Image © Susi Luard
JANUARY 2 0 1 5 / VOLUME 1 / NUMBER 1 / W W W .RPS.ORG
CA PITA L INTEREST
THIS M ONTH
JA NUA RY 2 0 1 5
BOOK W ORM
HA PPY NEW YEA R
CORNER
FROM THE
TO A LL OUR REA DERS EDITOR A DRIA N M cCA RTHY The last year has been a hectic one for all of us and it seems no time at all since I edited my first newsletter for the London region, but in fact it has been four months.
DA VID LLOYD, A S LONG A S THERE A RE A NIM A LS
New book: David?s new book is available now from his website. The retail price for the standard edition is £45 and currently £175 for the deluxe edition. The deluxe edition is limited to 100 copies, signed and numbered, bound in cloth with an image inlaid on the front, all contained in a luxury portfolio box with three exclusive prints. The standard edition is produced to the same high standards with each of the sixty photographs presented on its own page, much in the way a stand-alone fine art print deserves. (Penny Dixie ARPS). Being a bit of a typology fan, I was delighted to find Götz Diergarten?s Back to the Roots in my Christmas stocking. Diergarten uses his eye for colour and form to produce remarkable sets of images from a variety of everyday subjects. Back to the Roots contains images from three of his series: METROpolis, FASSADEN and NOWA HUTA. And it comes as no surprise to read that Diergarten?s mentors were the typology go-to-couple, namely Bernd and Hilla Brecher. (Del Barrett ARPS). Back to the Roots by Götz Diergarten (2011). Published by Moser Verlag, Munich. ?24.95.
You may notice that this month?s newsletter is very different ? a new format for the New Year. We?d like your feedback, thoughts and suggestions so that we can produce our newsletter in this new and exciting format every month. By using this format, we?re able to bring you more images, as well as embedded video clips. If you have something to share from your latest photographic exploits or a recommendation (book, software, exhibition) let me know via London-news@rps.org. So what has gone on this month apart from the copious consumption of turkey? Well the highlight for me was my marriage to Cecilia on 10th December, yes I did keep that very secret only a few close friends knew beforehand.
CONTENTS DISTINCTIONS
3
LONDON, URBA N
4-5
LONDON, STREET
6
INDIA N A DVENTURE, PA RT III
7-9
LONDON, NA TURA LLY
10-11
BLEEDING LONDON
12-13
DRA W N BY LIGHT : Natasha Bennett FEA TURE : David Jordan SOCIA L M EDIA : Events, Facebook, Twitter,
14 15-16 17
DISTINCTIONS SELECTING IM A GES FOR A PA NEL BY SUE GREEN LRPS
I have been interested in wildlife photography for about six years. In the last three years this has become more of a passion. I wanted to capture images primarily that I would be pleased with and then as an added pleasure other photographers would like as well. It must have been at that stage when I became more aware that I was being extremely critical about my own work. I asked myself: ?Well are you a photographer or aren?t you?? My answer to that still wasn?t clear to me and since my retirement from the Health Service I felt I needed a little more impetus to drive me along the pathway I knew I wanted to go. When someone at my local camera club said ?why don?t you try for the LRPS distinction?. I knew that if I succeeded with that I would feel happier about calling myself a photographer. Further advice to that was to ?get yourself a good mentor?. So after studying the RPS website and ensuring I was fully aware of what was required to apply for LRPS distinction, getting a good mentor was exactly what I did. The relief I felt when Richard Walton FRPS agreed to mentor me was incredible. Having recently returned from two trips last year to East Africa I had a plethora of images to choose my ten image panel from. I had already decided that if possible all the images should follow a natural history theme. Richard was amazing. He was able to help me to be even more discerning and critique my images in a more constructive way. This was a far cry from the ooohs and ahhs that some of my images had evoked from people in the past. That was quite a learning curve in itself. I loved every second. I felt a tremendous relief when Richard told me in his opinion I had sufficient images to form a cohesive panel of the standard required and that I stood a reasonable chance of success on the day. As the images were one hundred percent Natural History it was very important to be able demonstrate different techniques and styles and to show different aspects of animal interaction within the panel of images. For the pictures to hang well together they had to in some way be able to relate to one another and be able to retain attention to the collection as a whole. The process helped me with critiquing my images in a different way and I have no doubt it will help me with my future photography. Images and hanging plan decided on, all that was left to do was the printing and mounting for the big day. I decided to print my own images, in that way I felt I had more control over the individual needs of each image. I left the mounting to a reliable friend. When the big day came, there was no way I could have stayed at home and waited for the result. So it was off to Bath on the 5th November with high hopes and an even higher degree of nerves. The staff and assessors were extremely helpful and supportive and all very aware of the virtually palpable level of anxiety in the room. It was when one of the panels was not recommended by the panel that I crossed everything and prayed. The staff carefully arranging my panel on display interrupted my prayers. As the assessors scrutinized my pictures, I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. What a relief when the panel spokesman complimented the spot on sharpness of the images. Also the quality of printing and mounting of the images. I didn?t hear one negative comment. So within a few minutes that was it Sue Green LRPS to be ratified. It was a very happy day and thank you so much to all the staff at Bath who worked so hard to put us all at ease. Next was an even bigger thank you to my mentor Richard Walton FRPS who taught me so much and was so supportive throughout the whole process. I will continue to recommend this assessment to ?photography?friends it is indeed a huge learning curve not to be missed. DISTINCTIONS : SUE GREEN LRPS
LONDON, URBA N
PROJECT DOGS OF LONDON BY SUSI LUA RD
During my walks along different postcodes of London I noticed that the popular dog breeds tended to differ from one London area to another although a small number could be more widespread.
Having participated in Bleeding London (Del Barrett ARPS came up with the idea of photographing over 50,000 streets in the A-Z as creatively as one liked, as inspired by Geoff Nicholson?s novel of the same title) I get withdrawal symptoms.
I love the walk and sense of achievement after trudging the streets for a whole day sometimes to cover a large part of a virgin territory (an untouched postcode). I love projects and when Del mentioned the Urban London project as the natural progression from Bleeding London I pounced on it (no pun intended). During my walks along different postcodes of London I noticed that the popular dog breeds tended to differ from one London area to another although a small number could be more widespread. I love dogs and I have photographed some along the way but didn?t have a chance to put them all into the Bleeding London submissions. This project has given me an opportunity to continue with two of my passions ? dogs and street photography ? and to use some of the images taken during Bleeding London. The plan for an end product such as a book is a bonus in the horizon. LONDON, URBA N - DOGS OF LONDON
LONDON, STREET
SUM M A RY OF THE YEA R, 2 0 1 4 BY NORM A N SM ITH LRPS During our tenancy at The Cave we noticed a penchant for ?street photography?as interpreted in many different ways by RPS members. I say it this way because trying to define the genre of ?street photography?seems like trying to nail jelly to the wall and will probably reduce grown adults to tears. So, without trying to define it at the outset we created the ?RPS London, Street? group, with the aim of supporting the existing practitioners, making an easier introduction for people to whom it is new and maybe achieving that elusive definition somewhere along the line! The meetings began in April with some basic instruction and advice from me, Norman Smith LRPS, followed by practical sessions in and around Greenwich. The sessions then developed into a mix of basic instruction for the new starters and challenges for the more experienced shooter. So how have we got on? The events have proved popular to RPS members and non-members alike, with at least 5 attendees per session and as many as 15. We have held nine sessions, including one during the ?On Our Streets? exhibition and one supporting Bleeding London. The locations we have used have been Greenwich three times, Greenwich Park, Catford (for BL), Marylebone Summer Fayre , Gay Pride, Brick Lane, and Chelsea Farmers Market and surroundings, all once. We also held a very interesting competition from online entries, which culminated in an exhibition during June in the last weeks of the Cave. The meetings so far have been exploratory, but have highlighted a genuine interest which we want to capitalise on during 2015 with a new programme of events and a more formal structure. For next year we are looking at one meeting per month with possible visits to some London markets, events and locations in central London and occasional exhibition visits. In addition to the workshops we will develop a list of regular events which members might like to attend since there is something of interest every day in London whether we have a workshop or not. Results from workshops or other street events can be uploaded to our Flickr site - look for RPS London, Street on Flickr or CLICK HERE to see what we like to shoot and think about joining us next time we venture out. CLICK HERE to keep an eye on the RPS London events page
HA PPY NEW (SHOOTING ) YEA R!
INDIA N A DVENTURE PA RT III BY LORRA INE GREY LRPS
Time to move on again and our next stop was Jodhpur. Jodhpur was our least favourite place and not something we can put our finger on as to why, but perhaps it was the heavy air pollution? Here we stayed at the Ratan Vilas, rattan meaning precious. The rooms were big and comfortable with an area outside the rooms to sit. Luckily for me Alison took the room with the beds so high I could not get on without the aid of a chair... Again we had a very good local guide who took us on a tour through the alleys and backstreets which we found very busy but immensely colourful, as is most of India. Jodhpur is the blue city and the story told was that they believed in times gone by that if you painted your house blue it would keep it cool? This has never been proven but a lot of people still paint their homes blue! The highlight of Jodhpur was a horse and carriage ride from the Clock Tower back to our hotel, this was going to give us a taste of the British Empire that was. The look on our faces must have been amusing when we saw our ? carriage ? and we were lost for words as it turned out to be what we would call an old nag and cart but, as they say, 'only in India! The hotel had a lovely pool and for the first time on this trip we took advantage of a lazy afternoon poolside, which was a welcome break. Here we discovered the taste for Kingfisher Beer and a sandwich for lunch. After breakfast our local guide Kamel was waiting to take us to the memorial of past rulers of Jodhpur .Then on to the Fort which was amazing. Luckily for us there was an amazing photographic exhibition being displayed in one of the rooms depicting life in local villages. A wonderful record of the past. In another courtyard we watched Folk music and dancers. Again a fantastic experience and we were surprised to realise that on careful inspection the dancers in beautiful colourful dresses with beautifully applied make up? ..were all men!!
Another day and another move but a very early start with a packed breakfast to catch the 06.10 Intercity Express from Jodhpur to Jaipur. We had seats booked in the air conditioned carriage which fortunately worked. It was not the time to get 'Dheli Belly' but one of us did? We were transferred to our 'homestay Ikaki Niwas' this was not what we expected and not up to the standard we had come to enjoy so we spoke to our contact Shiva. at Trinetra Tours and within 30 minutes we were outside being greeted by Rameesh to transport us to another hotel. The hotel was called Lords Hotel and was large and not really used by tourists so we really were a novelty here as we were British and fair so everyone wanted to speak to us so we spoke to a few interesting people. Our guide for Jaipur was Noa and we were now in the Pink City. Everywhere we looked the buildings were pink and ornate and spectacular. We were taken to market, which by this time we had worked out was the streets full of vendors. Juipur is famous for its jewellery and Rajasthan craftwork of block making and printing. The following day Noa took us to the foot of the Amber Fort. We then mounted highly decorated elephants to take us to the entrance. Ticked the ?elephant ride? box, probably won?t do that bit again but The Amber Fort was stunning, beautiful and interesting. Then on to the Observatory, a Unesco site built 300 years ago. Here we looked at instruments to tell the time by the sun, so accurate to be within 2 seconds. If you are interested in astrology, zodiac signs there are instruments to chart your life. These charts are studied before an arranged marriage is entered into, I was told if the charts are not compatible, no marriage. In the evening we explored the streets of Jaipur on our own. Very near to our hotel we walked past a hospital like we had never seen before. Outside many people sat in the dust and dirt and trying not to stare we realised they all had limbs missing. A little further along the road we saw many very crude and basic artificial limbs hanging up by wires. A very strange city, wonderful in many ways but we were understanding the vast difference between those with money and those that had absolutely none.
So on to our final destination, Agra. No need to tell you what was the purpose of visiting Agra. Here we stayed at the Bansi Homestay which was very nice, welcoming and friendly. We arrived late in the day and our guide Bobby rushed us off to see the rear of the Taj Mahal from across the river. This was very beautiful and we stayed to see and photograph the sunset. As it was late we did not have enough time to go into the Mehtab Bagh, the ?'Moonlight? Garden' which is an extension of the?Taj?Mahal?Garden. Our first glimpse did not disappoint, it was stunning, unbelievably stunning. Our guide knew his way around and managed to get us to down to the barrier to get our shots. Of course the guards here were not going to let us get away with much but slowly but surely we stepped further and further into the forbidden area... . We got in as far as we dared and when we thought no one was looking we trotted off into the bushes and when we were done we sauntered out holding our breath that we would not be thrown in jail. We then watched the local people bringing in their cattle for the night which was interesting .. Up at 5am to get to the Taj Mahal for sunrise, we were so excited and we were one of the first few people to enter the grounds. There were some Italian ladies on a tour and when we started to enter one of the ladies held us all back so her tour could jump the queue and get in front of us, not for long though and at that point we were not very British, we poked her in the back and told her to move. We were in the grounds, so excited we failed to look up? it was then that Bobby mentioned that there would be no sunrise due to the cyclone hitting the other side of India sending clouds over and giving a grey sky, the first time in 14 days we had clouds! Of course we were disappointed but it was such an amazing place that the whole experience of just being there was pleasure enough. Back on the road with Rameesh driving us down the motorway to Delhi. We were in a rush to get back so we could go once more to Old Dehli to grab just a few more street shots. On the outskirts of Delhi we hit a large area which had lots of high rise building, so totally out of place and a sign that India was starting to change. To finish the tour we were to have dinner with an Indian family. This was to be with Mahendra, General Manager of Trinetra Tours and his wife Paypal and son Raghav. We were welcomed into their home and as we sat and chatted to Mahendra Paypal was busy in the kitchen preparing a typical Indian dinner. The meal was all cooked with fresh ingredients as nothing served is full of any preservatives or E numbers. It was very tasty and the bread was wonderful. It was time to go back to the hotel and we felt very sad that it was all coming to an end. We would have loved to have spent more time with Mahendra and his family and learn even more about their culture. Next morning our last smile from Rameesh as he greeted us for the journey to the airport, accompanied by Shiva. We were hoping for an upgrade back as we had one going out but no such luck. Cattle Class all the way home but a very pleasant flight with us both reflecting on our last 14 days. Alison and I hope you enjoyed this little adventure as both of us have added our bit and without Alison's daily diary of our trip a lot of the little things would have been missed. If you ever want a trip that fits your budget and one where you are in full control then think about using an Indian Tour Operator as ours fulfilled all our wishes.
LONDON, NA TURA LLY
DA VID LLOYD
W ILDLIFE PHOTOGRA PHER BY PENNY DIX IE A RPS David talks to Penny about his recent successes and approach to wildlife photography A BOUT: David Lloyd is a New Zealand born wildlife photographer who has been living in London since 1989. Much of his photographic inspiration comes from his regular trips to Africa with Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Botswana being favourite places. A W A RDS: David Lloyd?s black and white image ?A Flick of the Tail?was specially commended in Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011 and was selected as the cover image of that year?s portfolio book. Photographers generally agree that giraffes, though easy enough to find, are tricky to photograph. 'They're so big that you either have to be far back, in which case you run the risk of background clutter, or you have to close in on detail,' says David. He saw the potential of the latter option when, in Kenya's Maasai Mara, he encountered a giraffe at close quarters, and saw a second one on the horizon. He got himself into position and lifted his heavy lens to compose the image. What he waited for, though, was something that would inject life into the scene: a tail flick. 'I didn't expect that I would have to wait as long as I did. I was begging the giraffe in the distance not to move out of view and begging the one near me to flick its tail. My arms were aching from hand-holding the lens and were at the point of giving up when it finally did so.' His image ?Enchanted Woodland? was chosen as a finalist in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014. The story behind the image is remarkable. The sun was going down rapidly and the Kenya?s Lake Nakuru National Park was rapidly turning into an enchanted woodland in the afternoon light. The fever trees were a good enough subject by themselves, but David was ?thrilled to encounter this leopard resting so magnificently on one of the boughs?. He removed the tele-converter on his lens to get a wider view of the scene. The leopard was relaxed, repositioning itself every now and then, but David wanted a pose that was a little more special. Aware that the dappled light was fading fast, he waited. He was using a long lens in low light at 1/500 sec with a very high ISO setting. His main camera had broken down and he was forced to rely on his back-up camera, which he had never used with this lens before. At the moment the leopard yawned, he took the shot and captured ?the animal laid out perfectly on the branch?. To make it truly special, he stitched together two images, the second featuring the woodland now bathed in the sun?s last rays ? so ?recreating the magical scene?as he would remember it. INFLUENCES: Asked which photographers inspired him, or who he follows, David talks about the National Geographic photographers Franz Lanting, Jim Brandenburg, Michael ?Nick? Nichols and perhaps more surprisingly by fashion photographer Bob Carlos Clarke ? for his use of split and duo toning. STYLE: Having been a serious photographer for the last 8 years, David talks about his own approach to photography as having three major influences. He spent his formative years working on black and white images in a photographic dark room; he followed this up with formal training in art and design and has a deep and passionate influence in wildlife, especially Africa. Too late to make money in the photographic stock market, David chose to develop his fine art approach and particularly his black and white work. He was influenced by the idea that he wanted to sell pictures that he would want to put on his own wall at home. That ruled out the more illustrative approaches to photography and allowed him to develop his own unique and evocative style. His advice to aspiring wildlife photographers is not to choose a style and stick to it but simply to ?do your own thing?so that you develop and your style comes to you. David recommended asking yourself ?Why are you taking this photograph??. If it is not for a specific commission, then he recommends that you take pictures for yourself, because you like them. David?s images have several qualities in common. They are usually fairly simple, with few distractions. He likes an almost ?clinical? look, which he says comes from his graphic design background. He likes strong shapes and strong lines. David describes his images as often having ?layers?where the foregrounds and backgrounds create a story and give some depth to the image. He often chooses to include the horizon, which he says can give a sense of space and depth. He is also attracted to textures and patterns like bark, wood or fur within images.
PROCESSING: Asked about processing, David advised photographers not to throw pictures away or to work on them straight away, but to come back to them after a few weeks. ?Pictures come to life weeks later when you?re emotionally removed from them. Go back to old pictures with new eyes, with a new vision or with new processing skills?. NEW A PPROA CHES: He advises photographers to look for something different in an old familiar setting or to find a different way to photograph a familiar subject. ?Afterwards, don?t be afraid to crop?, he says and is currently exploring different crop ratios (2 x 3 and 16 x19 are his current favourites). ?When you have familiarity with a subject, explore new and different approaches?. David goes to the Maasai Mara twice each year to photograph the migration and gave examples of sessions when he experimented with slow shutter speeds; panning with his camera on 1/6th sec; double exposures and then double exposures with slow shutter speeds! OBJECTIVES: David often sets himself objectives for a shoot with a familiar subject, ?then I?m more likely to come back with something? he says. He described setting out to use a slow shutter speed to capture a running wildebeest, or capturing African cats for a series or following a theme e.g. eyes, fur patterns and textures B& W OR COLOUR? David?s work tends to be about 50:50 black and white (B & W) to colour these days. He doesn?t ?see' or visualise in B & W when he shoots. He will often try processing to black and white afterwards to see if it works. Some images work in B & W and some don?t. He only uses B & W if it?s an improvement to colour. David doesn?t like the word ?conversion?when describing the process of properly developing an image from colour to B & W because it?s not one simple step but means starting from the beginning - like the dark room days when it could take a week to develop an image. He certainly wouldn?t use a preset or create one. ?Strong B & W images aren?t converted?, he says, ?they are ?developed??. GEA R: David is a Nikon user with two D800E?s and a range of lenses. He talked about the current preoccupation with chasing pixels. ?Whether your camera has 12 mega pixels or 36 mega pixels, it?s not going to show up to a print size of about A3. Chasing pixels won?t improve your photography. Nobody has ever queried how many pixels my images have! They are more likely to respond to an image based on whether they like it or not?. SUCCESS: Asked about his success rate, David said, ?I miss shots too. I have failures but I don?t get disheartened and I don?t show you! I only show you the good shots and I don?t show you the poor ones?. ?I used to use film, and grew up in a darkroom. I still have some of the discipline from the approaches and in some ways, I think that although digital is great, it?s also making photographers lazy? why take 10 frames of the same tree? do something different. Work a bit smarter. Be more creative?. David has just bought a film camera again and is challenging himself to be more disciplined as he experiments with it. ?One of these days, I?m going to give my guests a 250mb capture card and challenge them to be disciplined and creative? he laughs. If you are interested in going with David on one of his photo safari trips, there is information on his website.
LONDON, NA TURA LLY - DA VID LLOYD - W ILDLIFE PHOTOGRA PHER
BLEEDING LONDON, UPDA TE One of the big excitements of 2014 was the launch of the Bleeding London project. Based on the Whitbread short-listed novel, Bleeding London by Geoff Nicholson, we set out to photograph every street in London. Geoff launched the project last May (SEE VIDEO) and as we go to print, we have more than 44,000 images and only a few gaps still to fill.
Although the main photography part has been completed, there are still many ways for members to be involved in the project, as we are now planning a series of exhibitions and publications. And we still need to fill those small gaps, so if you think you can contribute in any way, please contact us via London@rps.org. Meanwhile, over the course of 2015, we?ll be bringing you some of the stories associated with the project, as well as some interesting snippets about our wonderful, colourful capital. If you have a story about London and would like to contribute a guest column, do let us know. We are delighted to launch the series with a very special guest. Having read a wonderful biography of the River Thames, Eric Richard was inspired to set out to photograph all the bridges that cross it, some 150. To date he?s halfway through and we?ll bringing you further updates in the future.
ERIC RICHA RD BLEEDING BRIDGES
Without the bleedin?river there?d be no bleedin?London. And the bridges that cross the Thames are a solid link to the development of one of the world?s great cities. We know that there has been a crossing since Roman times at the site of London Bridge, indeed the remains are visible to this day, and further up stream are thought to be signs of a crossing near Vauxhall that could go back over 3,500 years. Tower Bridge needs no introduction, probably one of London?s most iconic images; although not surprisingly many foreign visitors often think it to be London Bridge, it is after all the crossing that most symbolises London Town.
BLEEDING LONDON UPDA TE - OVER 4 0 ,0 0 0 BUT W E NEED M ORE...
An instruction that could have been echoed when the city?s newest addition the Millennium Bridge was first opened. With St Paul?s Cathedral as its background, and as much part of the river as any of its crossings, it would now seem a little unfair to call it the Wibbly Wobbly Bridge.
Another towering image of course, the Battersea Power Station chimneys, though perhaps not usual captured through the frame of one of London?s more beautiful pieces of Victorian architecture, the Albert Bridge. For those who haven?t crossed it by foot the tablets are still in place demanding: All Troops Must Break Step When Marching Over This Bridge. Under the arches of Waterloo Bridge, opened in 1945, which was to become known as the Ladies Bridge. So named because in its building as many as 25,000 of the workforce were women; drafted in to replace the men who of course were serving in WW11. West of its landing on the north side of the river stands one of London?s other icons, a red telephone box. Look closely and you will see that the arch of its roof is a perfect miniature of the sweeping structure the bridge; both designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. Images: Eric Richard © Lionel Squire ARPS; all others © Eric Richard Eric?s project was inspired by Thames: Sacred River by Peter Ackroyd, published by Vintage. Paperback £13.29.
BLEEDING BRIDGES - ERIC RICHA RD
DRA W N BY LIGHT EX HIBITION REVIEW BY NA TA SHA BENNETT Works from the Royal Photographic Society archive are currently on display in South Kensington, on the site of one of the UK?s first ever public exhibitions of photography. In 1985, the RPS, held an open exhibition at the South Kensington Museum, which later became the Science Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum. These early photographers, such as Roger Fenton, whose work was shown, are now on display again, in an exhibition which stretches from the 1850?s to date. It includes an array of fantastic photographs from Roger Fenton and Hugh Welch Diamond to Ansel Adams and Don McCullin. The RPS was founded in 1853 and at Prince Albert?s suggestion began a collection to illustrate the rapid progress of photography. This archive now holds some of the greatest examples of photographs and photographic equipment since the 1850?s. The Collection is housed at the National Media Museum, Bradford as part of the National Photography Collection. The RPS collection has over 250,000 images, 8,000 items of photographic equipment and 31,000 books, periodicals and documents. It continues to grow. ?Drawn by Light? is co curated by Colin Harding, Curator of Photography and Photographic Technology at the National Media Museum, and Claude W. Sui, Curator and Stephanie Herrmann, Associate Curator of the Forum of International Photography of the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim, Germany, this exhibition is the first major London show highlighting the contents of this internationally-renowned collection. It will also be shown in Germany. The exhibition draws on the depth of the collection. Early work includes, Dr. Hugh Welch Diamond?s, Portraits of Patients, Surrey County Asylum 1852 which illustrates an unconventional use of photography. Dr. Weldon photographs each patient in a conventional Victorian portrait pose as part of their treatment. It gives us a glimpse into the world of the psychiatric patient of the 1850?s as each image captures the troubled expression of the sitter. In a very different world, Phillippe Halsum, photographs the Duke and Duchess of Windsor jumping. Obviously, he was keen to get away from a conventional portrait pose but despite the jumping action, they remain very poised. The show also includes Angus McBean?s iconic picture of the then unknown Audrey Hepburn, 1950. Her head and shoulders are emerging from the sand and she is surrounded by classical sculptures. It is a picture which he said plagued him all his life. Portrait of Cristina is perhaps the most timeless picture in the show. It has an amazing freshness and looks as if it could have been taken yesterday yet was taken by Lieutenant Colonel Mervyn O?Gorman in 1913. It is an exhibition which reaches back across time. It embraces portraiture, social documentary, landscape and more. It looks at photographs that pushed the parameters of their time. It is a show full of treasures and for any photographer a must see. Drawn by Light: The Royal Photographic Society Collection, Media Space, Science Museum, London until 15 March 2015. National Media Museum, Bradford from 20 March to 21 June 2015. IM A GES Portrait of Cristina - Lieutenant Colonel Mervyn O?Gorman in 1913. Audrey Hepburn -Angus McBean 1950.
FEA TURE W HA T IS ?CREA TIVE?NOW IN THE RPS? DA VID JORDA N FRPS PROGRA M M E SECRETA RY CREA TIVE GROUP The title ?creative?causes much confusion and uncertainty in the photography world, many look at the images created by members of the RPS Creative Group and are surprised that many of them look ?normal? and are not ?Photoshopped? to death. There often is more to creativity than just using digital manipulation software to ?create? an image. The recent changes by the RPS in its distinctions definitions may not at the moment help this situation, until they are more clearly understood. The Creative Group?s ethos: We look for personal expression in which the photographer seeks to stimulate the imagination and arouse the emotions of the viewer; derivative or manipulative techniques are not essential.
Does the RPS encourage creativity in its Distinctions?
A RPS (A sso ci at esh i p ) Images of exceptional standard and a written Statement of Intent (what you hoped to achieve with the work). This is a significant step up from the LRPS. At this stage a creative ability and a personal style (what makes your work unique to you), along with complete control of the technical aspects of photography must be evident. It is at this level that you can first choose to submit your work to a particular specialist category. It is possible to apply for an ARPS without having first achieved an LRPS, but we do not recommend this unless you have considerable experience in photography.
FRPS (Fel l o w sh i p ) Our highest level of Distinction. Fellowship submissions are open to Associates of the Society and Fellows of the BIPP. Images must be of an outstanding photographic and creative standard and accompanied by a Statement of Intent. An obvious personal style is expected at this stage. You need to have achieved the ARPS before you can apply for the FRPS. So at the higher levels of distinctions, a significant degree of creative thinking is implicit in being able to obtain that distinction. In the previous distinction categories, the main areas where ?creative?work was submitted were: Visual Arts: this covered a wide range of images from virtually ?straight?images to heavily manipulated images. Contemporary: this encouraged some of the more abstract and ?created?images. From January 2015, for the ARPS and FRPS, the Visual Art distinction category has changed. These changes are the result of a lengthy consultation process, and are designed to meet the aspirations of members and photographers, and aid a better understanding of the Society?s Distinctions.
THE VISUA L A RT CA TEGORY W ILL NOW BE SPLIT INTO TW O CA TEGORIES: 1 -PICTORIA L ?intended to recognise the creative use of the camera, in producing images which are not fundamentally altered either in post-production processing or in-camera manipulation.? ? the emphasis is on the creative use of the camera.
2 -CREA TIVE ?is intended to recognise digital creativity, either in camera or in post processing?. It will be a requirement in this category that it is photographically based and that all content must be produced by the applicant. Roy Robertson, deputy chair of the Distinctions Advisory Board responded to an email that was expressing concern over the title ?creative?for a category from Barry Collin, Chairman of the Creative Group:
FEA TURE - DA VID JORDA N FRPS
W HA T IS ?CREA TIVE?NOW IN THE RPS? " Pictorial: This category is intended to recognise the creative use of the camera" This follows a great deal of feedback from members to individual members of the DAB, who considered that photographers who wanted to develop their camera skills were being squeezed out by computer manipulated images. The individual titles of the new categories were debated at length, both within the Distinctions Advisory Board and with all members of Council, with Council making the final decision on these matters. The opportunity has also been taken to emphasise that images submitted to the Creative category must be the applicant's own photography - we wish to emphasise that we are not discouraging computer manipulation, but at the core, must always be photographic images produced by the applicant. These changes - and the new categories as a whole - have been widely welcomed, and I hope that the Creative Group can appreciate and welcome these changes, in that they meet the aspirations of the broader Society membership. Michael Pritchard commented in the same email: The Society has always kept its Panels distinct from the Special Interest Groups and having a clear definition for the distinction requirements certainly does not prejudice how the Creative Group wishes to define creative photography. Just for the record: (http://www.rps.org/news/2014/july/the-rps-distinctions) A second concern has been a broad lack of understanding of the requirements of the Contemporary category ? the interpretations of ?Contemporary Photography? vary widely and are difficult to define. The requirements of the category are clear ? ?the category considers applications which explore, define, illustrate or evaluate issues through photographic images.? This also has been discussed widely with the membership ? we see many Panels which could be very appropriate for this category submitted in other categories, because applicants hesitate at the word ?Contemporary?. As a result, the Society has agreed to adjust the name of the Panel to Conceptual and Contemporary. This is not ?Conceptual?, as defined by art world, but reflects the requirement for a concept, set down in the Statement of Intent, to be illustrated through the photographic images. This perhaps differentiates the Distinction from the Contemporary Group, but more accurately reflects the Distinctions requirements of the Society.
SO W HERE DOES THIS LEA VE US CREA TIVE TYPES W A NTING TO OBTA IN A N A SSOCIA TESHIP OR A FELLOW SHIP? 1 .If you are unsure if your work is either ?Pictorial? or ?Creative?, then it is worth getting in touch with the Distinctions Office and getting some feedback on the issue, for example is adding a layer with a texture onto another image fundamentally changing an otherwise ?straight?image? 2 .It is VERY important to attend an Advisory Day, to get concise and accurate feedback and advice on your panel, including what category it should be in. 3 .It would be very useful for the RPS to give some exemplars of the type of work that they would like to expect to see in each category in the near future. It would certainly save them a great deal of time answering questions about (1).
BLEEDING LONDON, M IKE ROBERTS A PPEA L When we started the Bleeding London project, we received an email from RPS member Mike Roberts, who told us that he?d had a stroke and just been diagnosed with Parkinson?s Disease, but was going to participate in Bleeding London as it would be therapeutic in helping with his recovery. Since then, Mike has made the most amazing contribution to Bleeding London: he?s uploaded more than 1700 images. Mike has set himself the challenge of raising ÂŁ1,000 for The Stroke Association, but he's still a few quid short. Please help Mike reach his target. You can donate through M IKE?S ?JUST GIVING?PA GE.
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