86 On The Bookshelf: Oli Kellett - Cross Road Blues
94 The Documentary Group Online
On The Bookshelf:
Oli Kellett - Cross Road Blues p86
Rara Avis - Anton Panchenkov p74
ARPS Panel - Sara Cremer ARPS p44
Dominoes - Roland Ramanan p8
From Our Chair
This edition covers a range of documentary work, from the recent successful Associateship from Sara Cremer ARPS, the candid photography of Anton Panchenkov (which has roots in the work of Elliott Erwitt’s Museum Watchers) and our recent Documentary Awards Exhibition, which is currently touring in Scotland. We also have an interview with Roland Ramanan (who gave an Engagement Talk earlier this year) on his Dominoes project.
We also have an interview the Simon Leach FRPS (Chair of the Documentary Distinctions Panel) on the distinctions process. We did the interview because we are aware that distinctions are an important part of RPS membership for many and that achieving them can be challenging. So, we set out to try and dispel a few myths.
On the subject of distinctions and more broadly documentary projects, I’ve informally offered advice to many starting out on that journey. I usually open the discussion by asking two simple questions, often before I see any images – What is the story? And why are you doing it?
The first question, What is the story?, does not need a precise answer but you should have an idea or ideas about what the story is. At the beginning of a project a simple sentence will often suffice. What would you like the viewer to learn that they may not know or may not have considered? Without knowing this how do you know what to photograph? How do you explain what you are doing to someone else?
Documentary is concerned with narrative. The RPS definition is that documentary photography communicates a clear narrative through visual literacy. It can be applied to the photographic documentation of social, cultural, historical and political events.
You might be telling a personal story or questioning current beliefs or norms or simply asking the viewer to think about a topic. Simply documenting what is there is not documentary,
it is a record. It might be an important record (for historical archives), but with no visual narrative it is simply a collection of images.
Why are you doing it? Whatever the project is, it needs to be important to you. If not, it is less likely you will complete it. The motivation can be personal, maybe even cathartic or maybe addresses some injustice or societal issue you want to give a voice to.
Surprisingly, when questioned, people often cannot answer these basic questions. But I see them as fundamental to get you started and provide both direction and motivation. The reality of any longer-term project is that as we learn (and see more), we may change our ideas, we may need to take stock and re-define the project and our intent, and so the project develops. But we still have a what and why, even if they evolve.
Today with the technology at our disposal it has never been easier to physically make an image. What is much more challenging is developing the thought process and the vision to decide what and how to photograph and how to put those images together in a way that engages the viewer. I hope we will have some new resources and maybe a new course to help with this in the near future.
As I close, I’m really pleased to be able to announce that Andrew Burton has agreed to take on the role of our Group Finance Officer. Andrew is a retired chartered accountant, has started and taken businesses through to a sale and exit. He is currently a Trustee of a charity-run art gallery and museum, and is completing is BA in Photography at Falmouth. I look forward to working with him.
Mark A Phillips FRPS Chair, Documentary Group
The Documentary Group Team
Documentary Group Committee:
Chair: Mark A Phillips FRPS doc@rps.org
Secretary: Nick Linnett LRPS docsecretary@rps.org
Finance Officer: Andrew Burton docfinance@rps.org
Members: Valerie Mather ARPS, Harry Hall FRPS, Wayne Richards, Nick Hodgson FRPS Dave Thorp, Neil Cannon
Local Group Organisers:
East Midlands: Volunteer Required docem@rps.org
South East: Jeff Owen ARPS docse@rps.org
Northern: Peter Dixon ARPS docnorthern@rps.org
Thames Valley: Philip Joyce FRPS doctv@rps.org
Central (with Contemporary): Steff Hutchinson ARPS
North West (with Contemporary): Alan Cameron
Yorkshire: Carol Hudson LRPS docyork@rps.org
Southern: Christopher Morris ARPS docsouthern@rps.org
East Anglia: Richard Jeffries docea@rps.org
Scotland (with Contemprary et al): Steve Whittaker email Steve Whittaker
The Decisive Moment:
Editor: Nick Hodgson FRPS decisive@rps.org
Sub-Editors: Lyn Newton LRPS, Rachael Thorp
Editorial: Mike Longhurst FRPS, Gerry Phillipson ARPS
To support the RPS Strategic Plan Photography for Everyone and to enhance the relevance for Documentary Photography by engaging more diverse audiences and ensuring our activities self-fund. We have focussed our goals and 2021-2024 targets under the RPS Mission of inspiration, creativity, and connection:
Inspire – showcase inspiring photography and to shed new light on subjects of importance
These activities are focussed around showcasing and celebrating high quality photographic work and thinking, which is fundamental to the RPS’s purpose:
Engagement Talks
The Decisive Moment
RPS Documentary Photography Awards (DPA)
DPA Exhibitions
Create – encouraging a deeper understanding of photography and providing resources for photographic education
To develop the range and reach of our educational activities. We want to help photographers develop their practice, and also educate non-photographers about what is current in documentary photography:
‘Telling Stories’ Workshops
Distinction Advisory
Engage University courses
Support individual development
Connect – promote belonging and inclusivity, by supporting and engaging widely
To engage with more people and connect with other communities, including those who are not photographers, to appreciate the value of documentary photography, so that it is enjoyed and accessible to as many people as possible:
Work with groups outside RPS
Regional and international activities
Website and social media
Documentary Group Bi-Monthly Competition
Monthly Newsletter
The Documentary Group is run by RPS members who volunteer their time. If you can help in any capacity, please email Mark using doc@rps.org to let him know.
rps.org/groups/documentary/about-us
Dominoes
Roland Ramanan
Interviewed by Mark Philips FRPS
Roland Ramanan is a photographer whose recent project, Dominoes, was shortlisted for our Documentary Photography Awards and has recently been published by Dewi Lewis.
His recent conversation with Mark Phillips FRPS, Chair of the RPS Documentary Group, revolved around the importance of building relationships in social documentary photography, as well as the need to layer meaning in images to convey emotions and issues effectively. It also discusses the importance of establishing connections and relationships with people, and to be in situations to make photographs, whilst being transparent about intentions and respectful of people’s boundaries.
Mark Phillips (MP): Roland, thank you very much for agreeing to the interview. Let’s start with some background about you. You’ve had a varied career in education, and you’ve got your jazz music career. But what was it that made you step into photography?
Roland Ramanan (RR): It was buying a camera to go on holiday with, to go travelling, and then investigating the one photographer that I knew, called David Gibson, who was a street photographer. I knew him from a book group, and then I saw street photography, and I just got really fascinated by it and that way of seeing the world was something I’d never seen before. That kind of piqued my interest in photography in general. And I got totally fascinated with street photography. Then I went to a workshop with Mimi Mollica, where he was looking at my street photos and he kind of nudged me in the direction of doing something which had more “content”. That’s what really made me think about Gillett Square as a place, because it was somewhere I knew, it was familiar to me from going to the Vortex Jazz Club. It was my first venture away from doing street photography. When doing street photography, I’d always liked engaging with people, which to some is not strictly a part of “street photography”.
At the beginning, I didn’t know what the project was. I didn’t know how big or little it was going to be, and I certainly had no idea that I’d still be doing it ten years later - that is kind of astonishing
MP: I guess it depends on your definition of “street photography”. But let’s not go there today...
RR: Yes, let’s stay well away from that! But I think probably I was getting more interested in photography in general, its history, and gaining a wider knowledge. I remember watching a BBC documentary series called The Genius of Photography. I think it’s hard to get hold of now, but it was a brilliant programme. I also got the book. It has a great overview of photography. That’s where I learned about people like Eugene Richards, who is still a massive influence.
MP: When you talk about Eugene Richards, what was it about his work that you would say inspired or influenced you?
RR: I think it was a combination of the way that he was able to access very difficult social issues in an incredibly intimate way. I’ve never seen anything like that before, how close and intimate the pictures were, but also how inventive the compositions were. I think it was a combination of those things, the power of the issues and the emotions themselves, the intimacy and just the sheer invention. It results in the layering of meaning in the pictures, which just blew me away. It still does.
MP: So, what stopped you doing street photography. Any reason or was it simply that the project took over?
RR: I wasn’t very good at it! Well, and that it was kind of very frustrating. Having started street photography, and enjoying it, I found that, by its nature, it’s a bit of a competitive beast. You’re always pitting one photograph against another. That’s just the way it is. I wanted, of course to feature in competitions and I was hooked on all that sort of nonsense and the workshops.
MP: It (street photography) was massive for a while. Now, it has sort of died down a bit.
RR: Yes, it has, but I still love the best of that work. Photographers like Pinkhassov, whose work is so beautiful, but they probably wouldn’t recognise the term “street photography”. Or people like Trent Park. They’re all wonderful photographers in their own right. What I still love about street photography is the community - a community of people from all over the world who just love photography, and they love all kinds of photography. So, from them I learned about Eugene Richards and other photographers by exchanging information.
MP: Before I forget about Trent Park, have you seen that his Monument is going to be at Bristol Photo Festival this year at the Martin Parr Foundation? I just thought I’d let you know. A reason to go to Bristol. But I digress.
It was a big thing to take on that project. In a way, it’s also a monumental project, so what was the motivation or the inspiration to start it? Why did you suddenly think “Roland needs to do this project”?
RR: I think at the beginning, I didn’t know what the project was. I didn’t know how big or little it was going to be, and I certainly had no idea that I’d still be doing it ten years later - that is kind of astonishing. I think I was drawn to that group of people for several reasons. And you know, the fact that many of them were from the Afro Caribbean Community, which has a relationship to me and my heritage, was kind of also interesting, and whether the fact that they had these difficulties with alcohol which my father also did. But there was just something interesting and intriguing about them. And I think, I also perhaps had in my mind that “I’m going to make an amazing project like Eugene Richards” - a gritty, realistic documentary. And I think that was my naive thought at the beginning; but it was a kind of driving force, before I really got to know the people in more depth and understand them.
MP: You said the project’s been ten years since you started. You’ve described how you were drawn to it and what you thought you would do. So, how has it evolved from what you thought you would do to how it actually turned out?
RR: I think I thought that the majority of the pictures would be in the square when I started it, but that turned out not to be the case. The square was the meeting point. It was the starting point; a kind of the focal point, but actually the heart of the project happened in other places. It happened in people’s homes, places of worship, their funerals, their parties, but it’s still linked back to the square and that’s something that I only realised gradually as it unfolded.
MP: You say “gradually”? Was there anywhere in the project where you thought I need to do this in a different way. Or was it just a natural evolution?
RR: It was a bit of both. There was an evolution. I very quickly was able to go to people’s homes, which I really wanted to do, to see more into their lives. But there was also a desire to do something different. It really helped having a mentor (Stuart Freedman) to reflect back what I was doing and what I was missing, and to try and find other angles to the project. Even just very simple things like photographing the square from a different height or from a different angle and to think about different situations. I went to Stuart as a mentor, partly because I realised I was taking the same pictures over and over and getting into a rut. I needed to find a way of breaking out of that.
I thought that the majority of the pictures would be in the square when I started, but that turned out not to be the case ... actually the heart of the project happened in other places. It happened in people’s homes, places of worship, their funerals, their parties, ...
MP: I want to go back to how you got “access”, clearly, that is incredibly important to your work. How did that happen? How did that evolve?
RR: So, access is a tricky one. It’s the wrong term. You can get access to a building or a computer or an event. And if you’re a photojournalist, maybe you do need to get access to something or someone. But for me, I don’t think in terms of access, but relationships. It is more about relationships and networks. If you think of people that you relate to normally in life, you don’t have access to them, you have a relationship with them. And that can be spontaneous. It could be spur of the moment that you meet someone, and something happens. As an example, one of the most powerful pictures, the legs that you see on the mattress, was very early on. It wasn’t as if I was trying to get access. I was just talking to someone, and they said, “Well, come back, have a drink, come to my place”. And that was just because I was interested, and I was listening, and I was talking to them. So, you build relationships, you don’t get access to these for this kind of work. One of the easy things to do was to say, can I come to your place and do a portrait. Or can I come to your place and do an interview? And it’s easier for them, inviting you into their space, or into their home.
MP: But was there not also a question mark around it? Maybe people asking - “So what are you going to do with this?”
RR: Yes, always. Right from the get-go. And very early on, people would ask, and I had no clue. They were either very suspicious, or they took pity on me. I did experience a lot of pushbacks because I was dealing with a vulnerable community, particularly dealing with the black community. Even though I am black, I’m obviously not like them, or I’m perceived as being different, and so they had a suspicion that they’re going to be exploited. By exploited, they meant that they thought I’m going to make a lot of money, I’m going to sell this story to a newspaper or I’m going to make a book, and it’s really hard to explain to them. I’d explain this is costing me money. I’m working for free. Some people accepted that because I was there for a long time. For other people, that was not an argument I was ever going to win, and I had to walk away.
MP: So, the work is a reflection on the relationships that you were able to build. But there were also other people who were completely disinterested.
RR: Yes, either they weren’t interested, or they just didn’t want to be photographed, for whatever reason, which was fine, or very, very occasionally, they were hostile to me being there. But that was quite unusual. The longer that I was there and got to know people, the more they would vouch for me. A couple of things really helped with that. One of them was to take snapshots of people and print them out. I’d print out the six by fours of them posing with their mates and give them the pictures. And that proved to be an important currency and helped build my relationship with people. Even some of the most suspicious at the beginning, would say, “where are my pictures”? I also made the effort to try and get portraits of some of the people installed up in the square itself.
MP: Didn’t you do that with Holly (Revell)? Do you want to talk a little bit about that? How did that come about? What were you aiming to do?
RR: So, this was long, long before people like Future Hackney were doing this. I had this idea - can I represent them somehow in the square itself? And at the time, I didn’t really have much experience of portraiture. I felt I needed to get someone who was more competent than me at doing portraits. I knew Holly from London Independent Photographers, and she was happy to come along and do some portraits of people. There’s a workshop in the square, and they printed them for us for free. We put them up in the square, but that was a bit problematic, because they then quickly got defaced, or people wanted to take them away or take them home. So we reprinted them and put them up inside the Vortex Club downstairs where we displayed them behind glass so people could still see them.
MP: In many ways the people are more than just subjects. You were sort of collaborating with them but they’re also in quite difficult situations, and quite vulnerable. So, how did you address that in terms of the images that you took, and what ultimately ended up in the edit?
RR: I think I learned early on that you need to shoot instinctively first, and then look later at what you have. So, going back to the photo at the beginning the book, where you see the legs and the mattress. And there’s another picture of a guy who’s lying in a sea of bottles. That was very early on, and I’d never seen anything like that before. It was quite shocking, but I knew I needed to take the pictures and then think afterwards about what was appropriate. I think the main thing is you can show really tough things as long as you don’t misrepresent what you’re seeing.
MP: I see, or is it that the photograph is so ambiguous that people may misinterpret it?
RR: Exactly. And just to add to that, could showing this photograph cause any harm?
MP: Going back to the work, what is it you want the audience to get out of it?
RR: I want them to think - to think about themselves and the people they relate to. And when you look at a picture of a person, maybe not consciously, but in a certain way, you’re always comparing yourself to them. Am I like them? Could I be like them? Was I like them? So, when they’re looking at the book, I’m trying to kind of pull off a magic trick or a paradox, in a sense, by highlighting these people. I’m asking the viewer to consider on the one hand, that they’re different, but then through the course of the book to say they’re just like themselves, just like anyone else. So, there’s always that tension. I’d also like people to engage with the issues and look around them and see whether those issues are present in their everyday lives, or perhaps, they’re present in people they know. Maybe they’ll be encouraged to look at them again and think about them again and to be moved. I think, that is what you want art to do, to move people, to communicate to them.
MP: that makes sense. Stuart Franklin in his book The Documentary Impulse has a quote at the end, the last word, as he describes it, from W Eugene Smith, that good documentary is “a catalyst to thinking”.
RR: I think also it depends on whether your aim is to produce evidence or to produce art. They’re not mutually exclusive things and you can swing from one to the other. Dominoes is probably more of an art piece, and the evidence is implicit. Or you can have a project like Outsiders, Marc Davenant’s work about the homeless, where evidence is to the fore. The evidence is explicit.
MP: Did your mentors also influence that?
RR: Oh, absolutely. Mimi in particular steered me in that direction, because he would take out pictures which he thought were too explanatory. I would have pictures which I felt plugged a certain gap or explained a certain bit, like Nine Nights, but he suggested images that were much more nuanced.
MP: So, you’ve done the project, but it’s taken up a decade of your life. What do you think you’ve learned from it, and maybe, how have you developed as a photographer doing it?
RR: I think it’s taught me not to give up. You know that these things are a longterm commitment. And it may seem a bit hopeless at some points, but if you believe in it, then you shouldn’t give up. I had a certain responsibility to do the best I could for the people I was working with. I also learned that I can be resourceful. I can take better pictures, pictures that are more meaningful.
And in terms of making a book, I really learned what I didn’t know. I’ve learned enough to know that I don’t know about design. I’ve learned a lot about editing and sequencing my pictures, but still not enough to confidently say, I could do that myself next time. I’ve learned that collaboration is absolutely key. Working with designer Victoria Forrest, what she brought to the project was immeasurable. It wouldn’t be the book that it is now without that input. I don’t mean someone who just puts it together and makes it look nice, but someone who was really invested in the material, really interrogated me, and really expanded on the edit. It was at least six months on and off that she was involved in the design process. And she made a dummy. Making the dummy was a huge step, because I could show something concrete to people.
MP: I remember you saying you actually showed the dummy to Dewi Lewis?
RR: And he said, “Yeah, let’s do it”. But I had been reluctant to make a dummy, because I felt, you go to all that trouble and investment to fix the project and maybe it was fixing it too soon. But I think the time had come. The time was right when I knew I wasn’t going to be shooting that much more.
MP: And then you had to run a Kickstarter campaign. For the first time ever. How did that go?
RR: I think using Kickstarter for photobooks is a lot more common now, so you
have a lot more people who can give you advice about how it’s done. There is the Photobook Club Collective, who have done lots of photo books. People like Matt Writtle, Marc Wilson or Holly Revell are all experienced at running Kickstarter campaigns. Ed Thompson as well gave me a lot of great advice and people like Mimi and Stuart. I also think there are a couple of things that really helped me. One is that it’s a social issue which people feel is serious and worth supporting, and the fact that it’s your first one. And again I’ve built lots of relationships online with other photographers on Facebook. I’ve been talking about the project for a long time. So, it wasn’t unfamiliar.
MP: So, if you were doing this whole thing again, is there anything you would do differently next time?
RR: Yeah, I think about that. But I think not really, because that just is the project. It is what it is. I think it’s different if you are starting out with a very specific idea in mind, and you want to fulfil that brief. But this one was very organic in a sense.
MP: So what’s next?
RR: My next project is about roller skaters and roller skate culture - and on the face of it, it’s very different. It’s about something joyous and it’s in colour. But there are some ties to the Gillett Square/Dominoes project, in the sense that it’s about a black community. It’s about black expression, black identity, and the fact that it’s long term. Long term makes it sound very grand, but really it just takes me a long time to get any good pictures. It’s just the way that it works. It’s also very much about building relationships over time.
MP: So in a portfolio review you often get asked – ‘What’s the story?’ or ‘Who’s your audience’? How do you respond to that?
RR: I can safely say, I know. Your audience is yourself. So, I tried to push that question away, and I think I was right to do so. That question is something that might come after you’ve actually finished the project, and you’re wanting to market it. If you think too much about how it’s going to land, it will get in your way. But that depends on your purpose. You may be producing something which is a campaigning project, and you know who you want to target, and that’s very different. But I think even then, it’s good to let the story come to you, to let the story emerge. And I think that took me a long time to work out, because I’d never done it before, but I realised that’s what I wanted to do.
MP: I think that’s a good place to close – have a purpose, an intent or a direction but don’t over think it, and let the project emerge. Wise words. Thank you so much for your time.
RR: Well, thank you very much for your support and interest Mark, it’s always appreciated.
Website with details about Dominoes: rolandramanan.com
In Focus
Mark Phillips FRPS talks to Simon Leach FRPS about the distinctions process for Associate and Fellowship
A couple of weeks ago, on the hottest day of the year to date in Britain, Mark Phillips FRPS, Chair of the Documentary Group, caught up in Bristol with Simon Leach FRPS, Chair of the Distinctions Panel for the Documentary genre, to discuss issues and answer questions about the distinctions process. Here’s what they discussed:
Mark Phillips (MP): Simon, thank you for joining me today. As an introduction, there’s an awareness that distinctions are an important part of a photographer’s journey within the RPS, but also that the success rates in the Documentary genre have been variable, and over the past year they’ve not been that high. As Chair of the Documentary Group, I’m keen to get more people through the A and F process, but of course the submissions must be of the correct standard. So I’ve been thinking about how we can help people to enjoy a higher probability of success. I think we need to discuss what sort of areas submissions tend to fail in, what applicants ought to think about doing, and hopefully this discussion will really help members when considering making an A or F submission.
Simon Leach (SL): Thanks for the opportunity to meet up Mark. From my point of view, the first thing I want to say is that there aren’t any pass quotas, and I would love everybody to be successful. But the standard has to be achieved, because, for example, members want to become Fellows because of the standard it represents. So we’ve got to maintain that standard. We are assessing each submission on its merit. But maybe the standard we are looking for is not clear to everyone.
MP: So, for some background and context, how many assessment days do you run?
SL: We typically run two a year, currently at RPS House in Bristol, in Spring and Autumn, and the dates do vary but are posted on the RPS website.
For Associate assessments:
rps.org/qualifications/arps/arps-assessment-dates-2024 and for Fellowship:
That’s for both A and F submissions. We spend around a day and a half for each session, depending on the number of submissions. We tend to have more A than F applications, around a 70:30 split, and we always look at A applicants first, then F. We don’t assess a mixture – we assess all A’s and then move on to all F’s. For print or digital submissions, we assess in blocks – so all print together, then all digital together.
MP: What’s the split between print and digital?
SL: That varies. It can be 50:50, but we often get an increase in A digital submissions largely because we get applications from overseas where there are issues of cost and reliability of shipping couriers. But we do get overseas print submissions and UK digital submissions. For F panels we generally we tend to get more print submissions but that’s obviously not a hard and fast rule. And you can present your submission in a book format but, for, say, an F submission, it is limited to a maximum of 21 images, plus a Statement of Intent (SOI), and must not contain any text, whereas there is a separate photobook genre category and assessment team if you want to create a photobook of, say, 80 images with text: rps.org/qualifications/ arps/photobooks-genre
MP: So let’s have a bit more context. In your typical one and a half days of assessing, roughly how many submissions do you tend to see?
SL: Normally it’s around 15 A panels, and with F panels it can be a massive range – from three to sometimes ten panels. But of course, we would extend the number of days we assess if there were more submissions. There are no quotas.
MP: What typically are the success rates?
SL: Bearing in mind that the Documentary genre is relatively new, having started in autumn 2019, we had a good couple of years of passing 40% or so for A, less for F submissions. We then started to see a dip in success rates in autumn 2022 but then an improvement in autumn 2023. It’s a cyclical thing. In our most recent one, in spring this year, we had our worst sets of results – one A pass and zero F.
MP: And for those most recent set of results, do you have idea how many applicants chose to have a one2one session, or sessions, ahead of their submissions?
SL: As Chair, I get to see when applicants have had advice. Those who choose to make a print submission tend to be more likely to seek one2one advice. But on average, less than half of all applicants choose to have any formal advice. Informally, applicants may well ask fellow photographers with an A or F for advice, or indeed seek feedback from their camera club colleagues, for example. These are all valid to help guide the project. But it’s important to ensure they have the up-to-date knowledge of the distinctions process. When studying for my degree I had a really good lecturer who said ‘not every piece of information is pertinent to you - you have to work out the bits that are right for your own work, for your own creativity.’ And I think that’s really worth bearing in mind.
MP: Could you talk about the process of the assessment.
SL: Submissions come into the RPS office in Bristol where the distinctions team, headed up by Andy Moore LRPS along with Simon and Laura, process everything. I know this sounds obvious, but it really is critical to read the submission guidelines:
For Associate assessments:
rps.org/media/azvbmct0/dg004-arps-requirements-may-2024_v1 and for Fellowship:
There are a number of things that might seem obvious but really do need to be made clear. For example, the Statement of Intent (SOI). At the assessment, I will stop reading it out at 150 words because that is the maximum allowed. Some submissions exceed this. With the presentation layout (below) we have even had instances where a layout hasn’t been submitted – and yet Documentary is all about a narrative.
Presentation layouts for Associate assessments:
rps.org/qualifications/arps/presentation-layouts and for Fellowship:
rps.org/qualifications/frps/presentation-layouts
We also need submissions to be made on time, which is a minimum of 21 days before the actual assessment day. The deadlines are there to help the distinctions team process everything, and they would strongly prefer not to have to chase people who have booked a submission only for nothing to arrive on time. When this happens, it creates delays and excess work for a team that, more often than not, is operating at full capacity.
The assessors are supposed to see the applications around two weeks before they convene in Bristol, but recently, due to late submissions, this has been as short as three days. The assessors receive each SOI, and the digital files of every presentation layout submission and the individual images. The important thing to say is that no assessment is taking place at this point. We are allowing the assessors advance knowledge of what they are going to be asked to assess, in terms of subject matter, especially if the subject-matter is of a challenging nature - which we have seen recently. It’s almost a duty of care by the RPS to the assessors. Assessors are preparing themselves and there are rules for them. They don’t enlarge anything on their screen, they don’t look at any metadata embedded in the files, and they spend no more than a few minutes perusing each submission. Because the actual evaluation of each submission takes place on the day in Bristol in that peer group situation.
MP: So there must be defined criteria to assess against?
SL: Yes. These are the criteria:
For Associate assessments:
rps.org/media/azvbmct0/dg004-arps-requirements-may-2024_v1 and for Fellowship:
When we get into the room in Bristol, the process is very specific. If the submission is in print, then the images are placed on wall as per the chosen presentation layout. If digital, the layout is shown on the big screen. We are immediately looking to see if applicants know how their images fit together, how they talk to each other. The layout is important. At that point, the assessors can see the entire panel – 15 for A, 20 or 21 for F – and then I read out the SOI. So the assessors are listening to the SOI whilst looking at the overall presentation layout. With digital submissions the assessors see the individual images on the large screen after I have read out the SOI.
The second criteria for A (the third for F) states that the submission must be ‘a cohesive body of work that depicts and communicates the aims and objectives set out in the Statement of Intent’. So the assessors are immediately thinking: what is there in this body of work that I really want to take a closer look at? Perhaps they’ve been drawn to an image – or possibly because a particular image doesn’t immediately seem to sit cohesively alongside the other images – it might be size, or darkness, or perhaps losing a bit of information in the image from a standard viewing distance. Those are the kind of conversations going on inside the head of an assessor. And I say in their own head, because the assessors are not allowed to speak to each other from the moment the panel goes up until I ask them for their comments – which is always after the first vote.
So they’ve seen the presentation layout from their seats in the front row of the auditorium, and heard the SOI. Then they will look at them from a standard viewing distance of typically three feet, and then they will look closely at the images. Sometimes print images are taken down from the presentation wall for closer examination – it might be to do with light, depending on the type of paper used, although the lighting is exceptional in the auditorium in Bristol. Some paper types will reflect or flare. The assessors are making sure they are removing external elements from their evaluation. The important thing is that each assessor is viewing the submission as the photographer wants them to see it.
MP: And tell me about your assessor colleagues.
SL: I am extremely lucky to have a panel of assessors, all FRPS, who are absolutely at the top of their game. They know how to read and evaluate images, so chairing the group is easy.
MP: Can you explain a little more about the voting process?
SL: There are two votes, both times using red or green cards, all of which are anonymous except to me as Chair. I see how the assessors have voted, but they don’t see how their colleagues on the panel have voted. There are normally four assessors plus myself as Chair. These are the current list of assessors: rps.org/qualifications/arps/associate-fellowship-panel-member-list
Not everyone on the panel list attends every assessment day. I have a vote. So there’s usually a total of five in attendance, which means every success is gained by a majority.
After the first vote, which is non-binding, I invite a minimum of two assessors to offer their comments. Other assessors can then make additional comments if they so wish. I then summarise and I am also allowed to comment on a specific issue which hasn’t already been made by a colleague. I then ask for a second and final vote, made in precisely the same way as the first vote, and this is the deciding one.
So then the applicant is either successful if the majority vote is green, or unsuccessful if red. All the votes are recorded, and these records are held by the RPS distinctions team.
Sometimes an unsuccessful submission can be recommended for resubmission. That is the decision of myself as Chair, although I know my colleagues on the
assessment panel well enough, and with our mutual trust I know that the peer group will be in agreement. In the discussion, I am listening for comments about the positives and the concerns of a submission. Often comments suggest that the panel is on its way to a successful application and will therefore encourage the applicant to do further work on the project. A resubmission is designed to encourage and there is of course a discount on the cost of the next submission. I always encourage applicants not to rush and think they have to resubmit at the next available opportunity. They are going to get written feedback anyway, which we’ll come on to, and it’s best to wait for that and then reflect on what to do next.
MP: So just to double-check - if the application is unsuccessful, and there are four assessors plus yourself as Chair, do you collate feedback from all the assessors?
SL: To be clear, we can run an assessment with three assessors plus myself as Chair – so four voting in total. And if it’s a split vote of two red and two green, then the submission is unsuccessful as it did not gain a majority green. The individual assessors give me a series of notes for each unsuccessful application. I will then collate them. It’s a lot of work, especially if there have been a lot of unsuccessful submissions.
Just to give you an idea, as we had a lot of unsuccessful applications this Spring, I spent every day I had off from my day job to collate and complete these feedback forms, typically taking at least eight hours a day. I tend to write these as a single narrative based on my colleagues’ comments.
MP: So the message is that there is no incentive for the assessors and its Chair to fail people, as there is considerable work done after the assessment days to get these feedback forms completed and sent out?
SL: Yes, we’d love to pass everybody!
MP: And everything is anonymous?
SL: Yes, I don’t know the identity of the applicant. Obviously, an applicant might have had a one2one with me or another assessor, in which case you might know their identity. If that’s the case, I don’t ask that assessor to comment unless there is an additional comment they particularly want to make at the end of the discussion process before the second and final vote is made. It’s important that applicants fill in their submission form correctly and state when they’ve had advice either from a one2one session or attended an advisory day, as knowing this information will ensure I don’t ask an assessor, who knows the applicant’s identity, to speak first.
At the end of the day, the submission has been made by the applicant – some listen carefully to feedback from the one2one session, others ignore the comments which is of course entirely up to them. Often some have listened to some of the advice and taken their own route in other areas of their project. One2ones are not the whole answer, and whatever stage of the process an applicant is at, the work and the decisions remain their own. I say to applicants, it’s yours and the eventual success is wholly-yours – we can help guide you and help with some of the
understanding of the criteria, which I’ve been working with for eight years and nine months, as LinkedIn happily told me yesterday!
The distinctions criteria, the clear visual narrative and SOI are all elements of the criteria the assessors evaluate the submission against. The bullet point criteria are a wide line in the sand – they set a level but they are not prescriptive about what you are supposed to do – your SOI tells me where in the sand you are going to cross that line and in what direction you are taking me in.
MP: Coming back to the success and failure rates, are there recurring issues that are resulting in people not being successful?
SL: Yes, is the simple answer. So let’s start with specifics. People struggle to get their head around the concept of a clear visual narrative. A number of projects I see, not all of which come to actual submission, start with a discussion along the lines of “I have access to something, and I can record it.” But the problem is that that isn’t telling me anything about the subject matter.
MP: It’s the difference between documentation and documentary?
SL: Yes. I need to see a story which explains something to me. You have to think about where you are positioning yourself – it’s about individual understanding and creativity.
Another typical conversation goes along the lines of “I have an idea”. In responding, my first question is always “what access do you have?”. Because you can have the most fabulous idea, but you might not have the access. It might be overseas, or inaccessible, or around an event that rarely happens. Access also helps build relationships. You can start to build the trust levels with people – although sometimes it’s the other way around - but it’s all part of the way in which projects can be put together. Certainly, an applicant’s ability to get to wherever it is, to build relationships, to understand what’s going on – it’s all essential. If the project is about, say, an annual event, then you’ve probably got only two opportunities over eighteen months to shoot the work, and give yourself the time to reflect on what you’ve shot and therefore develop your personal vision for the subject-matter.
So thought needs to be given to this, about how realistic the project will be to actually create. In other words, think about the visual narrative and think about the practicalities of the project idea. It’s about the ability to walk around somewhere, initially without the camera to your eye, to understand the location and subjectmatter and think about your angle on the story. And sometimes the story changes once time has been spent at a location or talking to people. It’s like a research project.
MP: I know some people struggle with the concept of visual literacy. For me, literacy is a sentence not a word and visual literacy is about how images relate to the other images. They have to connect, otherwise you will lose the viewer.
SL: Yes, it’s like a novel, or an album of music. An album of music is often a complete body of work with a logical and connected arrangement of songs. Each has its own message, emotion or atmosphere, but it’s how putting this all together enhances the messages. And it’s exactly the same process with an assessment submission.
MP: What are the other things that applicants really need to think about?
SL: The one that is really surprising, is the ability to execute ideas in a manner in which other people can see them clearly and read them properly. Call it composition and camera craft. That might surprise readers, but without being too specific, there are some submissions which we have seen as distinctions assessors which are simply not going to be successful at any distinction level. We are talking about basic craft and compositional errors. Images needs to be appropriately executed. We are seeing issues with exposure, focus, and post-production. That’s the reality. There is a sense that the project idea or concept is the most important thing - but the fourth bullet point for A criteria talks about a high level of technical ability.
A and F are globally-recognised standards – and the visual narrative has to be read and understood by everybody, not just the assessors. And that means the work has to aim to be exhibition standard, especially at F level, and that requires a certain technical ability demonstrated. The word I often tend to use on assessment days is ‘appropriate’. It’s about using a technique that is appropriate to this subjectmatter. It’s not about the assessors liking a subject-matter or not – there is nothing as clear as whether a technique is right or wrong - it’s about whether the technical execution is appropriate to the subject-matter.
MP: Are there any other big issues that the assessors see?
SL: Yes, the level of individual vision, especially with F panel submissions. Fellowship level is for those who have worked out what sort of photographer they are, how to take excellent images, what their workflow is, the sort of project that interests them, how to build relationships, and how to undertake the research. So the one thing that then stands them apart is their individual vision – how they tell that story. That’s not just about processes, it’s about how they create their images – the angles they use, their choice of lenses, for example. Has their level of ability led them to a creative vision that is something that is so distinctive that it is a little bit different from what anybody else could produce, and therefore stands apart? As an assessor, when you see a body of work and think ‘I wish I could take that’, then you know that you are looking at an F panel.
MP: Are there any other production or presentational issues that come up?
SL: Yes, we should talk about the whole digital versus print issue, because I know this is a big subject for a lot of members. Some people seem to think that print is the only way forward and that assessors have a real downer on digital. Let’s put that in the trash bin straight away. We have no issues at all with digital submissions.
But what I would say is that the way we look at and evaluate our own images is different when we see prints. So, even for overseas applicants, print a few of your digital submission images. Even if only at a small size, get them printed for your own benefit because things like dust spots will become apparent. It sounds really simple, but when we see that they haven’t be picked up, it’s really disappointing.
MP: That’s what I do with my own work – I print everything out 4x6 or A6 size and then put them onto magnetic white board. I know Martin Parr (Hon. FRPS) does this as well. I use it to help the edit, build the story and start the sequencing process.
SL: Thanks Mark, I intend to follow up your recommendation about the white board! Makes a change from using BluTak on the wall or prints on the floor.
But let’s talk more about post-production. Retouching is not disallowed. Generative AI obviously is. In terms of using post-production software, there are no restrictions. But what I would say is that you mustn’t alter the reality of what was there, so any removal of objects must be of those that are incidental to the composition.
We see cloning errors, over-sharpening, areas overly darkened down, incomplete masking areas – we have seen these at both A and F submissions, which is obviously a great concern.
MP: Is there anything else we should alert applicants to?
SL: Be careful about overuse of saturation, contrast, or perhaps adjusting the lighting which wasn’t in a complementary direction to what you were trying to achieve. Assessors notice the direction of light. It’s all about clarity of narrative. Cohesion and vision are rarely created just by using a post-production style across a submission.
Also, print does allow one to look at work differently, as we have already covered. If you are going to submit in print, it is an additional and possibly very expensive option, and not everybody can or does want to go down that route. But if you are, think about how the prints are going to be handled. You are not going to do yourself justice if the printing and mounting hasn’t been done to the highest level – avoid wrinkles, and in some instances, we have seen mounted prints without backs, which is not ideal. Think about how you’d like to see these prints at home on your wall, showing your work at its very best, without distraction. There’s plenty of online resource about printing and mounting techniques. So as a rule of thumb, and for ease of reading an image, if you’re using different ratios where your eyeline doesn’t want to go up and down, I also say that the top and bottom of any image in a landscape row should be the same vertical height measurement. And then you
take that landscape and if you’ve got an upright/portrait, turn it around ninety degrees and the panel should work well.
MP: So to summarise Simon, if someone is thinking about submitting an A or F panel, whilst we can’t tell anyone how to do it, what are the things that you recommend should be done?
SL: The first thing to do is really mull over your idea. Think about what it is you want to say about it, and what approach you might take to that, and then write a sentence that is keyword heavy – what’s the subject, what is it you think you want to say and any pertinent elements you want to get into it. I would then suggest you create six or so images. What you are looking for is the way in which you want to tell that story. The way you use the light, the camera angles, the use of focus points. Don’t shoot everything and see what works but make your key decisions early on. I’d then suggest that that is a useful and constructive point to seek advice however appropriate it is to you. The one2one bookings say you can put forward a certain number of images, draft layout and SOI, but don’t necessarily worry about that at this stage – if you want advice with six images and one line of an idea, getting one2one advice can provide strong guidance at a stage when you can consider what options are best for you and your work. And you can have two one2ones before final submission. We’re not going to mentor you through the process, but we can help you get to the basis of the subject-matter, an idea of the narrative and your individual vision. And the cohesion should come from the clarity you will have about the way you want to depict your subject-matter. So we’ve covered quite a few of the criteria already by just looking at six test images. The one2one will allow you to try and explain your narrative, and in talking it through, you should find out what does and does not make sense.
At that point you should then go away for an extended period of time to work on the project. Then having shot a lot more, and with a draft presentation layout, come back for a second one2one, at which point the cohesion should be coming together. You might then be only two or three images away from a final submission.
Timelines vary massively for different people. And photographers should see themselves as the most critical people about their own work. It’s about having that level of thinking, that self-doubt that says that you’re not sure but make the very best submission you can possibly do, to the very best of your ability. And maybe as Fellowship is such a high level, even if the current project being worked on isn’t right, there may well be another one further down the line which can meet the standard required - because as assessors, we must maintain that standard.
MP: Simon, thank you for your time and your illuminating comments.
SL: It’s been a pleasure, Mark.
Sara Cremer ARPS
Documentary Associate Panel
Statement of Intent
Masham has one the largest market squares in England and is famous for its sheep sales, where in the past, thousands of sheep were bought and sold.
Masham Sheep Fair started around 30 years ago to commemorate these times. It was initially a one-off event to raise money for farmers in Africa. It was so successful it has become an annual event. Hundreds of people gather to enjoy the weekend and it is now one of the biggest rural events of autumn.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your photographic practice.
I am an amateur photographer based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. I joined a local camera club back in 2011 and in one form or another I have been a member of a camera club ever since. I remember as a new starter, one of the members was awarded their LRPS and this was a big deal within the club. I decided this was something I would like to aim for, so along with a friend we both worked towards this goal. I was pleased to become a Licentiate of the RPS in March 2014.
My photography is varied. I enjoy wildlife and nature photography as well as documentary projects.
What was the driving force behind your Associate panel?
I was determined that I wanted to apply for my Associate distinction, however enjoying such a variety of photography meant it was difficult to know which genre to choose. I didn’t want to change my photography or shoot something that was out of character, or photograph something for the sake of getting the Associate distinction, so it took a lot of time and consideration to get to where I am now.
Appleby Horse Fair is always in my calendar, and I really enjoy visiting it. I have been going for a few years now and have documented the action. I was going to produce an A panel on it, and then Fiona Willoughby ARPS was successful in gaining hers. Although I have never met Fiona, so she will not know this, I thought it was an outstanding panel. It blew me away with how she had captured it, along with the humour and the image of the family and horses in the rain. After that, I decided to go back to the drawing board with my panel!
A friend told me about Masham Sheep Fair. As a child, my holidays were usually at my auntie and uncle’s farm. Those were great times so anything agricultural reminds me of that. When I visited the sheep fair for the first time, I instantly loved it and knew at that point that over the next few years I would create my panel from there.
How many visits did you make? Did you ‘reccy’ the event before shooting it?
The sheep fair is an annual event and I made three visits in total, and I still intend to continue to go each year. The money raised from car parking, and the selling of the fair programme, goes to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, so it was important to me to always use the main car park and purchase a programme of events. After my first visit (which did become a reccy), I used what I had learned and the following year
I went back with more focus, building on what worked well from the year before.
I then had a one-to-one session with the lovely Janey Devine FRPS and knew that I still had some work to do. So when I went back for the third year, I had a plan in my head. I knew roughly what I wanted to get from this trip.
The programme of events became invaluable, as I knew that I wanted to get a picture of the sheep racing. As soon as I had purchased a programme, I was able to know what time the races started which allowed me to get there early and achieve the position that I wanted to be in. It was that careful planning that made the difference.
What was access like? And how did the everyone react to you taking photographs of the activities, the participants and the onlookers?
I mentioned the car parking area, and from there it is a short 5-10 minute walk up into the town centre. It is very busy though and that was one of my biggest hurdles to overcome. You just have to make people part of the images because that is what it is and it’s great that the fair is enjoyed by so many.
I had to work really hard on trying to approach people, and not be put off by people looking at me photographing. Sometimes when I have returned home and started to review the images on my computer, I can see people in the background bemused at what I am photographing. You can actually see this in one of the images if you look carefully.
Most people haven’t noticed that I am there as there are lots of other photographers around too but when they have, they are usually really nice, and I’ll have a chat with them about what I am photographing.
Why did you choose to present the panel in monochrome?
I love monochrome. It sounds clichéd but I just see better in black and white. When you remove the colour, you concentrate on the textures and form, and sheep are very textured. I also think that monochrome images have a timeless feel to them. Another reason was because I started my RPS journey using monochrome and I wanted to continue this way. It was important to me as I feel that it’s a part of who I am as a photographer. I appreciate that this is not everyone’s choice and I think this will always be a discussion point for people when choosing between colour and black and white.
The sequencing worked well. Was it a long process of experimentation to achieve this strong visual narrative?
I have to say it really was. The one-to-one sessions with Janey really helped as I had spent hours with the images on the floor, moving them about, putting them back again, leaving them a couple of days and then repeating the process. I think that sometimes you can look at them for so long that the images start to lose their impact and you can start to doubt the whole panel.
The one-to-one sessions helped me to know that I was heading in the right direction and to keep going, and I would really recommend them to anyone who is considering submitting a panel. Once I had finished my last session with Janey, I was then on my own, and I still needed to change some images. So when the panel was finally submitted for assessment, I was a nervous wreck!!
Technically speaking, what camera, lenses and post-production did you use?
I use a Nikon D750, and these images were taken on a mix of the Nikon 70-300mm, F/4.5-5.6 and Nikon 24-120mm, F/4 lenses. I shoot in RAW and converted the images to black and white from that. I cropped some of the images as well, but that was about it for post-production.
Your submission was print not digital. Why did you make that choice?
I don’t think you can beat having a print in your hand and it looks so nice when they are presented as a panel. This does come with its own complications though. I had mounted all the images (mounted in the way I always have) and then boxed them up. I took them out to show my partner something and all the prints had rippled. I was devastated. So I had to learn a whole new way of mounting, using the T-mounts method. I then reprinted the whole set and remounted them just in time for them to be taken down to Bristol. It was not funny at the time, but I can laugh now, it’s all part of the journey!
And what’s the next project for you (and have you started it)?
This is a good question. I am currently working on a mini project – it’s about graffiti art. It is totally different to the agricultural shows, but I enjoy it. I still intend to continue with my Masham Sheep Fair and Appleby Horse Fair projects too.
RPS Documentary Photography Awards Exhibition
L to R: Simon Hill HonFRPS, President RPS; Ruth Toda-Nation; Tamsyn Warde; Mark Phillips FRPS, Chair RPS Documentary Group
RPS Documentary Photography Awards exhibition launched at the Nunnery Gallery in London on Wednesday 8th May.
The Documentary Photography Awards exhibition was launched at the Nunnery Gallery in London’s East End in early May, with a drinks reception and short speech by Simon Hill HonFRPS, President of the RPS. Members and guests were also joined by two of the nine winners of this year’s awards, Tamsyn Warde (Student category) and Ruth Toda-Nation (Member category). The feedback was very positive, with the venue doing great justice to the different bodies of work on the walls.
The launch was opened by Mark Phillips FRPS, Chair of the Documentary Group who introduced proceedings before handing over to Simon Hill HonFRPS, President of the RPS whose speech is transcribed below:
‘I am sure all of you are familiar with the words of the “manifesto” of LIFE magazine, written in 1936 by Henry R Luce:
“To see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud; to see strange things –machines, armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the moon; to see our work – our paintings, towers and discoveries; to see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to: the women that men love and many children; to see and to take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed.”
It is these words that, some forty or more years ago, affirmed my ambition to be a photographer - not just a photographer, but specifically a documentary and editorial photographer. There can, in my opinion, be no greater service that photography can provide to the world, than that of a documentary photographer.
It is with this thought in mind that it is my pleasure, as President of the Royal Photographic Society and a member of the Documentary Group, to welcome you to this immersive encounter with the power of documentary photography. I congratulate every photographer whose work we see exhibited here and am in awe of their creativity and commitment to delivering to the world the stories told through their photographs.
As we navigate through these captivating images, we should consider the profound significance these stories hold in our understanding of the world. Documentary photography transcends mere visual representation; it serves as a testament to the collective human experience, a mirror reflecting both the beauty and the challenges of our existence.
In an era saturated with curated realities and filtered truths, documentary photography stands as a beacon of authenticity. It unveils the raw, unfiltered
essence of life, capturing moments of joy, sorrow, resilience, and vulnerability with unflinching honesty. Through the lens of the documentary photographer, we are granted access to worlds unseen, stories untold, and voices unheard.
But beyond its role as a historical record, documentary photography holds a deeper significance. It has the power to ignite empathy, provoke introspection, and inspire action. By shedding light on social injustices, environmental crises, and human triumphs, these photographs compel us to confront the complexities of our shared humanity and to recognise our interconnectedness with the world around us. It is to the furtherance of this ambition that the RPS Documentary Group has, and shall continue to, devote its energy.
In an age where truth is often elusive and subjective, documentary photography remains a steadfast guardian of reality. It challenges us to question, to seek, and to bear witness to the truths that shape our understanding of the world. As you engage with these images, I hope you will be moved not only to see, but to truly perceive, and to recognise the profound importance of documentary photography in shaping our collective consciousness and shaping our world.
As the foremost photographic organisation in the UK and one of the oldest photographic societies in the world, the Royal Photographic Society is so incredibly fortunate to have within its collegiate structure of Groups and Regions, a group dedicated to the documentary genre. We are indebted to the expertise and commitment of Dr Mark Phillips, a Fellow of the Society, and to the committee which has worked with him, in delivering this exhibition.
The work of the RPS Documentary Group stands as a role model for how our Society, whenever possible, should decentralise activities from our Bristol headquarters and successfully engage with and provide opportunities for, photographers and consumers of photography in every corner of the British Isles and for our international membership.
On behalf of the Board of the Society and on behalf of our 10,000 members, thank you for creating such a remarkable and enthralling exhibition.’
Editor’s note: Special thanks must go to Harry Hall FRPS for organising the entire exhibition which travels around the United Kingdom throughout 2024 and into early 2025 (see the Documentary Group Events page for more details). Harry booked the venues and organised the printing and framing of the nine winners. It’s safe to say that without devoting so much of his time and effort, the exhibition would not be taking place.
RPS Documentary Events
RPS Documentary Events can be found on our events page, which includes our Engagement Talks series, Documentary Events and Exhibitions.
Group Meetings:
As well as centrally organised events, our Local Groups put on numerous events. These include talks and presentations, workshops or exhibitions of members work, group projects, visits and photo walks, feedback and critique sessions and online Zoom meetings.
We currently have Groups in Northern, Yorkshire, East Anglia, Thames Valley, Southern, South East, and joint groups with Contemporary in Scotland, Central and North West.
London – Nunnery Gallery, Bow 7th to 21st May 2024
Inverness – Eden Centre 1st to 27th June 2024
Stirling – The Stables Gallery 1st to 31st July 2024
North Wales – Oriel Colwyn 3rd to 30th August 2024
Newcastle – Newcastle Arts Centre 5th to 30th September 2024
Oxford – St. John’s College 7th to 28th October 2024
Bristol – RPS House 17th January to 9th March 2025
The RPS Documentary Photography Award is an international event attracting exceptional documentary and visual storytellers from across the world.
In total 9 projects are exhibited, with 3 projects from each of a Members, Students and an Open category. This format enables us to show long-form documentary work from our own RPS members, plus work of student photographers, as well as from more seasoned and experienced photographers in the open category. The selected projects are diverse; ranging from the impact of conflict and war, migration, reflections on history and memory, performance, ageing, mental health and childhood. The provide an insight into the range of what can be documentary and how it can be used to tell stories.
Rara Avis
Anton Panchenkov
RPS Documentary Group member Anton Panchenkov is a photographer born in Russia and currently living in Kazakhstan. He focuses mainly on street, portrait and reportage photography and loves using his camera as an instrument to explore the human nature and playing around with the unique vibe that each city and culture offer. In 2024 he published his new book It’s a Little Different illustrating the diversity among people of different cultures and their interrelationship, all while highlighting the universality of human nature. It depicts the globalised environment in which everyday life unfolds in major cities across Europe and Asia.
The name of his project, Rara Avis, is taken from a Latin phrase meaning literally a ‘rare bird’ – an unusual phenomenon, something unique. The concept of his project is to capture rare or unique scenes and emotions observed in various museums, exhibitions, and art displays. The ‘Rara Avis’ caught in these frames are not the pictures, installations or sculptures themselves, but the visitors drawn to these works of art. He explores the depth of human interaction with art, showcasing how art can evoke a spectrum of reactions, emotions and thoughts.
With images taken in galleries in Moscow, Munich, Genoa, Almaty and London’s National Gallery between 2019 and 2024, Panchenkov delved into the human aspect of art appreciation, studying how art impacts viewers on a personal level. It is a journey into understanding the profound effect art can have, stirring emotions like curiosity, wonder, or immobilisation. A testament, if you like, to the power of art and its ability to connect with people, evoking feelings and thoughts of awe, contemplation, humour or even confusion - feelings that are as unique as the art itself.
Opposite: Moscow Multimedia Art Museum (MAMM), February 2021
Rara Avis - Anton Panchenkov
Moscow Multimedia Art Museum (MAMM), August 20221
Moscow Multimedia Art Museum (MAMM), February 2021
Rara Avis - Anton Panchenkov
National Gallery London January 2024
Genoa, Palazzo Bianco, January 2023
Rara Avis - Anton Panchenkov
Moscow Manezh, Photobiennale, October 2021
Rara Avis - Anton Panchenkov
Munich, Die Alte Pinakothek, November 2019
Munich, Die Alte Pinakothek, November 2019
Rara Avis - Anton Panchenkov
Almaty, Kasteev State Museum of Arts, November 2023
Moscow Multimedia Art Museum (MAMM), November 2020
On The Bookshelf
Oli Kellett Cross Road Blues
Scale. That’s the first thing that strikes me when looking at British photographer Oli Kellett’s images. And by scale, I mean the juxtaposition of the large buildings and small humans. The people in his photographs might be insignificant in physique relative to the location, but are hugely significant to the narrative, playing a fundamental role in each image. Kellett’s work is about us humans, walking the city streets, at the very moment we temporarily have to stop at pedestrian lights. We halt, think, and contemplate, as we wait for the lights to change to allow us to cross the road. Frozen moments of time, often in solitude, before life continues. It’s a very short respite from quite probably a busy day, in a busy city, in a busy life. And yet there is this moment of calm reflection. Kellett says that ‘Our experience of the world is fractured as we live out multiple identities on and offline. But crossroads are a democratic place; we all have to wait’. And what these images beautifully convey is that sense of frozen time, strikingly naturally lit and often set in beautiful deep rich tones with various hints of orange and red. His images are quite simply stunning.
Physical scale was also the first thing that struck me at Kellett’s Waiting for a Sign exhibition a few months ago at HackelBury Fine Art’s gallery not far from London’s Gloucester Road tube station. HackelBury has for some time shown thought-provoking work by leading photographers - Alys Tomlinson’s Gli Isolani and Garry Fabian Miller’s Deep Time immediately spring to mind. Kellett’s exhibition of super-sized versions of his Cross Road Blues work shown over the winter of 2023/24 was no exception.
Like all good documentary projects, Kellett’s work took time to create. He spent over four years working mainly across the United States,
visiting cities as diverse as Miami, Boston, Seattle, Chicago and New York City. He initially started the project in the run up to the 2016 US Presidential Election, when the country stood at a political crossroads. After eight years of relative stability and common-sense pragmatism under the Democratic leadership of Barack Obama, the choice in 2016 was between what would have been a seasoned White House operator and first female President in Hillary Clinton, and a new breed of rightwing Republican candidate in property developer and TV “personality” Donald J Trump. We all know what happened next. To say that Kellett’s timing was apposite would be an understatement, given the political upheavals since that election result. And, of course, in many ways the United States remains at a political crossroads today with the 2024 presidential election due on 5th November in a race (at the time of writing) too close to call.
Kellett’s images reflect a cross-section of society - the suited businessman, the young couple, the man with his plastic shopping bag, the woman with her take-out soda. All documented in a Hopperesque colour palate giving great depth and gravitas to the subject-matter.
Cross Road Blues features 28 large colour plates in a 68-page, 14 x 11.5 inch landscape hardcover book. It includes an accompanying essay by British philosopher Nigel Warburton, which interestingly muses on Kellett’s images in the context of Sartre and Raphael.
From time to time we humans make major decisions which can often be described as being taken at a crossroads in our lives. So the physical crossroads makes for an obvious metaphor. Arguably, Kellett visually articulates this ability to choose - these moments to stop, reflect and decide, in an almost theatrical way. Many of his subjects are looking up, almost in search of some sort of divine inspiration from the gods. And the compositions often use the shadows and sunlight criss-crossed by the diagonals of the road markings, neatly drawing the viewer into the small but important human being in the image.
Collectors of documentary photography books should not miss Cross Road Blues – it is simply too beautiful and thoughtful a collection of images to overlook.
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The Documentary Special Interest Group has a section on The Royal Photographic Society website. Here you can learn more about the group, hear about recent news and future events and access an increasing number of documentary photography resources.
Documentary photography as a practice spans a range of approaches, so makes precise definition difficult. Taken literally, all forms of photography can be described as documentary, in that they document someone, something or some place. As a working definition, the Documentary Group uses the following:
“Documentary photography communicates a clear narrative through visual literacy. It can be applied to the photographic documentation of social, cultural, historical and political events. Documentary photographers’ work always has an intent; whether that is to represent daily life, explore a specific subject, deepen our thinking, or influence our opinions.”
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Members form a dynamic and diverse group of photographers globally who share a common interest in documentary and street photography.
We welcome photographers of all skill levels and offer members a diverse programme of workshops, photoshoots, longer-term projects, exhibitions, an online journal and newsletter and the RPS Documentary Photography Award (DPA).
Some longer-term collaborative projects are in the pipeline for the future. We have a active membership who participate in regional meetings, regular competitions and exchange ideas online through our social media groups.
The Documentary Group is always keen to expand its activities and relies on ideas and volunteer input from its members.
If you’re not a member come and join us. Find us on the RPS website at: rps.org/documentary
