Robert K Hughes LRPS - The Shoot - DPOTY 2019 Finalist

Robert K Hughes LRPS - 'The Shoot'

RPS Documentary Photographer of the Year 2019

This is a picture story of a Pheasant Shoot from the hatching to the actual shoot. These images are taken from a wider selection which has been produced as a Blurb book for the shoot Syndicate.

Robert K Hughes LRPS

Robert K Hughes LRPS

Robert K Hughes LRPS

Robert K Hughes LRPS

Robert K Hughes LRPS

Robert K Hughes LRPS

This project stems from a photo story about the closure of the Abergavenny Livestock Market which evolved into a book. I realised that other stories needed to be told about the rural community in which I live. To that end I started taking pictures of rural pursuits and so on, and this set of images is part of that process. This wider project which will culminate in my next book, hopefully to be published next spring by “Country Books”.

The photos in this project could easily be misconstrued, but I feel the rural community needs to have a voice. Through my photography, I hope to show exactly what goes on in the broader countryside. My aim is to show the rural communities in a sympathetic light without being political.

The most challenging aspect of this set of images was the weather; some days were particularly dull. It is often hard to get close enough to the subject to make an impact. This set of pictures was taken over a two-year period and the project continues to evolve. I tend to research other photographers in the same genre particularly Chris Chapman and the late James Ravilious. This gives me the inspiration to go out and capture what is going on in the rural environment. I edit my pictures in Lightroom and Silver Efex as all my images are in monochrome.

Photography has always been my main hobby, but I have only really taken it seriously over the last ten years. I have always had a love of the countryside and it is fitting that I now live in a county where I can record rural life. My equipment of choice is a Leica M with a small range of lenses so that I can travel light and not look too imposing. Over the last six years, I have built up a good rapport with the farming community and am in the process of putting together a second book on Rural Life in and around Raglan, Monmouthshire. While this is currently my main project, I have also started another recording a year in the life of the local estate, of which the pictures for this competition form a part. Like all these projects, they need a lot of patience and time which could well be protracted due to the weather and other factors.

Mark Phillips (Chair, RPS Documentary Group) presents Robert Hughes with his DPOTY 2019 finalist's certificate and prize

Dave Thorp