanley says: ‘At a poppy day ceremony and wreath laying at the cenotaph in the town centre an IRA bomb hidden behind the war memorial exploded killing 12 people and injuring 63 people. National 20 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2019 / Issue Three

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Above, from Shooting the Darkness: ‘ It was Bishop Daly, or Father Daly as he was then, who was waving the bloodstained handkerchief, and the body was being carried by people who were in the march.

Initially I thought that it was a foreign film crew but I was told afterwards that it wasn’t. It was almost like stills from a movie, just frame after frame after frame as they got closer and closer. Then they set the body on the ground and Father Edward Daly administered the Last Rites.’

All images © Stanley Matchett

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STANLEY M ATCHETT S HOOTI NG THE DARKNESS

Above, President Richard Milhous Nixon acknowledges the crowd as his cavelcade makes an unscheduled stop at the central plain of Ireland, September 1970

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STANLEY M ATCHETT S HOOTI NG THE DARKNESS

From Shooting the Darkness: ‘Terror in Oxford Street on Friday, 21 July 1972 – at least 20 bombs exploded at various locations across Belfast. The day became known as “Bloody Friday”. People were running everywhere, not knowing whether or not they were running into the path of another bomb. In this photograph, News Letter photographer Eddie Harvey (with camera) runs to safety when a bomb explodes in Oxford Street Bus Station.

A total of nine people died as a result of the attacks and 130 were injured.’

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press reporters and photographers, travelling in light aircrafts, landed at nearby St Angelo Airport. The rush was on for pictures of the survivors.

‘Working with journalist Mary Riddell, we went to the Erne Hospital. The entrance was packed with stills photographers shoulder to shoulder – the nursing officer refuses to let anyone into the building. I suggested to Mary that we leave and have tea and sandwiches at the Killyhevlin Hotel. Then later we went back to the hospital – not a soul at the entrance – but we’re still refused admission. Just then, Mrs Ross arrived. Her son, Stephen Ross, had suffered severe head injuries. I asked Mrs Ross if I could be allowed to

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Graphistudio’s Castello Ceconi, Italy 11th to 15th May 2020

Paul Wilkinson FBIPP www.the2fellows.co.uk

Master your social photography skills & hone your business craft in this intensive workhop with two of the UK’s leading wedding & portrait photographers.

The 2 Fellows Exclusive BIPP Offer Exclusive £200 discount for BIPP Members, only £595

This offer is limited to just 3 places!

Book your place now, contact studio@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk

David Stanbury FBIPP www.the2fellows.co.uk

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(price excludes flights & accommodation)

12/12/2019 11:54

From Shooting the Darkness: ‘Monday 12 October 1985 saw the first official engagement for Princess Diana in Northern Ireland. At that time, our offices were in Mark Royal House in Belfast city centre. There had been such extensive security preparations beforehand that we knew someone very, very important was coming, but we only found out that morning who it was going to be. I went up to the roof of the building to see what was happening, and saw the RUC marksmen in position.

Luckily the officer in this picture had an interest in photography – he saw my camera and we had a bit of a chat. I came back up with coffees for him and his colleague and then later, as soon as I saw the official cars coming, I went up again and got the picture. It was a full page in Life magazine.’

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STANLEY M ATCHETT S HOOTI NG THE DARKNESS

From Shooting the Darkness: ‘The worst time of the Troubles was 1972. That year, after each atrocity, we all thought “this is the one that will finish it”.

We had no idea of what was to come. On 20 March 1972, less than two months after Bloody Sunday, there was the first retaliation. I was sitting at my desk when I heard an explosion.

I said “God, that’s a bomb”. The camera was always sitting on the desk with a fresh roll of film in it so I grabbed it and ran down to be confronted by absolute carnage. Crying. Women crying, policemen running to help. The IRA had planted a 200lb car bomb in Donegall Street in Belfast city centre. Seven people died and 148 were injured.

After that, every time I walked past a car, I wondered if it was going to blow up. That was frightening stuff. In this picture, a paratrooper is comforting a young girl who was seriously injured in the explosion. She was a Czechoslovakian student at the art college; she recovered from her injuries and now lives in Canada.’

take one photo only. She was hesitant, but then said that as Mary and I had treated her with courtesy, that would be okay… one picture only. She also pointed out that a TV company had telephoned her at 4am for an interview – and she had put the phone down. Photo-journalism is not always about pushing and shoving in a pack.

It’s much more about showing dignity and concern for the grief suffered. I went back at Christmas to photograph all the Ross children together again – the “happy” end­ ing shot was published in the Mirror. But the fact that, despite everything, all these years later the violence still goes on, that’s the biggest misery.’

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Reportage / Photojournalism Tommy Reynolds

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WO RLD PHOTOGRAPHI C CUP T EAM UNI TED KI NGDOM

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he World Photographic Cup is an international, inter-organisation competition showcasing the very best in contemporary photography from 43 countries including Australia, Brazil, China, Finland, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom – amongst many others. Work is entered into six different categories with three images in each.

A country has a team captain and for the United Kingdom that’s Richard Brad­ bury. Now that the judging is complete, we can reveal the UK’s entry, encom­ passing work from 11 photographers.

This is nation competing against nation in a spirit of friendship and unity.

As a part of your BIPP membership you automatically become a member of the Federation of European Photographers – with which you can also qualify – and the FEP also brings access to this great competition.

The BIPP asked its membership to offer up their very best images so that Richard Bradbury – the team captain – could choose a world-beating team entry. Last year’s winners were Australia and this time around the Finalist and Best of Nation Awards will be announced in January 2020 at Imaging USA, in Nashville, TN. The Winners will be announced at the WPC Awards Ceremony in Rome on 23 March 2020.

You can find out more, including galleries of the last six years of the competition, at www.worldphotographiccup.org

Reportage / Photojournalism Alistair Campbell

Reportage / Photojournalism Richard Bradbury

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Commercial Left: Tony Moore Below left: Richard Bradbury Below: Simon Mackney

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Illustration / Digital Art

Audrey Kelly

Illustration / Digital Art

Tony Moore

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Illustration / Digital Art

Gurvir Johal

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Wedding Above: Sanjay Jogia Left: Audrey Kelly

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Portrait Above: Sanjay Jogia Far left: Simon Mackney Left: Richard Bradbury

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Nature (Landscape/Wildlife)

Tracey Lund

Nature (Landscape/Wildlife)

Tony Moore

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Nature (Landscape/Wildlife)

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Chris Chambers

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Image © Fiona Ingvarsson

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F IONA I NGVARSSON FBI PP ATROPHY

Voices from lost places Atrophy: A Fellowship project

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wedding photographer by ‘official’ definition, Fiona Ingvarsson has – since joining BIPP in 2014 – always nursed an agenda to ‘find out who I am as a photographer’, as she puts it. Now holding a Fellowship, she’s certainly qualified to be thinking in these terms. Fiona describes the issue: ‘Photogra­ phy to me is a profession, but also a medium in which I can express myself across different genres in a meaningful way.’ In October 2016 Fiona spent time shooting in Calais, France, during the migrant crisis just ahead of the infamous Jungle camp being shut down. The experience led her to realise just how powerful such images could be and the emotional impact they have on others.

With a developing eye for a project with a social slant, she began exploring derelict buildings in the context of so many properties being left empty and to rot and ruin, whilst thousands of people inhabit bed and breakfast and social housing is in crisis. Fiona explains: ‘What I found most fascinating with such buildings was the feeling they gave me. There was a great sense of loss and sorrow.

Once, these homes would have been filled with love and laughter and now they are empty and lost. Somehow, in my mind’s eye, I wanted to translate that feeling of loss. I decided that I would work with nudes to represent the vulnerability of a house, and hence I needed to find something that would reflect the crumbling textures of buildings to connect the model and location. I came to clay as the natural solution, just because it cracks and flakes like a decay­ ing building does and so provided symmetry between the model and environment.’

To understand how clay would work on skin Fiona approached the theatrical department at East Surrey College which advised on creating the desired look. White body paint was first applied to the skin, completely covering the model, before a layer of Fullers Earth was applied. By drying the clay it cracked and flaked. In this

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way Atrophy was born. Fiona elaborates: ‘On my first shoot I applied thick layers of clay, then for the next and subsequent shoots I wanted the skin to be seen to gradually deteriorate from milky tones through to total incarceration in clay, so creating a definitive beginning, middle and end to the project.’

As much as Fiona wanted to reflect loss using body shapes, she didn’t want to create anything too distort­ ed or surreal: ‘My intention was for viewers to see the 38 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2019 / Issue Three

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beauty and emotion in the human form.

I turned to existing paintings, statues and sculpture focusing on images that depict the kind of emotions and feelings I was after – so developing a clear way to direct the models, and producing images that were striking and emotive.’

At first, Fiona was using locations researched and accessed ad-hoc on her

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F IONA I NGVARSSON FBI PP ATROPHY

own wits, starting in Dorchester, Dorset – but that brought with it uncertainty of availability and usability. The status of derelict buildings was subject to change which became a problem with the added production effort involved. She says: ‘As the project expanded I realised that I needed to change the way I was working and so I used a location scouting com­ pany, Locality, that was able to provide me with a disused safe house and chapel in Peckham, London. These locations were perfect and provided the backdrops that I needed to complete the project.’

Shooting with natural light, each loca­ tion therefore had its challenges – reflec­ tors and diffusers were used to control and manipulate the light. Fiona says: ‘At one point in the chapel, the light was such a challenge that I had to bounce light onto the model using two reflec­ tors. The light was subtle but it worked.’

The clay too proved challenging, react­ ing differently to the skin of each model – therefore always requiring trial and error. The models were prepared off site since the locations didn’t offer anything so luxurious as electricity, and in addi­ tion Fiona found herself having to work her models into the kinds of poses she required, rather than that to which they were more used and would default.

Eventually, Atrophy was shot across three days spread over a number of months.

Fiona continues: ‘Each location was entirely different in terms of lighting, texture and colour. As the project came

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together in post-production, I needed to unify the images – it became apparent to me that I needed to homogenise the project.

I decided to work in black and white but added tone that brought a sensitivity to the images that entirely neutral black and white could not achieve.’

And where has this Fellowship project taken her? Fiona replies: ‘What I take away from Atrophy is that I can build and produce a concept to a degree I didn’t previously believe was possible. It is easy to walk away from ideas that you deem are too hard, especially when working on your own. It has also strengthened my ambition to create a more definitive style within my wedding photography.

Working on something like this allows you to slow down and develop an air of confidence – understanding yourself – and then brings confidence to execute more challenging shots – you know it’s going to work or not. When I first embarked on a professional qual­ ification I think I hit a creative glass ceiling. I had to step away from weddings as a genre and be creative and execute the images that I saw in my mind’s eye. I hadn’t previously been able to get them out.’

Referring back to her day-to-day weddings work Fiona com­ ments: ‘For me, I have to have an element of my work that can set me apart – we all work in a field where some clients expect everything for nothing and everyone’s got a smartphone that can blur backgrounds and add portrait lighting. So we have to talk about what photography actually is, beyond the technical button pressing, because on some level in the social sphere especially that has been automated. A camera is a tool at the end of the day.

We need to express the difference and have the confidence to discuss it out loud.’

Professional organisations clearly have a role to play as photo­ graphers increasingly focus on business and market position. Fiona comments: ‘Perhaps middle market doesn’t exist any more? High end is always high end, and budget is always out they if someone wants it. Photographers should be encouraged to understand their role and define themselves. I’m looking for clients to buy into me as an artist and talk about the importance of creatively showcasing their story and what that’s going to do for them. They should be able to see themselves in my pictures – I’m not marketing an impossible “dream” of photography.’

Fiona concludes: ‘Atrophy has progressed my ambition to discover what it is to be an artist, and I’m so thankful to all the people who have helped and supported me with this project.

It brings a sense of achievement and was a journey. That all provides a future platform.’

For every Atrophy fine art print sold, £10 is donated to Shelter. www.fionaelizabethphotography.com

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The river is a highway, a store of food and a playground. Children use any convenient tree, climbing and diving again and again. They are so at home in the water that they need no adult supervision.

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Image © Sue Cunningham

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Spirit of the Amazon The Indigenous Tribes of the Xingu

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he work of photojournalist Sue Cunningham and writer Patrick Cunningham, this epic book is a celebration of cultural difference and a call for better stewardship of the world, communicated via the documenting of a world that re­ mains – just – apart. Released at a time when the environmental emergency in the Amazon region is even more profound, Sue’s beautiful photographs bring the tribal cultures of the Xingu River basin to life – she photographs indigenous people in their rainforest environment as they celebrate traditional ceremonies, and during their everyday lives. Patrick questions policies which set out to impose mainstream materialism on them and explains spiritual differences which set them apart, while showing their

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SPI RI T OF THE AM AZON SUE CUNNI NGHAM

relevance to the modern world. This detailed and captivating book follows the fascinating history of their interactions with non-indigenous people, from first contact right up to the current Brazilian government, and describes how they have suffered, survived and now exist alongside mainstream Brazilian society.

During the Heart of Brazil Expedition, the authors followed the course of the Xingu River, a tributary of the Amazon, travelling 2,500km by boat. Having visited numerous indigenous villages over the years, usually arriving by small aircraft, they wanted to better understand the geographical and cultural inter-relationship be­ tween the many ethnic groups which inhabit the Xingu River basin.

Sue and Patrick (above and below, right) were the first outsiders

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Right: Three generations of women in the early morning mist on their way back to their village with water from a nearby stream. This is the last time that they will do so – wells have been drilled to provide water for the villages because the rivers are now polluted.

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SPI RI T OF THE AM AZON SUE CUNNI NGHAM

since 1887 to take six months descending the full length of the river, visiting 48 tribal villages in this remote part of the Amazon.

Photojournalist Sue Cunningham was born in London, but moved to Brazil at the age of 12. In the early 1980s, while on a commission to cover industrial mining in the Amazon, Sue came into contact with the Xicrin tribe. She experienced first-hand the discrimination they suffered and the immense threats they were under from pressures for the development of the Amazon. Sue later took Sting, and Anita and Gordon Roddick (The Body Shop founders) into the Amazon to visit the tribes of the Xingu and help raise global awareness.

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Left: Chief Raoni Metuktire is one of the few Kayapó who still use the traditional botoque lip disc. Made of wood, it is inserted in a hole in the lower lip which is made progressively larger during teenage years by using discs of increasing size Right: The red areas indicate deforestation in the Xingu River basin bordering the Xingu Indegenous Park territory up until 2010 Below: Body painting with jenipapo

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In the years preceding the domina­ tion of the monolith image libraries, Sue Cunningham Photographic (SCP) became shorthand as the go-to pho­ tographic source for central and south America. However, as it became inev­ itably impossible for an independent to keep pace with the global library

resources – and in the face of endless downward pressure on image rights – Sue and Patrick took the difficult decision to retire SCP gracefully and return to what was at the heart of their passion, exploration and raising awareness of lesser told stories.

So in 2007, Sue and Patrick won a Royal Geo­ graphical Society award to undertake their Heart of Brazil Expedition. They slept in hammocks as guests

The Yawalapiti village is on the banks of the Tuatuari River, a small tributory of the Xingu – the river has its own character, more intimate than the Xingu

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of the communities they visited, or camped on the sands of the Xingu. The 48 remote tribal communi­ ties they visited are formed of 17 ethnic groups, who between them speak 14 languages. They were accom­ panied only by indigenous boatmen, who alone know and understand the treacherous rapids. With so many wild animals in the vast tracts of virgin rainforest the chance of a dangerous encounter was always present,

but the couple chose to go unarmed, aware that carrying a weapon – or even having one in their possession – may give the wrong message to their indig­ enous hosts. It was a unique and hardwon privilege to gain extended access to tribes who keep

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After the loggers have felled all the valuable trees the remaining vegetation is burned. The ashes provide limited nutrients for coarse cattle pasture, but these are quickly depleted, leaving the sandy soil infertile

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the outside world at a distance, and a life-changing experience for them.

Since the Expedition, Sue and Patrick’s dedication to the cause of indigenous peoples’ rights has grown into their life’s work, establishing the charity Tribes Alive. She says: ‘Our hosts on the Xingu River were generous with

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us – they fed us, and they nourished our souls. They asked us to tell their story, to show the world that they are one with the forests, the rivers, the rocks, the trees and the sky, but to make people understand that they, too, are men and women, human beings, with hopes, aspirations and dreams for the future of their children and grandchildren.’

Spirit of the Amazon – The Indigenous Tribes of the Xingu

By Sue Cunningham and Patrick Cunningham, foreword by Sting Published by Papadakis, RRP £40

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SOCI AL M EDI A COLUM N JAM I E M ORGAN LBI PP

F

inding new customers is an important part of every business. It used to be as simple as buying the biggest advert in the Yellow Pages, then sitting back and waiting for the phone to ring. Then the Internet arrived: hundreds of social media platforms; on-line directories; search engine optimisation; Facebook advertising; Google Adwords; Google My Business; the list of plates for the photographer to spin to try and bring in new enquiries is endless.

Together, over this series of articles, we will explore ways to help you with your on-line presence.

In the first of our series, we will ex­ plore the centre of our on-line universe, the largest search platform Google – the Yellow Pages of our time.

Let’s look at the statistics. Google processes over 40,000 search queries every second – that’s over 3.5bn searches per day and a whopping 1.2tr searches per year worldwide. People are look­ ing for answers and most of us head to Google for them. When interviewed recently, Google’s Vice-President of Search, Amit Singhal, explained his vision. He dreamed of Google becoming like the computer in Gene Roddenber­ ry’s Star Trek. The ultimate objective: creating a virtual assistant that can answer any question.

Understanding this vision, and the products coming to market like Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant, can really help us to develop our on-line strategy.

Search engine optimisation – the tactic of tweaking our website to rank on that essential first page of search is chang­ ing. It’s part of a revolution that we are

taking part in, and Google wants us as businesses to be part of.

In the past we could have optimised our website for a short phrase like ‘photographer surrey’ but search intelligence and searching styles have changed. We often ask questions like ‘barber near me’, or ‘Sains­ bury’s opening times’. With most searches coming from a mobile device, location data is now part of the search parameters. It’s important that we now show up not just in search, but in our local area too. Remem­ ber how Yellow Pages was a local information source?

Google has given us a free tool to ensure we show up in Local Search too, and it’s massively under-utilised – Google My Business.

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Top Tips to Get the Best from Google My Business • Claim your FREE Google My Business listing • Complete all your details – from location, to opening times • Add your logo – keep your branding consistent across all social media • Keep your NAP consistent across the web – your name, address and phone number – it should have the same formatting and style across everything, right down to punctuation • Play the visual game and stack the odds in your favour • Include photos of building exteriors and interiors – these are things that help people find you and entice them inside • Upload behind-the-scenes videos and images – people love to see artists at work • Add staff photos – we love to see who we are dealing with • The average profile will have 15 images – it’s a numbers game and we are in a visual industry – so post regular, fresh, relevant content and you will see progress

Google My Business is a free service provided by Google to help us show up in search results. It part­ ners a mobile phone app and on-line portal – it’s more than just a business listing. It should become a living breathing profile for your business, updated regularly – monthly as a minimum. A neglected profile is like a derelict shop-front. However, the more often there is fresh content, the more relevant Google will see it to the user. To see the best return try to update daily or weekly.

If you haven’t claimed and verified your Google My Business Listing yet, that’s the first step. To get started, visit www.google.com/business.

• Get customers to leave you reviews on Google – claim a short URL on your account to send clients to the review area. The average competitor will have 10-15 reviews – storm this and you build trust. Respond to every review, even negative ones • Post to GMB regularly – your posts are like mini-ads that will show up in the Knowledge panel in Search.

These can be keyword optimised for search and you can write an article up to 1,500 characters • Add products, promotions and events – your profile is a sales tool • Enable Messaging – people trust the Google portal, so are likely to engage through it

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W HO’S W HO? BOARD OF DI RECTORS

Chair: Chris Wright ABIPP My first camera was a Canon AE1 Program back in 1984! In ’86 I did a night school O Level in Photography, passing with a grade A. I trained as a graphic de­ signer (with Alex Jeffries ABIPP) for the next four years and stayed in the profession for over 25 years. I am still involved now, but more on a consultancy level.

In 2002, I set up Wright Chalmers Design, spe­ cialising in high-end promotion work without the extra cost of stupid account handlers! This was when photography started to come back into my make-up.

By 2012, I felt it was time to dig deeper and oddly enough, for someone more B2B orientated, found myself doing weddings. I achieved a Licentiate for weddings in 2013, straight after joining the Institute.

A number of awards later, I gravitated towards wild­ life, which I have to admit, moves my soul a lot more.

I qualified for my Associate in wildlife in 2016.

My commercial work has been getting more atten­ tion since then, but over the last year, the Institute has taken centre stage as I have wrestled – along with the rest of the Board – to help the Institute get back on an even keel. I volunteered to manage the new office immediately following the move in March, which was terrifying. My directive was to help keep things going – so just me in the office until Martin arrived in June…

Not easy when you consider that the old Aylesbury HQ used to have six staff.

Now Martin is in and settled, I will be soon relin­ quishing my role for someone properly trained in ad­ min and accounts. What can I say, but that it has been a pleasure to get to know the members, new and old.

It has also been of vital importance hearing everyone’s opinions as we shape the direction of the Institute for the years to come.

Tony Freeman Hon FBIPP Tony Freeman failed a preliminary photograph­ ic examination in 1958 and subsequently went on to become President of the very same Insti­ tute that set the exami­ nation! By 1961 he was in charge of the photo­ graphic section of a pro­ vincial evening newspa­ per and within 12 years had established two studios and three press agencies all whilst working as a freelance TV cameraman. Tony has served the BIPP for 40 years, representing them in Europe, receiving two presidential awards and an hon­ orary Fellowship before becoming President in 2003.

With a dedicated group of colleagues, Tony turned around a struggling Western region to become ex­ tremely successful however, due to the intervention of the former CEO, not the case today. He is hoping his experience will help put the Institute back on a solid footing before handing over to a younger, enthusiastic member to take the Institute on to greater heights.

Emily Hancock FBIPP Emily has been a photographer for 20 years, specialising in equine portraiture and art photography for much of her career. She received a Fellowship for her equine photography from the BIPP in 2012 and has since received numerous accolades for her work. In recent years, she studied Art History at Sotheby’s institute and has embraced her creativity to become an artist, combining equine photography and mixed media to create stunning pieces that are exhibited, displayed and sold globally.

Emily juggles creating artwork and private equine

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commissions, with running an equine photography training academy, and managing a string of successful childcare nurseries in Hampshire. Having been in­ volved with the BIPP for many years, Emily continues to support the organisation and hopes to inspire the creativity of many photographers across the UK. Kevin Weatherly LBIPP Kevin is a social and events photographer with his own studio in Washington, Tyne and Wear. He joined the Institute in 2002 after attending New­ castle College where he studied photography for three years – he left college on a Friday and started his own business the following Monday!

He says: ‘I have a strong desire to make our Insti­ tute the best in the world and have lamented occa­ sions in the past when photography has been under the spotlight in the national news for example, but no-one from the Institute has been asked for their opinion or response. I believe that when photography is mentioned in any way the BIPP should be the first port of call, whether that’s for a newsworthy quote or for work such as weddings, portraits, commercial or advertising. I believe that we need a more professional attitude by providing proof of our knowledge and ex­ pertise by having a recognised system of Continuous Professional Development and training for all mem­ bers and I look forward to developing CPD within the Institute during my term of office.’

KEI TH DUERDEN FBI PP (d. 2019) After National Service in the RAF, Keith Duerden’s career in professional photography quickly evolved. He was recruited by Mobil Oil as their new staff photographer and found himself on his first assignment – at the end of his first week – at Coniston Water when Donald Campbell raised his own World Water Speed Record in 1956. He worked for Mobil all the way through to the closure of its photographic unit in 1984 and as a highly respected industrial photographer was an impor­ tant part of the team behind the BIPP’s INFOT conference programme. After Mobil he founded Image 2 Photography with colleague Patricia Rayner and remained active in the company until 1997. But another passion was motor racing and in 2010 Keith published Wheelspin & Smoking Tyres – a personal photo­ graphic record of motor racing in the 1950s and 1960s, mostly shot on a Leica 111c. He descibed this work as ‘a personal view of these times which I stored away for more than 50 years’.

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W HO’S W HO? BI PP REGI ONS

David Taylor FBIPP – Midlands Regional Chair david@chapelstudiophotography.co.uk My interests in photography first began at around the age of ten – like many pho­ tographers, experienc­ ing a B&W film being processed, and B&W prints being made under a red safelight in the bathroom converted into a darkroom… it was magic. My lucky break came in when I applied for a position as a photographic assistant with Lubrizol Corporation, an American Company and a world leading provider of speciality chemicals for the transportation, indus­ trial and consumer markets. I have been very lucky to have made a career out of my passion for photography, using the best equipment in top-class facilities – and got paid for it. There’s little wonder I’ve clocked up over 45 years working for Lubrizol.

I attended Derby and District College of Art where the glamorous side of photography seemed to be fashion and advertising photography, but it was the contrasts and diversities of industrial and commercial photography that interested me most, and over the years I have traveled extensively in Europe and the world from northern Scandinavia to southern Spain, to Russia, India, China, Singapore, Japan, Australia, South Africa, the Americas North and South, for an ordinary humble bloke it’s just been amazing, but then photography is amazing!

After taking reluctant retirement from Lubrizol (one of the most difficult decisions I have had to make – but there’s a right time for most things in life and my time had come) I now photograph wildlife, one of

my big loves since being a boy. For the last five years I’ve been working on a few projects in wildlife and am hoping to gain a fellowship in the future. Offering im­ ages for sale for calendars and publication is an outlet for my new wildlife challenge, alongside working with Carol my wife who is also a photographer of over 40 years in our own small business, Chapel Studio, doing general practice photography.

Gary Walsh – North East Regional Chair studio@garywalsh.co.uk Husband, Dad, Pho­ tographer (always in that order)… Me and my wife own a studio in Norton High Street, outside Middlesborough. When we opened our doors 20 years ago an elderly gen­ tleman passed the front door and said to me ‘I wonder what it’s going to be next’ so we’ve worked a ridiculous amount of hours just to prove him wrong. I love photographing people of all ages, I like – when appropriate – to work in a fun, laugh­ ter-filled environment, my imposter syndrome keeps me grounded and on my toes. I continue to learn new ways of working in my business and capturing images by reading books, using on-line information and look­ ing at images both digitally and in print. But more im­ portantly I love meeting and chatting to people. Social media has been a great friend to our business, but now the keyboard dust is settling and social media’s reach is diminishing we are finding the old tried and tested methods of human contact and word of mouth are now working hand-in-hand with our on-line presence and this is continuing to keep us busy.

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David Stanbury FBIPP – North West Regional Chair stanburyphoto@gmail.com David Stanbury is a multi award winning portrait and wedding photographer based in the North West of Eng­ land with a career span­ ning over 25 years and nearly 1,400 weddings.

His accolades include over 300 National & Re­ gional awards including UK Wedding Photogra­ pher of the Year, UK Portrait Photographer of the Year, UK Wedding Album of the Year and a two times finalist in the prestigious Hasselblad Masters Awards. He has also one of only a handful photogra­ phers awarded a triple Fellowship in wedding pho­ tography by the BIPP, MPA and SWPP. David is also a photography consultant working with some of the biggest photography companies in the world and an international photography judge. David works exclu­ sively with his wife Jane from their studio covering weddings and seminars worldwide. Their photography style is described as stylish and timeless and is very much in demand by couples who require the very best in wedding photography.

David Campbell ABIPP – Northern Ireland Regional Chair cabocampbell@me.com I started my working life as a food scientist in the field of microbial toxicology. At the age of 32 I made a huge life change and started my own photography business. I opened DS Campbell Photography in 1987 and joined the BIPP, successfully sitting

my LBIPP at Photography at Work in Spring 1988.

I attained my ABIPP in 1994. I put down much of my early success to two learning experiences – namely the Kodak Masterclasses and attending every BIPP Conference Weekend from when I joined to when they stopped. In December 1991 I became the first photographer in Northern Ireland to be awarded a Kodak European Gold Award. This was seen at the time as the most prestigious professional photography award in Europe. More importantly, it allowed me to become a member of Kodak’s Gold Circle – giv­ ing unprecedented access to some of the worlds best photographers. In the next year I was invited to train and become a Kodak European Judge, which I did for the next four years.

After growing my own business (through the back­ ground of the Northern Ireland Troubles) to what I believe was the then largest portrait business in North­ ern Ireland, I grasped an opportunity to attempt to make a change to the whole portrait business. In 1997 I became involved with a training company owned by my friend Brian Glover-Smith and had the oppor­ tunity to try many marketing initiatives in Northern Ireland, out of sight of the main UK marketplace. By 2000 we were ready to launch Venture UK. We floated the idea to Kodak UK who, after approval from Roch­ ester (Kodak USA), came aboard as an equity partner.

The remaining majority shareholding was held by GSA Ltd – a company consisting of Brian Glover-Smith, Paul Wilkinson, Howard Lipman and myself. By early 2004, having successfully grown the UK portrait market we wished to expand internationally and were given the opportunity to purchase Kodak’s sharehold­ ing which we did. By early 2005, the UK operation was arguably the largest turnover family portrait business in the world and we received an unexpected offer for the company. We sold and I retired at 50 to live most of the year in Baja Sur Mexico.

Now I’m back home in the UK full time, hope­ fully helping others with what I know best – namely photography. I have recently suffered from throat can­ cer, resulting in a Laryngectomy and Tracheostomy.

I now speak with the help of a digital Servox and in October I had further surgery for a secondary tumour.

I await CT scans to access regrowth with the strong possibility of Chemotherapy or hopefully Immuno­ therapy to slow down spread and give me some quality of life for a little time more.

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Jon Lee ABIPP – Scotland Regional Chair jon@bippscotland.com

Andrew Younger – South West Regional Chair info@youngerphotography.com

My career in photogra­ phy started 28 years ago working as a commer­ cial advertising pho­ tographer in the centre of London. Clients included Saatchi’s, Iden­ tica, Interbrand, Joshua, DMB&B Medicus, Conde Naste, Empire Design and many other leading design compa­ nies. For the last 16 years I have been a lecturer of Photography at Edinburgh College. My responsibili­ ties include, Course Leader for the award-winning BA Professional Photography course. I am also an asso­ ciate lecturer of Gray’s School of Art and appointed external examiner for Gloucestershire University BA (Hons) Editorial and Advertising Photography. In 2017, I was proud to be awarded Lecturer of the Year

by The Association of Photography.

I’m a wedding photogra­ pher from Plymouth, Devon. Together we with my wife Agnieszka we run Younger Pho­ tography. We have a small family and these days choose to photo­ graph weddings locally with the odd destination wedding thrown in. I started working for a portrait studio in 1989, and I feel very fortunate to have worked in this industry for over 30 years now.

I’m as happy shooting film as I am digital. Pho­ tography is still a great passion, as is beer and Curly Wurlies. Hope to see you at a regional meet soon my lovers.

Jamie Morgan – South East Regional Chair jamie@hounddogphotography.co.uk Jamie has recently stepped up to revitalise the South East Region of the Institute. Alongside his partner Leanne, Jamie runs a studio on the Surrey and Hampshire borders. As a specialist dog photographer, most of his work is family pets, or pet-related commer­ cial photography. Jamie has run small businesses for over 21 years, and has an established background in IT and electrical engineering. Marketing and social media are two favourite subjects outside of photography, which he is passionate about helping photographers improve.

Irene Cooper – Yorkshire Regional Chair irene@irenecooper.com Irene has been a produc­ tion stills photographer for the entertainment in­ dustry for over 30 years, and work has varied from Shakespeare to TV soaps and pantomime.

She recently returned to education and achieved an MA in Photography at De Montfort Uni­ versity. Irene joined the Institute as a student in 1986. Twelve years later, she was honoured to be elected as President (199899) – only the fourth woman to hold the post in the Institute’s first 100 years and she is now currently Chair of the Yorkshire Region. Having been an active member of the Institute for many years, she continues to support the membership and encourage them to gain inspiration from the wide range of talents our organisation has to offer.

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A

s we ap­ proach the end of the year and the start of a new one, for me it is always important to take stock of all as­ pects of one’s life – both personally and in my career.

It’s been a mixed bag, 2019, if we look at the journey that the British Institute of Professional Photographers has taken.

However, now with all of that behind us we should collectively all be looking towards a bright future. Listening to everybody at the recent AGM it has clearly been through the unreserved hard work of a few of the committee members and directors that we are thankfully in the position we are today.

It was exciting to hear everybody’s ideas and suggestions as to how to move forward as a whole in a positive way, with the aim to bring the Institute back to a place where we can all gain and learn from each other as a community of photo­graphers – especially when the in­ dustry as a whole is itself going through so much change.

With the new mentoring programme, awards system and qualification criteria in the process of being changed, I am sure there will be a few teething prob­ lems along the way as we surely can’t please every single member. However, please support the Institute as it tries to grow and reestablish itself as the leading community for professionals.

Try and make an effort to attend your local groups – the photographers that head up these regional meetings work very hard to put in front of you some inspiring speakers from all genres in the hope that they will add extra value to your membership, and also being a

Image © Saraya Cortaville

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great way of connecting and network­ ing with other photographers in your area – something that we know is always invaluable.

I myself am already looking forward to a very positive year next year: two tips to Nepal are already planned; a few talks and events already booked into the diary, one for the Midlands region and the oth­ er for the Northern Ireland region. Please do get in touch if you would be interest­ ed in me speaking at an event – next year I will have new work and new stories to share with you all about my recent travels and adventures.

As for my work, I will be setting myself my own personal challenge to enter some awards and maybe even do another qualification, especially after being inspired by seeing the panel of work at the AGM that was bought along

by Ian Cartwright, our representative to the Federation of European Professional Photographers. I really should start put­ ting my work out there again – it’s been a while…

Anyway, that just leaves me to say I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with family and friends and of course let’s all look forward to a prosperous New Year for The Institute and the pho­ tographic industry as a whole.

Saraya x

Image © Saraya Cortaville

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