CHILDREN OF THE ILLAM, MO GREIG ARPS SPENT SIX WEEKS IN INDIA HELPING CHILDREN IN AN ORPHANAGE BECOME PHOTOGRAPHERS.
BRIAN STEPTOE FRPS REPORTS SOME INTERESTING WORK FROM THE LONDON
ART FAIR.
ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
LONDON
CAPITAL INTEREST FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 / VOLUME 3 / NUMBER 1 / WW.RPS.ORG
URBANICITY: 'LIVING LONDON' Photo © Dave Allen
IN THIS ISSUE Page 3
AGM Report, Urbanicity Group book Launch
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Talk by Tom Jenkins, by David Hicks
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The joys from Brazil, by Fred Barrington ARPS
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Children of the Illam, by Mo Greig ARPS
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London Art Fair 18-22nd January 2017, A report from Brian Steptoe FRPS
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A Chance Encounter with Don McCullin by Simon Maddison LRPS
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IN THE NEWS: Anderson & Low Hon FRPS, Peter Fraser Hon FRPS, Wolfgang Tillmans Hon FRPS
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Useful links
RPS LONDON NEWS IN BRIEF
'SITUATION VACANT' I’m back! Only temporarily … On behalf of the London Region, I’d like to thank Britta for the splendid editorial job she’s been doing with Capital Interest. Britta has now moved on to pastures new and so we have a situation vacant for a new editor, or a pair of co-editors. If you’re interested, drop us a line at london@rps.org. If you don’t have time to take on the role, you might like to think about becoming a regular columnist or reviewer. So until we get the zine team in place, I’m going to help out. If you’ve anything you’d like to share in the next issue, or a photographer you’d like to see featured or have a good exhibition or book recommendation, drop me a line: del.barrett@rps.org. Hope you’re still all out and about creating fabulous images! Del 2
Del Barrett ©Jonathan Taylor
AGM REPORT A full report from the AGM can be found HERE on the website. The reported highlights of 2016 were: • 97 events were held with 1168 attendees • Plus 52 Café Art mentoring sessions • Monthly events from London, Street and London, Naturally walks, SE and SW London Groups and the Bookworm Club • The Breathing London Project has 64 active participants and over 5,000 images. Three Exhibitions have been staged, along with a number of articles, the most recent being in the RPS Journal. • 34 London members were awarded distinctions (19 LRPS, 14 ARPS and FRPS by Clive Arrowsmith)
STOP PRESS "The Urbanicity Book Group’s latest book ‘Living London’ will be launched on 29th March at the Croatian Embassy. All details will be published in due course on the RPS London Region Events Page, social media etc. but keep the date free for this special occasion!" ‘Living London’ includes contributions on topics ranging from ‘homelessness’ to ‘Al fresco’ and the Exhibition will run at the Croation Embassy on weekdays from 11.00am to 2.00pm from 30th March to 21st April (and at other times by appointment).
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Photo © Tom Jenkins
Talk by Tom Jenkins by David Hicks A social interval with refreshments followed the AGM which allowed members to talk and mingle. Then came the high point of the evening – Tom Jenkins’ talk. Tom explained that his boyhood ambition was to become a sports photographer. He went to college in Newport, South Wales where he was initially not allowed to take any sports pictures and each day was given a new assignment for review by his tutor later that day! After college, he worked as freelance photographer before joining the Guardian where in addition to sports he photographed other things on quiet sports days! He explained that his success with capturing great and unusual images was down to planning – with added luck. He often arrives three hours before the event starts, longer if he wants to claim 4
Photo © David Hicks
a particular spot! He knows and understands the rules of the sport, the behaviours of the players and the opportunities and restrictions of the venues. This enables him to predict likely scenarios and what position, angles, lens, etc. to use and in particular, where to position remote cameras and what lens and composition to use. He showed an encyclopaedic knowledge of various venues, being able to quote white balance values for the floodlighting at Premier League grounds. All this information was given around the wonderful images he was presenting – it wasn’t a lecture, just images with lots of information! The audience participated by asking questions as he showed a new image or in response to something he said and they ranged from the technical to the personal. Tom was a very engaging and enthusiastic speaker who showed a wide range of brilliant images, which demonstrated the breadth and depth of his photographic abilities. The audience were extremely interactive, to the extent that the talk ran over by more than half an hour. Tom gave out lots of information and tips for all us aspiring photographers. If you didn’t go to the AGM and you see a talk by him advertised – get a ticket and JUST GO! 5
THE JOYS FROM BRAZIL Fred Barrington ARPS shares the images from his latest travels to the Pantanal and Iguazu Falls. I retired (early!) in 2008, and haven’t looked back since, mainly due to being able to devote more time to my outside interests (mainly photography and travel). I have travelled extensively, the most far-flung being Antarctica and The Galapagos Islands (at different times). These images are from my latest trip, to Brazil – principally The Pantanal (a tropical wetland roughly the size of England and Wales) and Iguazu Falls (the waterfalls with the largest number of cascades in the world), but capped either side by Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro). The trip was a single traveller holiday of about 8 people organised by Tell Tale Travel (www. telltaletravel.co.uk), who I would highly recommend for personal service while providing as much opportunity for photographing wildlife as possible. It was not photography specific, which reduces the cost, without reducing the opportunities. This suits me fine as I do not need tuition (as far as I am concerned anyway!). 6
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ALL IMAGES © Fred Barrington ARPS 8
Photo by P. Annam
CHILDREN OF THE ILLAM By Mo Greig ARPS At the beginning of November 2016 I travelled to India to set up a collaborative photography project with children of the Dhan Karanui Illiam (Karanui means grace and Illam means home). The Illam lies in the small village of Nilakottai about an hours drive from Madurai in the Tamil Nadu region of Southern India. A little bit of magic takes place here each day, changing the lives of disadvantaged children by giving them the chance to turn seemingly impossible dreams into reality.
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I was there because the NZ charity associated with the Illam had asked if I could take photographs to be used to help raise funds for a new dormitory building – Indian Rupees 7,500,000 (GBP £90,000) is the anticipated cost. So to planning. I had never been to India before. I knew about the goals, aims and successes of the charity, but not a lot about the Illam itself. I knew there would be challenges with language and building relationships in the few weeks I had to enable me to create a strong body of work that would reflect what life is really like. I put forward a proposal to the Illam trustees suggesting that the children take the photos themselves. They embraced the idea and gave me the green light to go ahead. Yikes, now how do I put all this together? I immediately signed up for a Photovoice three day training course. I arrived in India full of an equal mix of excitement and trepidation.
Photo by Sindhu Naturally nothing went according to the plan I had made. I was to quickly discover that the way things are done in India is very different to other places I’ve been. My biggest challenge was getting the children to be freed from their traditional learning structure of rote learning and a very prescribed daily living brief and routine. I wanted them to focus on being as creative as they could and to show us (the adults) how they see their world through a camera lens. 10
Photo by Marimuthu The journey was not without many challenges, language being an obvious one, translations often changed intent and meaning. Sharing eight cameras among forty children and ensuring that every image had the correct photographer allocated to it when downloading to my computer was a nightmare, especially when similar photos were taken by different children. With their days regimented from the time they get up at 4:30am until bedtime at 10:00pm it was often difficult to allocate “photography time.” It became apparent very quickly that the model of “participatory photography” I planned would need to be modified to fit more comfortably within the confines of the culture and structure of the Illam. Our project morphed and became more “collaborative” than “participatory”. The most important aim was that the children were creating their own work and there would be a body of work available from the project to aid the charity’s fund raising aims. I felt it was important for the children to see the results of their work and for it not to just “disappear” onto my computer. With the help of the DHAN Foundation I organised an exhibition that was held at the headquarters of the DHAN Foundation in Madurai. In my debriefing at the DHAN Foundation on my last day, the executive director and the Illam coordinator told me that in the beginning they were very uncertain about how this project would work, but the results spoke for themselves. It has not just the quality of the work but the impact on the children themselves. One example was that of a boy who had been a bit of a problem, he was not doing well with his studies, and wasn’t settling in very well at all. I had said that he had a natural ability and a really good eye for taking photos. Subsequently it was reported that there had been a major change in him over the past couple of weeks and it had helped the staff find a different way of communicating and teaching him. 11
Photo by S. Arthika Going forward they have decided to set up a camera club at the Illam with the media team of the DHAN Foundation acting as mentors to the children. In six weeks the children had gone from never having held a camera to hosting an exhibition in a city (a far cry from a small rural village) with international guests viewing their work. The results stunned us all. We were all so very very proud. A leading Tamil magazine wrote an article on the project and published some of the children’s images. It is hard to believe that none of these kids had ever held a camera before. It is proof of the advantages of giving children a voice to tell their own stories. The skills I acquired on the PhotoVoice training course were invaluable in making this project a success. I am also extremely grateful to PhotoVoice for loaning the cameras for the children to use. The next steps are to exhibit the children’s work in London, something they are very excited about. Details will be posted on the project blog: http://childrenoftheillam.blogspot.co.uk https://facebook.com/childrenoftheillam @moatDKI 12
LONDON ART FAIR 18-22 January 2017 Report from Brian Steptoe FRPS Photography is shown at this annual event with Photo50, a curated exhibition to a theme and with individual photographs shown on many of the commercial art gallery stands. Photography Focus Day on 18 Jan included three talks and an afternoon photography highlight tour led by Jean Wainwright, expert in contemporary art and photography, covering photography for sale in the main Fair, Art Projects and Photo50, highlighting specific artists and placing them in a broader art historical context. (With apologies for any reflections in framing glass intruding in the images)
PHOTO50 Photo50 this year was titled ‘Gravitas’, with 13 photographers exploring the challenging path through adolescence. This sensitive subject required collaboration and understanding between the subject, the photographer and parents or teaching staff involved. Accompanying talks by four photographers emphasised this.
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Wendy McMurdo photographs ‘Let’s Go to a Place’ were of her daughter in her final class at primary school and several of her classmates who that summer were all engrossed on the outdoor game of Pokemon Go, inhabiting real and virtual worlds at the same time.
Let's go to a Place © Wendy McMurdo
Baptiste Lignel was tutoring a group of young US students at his base in Paris, when the topic of regular medication, typically for ADHD, depression, OCD and anxiety came up and many of the group were taking pills for this. Lignel followed up with a six year project involving regular visits to the US to interview and photograph these teenagers and their parents and then their friends. His project ‘Pop Pills’ became a serious and engaging set of work and has now been published by Dewi Lewis.
Carter, 17 years old, with ADHD, has been taking Adderall and Adderall slow release medication for 5 years. (photo from Pop Pills book)
Carter © Baptiste Lignel 14
Michelle, 17 years old, with anxiety and depression, has been taking pils since she was 14. (photo projected during talk)
Michelle © Baptiste Lignel
Photography by others participating in Photo50 included Madison Blackwood’s project about ’Dobe’, a memorial to a family member who has died, with an installation and small photobook.
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LONDON ART FAIR PHOTO TOUR Examples seen on the gallery tour included the following...
La Muestra de Gersaint Watteau 2015 © Lluis Barba 16
Carpet © Scarlett Hoof Grafland
Eden 8 © Susan Derges 17
LONDON FINE ART FAIR 18-22ND JANUARY 2017
Interior Uri © Susanna Baker-Smith
© Xiaoyi Chen 18
Chance Encounter with Don McCullin By Simon Maddison LRPS I met Don quite by chance at the famous Pushkar camel fair in Rajahstan in November 2013. He was with his son and an Indian photographer and I just came round a group of camels (as you do!) and there he was. He’s my hero, so brave and brilliant. So I stopped for a few words and asked if his son would photograph us together, which he did. Don commented that there were quite a lot of photographers and tourists around, maybe too many getting in his shots? I risked following him for a bit to see him at work, took the monochrome shot here where his expression I think confirms that he wanted to be left alone so I reluctantly went in another direction. Surprisingly, I never have seen any of his images from that trip.
simon@madfam.co.uk and simonm287@virginmedia.com 0044 (0)1462 452975 see my photos at https://www.flickr.com/photos/simonmaddison/sets
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IN THE NEWS Forthcoming exhibitions and books from our Honorary Fellows – reviews to follow in our next issue of Capital Interest.
Anderson & Low Hon FRPS have just announced details of their forthcoming exhibition and accompanying book, Voyages. The work was inspired by a line from Proust: ‘The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes’ (from À la recherche du temps perdu). “This new project continues to explore several recurrent themes in our work: the relationship between fantasy, artifice and perceived reality, pushing the boundaries of what a photograph is “supposed to do”, and relating these concepts to art history. These images depict the ship models from the Science Museum’s extraordinary stores, re-presented and re-imagined through elegant means: simply by not removing the protective sheeting that covers the model ships, that additional layer acts as a prism, separating out an entire spectrum of previously hidden dramas for these tiny facsimiles. Looking through this additional layer realigns both scale and context. In this process associations have emerged with historical depictions of ships and seas, and hidden sagas are revealed. The models have taken on magical new forms, some like legendary vessels emerging from sinister fogs to stalk and surprise an enemy, others as if lost and drifting at sea, or waiting for the tide to turn, or caught in a terrifying storm.”
Voyages can be seen at the Science Museum from 14th March to 25th June. Free admission. Media Space, 2nd Floor, Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD. The accompanying book will be published to coincide with the exhibition. £40 published by Lucky Panda Press UK. 20
PHOTO © Anderson & Low
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TWO BLUE BUCKETS Peter Fraser Hon FRPS
Peter Fraser Hon FRPS has just released a new “Director’s Cut” of his seminal work Two Blue Buckets. This new publication of his first book published in 1988, now published by Peperoni Books, Berlin, includes 19 missing images from the original, a new essay by Gerry Badger, a discussion between Peter and David Campany, and has been designed by Alan Ward, who also designed the original. Hardback, 88.pp. ISBN: 978-3-941249-07-3
From Gerry Badger’s accompanying essay in the new publication: ‘It is clear that Two Blue Buckets, was a new kind of British photobook, so much so indeed as to cause a degree of puzzlement in certain quarters. In its contemplation of the banal and the metaphysics of object, its juggling of apparently disparate themes, and its intensely personal reflection, it prefigures much that was to follow. With this new ‘director’s cut’, as it were, we can not only get a more complete idea of Peter Fraser’s original conception, but also re-evaluate it in the light of almost thirty years of photobooks that have followed. This allows us to appreciate its originality afresh, and see how the quirky, diaristic sequence of photographs has moved from the fringes of the medium to the very heart of the mainstream.’
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WOLFGANG TILLMANS: 2017 Just opened, at Tate Modern, is an exhibition focusing on the work of Wolfgang Tillmans Hon FRPS. It presents Tillmans’ production across different media since 2003. First rising to prominence in the 1990s for his photographs of everyday life and contemporary culture, Tillmans has gone on to work in an ever greater variety of media and has taken an increasingly innovative approach to staging exhibitions. Tate Modern brings this variety to the fore, offering a new focus on his photographs, video, digital slide projections, publications, curatorial projects and recorded music. The importance of Tillmans’s interdisciplinary practice is showcased throughout the exhibition. His Playback Room project, first shown at his Berlin exhibition space Between Bridges, provides a space within the museum for visitors to experience popular music at the best possible quality. The video installation Instrument 2015 shows Tillmans dancing to a soundtrack made by manipulating the sound of his own footsteps, while in the Tanks Studio his slide projection Book for Architects 2014 will be screened. Featuring thirty-seven countries and five continents, it reveals the tension between architectural form and function. In March, Tillmans will also take over Tate Modern’s south Tank for ten days with a specially-commissioned installation featuring live music events.
15 FEBRUARY – 11 JUNE 2017 (Press view: 14 February 2017) Sponsored by Hyundai Card Tate Modern Level 3 Boiler House & Tanks Studio Open daily 10.00 – 18.00 & until 22.00 on Friday and Saturday Wolfgang Tillmans Tukan 2010 © Wolfgang Tillmans 23
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HAVE YOU GOT A STORY TO TELL? Or pictures to show? Have you been on a trip, at a workshop or to a fair? Are you working on a project or preparing an exhibition? Have you met a photographer who your fellow RPS London members should know of or visited an exhibition they should see? We love to hear from you. Get in touch with Capital Interest to share your experience. CLICK HERE 24
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