GROUP MAGAZINE
NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
CREATIVE EYE
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
WELCOME
Exciting news! Championed by our new Vice-Chair, David F Cooke FRPS, and after a successful trial, we are rolling out peer review discussion groups on Facebook. We hope these will prove to be an exciting and convenient way for members to exchange ideas and feedback on each other’s work. See the announcement on the opposite page on how to get involved and join a group.
We also have a new print provider for our magazine, Henry Ling Ltd. Henry Ling already print the magazines for a number of other RPS special interest groups, so we’re in good hands. The print process will also be moving from ink jet to a superior litho print method, which should show our contributors’ work at its absolute best.
CONTENTS
CONNECT
4 FINDING GOLD & FELLOWSHIP IN THE GARDEN Dr David Townshend FRPS
facebook Facebook facebook.com/groups/rpscg Or search Facebook for ‘RPS Creative’
8 ABSTRACT SIMPLICITY David Rutter FRPS 10 STORIES TO BE TOLD Steve Geer ARPS 13 CREATING A WINNING IMAGE Richard Luxton ARPS
flickr Flickr flickr.com/groups/3510780@N20/pool Or search groups for ‘RPS’ Contact: David Ryland ARPS david_1@btinternet.com Editor: Steve Varman creative.publications@rps.org
COMMITTEE Chair Moira Ellice ARPS creative.chair@rps.org Vice-Chair David F Cooke FRPS davidfcooke@btinternet.com Treasurer Nigel Rea ARPS creative.treasurer@rps.org Secretary Gillian Beckett ARPS CPAGB creative.secretary@rps.org Exhibition and Events Co-ordinator Moira Ellice ARPS creative.chair@rps.org Exhibition Secretary Matthew Clarke BPE3* creativeimage@rps.org Membership Secretary Bill Coles LRPS creative.membershipsecretary@rps.org Publications & Web Editor Steve Varman LRPS creative.publications@rps.org Archivist Barry Freeman ARPS DPAGB APAGB bazfree.photo@gmail.com
Cover: Bullace by Julie Cowdy ARPS
Website: rps.org/ceg
14 A 50 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE Tillman Kleinhans ARPS 18 MY LIFE AS A PHOTOGRAPHER Palli Gajree Hon.FRPS 22 A FRUITFULL YEAR Julie Cowdy ARPS 26 THE MUSIC OF PHOTOGRAPHY Evan Dawson CEO RPS 29 HOUGHTON HALL (Field Trip)
© 2021 All rights reserved. Apart from storage and viewing in its entirety for personal reference, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without prior permission of the copyright holder. The Royal Photographic Society, the Creative Eye Group and the Editor accept no liability for the misuse of any content or for any breach of copyright by a contributor. The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the policies of the Royal Photographic Society or the Creative Eye Group. Unless otherwise indicated, all images are from, and copyright of, the authors.
CONTRIBUTE AN ARTICLE Tell us about your stories, projects and distinction successes. If you would like to submit something for consideration, for either the eNewsletter or Creative Eye magazine, please contact Steve Varman at: creative.publications@rps.org Next issue: January 2022 Submissions by: 30th November 2021 Image requirements: At least 2400px on the longest edge, Adobe RGB, TIFF
Printed by Henry Ling Limited The Dorset Press, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1HD
The Royal Photographic Society, RPS House, 337 Paintworks, Arnos Vale, Bristol, BS4 3AR, UK t +44 (0)117 3164450 | www.rps.org | VAT Registration No. GB 753 3057 41 | Registered Charity No. 1107831
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CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
FROM THE CHAIR
J
une began with a much welcomed series of events - first with the Members’ Day. Eight members gave presentations: David Rutter, Andy Swain, David Townsend, David F Cooke, Clive Watkins, Roger Dixey, Rob Kershaw and Jan Harris. It was a fantastic day, attracting members from all over the UK and overseas. If you were unable to join the event you will be able to find the recordings of the presentations on the Group’s website at www.rps.org/creativeeye. Following the Members’ Day, we collaborated with the Western Region with a talk ‘Working in the Dark’, given by theatre photographer, Mike Kwasniak ARPS. Mike gave an enlightening talk, speaking about his life-long interest in the theatre and to being the New Wolsey Theatre’s resident photographer. He also spoke about photographing local events and other performances, including the Eastern Angles Theatre Company’s productions. The quality of his work is exquisite, given the difficulties photographing in the dark. He totally captures atmosphere and passion of the productions, and so much more. After having to cancel the exhibition tour last year I was delighted when I was given the opportunity of displaying the Members’ 2020 Print and 2021 Projected Image Exhibition at the Apex in Bury St Edmunds for two months. It was great showcasing the exhibition again, welcoming the locals and visitors from further afield to see our images. Jan Harris has been busy organising a variety of excellent online talks for us all to enjoy. In July, Joe Houghton delivered a session, teaching new and fascinating ways of using Lightroom and, in August, Linda Bembridge FRPS, talked about her work ‘Abstract with a bit of Landscape’. Both were enjoyed by sizeable audiences of members and non-members, 112 and 175 respectively. Please keep an eye on our website for upcoming events. The first field trip since 2019, took place in July at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, organised by Jeremy Rodwell. It was a great day, well organised and wonderful to be able to meet up with members and friends after months of tight coronavirus restrictions. Prof Brian Falconbridge PPRBS joined us for the day and for the third year running, judged the photo competition ‘Sculpture in Nature’. I am pleased to say that the Creative Eye Group is flourishing, and I welcome all our new members to the Group. We are in the process of organising a few more activities. One, detailed below, has just gone live. Meanwhile, thank you for all your support and I wish you well and much enjoyment with your photography.
Moira
ANNOUNCING: FACEBOOK DISCUSSION GROUPS Exclusive to Creative Eye members, we are launching Facebook Discussion Groups a place to exchange images, give and receive feedback. ► Up to 8 members per group ► One image per month ► All groups are private ► Improve and find inspiration! To join a Facebook Discussion Group, email Steve Varman at creative.publications@rps.org with your RPS membership number. If you don’t like Facebook, but would still like to participate in a similar peer review group, then you may be interested in our well established Portfolio Group where images are exchanged via email. Contact David Harris for more details at creative.portfolio@rps.org We also have a thriving Facebook community at facebook.com/groups/rpscg
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CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
FINDING GOLD & FELLOWSHIP IN THE GARDEN
No. 1
No. 15
DR DAVID TOWNSHEND FRPS
S
ometimes you can’t predict where a little project might take you. During a wet week in June 2019 I created a series of in-camera multiple exposure images of hostas and other plants in pots in my garden. Now, two years later, they have earned me first place in the International Garden Photographer of the Year Portfolio category along with an RPS Gold Medal, and an FRPS Distinction. Here is how it happened. I have been developing my skills in impressionist photography since 2016 when I discovered it through workshops run by Valda Bailey and Doug Chinnery. Their approach is to use creative techniques to interpret rather than represent the world around us. It has provided a whole new impetus to my photography – enabling me, a life-long scientist, to discover my artistic side, indeed to become an artist. 4
My lifelong interest in photographing plants and gardens meant that inevitably that would provide a theme for this new approach. Given their strong shapes and textures, hosta leaves proved a good subject, especially when decorated with raindrops. There is no need to wait for the perfect weather and lighting for impressionist garden photography – you can make much of any conditions. INTERNATIONAL GARDEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR I have entered the International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) competition in the past, with more representational images, but with no success. With the encouragement of Valda and Doug to enter competitions, I decided to have another go – but I didn’t submit anything until minutes before the final deadline for entries in October 2020.
I submitted my Hosta Patterns panel (FRPS numbers 9, 11, 13, 18, 20, 21) with this description: “There are always images waiting to be created, even early on a wet June morning. Pots of Hosta, Heuchera and Libertia on my patio, each with their own distinctive leaf shapes, textures and colours, were transformed as rain droplets collected on them, with the gloom accentuating their colour. Leaning against the house for shelter, and moving my camera during the sequence of exposures, I captured their transient beauty as unique patterns that are at the same time; bold and intricate.”
When the results were announced in February 2021, with entrants from around the world, I was astonished to discover that I had won the Portfolio category, which is accompanied by an RPS Gold Medal.
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
RPS FELLOWSHIP Photography friends then encouraged me do more with my images and to consider submitting them for an FRPS. This seemed unlikely as I thought I had at most a dozen possible hosta pattern images. However, a trawl through my files revealed over 100 candidates! Editing to remove near repetitions I still had enough to produce a panel. Producing the final panel and Statement of Intent (SoI) took some effort. I produced 117 versions of the panel, and finally decided on v107. Once Richard Tickner’s invaluable assistance in an RPS 1:1 advisory session put me on the right track, I produced the SoI (below) and sent my submission to the June 2021 Visual Art FRPS assessment. As Covid arrangements have meant the assessment process can be observed live online I had the enormous pleasure of hearing highly complimentary remarks about my panel followed by the announcement that I had been successful. So I have squeezed a great deal out of a small project in my garden. A project that I enjoyed doing at the time but I had no comprehension of where it would take me.
IGPOTY Portfolio, top-left clockwise: Nos. 9, 11, 18, 21, 20, 13 Right: No.12
STATEMENT OF INTENT
Transformation
I enjoy exploring how to represent the natural world in different ways, creating images that are striking, intriguing and sometimes enigmatic - like half-recalled memories or dreams tantalisingly just out of reach. In this project I want to create a panel that depicts an alternative reality. Plants in pots on my patio look glum in the dreary, wet weather. My aim is to transform these plants into an imagined world, a vividly coloured dream, the home of water nymphs. In this magical underwater garden, leaves gently drift and sway with the current, the broad, sensuous curves giving a sense of calm. Elsewhere in this alternative world there are patterns created by plants swirling in eddies where counter currents meet. A closer look reveals intricate details such as textures on the leaf surfaces; and raindrops have become air bubbles adding sparkling lights to the underwater scene. 5
No. 4
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
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TECHNIQUE My impressionist photography relies on two creative techniques: intentional camera movement and, more importantly for me, multiple exposure using in-camera software. My Canon 5DIII allows me to overlay up to nine images. I can change many variables during the sequence – focus, exposure and focal length – and three crucial elements a) the subject, b) white balance and c) the camera’s blending modes, of which there are, in practice, three. The interaction between the layers is crucial to success; and with the addition of Lightroom adjustments later, the possible combinations are limitless. All the hosta images were composed in the field – there was no layering in Photoshop. They were handheld, allowing me to retain the element of spontaneity rather than seeking perfection – I want to capture the moment. During the sequence of three or four exposures I rotated the camera around a more or
less central point. The skill is in keeping the rotational steps equal and not losing the pattern off the edge of the developing composite image as you rotate. Moving the point of rotation just slightly usually produces a very different pattern. On each day I did not vary the basic camera settings – ISO 8001250, aperture f11-14. This freed me to concentrate on composition. Changing the white balance between sequences enabled me to create the columns of colour. ‘Bright’ blending mode enhanced the sparkle from the raindrops. The images were finished with minor editing in Lightroom – contrast, clarity, white balance, black and white levels, and vignetting. This approach to creative photography produces images that can be viewed at two distances: standing back and then close up to see detail, especially when viewing prints in an exhibition. Do try this technique, but prepare yourself for many failures on the way!
No. 5
Fellowship Panel
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
LINKS Website: davidtownshend.com IGPOTY Portfolio: https://bit.ly/3rzfihs 7
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
ABSTRACT SIMPLICITY DAVID RUTTER FRPS
T
he thinking behind my
gently across the scene. Finding
image time and time and time
submitted ready for the 11th
panel of images was
lines and shapes by looking
again until I eventually shot new
March assessment. As I heard
that all images are the
through the viewfinder came
images for single positions in
the assessors comments it was
same. Since they are simply
easily some days but then it
the panel in order that the lines,
with huge pleasure and relief
millions of pixels they could be
might take a week to find a
shapes and shadows all fell in
that the depth of thought and
arranged in a particular order
new curve or shape or direction
the best places to suit a logical
emotion that had gone into
to present a still life flower or
of light which would create
panel arrangement.
my images was now being
in a different order they will
another pleasing image.
become a sweeping landscape
After photographing
or a weeping willow or a
numerous three dimensional
leaping tiger, of course the list
“scenes” from the horizontal
is endless.
viewpoint I proceeded to
I wanted to break down
arrange top down images
the elements of photography
created by layering, stepping,
into a basic form and create
and offsetting the subject and
images that would define the
introducing a second light
fundamental ingredients and be
source between layers – this
creative in the process. But how
second light led to the creation
could I express my thoughts
of the centre “triangle” image.
about this basic concept as
I have no real explanation
a graphic study purely in the
as to where the compositional
terms of lines, colour, light and
ideas came from but the
shade? Fortunately, I stumbled
ideas flowed as I created
across the perfect material
some scenes by forming a
subject that allowed me to play
background mid-ground and
with with shape and light until
foreground and other scenes
eventually my panel emerged.
with simpler layers. Some
The practical method of
images relied upon vertical
creating these images is to
components for their structure
hold the material within a
and others with horizontals,
sort of wooden box with two
some used a mixture of both
sides removed and no lid.
with twisted or spiralled rolls
Various clamps and tools were
upon them.
employed to hold the material
I continued shooting and
in place whilst I then used a
the panel appeared before
single softbox to feather light
me as I replaced the weakest
8
After five months my
recognised and I was absolutely
shooting concluded in February
delighted to achieve the
2021 and my panel was
Fellowship.
STATEMENT OF INTENT
Abstract Simplicity
I invite you to join my celebration of style and look beyond the subject. My images provide identity with soul through creative technique, this enhances the image structure and substance and thereby benefits the visual perception. The composition of lines, shadows, texture, tone, colour, and space enthral me but it is my love of light and shade rising and falling across simple components that I find most beautiful and compelling. My images take a minimalist approach with abstract realism to demonstrate a creative identity with a very simple material subject. Harnessing differing shades of the three pillar stones of photographic colour: red, green and blue, I have painstakingly blended them with the fundamental ingredient of light to create carefully lit scenes transitioning from soft light to dark shadow in combination with a soft focus fall off. Here I present my love of the fundamental elements of photography as Abstract Simplicity. Website: davidrutterphotography.com RPS Portfolio Examples: https://bit.ly/3fJqymO
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
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CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
STORIES TO BE TOLD STEVE GEER FRPS
I
like to take long walks in Chicago, the city in which I live. Even though I’ve
walked the same streets many times there are always new things to see. Not new big-picture things, but little things – a discarded face mask, a lost toy, a striking shadow, the reflection in a puddle, a broken mirror. Each of these little things has a story to tell. In the series “Stories to be Written” objects discovered by chance in Chicago are shown in their found context – the ground on which they rest and the towering environment around them. Their unwritten stories are like latent images waiting to be developed with the experience and bias of the viewer. 10
CHICAGO
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
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CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
Each image has been made by combing two photographs taken from one spot, the place where the object was found. At each location I have chosen to look vertically straight-up and then straight-down, plus or minus a few degrees. In the digital darkroom the two photographs are combined. This produces “you are standing here” images in which both the texture of the ground under foot and the neck-straining world above are revealed. Somehow our brains are able to disentangle these mixed up-down composite views and interpret the results. The Cubist painters understood our ability to do this when they constructed canvasses that showed multiple views of a subject. The merged up-down images in the present series can be thought of as the inverse of these Cubist paintings. Instead
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of looking at a fixed point from multiple directions we are looking outwards from a fixed point in two directions. On the streets we are interpreting images all the time as our brains synthesize the “real world” based on what we actually see, what we expect to see, and what our other senses are telling us. Our expectations help us make sense of the visual world. The merged up-down images are perhaps relatively easy for us to interpret because we have strong expectations for what things should be up and what should be on the ground, and in sorting this out we begin to write our version of the unwritten story. Many of the images include famous landmarks in the city: the Willis Tower, Michigan Avenue, LaSalle Street … but they are not the standard postcard views. The landmarks are not
instantly recognisable. They are alternative views. In 1971 photographer Stephen Shore created a series of fake postcards which he surreptitiously stuffed into postcard stands in places he visited in rural America. Years later he returned to some of these places to find the postcards still in the stands. I imagine doing this with my alternative views of Chicago, but I have a feeling they would not survive long in a tourist-packed city, but if they did, they too would become artifacts with a story to tell.
Steve is represented at the Perspective Gallery of Fine Art Photography in Evanston, a town just north of Chicago. To see more of my work, please visit: www.stevegeer.com
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
CREATING A WINNING IMAGE RICHARD LUXTON ARPS Richard’s image Drowning in a Whirlpool of Colour was awarded Highly Commended in this year’s Creative Eye Members’ Exhibition
E
xperimenting with the combination of altered perspective created using ultra-wide angle 8 mm – 16 mm and swirling fabric has opened up creative possibilities to create a painterly like images with echoes of the Pre-Raphaelite and Renaissance painters. The primary image is taken with the model lying on a “background” of fabrics and also under another layer of fabric. The use of shiny, sheer and colourful fabrics will reflect light in interesting ways creating the swirling patterns. Studio lights or direct sunlight can create strong highlights with interesting shadows in the fabric. The picture is taken using an ultrawide angle lens (8 mm – 16 mm) on a Canon 5DMkIV. The camera is positioned between 50 cm and 1 m above the model depending on the focal length being used and the desired effect and image being created. Post-processing is using GIMP and the associated package G'MIC both open source software similar to Photoshop. The first stage in producing the final picture is to crop the image to give the desired framing and then a clone tool is used to fill any spaces without fabric around the edge of the image. When this base image has been created it is copied and used to create a further layers to add the desired effect. By adding a mask to the layer the effect is modulated by revealing areas of the base image to varying degrees. In the picture “Drowning in a whirlpool of colour” the first layer is blurred using a Gaussian blur and then multiplied with the base image to created a smoothed, dreamy saturated effect. By using the layer mask details of the base image are revealed. The saturation is adjusted and this now becomes a new base layer. This is copied and a new layer created to which further effects are added. In this case a radial blur filter (G'MIC) is used to create the whirlpool effect and a layer mask allows detail of the lower layer to be revealed creating the desired effect. The final stages are to adjust the contrast and brightness using curves and then to add subtle adjustments to the hue. 13
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
A 50 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE
The Oculus, 2018
TILLMAN KLEINHANS ARPS
O
n the 23rd of February 1971, I bucked the family
trend and got a camera (Zenit B + Helios f2 lens) for my 21st birthday instead of a posh fountain pen. 50 years on and without a break, I’m still as passionate (Marj, my wife, says obsessive) about photography as I was then – probably more so. What made me decide time in my life I was at Teacher Training College and when I should have been revising for Chemistry and Physics exams in the college library, I would find myself 14
Phone vs Book, 2018
to get a camera? At that
Water Slide Trio, 1990s
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
distracted by the Amateur Photography magazine. Those and the subsequent Photography books I would read (when I should have been studying!) fuelled a desire to have a go at photography to fill an ‘arty’ void that I wasn’t ‘allowed’ to pursue at school. Within weeks of getting the camera, I had moved the wardrobe in my bedroom and turned the resulting alcove into a makeshift darkroom and started monochrome printing. That and colour transparency became the mainstay of my photographic output during the BC years (Before Computer). I joined The St Helens Camera Club in 1976 (still a member!) and in 1979, encouraged by my Mother in Law, I successfully applied for my LRPS using monochrome prints. During the mid 80s I was invited to become an L&CPU Judge and Lecturer – I’m now also a PAGB Judge. Although I would photograph any subject, I found that I most enjoyed producing images that were a little ‘different’ from the usual camera club
Marj, 1972
fare and I particularly liked architectural graphic and abstract images. I also realised that the image was more important than the way it was produced and this idea led to some good debates 15
LRPS Panel, 1979
Persistence of Love, 2020
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
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Hands, 1980s
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
over the years, especially during the home processed verses trade processed prints ‘debates’ of the late 80s and early 90s and more recently with ‘Photography v Digital Art’ discussions. I started the transition from film to digital in 1996, but it wasn’t until 1999 that I decommissioned my last darkroom, which meant I no longer had to share the utility room with the cat or my wife, as I would scan and digitally print my negatives and slides and I could now do my own colour prints. Within a few more years I had sold all my film cameras and had gone totally digital. In 1998 I achieved my CPAGB with colour slides, in 1999 my DPAGB using prints and 2000 saw my successful ARPS application in Visual Arts with a mono print submission based on patterns and textures. I have really enjoyed the AD years (After Digital) which opened up a whole new range of possibilities for the creative photographer, and I look forward to the photographic challenges of the future. Fortunately, spending all that time (Scanned Slide), 1998
reading and learning about photography didn’t stop me becoming a Science teacher, a career that lasted 39 years until my retirement and I was fortunate to be able to teach photography at all the schools in which I worked. 17
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
MY LIFE AS A PHOTOGRAPHER PALLI GAJREE OAM, HON.FRPS, FBIPP
AUSTRALIA
Palli is the longest serving member in Australia of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), and of the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP), as well as The Photographic Society of America (PSA).
I
was born and brought up in Kenya, my parents having migrated from North India
back in the mid-20s. My interest in photography began at a young age of 15, when I saved enough pocket money to invest in a Kodak 127 folding camera just after the last War. It had only cost me an equivalent of $3.00 then! Enthusiasm in portraiture developed and in 1951 I added a twin-lens Rolleiflex to my equipment. Relatives, friends and anyone else who could be persuaded were posing in front of my new camera. Two years later, in 1953, this interest in portraiture took a new turn when I travelled to the United Kingdom to do a two-year fulltime course in photography at the Manchester College Contemplation
of Technology (now known as Manchester Metropolitan University). After the completion of studies, I turned to London and joined the West-End portrait studio with the wellknown photographer, the
which was to provide
portrait was subsequently
success. To be a successful
late Walter Bird, FIBP, FRPS.
even further incentive
selected and reproduced
portraitist one has to be
Two years’ experience gained
in competing with other
in The British Journal
very much aware of the
from this studio proved most
exhibitors around the world.
Photographic Almanac 1958
importance of recording the
beneficial and any success
My first exhibition success
as well as Photograms of the
human personality, coupled
I achieved in portrait work
came in 1957 when one of my
Year 1958.
with rules of composition,
is largely attributed to this
portraits taken at Walter Bird
great master of portrait
Studios was accepted and
Nairobi, Kenya to set up my
photography. Bird himself
shown at the London Salon
own portrait and commercial
was a keen Salon exhibitor
of Photography. The same
studio with some degree of
18
In 1958 I returned to
lighting, background and so forth. A couple of years later, a job offer as a senior
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
cameraman, emerged from the Kenya Government Information Services, an offer too good to refuse. This gave me good exposure to various other branches of photography such as Press, Photojournalism, Architectural, Industrial, Wildlife, Landscape Photography, etc. Also, prior to Kenya gaining Independence in 1963, I was made the Head of Photographic Section with the Kenya Government Information Services. I recall that when Jomo Kenyatta became President of Kenya I was asked to take the official portrait, in colour, for circulation world-wide. The biggest surprise of my life came in 1964, when my wife, Shashi, gave me a birthday present of a Hasselblad 500C complete with 150mm and 250mm lenses, magazines and prism finder. This was the major breakthrough in doing wildlife studies in colour and blackand-white. From then on, most of our week-ends and annual holidays were to Walter Bird, FIBP, FRPS
be spent around the National Parks and Game Reserves of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, an experience and thrill which is still cherished today. In 1972, having made a momentous decision, we moved to Australia for permanent residence and settled in Melbourne. I joined Swinburne Institute of Technology (now Swinburne University) in 1973, and retired from fulltime lecturing position in Photography some 22 years later. I found teaching immensely enjoyable and stimulating. The students brought challenging ideas to be solved photographically, and it is very gratifying to see a number of them go on to establish successful photographic businesses, some on the International scene. My membership of the RPS and BIPP (formerly IBP)) has been a most important part of my life. After joining The Society in 1954, I gained my ARPS in Portraiture in 1956 and an FRPS in 1975 with black-and-white prints of African wildlife. In 1989 I was awarded the rare distinction of an Honorary FRPS, “for promoting photography over many years, particularly in Kenya and Australia, as an exhibitor, judge and teacher”. My work, incidentally, is represented in the RPS Permanent Collection as well as in collections of several other international
Dorothy
photographic societies. Exhibiting and lecturing, both locally and internationally, have been a major 19
Swiss Apls
Angkor Wat Interior
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
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CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
interest for me and I have been a judge at numerous National and International exhibitions. My interest in international photography has led me to be an active member of several of the leading photographic societies around the world and, over the years, I have gained various skill and Ringwood Lake in Infrared
service honours from these Societies. I have also been awarded the highest skill and service honours of the International Federation of Photographic Art (MFIAP and Hon.EFIAP), the first and, so far, the only Australian to receive this recognition. In 1989 I was awarded my most treasured award to date. That was the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for “Services to Photography”. Also, as recently as March 2021, I received a special RPS President and Council Commendation for “Meritorious Service”. Its the first time this RPS Award has been made. For the last two decades I have been involved with digital photography, taking on
Leopard Leisure
the challenges of Photoshop and Lightroom. I now use a Canon 5D Mark IV and shoot images in RAW exclusively. My latest interest has been converting a Canon 40D to take infrared images, a new challenge which I am enjoying immensely. Looking back over my 65+ years in photography, I have enjoyed greatly the opportunities I’ve had to make contact with international photographers and thus develop an ability to assess constructively a wide range of photographic disciplines. And above all,
Dawn at Halong Bay
I value the long-lasting friendships formed with other photographers, some going back for fifty or sixty years. What a pleasure and privilege it has all been. 21
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
A FRUITFUL YEAR
Walnut
JULIE COWDY ARPS
22
Beetroot
M
y holiday home is in the Lomagne, a region of SW France famed for its garlic production. Each July the market stalls overflow with heaps of violet ‘tresses d’ail’. One of these plaits of garlic bulbs began a series. During the summer months in France I set up my chosen subjects on the terrace, where the strong, natural lighting makes it easy to achieve detailed studies. I decided that I wanted to photograph the garlic and then add a layer of text. I happily foraged for other ‘fruits of the earth’ from around the garden and meadow, collecting a branch of bullace (a cross between damson and sloe), also pears and figs. I wanted to study each item in more detail, so I made separate photos of seeds, leaves and cross-sections of their fruit. The compost heap was a fertile source, supplying a sprouting avocado and walnut.
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Sunflower
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so I searched my folder of textures to find sympathetic colour matches for each subject. I added these as layers on top of the finished compositions, then, using a layer mask, I brushed away the areas where I didn’t want texture. To everything there is a
season, so I had to practise patience when I returned to England in the autumn. I waited for other specimens to grow and ripen; eventually collecting raspberries, carrots, turnips and beetroot from a neighbour’s allotment. During the winter and spring I dug up narcissus and hellebores from
my garden, carefully washing the soil from their bulbs and roots. The time came, after a full year, when I realised I had the makings of a panel of fifteen to submit in the Fine Art category to the RPS, which ultimately led to my successful ARPS award in November 2020.
Garlic
Raspberry
We’re surrounded by fields of sunflowers and roses climb the walls of our courtyard, so I added flowers to my growing collection. Whether branches, blossoms or buried bounty, above the ground, on the ground or below the ground, they all have unique characteristics. The style of 19th century botanical illustrations came to mind. I believe that the detailed accuracy of PierreJoseph Redouté’s 19th century rose paintings inspired my love of photographing flowers, fruit and vegetables. The decision to suspend each subject with twine was a practical, presentational solution, as the garlic refused to stand up without support. Including the rustic element just seemed appropriate. In post processing I decided to make composite images to create a trompe l’oeil effect. I used Photoshop to make layers with photos I’d made of antiqued paper and borders. Later, I realised that the stark white backgrounds were not appropriate for the vintage style I was aiming to create,
Fig
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
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CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
Pear
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CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
THE MUSIC OF PHOTOGRAPHY
EVAN DAWSON CEO RPS
D
uring the course of my career in the arts, I’ve spent time
as a professional musician, composer, concert manager and photographer. So, eventually, it was a natural step for me to combine all these. When I was young, I met the great music photographer David Redfern at a jazz festival in Wales. I was intrigued by how he always seemed to appear from the shadows at just the right moments, keeping well apart from the rest of the press photographers. So, it was with him in mind that I took my own cameras to a jazz concert in Bristol a few years ago, a concert being given by an old friend of mine, the trumpeter Tom Arthurs (pictured here). The venue was the famous 26
CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
chamber music centre St George’s Bristol. After the concert, the venue staff saw my images, and invited me to come to further concerts - and soon after, I became their first “resident photographer”. So began a new photographic adventure for me, that deepened not only my experience of camera-craft, but also my relationship with music itself. The first few concerts I shot were a big learning curve. There are significant technical challenges in capturing images of concerts where the light is low, and changeable; and in which musicians and others move quickly; and important moments can be unpredictable and fleeting. Alongside these are the more subtle challenges of shooting in an environment in which you need to move discreetly through an audience, who have paid for unrestricted sight-lines; and who take unkindly to noises such as loud shutter-releases, particularly during quiet and intense performances. The first thing I learnt was to wear dark clothes, soft shoes, and to remember exactly where the squeaky floorboards were. I also learnt the benefits of arriving early, to make friends with stage managers and audience members in particular seats. To help address the shutter noises, I visited several camera shops, and listened to the shutters of many cameras. The staff were quite bemused by me. Mirrorless cameras are quietest in general, but there’s still a lot of variance. The electronic shutter can be totally silent, of course – but doesn’t respond well to particular types of LED light, which are common in stage lighting. Eventually, I chose a Fujifilm XH1, which meant I could confidently take many more shots without disturbing people. I have always enjoyed concerts, which are usually a fairly passive experience for audiences. However, as a music photographer, one needs to “read” the concert, to anticipate what is going to happen next - to move to the right places, choose the right lens, and line up the shot at the right time. It creates an intense awareness of the whole space, and a direct connection with the musicians – and through all this, I found a fresh new appreciation of music. When I shoot a concert now, I’m there for both music and photography, and hope this comes across to you in the images you can see on the pages here. 27
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CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
FIELD TRIP: HOUGHTON HALL
SCULPTURE IN NATURE
M
embers of the RPS Creative Eye Group and East Anglia camera clubs gathered together at Houghton Hall, near King’s Lynn, in July for the first field trip since 2019. This year, Houghton Hall has been hosting sculptures by Sir Tony Cragg, both inside the buildings and outside in the extensive grounds – which include a lovely walled garden. Some of the sculptures are enormous, some very small, and the participants were invited to make creative images for a competition of Sculpture in Nature. The competition was judged by Prof Brian Falconbridge PPRPS, whose very considered academic views on photography are always fascinating. With 21 of our photographers spending the day in this quite remote part of Norfolk, it was nice for a social gathering. The weather was perfect for photography, with clouds setting off the outside sculptures.
Winner: Tree Line by Michael Cant For sheer boldness in identifying deceptively simple sculptural form, enhanced by the dramatic depiction of perspectival depth within panoramic grandeur incorporating skyscape, and stark reversal of tone resulting in a compellingly atmospheric image.
Runner up: Full Moon Circle by Nigel Rea ARPS For its quietly dramatic use of scale, the clear and confident use of the arc within the horizontal as a compositional device, the articulate use of a reduced colour palette of grey/blue and contrasting greens, the use of surface and textile to convey recession via the low angle of capture.
Jeremy Rodwell ARPS
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JUDGE’S COMMENTS Prof Brian Falconbridge PPRPS This year, with its wealth of large-scale sculpture by Tony Cragg RA strategically sited within the vast grounds of Houghton Hall, contributing members have responded freely and creatively in addressing the broad brief of capturing Sculpture in Nature. The 14 submissions all bear the hallmarks of distinctly individual voices and range from the theatrical and figuratively surreal to the formal and abstracted, the dynamically ‘shimmering’ and active to the contemplatively static, and taxonomical even. Collectively embracing the conventions of both ‘portrait’ and ‘landscape’ formats, all works were presented anonymously. Assessment on these occasions is never an exact science and I have tried to avoid preferences of personal taste in favour of
objective quality of image – although in this case I am personally persuaded on both fronts by the works I have identified. Each image of the 14 submitted carries its own point of view and I warmly encourage all photographers participating to continue to explore the potential of their own individual personal visual language – irrespective of my selection of the three for commendation – and I offer my congratulations to all. In awarding 1st, 2nd and 3rd I have sought to identify those images that seem to carry particular weight of authority as regards their visual and poetic content and clarity of purpose, underscored by mastery of composition within the picture frame, and their skilful use of colour and tone - all in support of maximising a creative response to the brief.
Third place: Eruption by Sue Reid
Met in the Garden by Pat Atter
A word In your shell-Like.... by Jeremy Rodwell ARPS
For an assembled image creatively interpreting and re-presenting a physical and static sculpture as a dynamic entity conveying the release of powerful natural forces and energy in a daytime sky turned to night.
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CREATIVE EYE GROUP MAGAZINE NO. 86 SEPTEMBER 2021
DIARY THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING
LIGHTROOM LIVE
Images that explore movement, balance and harmony within the ideology of Russian avant-garde painter Kazimir Malevich’s Dynamic Suprematism work.
Members’ images, Joe’s Processing (live!) followed by a discussion of Joe’s results compared with the members’ edits.
When: Sunday 10 October 2021
Time: 15:00 GMT
Time: 10:30 BST (9:30 GMT)
Cost:
Cost:
Where: Online
TONY BRAMLEY FRPS
th
FREE (booking required by Saturday 11th September)
JOE HOUGHTON
When: Saturday 8th January 2022 FREE (booking required)
Where: Online
COLOUR, TONES AND TEXTURES RUTH GRINDROD
This presentation explores how colour, tone and texture are all interrelated in landscape photography. The talk explores how to apply the theory to practice and shows a range of her work from around the UK and further afield. When: Saturday 5th February 2022 Time: 15:00 GMT Cost:
FREE (booking required)
CREDIT: Tony Bramley FRPS
Where: Online
RPS CREATIVE EYE GROUP AGM The AGM will be followed by a talk, Working in Photographic Projects/ Collections, to be given by Sam Gregory. In this talk Sam discusses how to start working in projects, the practical and theoretical approaches with examples across various bodies of work. This talk is designed to help single shot image makers explore a new way of working that can help deliver them stronger portfolios and a body of work ready for exhibitions, books and more.
THE ART OF METAMORPHOSIS II ANDREA HARGREAVES FIPF MPAGB EFIAP/B
Following Andrea’s creative journey as she explains how the Valkyrie series came to life and how they inspired her to create Morghanna and the Raven Queen and further still, to her new series of Dragon Watches.
When: Sunday 20th March 2022 Time: 10:30 GMT Cost:
FREE (booking required)
Where: Online
When: Saturday 27th November 2021 Time: 15:00 GMT Cost:
FREE
CREDIT: Andrea Hargreaves
Where: Online
* For further details regarding events please visit the Creative Eye Group website: rps.org/ceg 31
THANKS FOR READING ...and a big thank you to this edition’s contributors. We welcome submissions from Creative Eye Group members, so if you have a distinction success, story, image or a project that you would like to share, please let us know. Feedback is very welcome and gratefully received. Please send your comments and suggestions to the editor.
CONTACTS Steve Varman (Editor) creative.publications@rps.org Website rps.org/ceg Social facebook facebook.com/groups/rpscg flickr flickr.com/groups/rps-creative
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