PRISMA Issue 14

EditorialArticle

SportsMedia

Internship:A photographer’sstories by:LouiseAnderbjörk

INSIDE FEATURES

Issue 14 - 31 March 2024

Editor-In-Chief: Louise Anderbjörk & Tristan Sharman

Scottish Winter: Ellis Wood shares the essence of Scottish Winter, a season of unpredictable weather, capturing dramatic mountain landscapes, cold frosty Glens and ancient Caledonian forests

Everything About Shetland: Wu Wei shares a trip to the Shetland Islands, captured through a mixture of film, digital and aerial photography Waves, mountains and sheep characterise the wilderness.

Feeling the Seasons: James Ratchford explores the full breadth of seasons in the UK, from bright sunny days to the wet and miserable, with the hills of Sussex presenting a canvas for expressing how he feels.

A Brief Ode To Photography: Jack Dalgeish reflects on photography as a means of capturing experiences, and the more vivid intensity such as the 2019 Hong Kong Protests that photos offer to an experience within a frame.

Butterflies and Early Birds: Jen Fellows shares her experiences photographing butterflies, a game for early birds She captures tiny moments as they clean themselves of water droplets on a dewy morning.

Countryside Villages: Vitalij Bobrovic searches for historic England in the fairy tale villages of the Cotswolds as each village presents a unique identity, as well as a shared defining feature of golden Cotswold stone

PRISMA

TheEditorialTeam

Editor-in-Chief-LouiseAnderbjörk

Editor-in-Chief-TristanSharman

DeputyEditor-in-Chief-EleanorReid

EditorialEditor-AlexandraGodfrey

PhotographyEditor-KaileeParsons

PhotographyEditor-MaggieZhu

CopyEditor-RosieLeeson

LayoutEditor-EllaWong

WebEditor-IainCunningham

MediaManager-LucileBelorgey

editor@prismamagazine.co.uk

Photo:EllisWood

Photo:JamesRatchford

Photo:JackDalgleish

Photo:WuWei

Photo: JenFellows Photo: VitalijBobrovic

Photo: Iain Cunningham

Issue 14 - 31 March 2024

A SPORTS MEDIA INTERNSHIP

EditorialEditor: Alexandra Godfrey

LOUISE ANDERBJÖRK

Dear Readers,

As spring is quickly arriving, you may have started thinking ahead for the summer, maybe hoping to find some good job opportunities within photography and media. If this is you, I wanted to share my experience from last summer, when I worked as a Marketing and Communications intern for the University of St Andrews’ Sport Department - Saints Sport Going into the role with limited knowledge of sports marketing, the 6 weeks I spent at Saints Sport turned out to be a fun learning curve that also helped me rediscover my interest in sports photography, which is what first got me into photography over 10 years ago As an intern, my main objective was to update their media bank by photographing my way through the entire catalogue of Saint Sport’s summer activities Because of the hybrid nature of my position, I had a lot of flexibility in how I went about completing these tasks, and so my day-today working schedule would vary a lot. Usually, I would spend about 2-3 days in the office, and the rest either out shooting various sports or in a coffee shop editing As someone who loves both coffee and the thrill of photographing sport up-close, this was ideal Out of the 10 000 promotional photos I ended up producing for the media bank, the majority was of Saint Sports’s extensive programme of in-house community classes, which ranged from group fitness, to personal training sessions, to various Junior Saints children’s classes I loved getting the opportunity to meet and work with so many different people and age groups, and especially the Junior Saint classes was such a fun time, as no class was ever the other one alike. There was a different sport to cover every day, which was an exciting challenge as a photographer - having to quickly learn the rules and movements of new sports to figure out the best angles for a good photo These were also the classes where I had to learn the skill of properly immersing myself into the environment I was photographing. Sometimes that meant shooting from the top of a climbing wall, or at the centre of a 3-5 year olds tennis game with tennis balls (fortunately the soft ones) raining down around you. Either way, it created some very fun and memorable moments that showed how photography will never cease to engage you Just as memorable were the experiences I had photographing professional sports during my internship. The first taste I got of it was when I was asked to photograph the international Boyd Quaich Golf Tournament on the St Andrews Old Course.

It was a three-day competition with 7am starts at the tee off each day, but the early start was so worth it considering all the fun I had shooting golf for the first time, and that on the prestigious Old Course too The technical challenges of photographing professional sport were very new to me, and I quickly realised the need to adjust my settings and composition to match the unprecedented level of speed and precision in a professional’s execution of their sport. It was a fun challenge to take on, and I was lucky to get more practice at it, working with 9 professional sport teams from around the UK that came to train at the Saints Sport facilities - including Scotland Rugby and Burnley F.C. It was great to see how, with time and practice, I began to understand sports I previously knew little of and, as a result, could start to spot and capture those perfect action shots I finished my 6-weeks at Saints Sport with a portfolio of photos I never thought I could have taken as I began my internship, and with a renewed interest in continuing down the route of sport photography. So, if you are thinking of applying to an internship that is slightly out of your comfort zone as a photographer - do it! I think you will be amazed at what you will learn and the new passions you will develop.

Photo:LouiseAnderbjörk

Photo: Louise Anderbjörk

Capturing professionalplay

SCOTTISH WINTER

PhotographyEditor:Kailee Parsons

ELLIS WOOD

The Scottish winter is rife with unpredictability Westerly winds drag mild, wet and windy fronts across the Atlantic, but every now and again the North wins and when it does, the Highlands become a majestic winter wonderland. I am based in North Wales, so with Eryri on my doorstep, I am never too far away from dramatic mountainous landscapes However, where Scotland is rife with unpredictability, anything below Gretna, is usually a story of mild, stormy winters, which are unfortunately becoming more frequent. My most recent getaway to the North was certainly the best. Whilst I normally gravitate to the epic mountain vistas, this trip in early January also had me marvelling in the cold, frosty Glens The first four days followed a miserable and damp pattern, but the following five were perfect! My constant question to myself was: should I go high or should I stay low? High meant the use of crampons and an ice axe, which is a must for any photographer wanting to photograph in the winter hills. Low was more about slowing down and finding little gems in the bigger scenes I wanted to capture every essence of the Scottish Winter, whether that was deep in Glen Affric, or aloft an icy Sgùrr a' Mhàim Both subgenres of landscape photography were strongly pulling at me Obviously I wanted both, but more importantly than that, I wanted to immerse myself in the mountains, in the Glens, in the ancient Caledonian forests, and cherish every second. I hope these images are a reflection of the story I have just told, but in truth, nothing can beat being there in the moment and experiencing a true Scottish Winter

Photo: EllisWood

Photo:EllisWood

Photo:EllisWood

Photo: Ellis Wood

FEELING THE SEASONS

PhotographyEditor:Kailee

Parsons

JAMES RATCHFORD

I love the seasonality of the UK and the different moods that come with it, the floral fields and ancient woodlands and the occasional storm battering the wonderful coastland It’s forever changing, which provides constant variety for landscape photography. There is so much on offer in Sussex to capture and I am continually grateful for how diverse and dramatic the environment around me is. I am currently challenging myself to capture my feelings within the photograph I might exaggerate this by using intentional camera movement and multiple exposures within the camera Like many others, my mood is affected by whether it's a bright sunny day or wet and what some might call miserable. I hope part of this comes across in this series of photographs. I try not to restrict myself to going out in only the best weather as often my most memorable outings were those I got soaked through and held out for a glimmer of light That said, I will generally head out at sunrise as it's quieter, there's the possibility of a display of colour and it's the perfect way to start the day. In terms of approach, I usually use my 70-200mm lens for landscape photos and switch to the 15-35mm for occasional skies, cityscapes and reflections. Some of my favourite locations for photography in Sussex include the chalky South Downs because of their rolling hills and breath-taking views

The dramatic coastline around the Seven Sisters Cliffs is another favourite of mine, where I hold regular landscape photography workshops. Additionally, Firle, where I live, is also a wonderful location to capture great shots, and is often overlooked by other photographers.

Photo:JamesRatchford

Photo:JamesRatchford

Photo:JamesRatchford

Seasonsin Sussex

Photo: James Ratchford

A BREIF ODE TO PHOTOGRAPHY

PhotographyEditor:Maggie Zhu

JACK DALGLEISH

It was some time ago that I read Susan Sontag’s On Photography, recommended to me by one of my Art teachers during my A-Levels To my 17-year-old brain, it was a wordy rollercoaster Now, reading it again, I think Sontag was spot on. She writes, “Photographs really are experience captured, and the camera is the ideal arm of consciousness in its acquisitive mood.” That experience, as she goes on to argue, is almost more real than reality itself, and it is in that mediated essence of experience why I continue to take photographs To take photographs as an act of capturing an experience, is to accept that you can’t pin down that experience within the four walls of a camera’s frame. A pivotal moment for my understanding of what photography can be was when I went to the frontlines of the 2019 Hong Kong protests. I didn’t really think about why I was so drawn to documenting the police brutality and mayhem caused by the protests, but it just seemed right The night itself was relatively uneventful, but the experience portrayed by the photos afterwards were a thousand times more powerful. Photos offer a more intense experience because of a camera’s inherent ability to capture and portray information accurately. In that light, my love of photography has been in its ability to bring my experiences into a different realm, one simultaneously more novel and individualised but equally objective and confined (literally, within a frame). Clicking the shutter isn’t the be all and end all. It is your experience as an observer that then re-furnishes that reality that matters and is when photography is its most powerful.

Photo:JackDalgleish

Photo:JackDalgleish

Photo:JackDalgleish

Photo: Jack Dalgleish

EVERYTHING ABOUT SHETLAND

PhotographyEditor:

Maggie Zhu

WU WEI

I travelled to the Shetland Islands in November last year to visit the islands I was particularly interested in seeing the waves and the sheep It took me over twenty hours on the road to get there, but it was more than worth it in the end because it is such a fantastic place. I used multiple film cameras, digital cameras and aerial photography to document the various islands. The hospitable Scottish bus drivers were the best guides and gave me all the travelling advice I needed The northern part of the islands has magnificent terrain with red mountains and the remains of some nomadic settlements. These areas are also very suitable for hiking enthusiasts, and offered some fantastic landscapes to photogtaph. The southern part of the archipelago has a beautiful coastline with sandy beaches and countless dwarf horses and sheep I spent a full day at the southernmost lighthouse watching the sea from sunrise to sunset and tried to track down some whales and seals, but unfortunately failed. I took this series of photos with the theme "Everything about Shetland", which means a lot to me. I felt so relaxed and free in the wilderness that my camera became my eyes, and I greedily snapped photo after photo of Shetland, trying to capture everything about it in my mind and my camera I felt that I had also become a sheep, staring blankly at an azure sea. I also came to the eastern part of the island, only three hundred kilometres from Norway, in the face of stormy winds and torrential rain. I may not have travelled the world, but in Shetland, I may have seen waves from all over the world

Photo:WuWei

Photo:WuWei

Seeingwavesfrom allovertheworld

Photo: Jamie Sullivan

BUTTERFLIES AND EARLY BIRDS

PhotographyEditor:Kailee Parsons

JEN FELLOWS

Photographing butterflies in the summer is a game for early birds The best time of day to capture them is when they are at roost, at either sunrise or sunset On this morning, I had set my alarm for an eye-watering 4.30am to head up to my local nature reserve on the South Downs. My aim was to capture a butterfly at roost against the rising sun. I stumbled out of bed, into my clothes, into the car, and off up the Downs Frustratingly a bank of low cloud meant that there would be no sunrise shots, so since I was up I thought I’d check out an old quarry, now a designated reserve, halfway down the hill I stumbled into a dewy wonderland. As the sun rose above the cloud, it sparkled through the droplets covering the field scabious, the wild marjoram, and the roosting butterflies. As I began to take some shots, and the butterflies started to move out of their state of overnight dormancy, I noticed they were using their proboscis, the long tongue they use to drink nectar, to clean the dewdrops from their eyes, legs and antennae. This was the first time I observed dew-covered butterflies performing this morning beauty routine, but I’ve since seen it many times in Common and Chalkhil Blues, as well as Silver Spotted Skippers, Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites They can also use their palps a bit like windscreen-wipers, although I’m yet to capture it! These details are what I love about macrophotography; the delight of a tiny moment that I would never know about were it not for my beloved 100mm macro lens and a dogged determination to hau myself out of bed at 4 30am!

Photo:JenFellows

Photo:JenFellows

Photo:JenFellows

Seeingthe tinymoments

Photo: Jen Fellows

COUNTRYSIDE VILLAGES

PhotographyEditor:Kailee Parsons

VITALIJ BOBROVIC

I started seriously pursuing photography when I moved to the United Kingdom in 2017 Now based in Somerset, England, I work as a lifestyle, architecture, and drone photographer. When I travelled to the Cotswolds to take these pictures, I was in search of historic England. It is here that the typical English village seems to have stopped in time, presenting a vivid image of rural English life There are small villages with houses from three hundred years ago that look as though they sprang from a fairy tale, endless meadows, and beautiful gardens The Cotswolds cover a huge area of almost 800 square miles. One of the delights of visiting these is that every village has its own identity, yet each has the same defining features, such as buildings of golden stone and rolling hills. One of the most famous and picturesque villages in the Cotswolds is Castle Combe The village has a rich history and the houses are made up of the honeycoloured Cotswold stone After Castle Combe, you can visit the most photographed street in England, the Arlington Row in Bibury, which was originally built in the 14th century as a wool store. Finally, treat yourself to a cup of tea in The Bridge Tea Rooms, an atmospheric venue in Bradford-on-Avon The building dates back to 1502, with its second level added in 1675 It has been used as a blacksmith, a tailor and an antique shop, until it became a tea room in 1989. I love photography because, with the help of an image taken in a split second, you can tell a whole story. I hope that these photos bring the Cotswolds to life and inspire you to visit.

Photo:VitalijBobrovic

Photo:VitalijBobrovic

Photo:VitalijBobrovic

TeaRoomsin Bradford-on-Avon

Photo: Vitalij Bobrovic

PRISMA PHOTO COMPETITION

It is our pleasure to congratulate the winner of PRISMA's March Photo Competition: IainCunningham "AviewfromwithinthestunningViennaoperahouse”

To enter for your chance to be featured in our upcoming issue, submit a photo through the link on our social media!

Photo: Jack Dalgleish

Cover art: Jen Fellows