DI ONLINE
COVER IMAGE
ALL ABOUT THE COVER IMAGE
ThePhotographer: Astrid Preisz ARPS
TheImageTitle: ‘Mountain Metropolis’
An image from Astrid, see her article on Page 10
Editor DI ONLINE: Melanie Chalk
Contact: dionline@rps.org
CHAIR’S CHAT
THOUGHTS
FROM THE CHAIR…
Isn’t spring wonderful – doesn’t it make us feel good. Our energy rises as does the warmth that assists the flowers to bloom and trees to blossom.
As busy volunteers organising all that DI offers, it is really rewarding for us when we see our members’ work blossoming and producing great new work following talks. This was especially evident with recent talks from Jan Beesley and Judy Hancock-Holland. Jan inspired us to produce some beautiful abstracts and Judy high and low key monos.
The projects, such as the Mono and Alternative View, are very resource hungry for the organisers. Booking and working with all the presenters we weave together to formulate the programme is one aspect, with the associated admin and web work that follows to make sure you all know what’s on offer and how to register. Then there is the hosting, recordings and emails to follow each talk. As a result we really do need to strengthen the workshop team so this doesn’t all fall to one person. In this publication we are appealing for some of you to step forward to volunteer. So please do read the ad on page 24 and really consider if you couldn’t give a few hours each month to join the team.
If you have been a member of a ‘committee’ in the past and haven’t had a good experience, please don’t let that put you off. We are not a ‘cliquey’ team. We are a happy team who support each other, working together to deliver a great programme for our members. There are 1700+ of you out there so surely we can find a few of you willing to join us.
May 1st sees the start of the next round of the DI Comp. It’s our Altered Reality round so a chance for you to all fiddle and diddle and produce something a little different; maybe your Jan Beesley images. Do read the Rules before you enter – the competition web page you need is HERE
Finally don’t miss out on two great webinars coming up later this month from Simon Hill and Doug Chinnery. You should now have DI Pulse book marked and that is the pace to go to book anything we are currently promoting.
Enjoy your photography and getting out and about with your cameras.
Regards
Janet
EDITOR’S WORDS FROM THE COMPUTER CHAIR…
In this issue of DI ONLINE we celebrate our members photography.
When I see interesting or unusual images posted on the DI Facebook page, I often follow up and contact the photographer, inviting them to write an article and share more images. I was pleased that Astrid Perisz agreed, and in her article she poses an opening question, Is it still Photography ? Does it even matter? Read her reply and view her artistic, thoughtful and experimental abstracts.
Emmanuel Nwachukwu explores Migration, he hopes to open a dialogue as he documents Migration a world wide issue, using photography, moving images and immersive installations.
He sees this project as unfinished as Migration moves and shifts as the days pass, more can be recorded.
Our International member this month, Geoffrey B Johnson, tells us of his life and career as a professional photographer in Malaysia.
The International Garden Photography of the Year (IGOPTY) have a Portfolio category and Marlene Findlayson was awarded Highly commended in 2024. In this issue she shows us her beautiful images from this Portfolio.
We also have our regular Winners from the friendly Monthly Competition. Please do get involved in this, your chance to show your work and its judged by other members. The first three placed winners are then displayed in DI ONLINE.
I hope your garden visits are successful for the T-W-T initiative, and I look forward to featuring a selection in the next issue, which will be in June.
Melanie Chalk Editor DI ONLINE dionline@rps.org
MONTHLY COMPETITION
David Nicholls says he was thrilled to bits to hear he had the winning image in the March Competition. Here are the details he sent about his image.
“Flying into Venice Airport on a wet October day last year, we had a choppy ride across the Lagoon to Venice proper.As we approached our mooring place the rain was running down the windows of the boat. Since rain-spattered windows are catnip to me, I fired up my iPhone to photograph the people walking alongside through the rain — 17 pictures in all, and this one was the last in the sequence! It needed very little post-processing but was substantially cropped for the final composition. I finished up with a 2.8Mpx image — remember when a 3Mpx camera was something special? Anyway, I ran it through Topaz Gigapixel (upscaling 2x) to get a more respectable 11Mpx.
The camera details are: iPhone 14 Pro Max, 1/100sec at f/2.8, ISO 40, 9mm lens”.
Winner - 1st - David Nicholls LRPS
‘Lovely weather we are having’
Second PlaceFinely Balanced by Marie-Ange Bouchard ARPS
Third PlaceWinter Tree Reflection by Melanie Chalk ARPS
A MEMBER’S STORY
ASTRID PREISZ
IS THIS STILL PHOTOGRAPHY? DOES IT EVEN MATTER?
I am a nature photographer...or am I? At least that's what I called myself when I started my photography a few years ago. I felt enchanted by the beauty of nature and the many variations of landscapes, and deeply connected to the natural world.
My camera became my main tool to convey my feelings, express my emotions, and engage with the world. My work has become bolder since then and at times more experimental.
I’ve done some crazy stuff (no, not crazy, just different) over the last few years and it felt great and liberating and my creative juices were flowing. When I looked at what I’d done, I asked myself: is this still photography? Why was this question even on my mind?
I have always been an advocate of our natural world and how we as photographers interact with it. For a while, I have thought about writing something on abstract photography, how it relates to responsible nature photography and how it can advocate for nature, even if it’s sometimes no longer recognisable as nature photography at all.
It won’t be in this article, but the source of the thought is the same, I think. I’ve become very abstract lately with my work and I’ve noticed that in these images there is no longer a direct connection between the experience in the field and the finished image. Rather, they are two completely different and separate creative processes, both of which are satisfying, liberating, and expressive.
The soft voice
There are times in the field when I feel at harmony with the world around me. I synchronise my breath with that of nature. I refuel, enjoy the light, the water, and the wind. I let myself be inspired by, connect with, and enjoy what the world gives me. When I make these images, I am there with all my senses, I am engaged, and I lose myself in the moment. I have many images that are just that: direct manifestations of the experience. They can be either literal or abstract, but very connected to the immediate place and time.
These images are very much me.
Premonition
The loud voice
And then there are those other moments when I "paint" with my camera like an abstract painter, perhaps based upon past experiences, but mainly on feelings, moods, and aesthetics. These images are so different from the others. They are no longer connected to a specific moment of an experience and detached from the origins of the RAW files.
Forest Lake
At the River
If I were a painter, I would get a canvas, paint, a brush, and all the other things I might need. But I am not a painter - or am I?
I’ve often heard that you can’t compare photography with painting, because a painter works on a blank canvas and adds something, whereas a photographer always starts with what was already there. I can’t agree with that. Who says that a painter has to start with a white and blank canvas? Artists have always painted on everything. Jackson Pollock painted on the backs of Autograph Baseball board games. Collage paintings and mixed media works are not uncommon. I saw some great examples at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and have been experimenting with it myself, as well.
And when I “paint” my abstract images, I also have materials and tools: my camera, RAW files, Lightroom, Photoshop and above all my imagination and my emotions. I create something new that hasn’t existed before. The RAW files themselves have become my artistic palette, my collage material. I cut, glue, paste, paint, and I create.
How can this all be me?
When I look at these different images, it’s amazing how much I can identify with all of them. It shows me how complex we humans are. I can be quiet, whisper my truth and hold it in gentle arms - softly like a baby. I can be passionate, loud, wild, and bold. I can be all of that. Art can be all of that and everything in between.
That’s why I stopped asking myself: is this still photography? Because it doesn’t matter.
Astrid Preisz
Don’t touch me
Hunter in the Night
Winter Walk
ACCOLADE 15
ACCOLADE 15 IS NOW UP ON ISSUU HERE IS THE LINK
A very impressive issue, be inspired!
NEW MEMBERS
Each month we welcome and list all new members, here are those who have joined in March. Let me take the opportunity to welcome all those listed here. Sometimes, for whatever reason, we might be also welcoming a ‘Re-Joiner’ but we welcome you all.
Do please visit the DI Webpage for a comprehensive view of all DI activities, and DI PULSE published on the 1st of each month, contains all the information about future events, and forthcoming workshops.
Maureen Anderson
Chris Baldock
Iona Barrie
Charlotte Bellamy
Dr Will Davies
Paul Diette
Shirley Difrawy
Neil Dodd LRPS
Tim Eavis
Dr Richard Ellis ARPS
Stella French
Barrie Harwood LRPS
Andrew Haynes
Dr Martin Hogarth
Matthew Horstwood
Tao Jiang
Emma Lenfestey ARPS
Ian Lewis
Nick Linnett
Alan Roger Maynard
Dr David Mossley
Brian Pearson LRPS
Prof Feargal Quinn
Gary Rowlands LRPS
Steve Sampson
Jason Savage
Jeremy Sayle
Wiebke Schroeder
Gordon Scott
Dr Esther Serrano LRPS
John Shallcroft
Jo Shepherd ARPS
Ka Pan Sit ARPS
Hidesawa Sudo
Ian Thompson
Jane Webster
Stephen Wood
Scotland
North Yorkshire
Scotland
The Netherlands
Cambridgeshire
West Sussex
Surrey
Switzerland
Middlesex
Berkshire
Devon
Lancashire
Bristol
Cheshire
Nottinghamshire
China
Merseyside
Cornwall
Leicestershire
Bristol
Lancashire
Manchester
Ireland
Bulgaria
Surrey
Nottinghamshire
Manchester
Germany
Scotland
London
Cornwall
Bristol
London
Japan
Somerset
Yorkshire
Derbyshire
THE DI COMMITTEE
IS RECRUITING…
The DI Committee works hard and as volunteers we deliver an amazing programme of events and meetings for our members. We are a happy lot, who support each other as a team. Most of our committee members have dedicated roles, however we would like to have a bit of spare capacity within the team; individuals to pick up odd jobs or help out as required. Because most of what we do is online you need to be confident with using technology and learning new systems where necessary.
Full committee meetings are held every other month for 2 hours on a Friday afternoon. We rarely have the need to travel and all work from our home computers at times that mainly suit us. Any expenses incurred in the course of fulfilling a role are recompensed.
All you need is a willingness to work and have a little free time to offer. Volunteers find being part of a successful happy team personally rewarding and like contributing to our success.
DI second web content volunteer
We would like to recruit a backup for ourweb content person. It would be a job sharing role; to be agreed between the two web volunteers. You would need to be technically proficient. Familiarity with Umbraco an asset but not essential; but please note that Umbraco has quite a steep learning curve and you will need to stick at it!Our web content volunteer would train you up.
DI Workshops team member
The workshop programme is a very important aspect of that which DI offers its members. Ideally we would like to develop a small team to help deliver these so that the entire workload doesn’t fall to one volunteer. If you feel this is an area that would interest you and you would like to know more before making any commitment then do please get in touch.
Unspecified roles
We would welcome 2 persons to join us to be part of the team. These individuals would learn how we operate and would help out when (say) someone is away travelling for a while, or we are needing a little extra capacity in a particular area. Ultimately they may pick up a specific role if we get any resignations. It is a good way to get to know what is involved in being part of the DI Committee without any immediate pressure.
If you have any questions or wish to know more then do contact me at: digchair@rps.org
RPS EGM
RPS Extraordinary General Meeting to vote on
Proposed changes to the By Laws
The Board of Trustees has proposed a Motion to extend Simon Hill's term as President for two more years. In accordance with our By-Laws this Motion will be voted on by Members at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM)to be held onThursday 24 April 2025, 7:00 pm (BST).
Members must register to attend by noon Thursday 24 April 2025.
Register Here
Unable to attend? Appoint a proxy before 12pm Tuesday 22 April
If you are unable to attend the EGM, in accordance with our By Laws you may register a proxy. To register your proxy you must send an email, including your name and membership number to proxy@rps.org, to arrive no later than 12pm (BST) on Tuesday 22 April 2025.
EGM supporting documents
In advance of the EGM and following the Town Hall debate the President Simon Hill HonFRPS has written a letter to the membership which you can read below. An updated FAQ document will be posted to this page prior to the EGM taking in to account questions asked at the Town Hall.
Proposed Motion
Letter to the membership following Town Hall debate
INTERNATIONALS
Each month we will feature an International Member and learn more about them and their photography. Here Janet Haines poses questions to Geoffrey B. Johnson who now lives in Malaysia
Janet: As a professional photographer living in Malaysia did you join the RPS direct or as a consequence of being a member of the Master Photographers when the two organizations amalgamated?
Geoffrey: I joined the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) a few years ago, before its amalgamation, with the intention of applying for a Distinction within my first year. However, this process has been more challenging than I initially anticipated. Perhaps I am overly focused on meeting the society’s Licentiate (LRPS) or Associate (ARPS) criteria and requirements making it from analysis paralysis over complicated. Nonetheless, I see achieving an RPS distinction, recognition and establishing connections within the global photographic community through the RPS as an important personal goal that I’ve set myself.
Living in Malaysia has provided me with distinctive opportunities, both in life and photography. From immersing myself in the local culture to working with the region’s unique natural light so different from that of the UK and Western Europe these experiences have shaped my photographic approach in the recent years. Additionally, coaching both local and international students in the Asia Pacific Region has been an incredibly rewarding endeavor.
Janet: It isn’t easy making a living in the UK as a professional photography - do you feel this is the same or easier in Malaya? Is the work you do there different to that you did in the UK?
Geoffrey: Establishing a career as a professional photographer in Malaysia I’ve found to be somewhat more accessible than in the UK and Western Europe, largely due to the market’s unique opportunities and strong demand for photography services. In particular, bespoke coaching and mentoring have proven to be valuable aspects of my work, allowing me to engage with a diverse range of clients and students.
While my practice has evolved over time, the fundamental principles remain unchanged—creating compelling visual narratives and sharing my expertise to inspire and develop others in the field.
Janet: You recently showed this image from Clogherhead, Co Louth on the Facebook page and it was fascinating to see the one little tiny feature color popped. What decision did you make to show an otherwise mono image with this touch of colour and why? Is this something you do often?
Geoffrey: Yes, this is a technique I have worked on refining over the recent years, seeing the world in primarily in black and white, while pre-visualizing selective color to enhance the narrative. By guiding the viewer’s eye with intentional color accents, I try to emphasize key elements without compromising the strength of the composition. From the initial vision to the final edit, every detail is considered to serve the story.
As a background this particular image in January and February 2025, I traveled to Clogherhead Co. Louth, Ireland, for a family emergency. With time against me and the weather offering little opportunity to create new work, I found myself unable to photograph as I normally would sometimes on a daily basis. However, on one exceptionally clear day, as I visited my families graves for the last time before returning home, I encountered a scene on my way to the beach. The image I pre-visualized was deeply connected to the village and the difficult days I had just spent with family. The idea of color leading the way through a monochrome world felt particularly resonant at that moment in time.
“In
Monochrome Clogherhead Village, Color Guides the Way” © 2025 |
This caption reflects the intentional use of selective color, reinforcing the narrative I aimed to convey. Over time, this approach combining technical precision with artistic intent has become a definitive element of my photographic style.
Janet: Knowing you move between Ireland and Malaya frequently do you notice a difference in your photography, the subjects you shoot and your processing choices, from one country to the other?
Geoffrey: While the subject matter varies, adapting to the distinct lighting conditions of Malaysia and Ireland has refined my ability to develop and confidently apply processing techniques tailored to each environment.
In the intense equatorial light of Malaysia and Southeast Asia, I consider the lighting carefully before taking a photograph, ensuring that details are preserved without overexposure. Postprocessing plays a crucial role in my workflow, allowing me to enhance the rich, tropical colors while maintaining a natural and accurate final result that aligns with my pre-visualization.
In contrast, Ireland’s natural light presents me different creative possibilities. This allows for a more flexible approach to exposure and post-processing, ensuring that each image effectively conveys the unique characteristics of its location.
These regional differences also shape my approach to photographic coaching. In Malaysia, I focus on techniques for managing harsh sunlight, whereas in Ireland, I emphasize maximizing the potential of overcast conditions and exploring low-light photography. This tailored methodology ensures that my students develop the skills necessary to adapt and be skillful in diverse lighting environments.
Janet: Please show us your two personal favorite images and tell us why they are important to you?
Image 1: “Hydrant Artwork Reflects Urban Firefighting” © 2023
Geoffrey: I encountered this striking hydrant while on vacation in Sydney, Australia, the day before celebrating my wife’s birthday with a cruise around the South Pacific in April 2023. What immediately caught my attention was the way it had been presented within the urban streetscape painted in vivid Emergency Red against a muted grey background. The bold contrast and intentional design transformed this functional object into a compelling visual statement, reflecting the intersection of practicality and artistic expression in an urban setting.
Image 2: “Up Close & Personal” | “Nature’s Powerful Electric Force Strikes Malaysia” © 2021
Geoffrey: During a torrential tropical storm in 2021, I experienced a mix of fear and fascination as intense lightning strikes grew increasingly closer. The sheer intensity of the storm created both a challenge and an opportunity capturing the raw power of nature in a single frame. Managing exposure and timing under such conditions was no easy task, but the result was a personally rewarding image that encapsulates the dramatic energy of Malaysia’s tropical climate.
A MEMBER’S STORY
EMMANUEL NWACHUKWU
JAPA: THE SEARCH FOR GREENER PASTURES
Migration is more than a journey, it’s an unravelling, a reconstruction, and sometimes, a quiet erosion of self. JAPA: The Search for Greener Pastures began as a way to document my own displacement and evolved into a broader exploration of how migrants, particularly from the African diaspora, navigate identity, isolation, and survival in unfamiliar spaces.
The Visual Language of Migration
Photographically, my work sits between documentary realism and constructed narratives. I draw influence from artists like Pieter Hugo, whose stark portraiture captures the weight of postcolonial African identities, and Samuel Fosso, who uses performance and self-portraiture to critique history, power, and representation. These approaches deeply inform JAPA, where I blend staged and candid moments to reflect the fragmented reality of migration, how one is constantly shifting between past and present, memory and adaptation, and home and foreignness.
‘In Alone with the Familiar’, I use deep shadows and soft, diffused lighting to highlight the tension between nostalgia and displacement. The subject is draped in traditional African fabric, a symbolic tether to home, yet they sit in a dimly lit room, isolated from the world outside. The composition reflects the emotional paradox of migration, feelings connected to one's origins while being physically removed from them. The textures and folds of the fabric act as a visual metaphor for memory, carrying warmth yet weighed down by absence.
In Alone with the Familiar
‘In Survival & ‘The Cost of Belonging’, work uniforms and steel-toe boots serve as relics of endurance, capturing the silent sacrifices that migrants make. The harsh directional lighting mimics the exhaustion of long hours spent trying to build a new life. This piece speaks to the economic realities of migration, where hard labour often replaces time that could be spent with loved ones.
Similarly, ‘Culture Shock ‘contrasts two everyday rituals tea and Garri highlighting the subtle negotiations of identity through food. These images are designed to prompt reflection on the invisible notes and quest for belonging.
Culture Shock
Personal Encounters, Collective Realities
Though this project is rooted in personal experience, it is equally shaped by the stories of others. I have spent time speaking with migrants, some new, some decades into their relocation documenting their recollections of home and the realities of their new environment. There is a shared sentiment that migration is not just about moving to a place but learning how to exist in it. The hardest part isn’t always the journey itself, but the small losses that accumulate: the cultural codes you forget, the names that no longer sound like yours, the moments where you catch yourself adapting in ways you never expected.
A Nigerian woman I photographed described how she switched accents depending on whom she spoke to. Another migrant recounted how his food choices changed not out of preference, but survival. These nuances are central to JAPA, the psychological negotiations that accompany physical migration.
Expanding the Project
As JAPA has grown, I have started integrating moving images and immersive installations to extend its impact. The upcoming short film Prove Your Worth is a looping sequence of an IELTS interview, where the test taker, instead of answering conventionally, repeatedly states: “But you colonized me.” This work critiques the absurdity of former colonial subjects proving proficiency in a language imposed upon them.
Another expansion is Passport to Nowhere, an installation that replicates a visa application office, immersing audiences in the frustrating bureaucracy of migration endless paperwork, rejection letters, and waiting rooms designed to keep people in limbo. These additions are my attempt to move beyond static images, turning JAPA into a space where viewers experience, rather than simply observe, the barriers and contradictions of global migration systems.
Isolation
About the Artist:
A Work in Progress
I see this project as unfinished, not because of a lack of images, but because migration itself is ongoing. The policies, barriers, and realities of movement are shifting every day, and JAPA will continue to evolve alongside them. I am less interested in providing conclusions and more focused on asking questions:
What does it mean to leave, and what does it mean to stay?
Who controls the narratives of migration?
Can photography ever truly capture the weight of belonging and loss?
My goal with JAPA is not to define the migrant experience but to open a dialogue. It is to give a visual language to the stories that don’t make it into headlines, the quiet sacrifices, the moments of hesitation, the ways in which people shape and reshape themselves in pursuit of a better future.
In the end, JAPA is as much about survival as it is about hope. And that, I believe, is something worth documenting.
Emmanuel Nwachukwu is a London-based photographer and visual storyteller exploring migration, identity, and cultural transition. His work has been exhibited at The Holy Art Gallery and featured in various artistic and cultural initiatives, including the 34 Gallery's SDG 3.4 Initiative for Mental Health Awareness. He is a member of The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) and The British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP).
Kenneth Ness FRPS – died April 2025
With great sadness, we say goodbye to Kenneth Ness, who passed away recently. Ken was a dedicated and active member of the RPS, serving on the DI Committee, the Scotland Regional Committee, and contributing to the Landscape and Creative Eye groups.
I first met Ken in 2013 at the Scotland DIG Centre and was struck by his passion for photography and his commitment to volunteering. As regional webmaster, he was instrumental in setting up and publicising events, managing the monthly competitions, and sharing his witty posts on Facebook.
Ken also played a vital role in the DI group, particularly running the monthly competition, which he cherished for the member interaction. He was endlessly patient in helping others with image submissions and always generous with his time. Though known for his long-winded writing, it was always full of character and heart.
Ken will be deeply missed by all who knew him. Our heartfelt condolences go to his wife Patricia.
Goodbye, Ken – it was a pleasure to have known you.
Janet Haines DI Chair
Gathering Storm by Ken Ness FRPS
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