RPS The Decisive Moment - Edition 31 - November 2024
THE DECISIVE MOMENT
Photo: Raymond Hughes ARPS
4 From Our Chair
6 The Documentary Group Team and Plans for 2025-2026
8 In Focus: Ashok Viswanathan
24 Abbot’s Blessing - Armando Jongejan FRPS
40 Documentary Group Events
42 ARPS Panel - Clive Watkins ARPS
62 ARPS Panel - Raymond Hughes ARPS
82 On The Bookshelf: Homer Sykes - An Annual Affair: Some Traditional British Calendar Customs
102 Documentary Group Online
ARPS Panel, Raymond Hughes ARPS. p62
ARPS Panel, Clive Watkins ARPS. p42
Abbot’s Blessing, Armando Jongejan FRPS. p24
In Focus: Ashok Viswanathan. p8
From Our Chair
We have recently updated the Documentary Group Plans for 2025-2026. These are summarised on the following page and are published in full in the About Us section of the website.
In this edition we have an In Focus feature on the work of Ashok Viswanathan, two successful Distinctions Associateship panels from Clive Watkins and Raymond Hughes, work by Armando Jongejan FRPS, a review of Homer Sykes’ book, An Annual Affair, plus our usual updates of events and news.
We are preparing for the final exhibition of the Documentary Photography Awards (DPA) at RPS House, Bristol (January to March 2025). The number of images is being expanded so that we can make good use of the main exhibition space and we will aim to hold an in-person opening event. If you are in and around Bristol it would be great to see you. Submissions for DPA 2025 is planned to start in May next year.
In the last edition of DM I talked about two key elements in documentary work - What is the story? and Why are you doing it? We will cover these questions in our new “What’s the Story?” workshop series which should be ready to launch in early 2025. We are just putting the final touches to our content and resources. To make access to the course easier our intent is to run the workshop online as three, 2-hour evening events. If there is sufficient demand, we will look to run the workshop a couple of times a year.
Another aspect to consider in documentary work is how you intend to approach the project. Research is an important part of documentary photography; it gives you potential new insights and knowledge and helps inform what you might be focusing your photography on. For ideas and insights on different approaches check out the Resources page of our website, which has pages covering books on documentary or related photography practice and photobooks we consider noteworthy.
We already have two new Engagement Talks lined up for 2025, with Tom Booth Woodger (photographer, designer and publisher of Bluecoat books on 27 February) and Murray Ballard (photographer on 27 March). We will likely hold our AGM just before one of these talks, and we will formally notify you in due course. More talks and events will follow.
As we approach the end of the year, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for supporting our events and especially to our teams of volunteers (Nick L, Andrew, Nick H, Val, Harry and Wayne), our local teams and our joint teams with Contemporary group (Peter, Richard, David, Steff, Alan, Philip, Chris, Jeff, Carol and Steve), without whom we could not deliver our local activities. Additional thanks go to all those who helped install, take down or invigilate our touring exhibition.
Mark A Phillips FRPS Chair, Documentary Group
The Documentary Group Team
Documentary Group Committee:
Chair: Mark A Phillips FRPS doc@rps.org
Secretary: Nick Linnett LRPS docsecretary@rps.org
Finance Officer: Andrew Burton ARPS docfinance@rps.org
Members: Valerie Mather ARPS, Harry Hall FRPS, Wayne Richards, Nick Hodgson FRPS Dave Thorp, Neil Cannon
Local Group Organisers:
East Midlands: Volunteer Required docem@rps.org
South East: Jeff Owen ARPS docse@rps.org
Northern: Peter Dixon ARPS docnorthern@rps.org
Thames Valley: Philip Joyce FRPS doctv@rps.org
Central (with Contemporary): Steff Hutchinson ARPS
North West (with Contemporary): Alan Cameron
Yorkshire: Carol Hudson LRPS docyork@rps.org
Southern: Christopher Morris ARPS docsouthern@rps.org
East Anglia: Richard Jeffries docea@rps.org
Scotland (with Contemprary et al): Steve Whittaker email Steve Whittaker
To support the RPS Strategic Plan Photography for Everyone 2021-2026 and to enhance the relevance for Documentary Photography by engaging more diverse audiences and ensuring our activities self-fund.
Inspiration – showcase inspiring photography and to shed new light on subjects of importance
These activities are focussed around showcasing and celebrating high quality photographic work and thinking:
Engagement talks
The Decisive Moment
Documentary Photography Awards (DPA)
DPA touring exhibition
Skills and Knowledge – encouraging a deeper understanding of photography and providing resources for photographic education and Recognition (such as distinctions and awards)
To develop the range and reach of our educational activities. We want to help photographers develop their practice, and also educate non-photographers about what is current in documentary photography:
Workshops
Engage university courses
Resources and support individual development
Distinction support
Community – promote belonging and inclusivity, by supporting and engaging widely
To engage with more people and connect with other communities, including those who are not photographers, to appreciate the value of documentary photography:
Work with groups outside RPS
Regional and local activities
Website and social media
Online competition
Newsletter
The Documentary Group is run by RPS members who volunteer their time. If you can help in any capacity, please email Mark using doc@rps.org to let him know.
rps.org/groups/documentary/about-us
In Focus
Ashok Viswanathan discusses his project about the Durga Pooja Festival in India with Nick Hodgson
Based in Chennai, South India, experienced photographer Ashok Viswanathan is a member of the India Chapter of the RPS. His project on the Durga Pooja festival provides a rare insight into, and aspect of, an important Indian religious festival.
Tell us a bit about your background. What do you do, and how much of a role does photography play in your life (and how long have you been using a camera)?
My photography goes back to the early 1970’s as a high school student using some well-known brands in the world of analogue cameras. I started with a Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta roll film camera, graduating to a Minolta SRT 101, Nikon Nikkormat FTN and finally to a Nikon FM with a 28mm lens, a 75-150mm zoom and a 50mm f/1.4 lens. I preferred 35mm for the ease and flexibility it offered. I shot using Ilford FP3 and HP3 and also Kodachrome II (ISO 25) and Kodachrome 64 (ISO 64).
Monochrome prints were produced on Ilford bromide paper or Agfa paper. At times I also shot using the rare ORWO NP55 film, a left-over movie stock that I managed to obtain from generous cinematographers.
I maintained a darkroom for over 12 years until I graduated back in 1980 when I got a job and moved to another city in India. Before then, in the early 1970s while still at high school, I managed the school darkroom, developing and printing images for myself and for the school magazine. I also taught basic photography camera craft to interested students who used the darkroom on weekends. From 197379 I ran the college photographic club, and the analogue darkroom equipped with a Durst enlarger.
I also organised inter-college exhibitions and participated in competitions held by other colleges in India. The student members produced work of a high standard winning some prestigious awards in the process. My most notable awards during this period were winning the Dr Kosh rolling trophy at the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai, and a gold medal at the Singapore International.
For many years I was a company executive, but I am now 69 years old, retired, and my sole passion is photography and high-end audio. I try to go out as often as possible to use my camera.
You seem to use a variety of camera bodies and lenses. You’re quite a collector!
Yes. In early 2002 I explored the new world of digital cameras with an Olympus D460 (offering just 1.3 MP!), and then upgraded a year later to a Nikon D100 DSLR (6.1MP) with a 24-85 f2.8 Nikon AF macro zoom. I later added the classic 14mm f/2.8 Nikon AFD and the 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-ED Nikon zoom.
In 2013 I moved to a Fuji X Pro 1 with an 18-55mm f/2.8 lens and by 2015 switched from Nikon to Fuji using a Metabones adaptor to mount Nikkor lenses on to the Fuji mirrorless. In September 2015 I added the Fuji 50-140mm f/2.8 pro grade lens, followed by the 10-24mm f/4 Fujinon lens in May 2016. I’m now entirely working with Fuji glass, except for the recently added manual focus Nikon 105mm macro utilising the Metabones adaptor. And I’m waiting for Fuji to launch a 300mm f/2.8 AF prime lens.
Meanwhile I still have one leg in the analogue world. My Rolleiflex 3.5F has come out of retirement and I shoot using Ilford FP4 and HP5. I was recently gifted another Rolleiflex 3.5 and a late 1980s Hasselblad 500 CM system with 50mm and 180mm lenses, prism and three backs.
My kit today also includes a Manfroto carbon tripod and a Minolta IV light meter. My post-production monitor is EIZO 24inch-profiled, and the usual colour space I use is Adobe ProPhoto.
Tell us about the project
This series of images tries to showcase the making of the idols for ‘Durga Pooja’, an annual Indian festival held in October and celebrated in the Eastern Indian state of West Bengal. It’s a ten-day festival with celebrations including prayer, family visits, giving of gifts, feasting and finally processions. The festival marks the victory of Goddess Durga over evil, demonstrating power over life and creation. The primary focus is on Goddess Durga but it also includes other Hindu deities such as Ganesha, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartikeya. On the tenth day the idol is immersed in a river or lake.
Making the idols is a long process requiring skill and patience over many months in the summer before they can be ready for Durga Pooja. These idols are made from straw and clay, carefully shaped, with large idols being built on a platform of bamboo or wood. The base is clay, and the idol is then built up with straw using moulds with jute. The heads, hands and fingers are made separately and attached to the main body. Once dry, the idols are painted in bright colours, dressed and decorated.
Over the past few years a group of artisans from Bengal have arrived and made Durga idols in an old shed in the heart of my city. They eat, sleep and work in the shed in summer months until the idols are decorated and ready to be sold to the small local Bengali population. Then they move on to another part of India.
So is it unusual for you to have the opportunity to make this project?
Living in Chennai, in South India, we do not normally see Durga Pooja celebrations. I therefore saw this as a rare opportunity to document the making of Durga Pooja idols and the artisans at work with straw and clay.
What were the challenges that you faced and how did you overcome them?
The greatest difficulty was one of communication. The visitors do not speak any language except Bengali and no one I know in Chennai speaks this language. I therefore had to rely on the kindness of the workers to allow me to photograph them. After the first few minutes they ignored me and got on with their work. Some of them I had met from an earlier visit, so I gave them some prints from a previous shoot which brought a smile to their faces, and I was immediately made welcome.
The technical challenge was that of shooting in a confined space in challenging light conditions whilst making sure that I did not get in their way. My images were composed using the available light inside the old shed they were working in. I was therefore carefully juggling shutter speeds and higher ISO settings to get the correct visual outcomes.
And finally, what’s your next project?
For the last five to six years I have been shooting ‘Theyyam’ a Hindu dance in temples where God comes to earth. It’s a centuries-old ritual in remote villages in North Kerala. The project is now complete, so I am now looking at starting to shoot the ‘Bootha Kola’ Hindu spirit worship ritual in north Karnataka - if I can find a way to gain access.
Abbot’s blessing on 24th June 2020 during COVID-19
Armando Jongejan FRPS
Armando Jongejan FRPS studied photography at the University of Applied Photography in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands and works as a freelance photographer. His work is characterised by a thematic approach. As a documentary photographer he is curious about people in their own environment, how they live and how they work.
His images have been regularly exhibited, including at FOAM Photography Museum in Amsterdam, Fotomuseum in Rotterdam, Gallery Mauritian in Tallinn (Estonia), Städtisches Museum at Halberstadt in Germany, the Photography Museum of Lishui (China), and at PhotoFestival Pelt in Belgium.
His work has been featured in various photography magazines, and Armando has also had photography books published, including Egmondse dorpsportretten (Villagers of Egmond - 1996), Van binnenuit (From the Inside - 2000), Licht uit, deur op slot (Switch off the Light, Close the Door - 2001), Een zoektocht (A Quest - 2004), Thuiskomen (Coming Home - 2011), Monnikenleven (Monks’ life - 2018), Made in China (2020), The Battle of Hürtgen Forest (2020), Abtszegening (Abbot’s blessing - 2021), Tot de Blauwe Paal (To the Blue Pole - 2023) and Vietnam at work (2024). Armando was also a member of RPS Contemporary genre distinctions assessment panel for four years.
Armando Jongejans project, Abbot’s blessing on 24th June 2020 during COVID-19, is part of a long-running documentary series of daily life in the Sint Adelbert abbey in Egmond-Binnen in the Netherlands. When he visited the abbey for the first time in 1995, Brother Gerard Mathijsen was the 43rd Abbot of the Abbey of Egmond. During his Abbacy, a lot changed. A major renovation of the abbey took place, the abbey shop and the candle factory building were expanded and a conference room with a reception and exhibition space was created in the backyard to receive visitors.
Brother Gerard, who had now passed the age of 80, did not want to make himself available for another term, having been Abbot for thirtysix years. With his resignation, an election for an abbot was required to be held. On Monday 22 June 2020, Brother Thijs Ketelaars was chosen by the capitulants, the monks who are attached to the abbey by perpetual vows, as the 44th Abbot of the Abbey of Egmond. Subsequently, the Abbot’s Blessing by Abbot Praeses Maksymilian Nawara took place on Wednesday 24 June 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no invitees in the church during the Abbot’s blessing. Only a few permanent employees of the abbey sat in the pews, all a good distance away from each other. The ceremony was broadcast live, online. A laptop was placed on one of the choir stalls, connected to a webcam. However Armando was invited to physically attend and record this special service. He says it felt unreal to be able to make this impressive body of work in an almost empty church - but it also made it special.
Because no guests could be present during this ceremony, a hardcover photo book was made in a limited edition of only 100 copies. This was the third book about the Sint Adelbert abbey by Armando - earlier books about daily life in the abbey have been published: Een zoektocht (A Quest) published in 2004 (since sold out) and Monnikenleven (Monks’ life) in 2018.
RPS Documentary Events can be found on our events page, which includes our Engagement Talks series, Documentary Events and Exhibitions.
Group Meetings:
As well as centrally organised events, our Local Groups put on numerous events. These include talks and presentations, workshops or exhibitions of members work, group projects, visits and photo walks, feedback and critique sessions and online Zoom meetings.
We currently have Groups in Northern, Yorkshire, East Anglia, Thames Valley, Southern, South East, and joint groups with Contemporary in Scotland, Central and North West.
The RPS Documentary Photography Award is an international event attracting exceptional documentary and visual storytellers from across the world. Following an extensive national tour the exhibition moves to RPS House, Bristol from 17th January to 9th March 2025.
In total 9 projects are exhibited, with 3 projects from each of a Members, Students and an Open category. This format enables us to show long-form documentary work from our own RPS members, plus work of student photographers, as well as from more seasoned and experienced photographers in the open category. The selected projects are diverse; ranging from the impact of conflict and war, migration, reflections on history and memory, performance, ageing, mental health and childhood. The provide an insight into the range of what can be documentary and how it can be used to tell stories.
Clive Watkins ARPS
Documentary Associate Panel
Statement of Intent
In summer 2023 my father was diagnosed with asbestos related cancer. He requested palliative care at home rather than be admitted into a hospice. As his health declined, my mother, struggling with dementia, turned to her journal for solace.
I made these photographs to record their last few months together while the dementia was progressively robbing my mother of the ability to fully comprehend the gravity of our situation.
Through these images, I hope to honour my father’s memory and provide a lasting record of my parent’s enduring love and courage.
Scottish-based photographer Clive Watkins was recently awarded an Associateship for the beautiful and poignant panel about his parent’s relationship towards the end of his father’s life. We caught up with him just after he had heard that he had become an ARPS.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your photographic practice.
I’ve been taking photos since I was a child. Both my father and grandfather were keen photographers, and they got me interested from an early age. I still shoot some film, mainly medium format, but I predominantly use digital. I am a professional events and wedding photographer since retiring from air traffic control engineering during the pandemic. I enjoy street photography and some creative photography (which is a bit of a prerequisite as I’m chair of the RPS Creative Eye Group!)
Your panel was clearly a highly personal body of work. To what extent was this made in part to help you deal with the difficult situation you were facing?
Once my father was diagnosed, I knew I had to make the most of the short time we had left with him. Taking photos of him with the family was very much part of that. My Mum’s dementia was also worsening at the same time. I wanted to record some photos of them as I wanted to remember them together. As Dad’s illness rapidly progressed, I knew I had to keep recording what was happening. It really wasn’t easy. My brother and I were spending half the week in turns caring for our parents. When it was my turn, I always brought my camera with me but I didn’t always have the strength and the courage to use it. It isn’t easy observing the deterioration of a loved one while also trying to make meaningful photographs. But I’m glad I pushed myself to make the images I did.
Why did you choose to present your submission in monochrome?
Most of the photos are shot in my parents living room, where Dad’s hospital bed was installed for the last six weeks of his life. There’s not a lot of colour in there and I really wanted the photos to be about my parents and not the colour of the decor or the bed clothes. I suppose it was also a subconscious nostalgia for the days I spent making black and white prints with my father in his darkroom.
Technically speaking, what camera(s)/lenses/post-production did you use?
All but one image was shot on my Canon R5. Of those, all but one was with my 35mm lens. I like the natural perspective that a 35mm gives. The wide shot was actually taken with my iPhone 14 Pro - that was a tough day because it was at that visit when the decision was made to install the hospital bed at home. The final shot in the panel was shot at 100mm to isolate my mother and show her lost in her thoughts as she sat pulling weeds out of the gravel driveway - it’s an obsession she has ever since Dad passed.
There was very little post processing. Faces have been brightened and some noise reduction has been applied when the ISO crept too high. And one or two were cropped to add some impact.
Your submission was print not digital. Why did you make that choice?
I wanted these photographs to be a permanent reminder of those few months last year. As tragic as the situation was, there was some genuine joy, at least in the early weeks. Digital files are ephemeral and easily misplaced or even lost over time. Prints are permanent and I’m sure these will be viewed by future generations of our family.
And finally, do you now have another project that you’re working on (and if so, have you started it)?
I keep advising other photographers to start doing project work, but I am terrible at doing it myself! I’m fighting hard to free myself from the constraints of camera club photography with its persistent emphasis on pictorial single image photography.
I have worked over the years with a local artist, David McRae, to provide him with photos to draw and paint from. He wants to do a project called “faces of Glasgow” so I need to start going out to get the street portraits of the characters for that. I’m a firm believer that street photography isn’t just about candid images. The street photography that resonates with me most of all is where I sense a connection with the photographer and their subject. And I’ve taken inspiration from a friend in the RPS who has a flair for engaging street portraiture - so, with her help, I think it’s the logical next step for me.
July bonfires have been a tradition in Northern Ireland for generations culminating in the lighting of the fires on 11th July. In the past, this was an activity for children during the long summer school holiday but in recent decades the erecting of these pyres has become a competition between groups of adults each trying to outdo the other in the various housing estates. Their size and siting is in many cases controversial.
I wanted through these images to portray the community involvement in the building of the bonfires. I hope that they show that it is still a summer adventure for the children despite the takeover by adults who see it as a demonstration of their identity.
Raymond Hughes ARPS has been an enthusiast photographer for over 40 years and is a member of the Merville and Newtownabbey Photographic club in Northern Ireland, where he has served as Chair for the last 18 years. He is a member of the RPS Audio Visual Group and holds an ARPS in Audio Visual.
Tell us about your project
As I mentioned in my Statement of Intent, July bonfires are a tradition in Northern Ireland and in recent years have become very contentious, often frequently in the news during the summer months. It was being reported that the building of the fires, which had traditionally been a children’s pastime during the summer, had been taken over by adults. I decided that I would visit some of the sites and photograph the activity there.
What was access like?
Initially I would just arrive at the site with camera in hand and wander in. Sometimes the site was deserted, and the photographs would be of the pyre and the surroundings, particularly if the building had already been completed. Often there were children around and when they saw the camera they would be enthusiastic about having their picture taken. I prefer to take candid images when I can as I find posing loses spontaneity. Despite the apprehension garnered from the newspaper reports, I found that I was quite welcome and was left to ‘do my thing’. If anyone, as sometimes happened, said they preferred not to be photographed then that was fine with me.
When I started the project, I didn’t realise that I would visit the bonfires over the next three years. At one productive site I had images of the men building the fire. When I returned the following year, I brought some small prints from the previous year. The group I met that day were like children as they recognised themselves and others in the images. One of my submission images is of three of these men.
I visited various sites across Belfast and further afield and only once was I questioned as to who I was. One word of explanation, and I was left in peace.
How did you approach the selection of the final set of images?
I have listened to other members and what they went through to select their final images. I think I had about eight or nine versions of my hanging board before I selected the fifteen images that went to the advisory day. There was a suggestion that three of the images were weak and perhaps should be changed. I also realised from the discussion that anyone unfamiliar with Northern Ireland may not understand the significance of certain images. With that in mind I removed three images and realised that had totally changed the appearance of the submission. After some time and study, I arrived at what was to be my A panel submission. The final submission included additional images of children - although on the assessment day I thought I had made a fatal error when one of the assessors described one image as ‘too cute’.
What
kit did you use?
All images were taken on my Canon EOS 5 Mark III. I used the 24105mm lens. I did have 16-35mm and 70-200mm lenses available but did not need them. Post processing was done in Photoshop.
And what are you working on now?
One idea I have is to maybe follow up with ‘The Twelfth’, the celebrations that follow the 11th July night bonfires.
If, like me, you are a British national, you’ll know that, amongst other things, we inhabit an island of strange customs and traditions. International members may be less well acquainted with some of these cultural characteristics, many of which are centuries old and deeply rooted in the psyche of local communities. Obviously Great Britain has many centuries of history on its side – albeit on occasions not all good – so there is plenty of material to work with. A new book, based on extensive research, revisiting previous publications and decades of work, shines a strong light on a cross section of these ancient traditions.
Highly renowned documentary photographer Homer Sykes started working on this project fifteen years ago, although the initial idea most probably dates back to the late 1960’s when, as a student, he came across and photographed the Britannia Coconut Dancers of Bacup, Lancashire. Clearly these local British traditions have held some sort of fascination for him ever since.
For those not familiar with Sykes, his impressive career as photojournalist, documentary and landscape photographer includes sixteen published books, work featured in magazines around the world and numerous exhibitions. His first show was held in 1971 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, and he was the first British photographer to be granted a one-man exhibition at the prestigious Maison Robert Doisneau museum in Paris. A retrospective of his work was recently held at the Roseberry Road Studios in Bath, Somerset.
An Annual Affair features almost 80 different events, providing a deep insight into the micro-communities of Britain. We are taken on a national tour of these customs - from the ancient traditions of Wassailing (giving thanks to orchards and blessing them for good future crops) and Mummers’ plays (often acting out the slaying of a dragon by St George), to Duck Fairs, pilgrimages, Hot Cross Bun celebrations around Easter, Cake and Ale celebrations… and even the inspection of an ancient fresh water pipe in Bristol. Members of eclectic organisations and followings such as the Oddfellows, Friendly Societies and the Druids all also get a look in.
Underpinning almost all of these celebrations and customs is the sharing of food and imbibing of alcohol, the essential way in which people and their local community have and hopefully will continue to bond together.
What really makes this book work is not so much the meticulous research and access to these events, as Sykes’ outstandingly keen eye for compositional detail and visual narration. Nothing is staged and there are no formal portraits. Rarely does a participant look directly into the camera lens. These are simply a collection of beautiful visual observations made as if Sykes was invisible to the participants, but with their full approval. That’s a documentary photographic skill that can take years to perfect – and which no doubt many of us continue to strive towards.
I have no personal favourites, as there is no weakness in this book. Working my way through An Annual Affair was more about an expansion of my own knowledge of these local customs in my home country. I had to use a search engine to find some locations I’d ashamedly never heard of (Antrobus, Cheshire; Charlton St Peter, Wiltshire) and I had no idea what an ‘Ashen Faggot’ was. I do now. The ‘Notes to the Photographs’ section at the rear of the book provides genuinely interesting historical insight into each annual tradition and event, providing really helpful context to the images for the reader. What a thoughtful addendum to the images.
This 200-page book with 144 colour plates represents excellent value for money at £36 (more expensive special editions are also available) and is highly recommended.
The documentary group has a presence on the following platforms, come and join in the conversation. We understand that not everyone has a social media profile or wants to create one. That’s why all our profiles are public and can be viewed by everyone, no matter whether you have an account or not. This means you will be able to view all our posts and book on to ticketed events. Checking our RPS page and searching for events is still a good way to keep informed with all that is happening in the Documentary group. If you have any questions you can always e-mail us – all our contact details are listed there.
Facebook
Facebook Page - facebook.com/rpsdocumentary
Our public Facebook page highlights projects and events related to Documentary photography.
Facebook Group - facebook.com/groups/RPSDVJ
We also have a closed group Facebook page, exclusively for our members. If you want to join us there, you can share your pictures with us, ask for advice, and engage with our online community.
Instagram @rpsdoc
Instagram is an image-based social media platform, so think of our profile as of an online gallery. If you follow us there, you can see pictures from our competition winners, DM contributors and members along with invitations to events and images from these occasions. Instagram is the place where we want to promote the work of our group and our members to the wider public and encourage them to follow and engage with our projects.
Flickr
Royal Photographic Society - Documentary Group
Documentary Group members run an active group on Flickr with plenty of images and the opportunity to discuss them with the group.
rps.org/documentary
X
@rpsdoc
Our X/Twitter page is for short important updates such as events, exhibitions, call for entries or other announcements. If you do not have much time for scrolling on social media but still want to be in on the action, we recommend you to follow us there. We promise we’ll be short and concise.
Issuu
Issuu.com - Documentary Group, Royal Photographic Society
The Decisive Moment is published on the Issuu platform where you can read each edition online or download pdfs to read offline. Please follow the Documentary Group in Issuu and use the buttons to like and share your favourite editions or individual features - it really helps support the Documentary Group.
Website
rps.org/documentary
The Documentary Special Interest Group has a section on The Royal Photographic Society website. Here you can learn more about the group, hear about recent news and future events and access an increasing number of documentary photography resources.
Documentary is about developing a narrative or story using images. Our Documentary Group members have a common interest in documentary, urban and street, photography. The group offers a lively events programme, a regular e-journal and the opportunity to participate in other photographic initiatives.
Documentary photography communicates a clear narrative through visual literacy. It can be applied to social, cultural, historical and political events.
Documentary photographers’ work always has an intent; whether that is to represent daily life, explore a specific subject, deepen our thinking, or influence our opinions. rps.org/documentary
Members form a dynamic and diverse group of photographers globally who share a common interest in documentary and street photography.
We welcome photographers of all skill levels and offer members a diverse programme of workshops, photoshoots, longer-term projects, exhibitions, an online journal and newsletter and the RPS Documentary Photography Award (DPA).
Some longer-term collaborative projects are in the pipeline for the future. We have a active membership who participate in regional meetings, regular competitions and exchange ideas online through our social media groups.
The Documentary Group is always keen to expand its activities and relies on ideas and volunteer input from its members.
If you’re not a member come and join us. Find us on the RPS website at: rps.org/documentary
