DPOTY 2021 RPS Member Category Commended

from RPS The Decisive Moment - Edition 24 - December 2021

by Documentary Group, Royal Photographic Society

DPOTY 2021 Student Category Winner - Aishwarya Arumbakkam 'ka Dingiei'

DPOTY 2021 - RPS Member Category Commended

Neil Johansson ARPS

'Within/Without'

High streets have always been places where you could do your shopping in many and varied independent shops. Recently however, large supermarkets have been built on the outskirts of our towns and as a consequence, with their huge car parks and the ability to buy everything you need in one place, the small independent shops of our high streets have suffered. In addition the rise of online shopping has contributed further to their demise. This has led to empty spaces that often remain unfilled.

The sad truth is that months and indeed years can go by before they are occupied again. I wanted to document not just the empty spaces themselves, but the interplay between them and the surrounding world. I was aware that just photographing these spaces in isolation would be impossible anyway, as the outside world always intrudes. From the outside looking in there are always the reflections of the surrounding urban environment and the people who inhabit it. These spaces no longer appeared to be empty. This idea fascinated me.

Whilst undertaking this project it became apparent to me just how widespread this phenomenon is, and how used to it we have all become. It is an unfortunate sign of the times. This selection of images was captured in several towns and cities across England and Wales over several years. Covid-19 has certainly had a large impact as well and a couple of the images were taken during this crisis.

neil-johansson.pixelrights.com

Quentin Ball ARPS

'The Across Roads Project - Highway Histories on the Continental Divide in the USA'

In the recent history of the US, one would think that the tragedy defined by ‘9/11’ could not be exceeded. However, on 14th January 2021, at the behest of D Trump, his mob desecrated the US Capitol Building. The seething mob’s anarchy that followed, and the man with the helmet with his glaring hatred, would show the world a picture of just how significant the ‘Political Divide’ is in the US today.

The nation has had a physical ‘divide’ since its creation, formed by the tectonic event known as Laramide Orogeny. This created a watershed through the nation through the States of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana - about 3000 miles in length. To the east, all water flows to the Gulf of Mexico / Atlantic and, to the west, to the Pacific.). This is most visible in Colorado as the ‘Rocky Mountains’ and is today called the ‘Continental Divide’.

Over the eons, people learned to cross it for a ‘promised land’ on the ‘other’ side. They would use and abuse this new exposed landscape for its ‘wealth’. Over millennia routes were forged into, and over, the mountains that allowed this ‘wealth’ to be extracted. Lives were started, towns were built, some were subsequently abandoned, while others became ‘world leaders’. The routes would be upgraded from track, to having a rock bed, and later be covered with tarmac or concrete.

Today, there are 61 state and federal highways that cross this ‘Divide’ landscape, most with tales of history, intrigue and greed, and the part they played, and are still playing by keeping the Nation ‘together’ through commerce and the migration of its people. Over several years, I have been able to photograph and explore these locations and discover what role they play in the nation’s history.

quentinball.com

US 50 MONARCH PASS - 38-29-49N-106-19-30W - Elevation 11,312’. The Pass was named after an early mining claim in the area. This view is looking westward as the truck finishes its climb from the Pacific watershed, and begins its descent to Poncha Springs. The author William Least Heat-Moon wrote in his ‘Blue Highways’, “For the unhurried, this little-known highway is the best national road across the middle of the United States”
Quentin Ball ARPS

NM 146, 32-00-24N. 108-20-28W. - Elevation 4520’-five miles north of Hachita. ‘Old Hachita’, in the Little Hatchet Mountains eight miles south-west on NM9 from Hachita, was originally settled in the 1870s as a mining camp. Copper, silver, turquoise and lead were found and by the 1880s the town boasted a post office, three saloons and 300 residents. This swelled to 750 by the 1920s, but then became a ghost town when the price of silver collapsed.
Quentin Ball ARPS

NM 163, 33-42-54N. 107-49-57W. - Elevation 7719’, approximately 10 miles west of NM 52 and SW of Paddys Hole. At the same latitude but 80 miles to the east as the crow flies and at 05.30 on Monday the 16th July 1945, the Trinity Test took place. The first ever nuclear device on Earth was detonated. The fireball was visible in Amarillo, Texas, three hundred miles away.
Quentin Ball ARPS

WY 28 - SOUTH PASS - 42-22-00N. - 108-55-12W. - Elevation 7550’ - 10 miles SW of South Pass City. View looking northward with the Pacific watershed to the left. Because of its low flat elevation this Pass became the historic route for emigrants on the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails. In 1841 the first organised Oregon-bound wagon train came through. By 1860 the ‘Pony Express’ had a service through here. Ruts formed by wagons on this trail are still visible in numerous places.
Quentin Ball ARPS

MT 569 - SUGARLOAF PASS-46-01-11N. - 112-58-58W. - Elevation 6762’. Everything in the distance is part of the Pacific watershed. Eastward is the town of Opportunity, which was built by Anaconda Mining specifically to prove that it was safe to live in the path of the dark plume of smoke that billowed from the company’s copper smelter. Studies long ago shattered these claims. Today, Opportunity is defined by its struggle to force powerful corporates and government interests to clean up the dangers left behind.
Quentin Ball ARPS

Gareth Jenkins

'Y Garreg Olaf (The Last Stone)'

In 2012, I met Olwen Griffiths who, at 79, was working as a monumental stonemason at R D Griffiths, Gwaith Goffal (Monumental Works) in Pwllheli North Wales. I discovered that she had taken over the business after the unexpected death of her husband in 1977. That traumatic experience left her with the responsibility of bringing up their young child alone while also managing the business in the face of prejudicial attitudes towards business women.

The work itself can be emotionally and physically demanding and is carried out in all seasons. It ranges from dealing with the bereaved, to commissioning and installing monumental stones. This used to include cutting and engraving though that is all now automated. Even in her 80s, she was still tidying up old grave sites during the summer, and in her younger years dug the graves by hand. Much of the physical work is now done by contracted labourers, but she kept a close eye on all activities as she described herself as “dwi fel mul” Welsh for being as stubborn as a mule.

In this series I wanted to show her work as it was in her later life. I felt I could only complete the project by recording her interaction with the bereaved. She saw that as the most important part of her role, and she fondly remembered that many would leave in a lighter mood than when they arrived. When I started this project, I did not know that Olwen’s last stone, at the age of 86, would be that of my own father. Olwen passed away in December 2018 and I dedicate this work to her, who I considered a friend.

www.garethjenkinsphotography.com/albums