Enewsletter36 by Royal Photographic Society

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER The Travel Image of the Month is: “Street Traders - Place Jemma El Fna, Marrakesh” by Justin Cliffe, LRPS

©JustinCliffe

Thank you Justin for this colourful, night-time image – probably hand-held so quite challenging I would imagine. (I bet the guy on the right is thinking “I wish she’d hurry up”).

#36 July 2018

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#36 July 2018

Contents A message from Peter Hayes, Chair Travel Panel “The One that Got Away” by TG Member Jim Buckley “India”, an article by TG Member Peter Jones More of the “Highly Commended” entries from the Projected Image Competition The Greatest Traveller of All? Coming soon!

A Message from Peter Hayes, FRPS Congratulations to Max Robinson on being awarded his RPS Travel Fellowship. His stunning portfolio, which shows the daily life and rituals of the Hamer Tribe in Ethiopia, can be seen here https://www.maxvmax.com/#/hamertribe/ This is the first Travel Fellowship to be awarded for more than three years and shows what can be achieved with skill and dedication. The next Travel Panel assessment is on September 11 and 12 for both ARPS and FRPS. We very much look forward to your submissions. If anyone has any questions please contact me: peterhayes@btconnect.com Peter Hayes Chair Travel Panel

The One that Got Away The last issue recorded the success of two members who had brilliant shots included in Photobox’s Crown from the Crowd, and this prompted Travel Group member Jim Buckley LRPS to write to me as he had three pictures selected for the book plus “one that got away” but made it into The Telegraph Magazine. Jim told me “When I retired in 2004, as a keen amateur photographer, I volunteered at Whiteley Village, a unique retirement village in Surrey founded in 1907 with a bequest from William Whiteley. Whiteley owned the Harrods of the day in Bayswater. Prince Charles spent a day at the Village in March 2007 to celebrate its centenary. He was charming and gentle with the elderly residents and very content to pose with them for photographs. They were of course delighted to be photographed with him. But I had photographed a young www.rps.org/travelgroup www.facebook.com/rpstravelgroup © 2018 Royal Photographic Society

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#36 July 2018

Prince of Wales 27 years earlier in 1980 in a previous life when I was private secretary to the last Governor of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Lord Soames. Prince Charles represented The Queen at the independence ceremonies and I snapped away. When I told Prince Charles he loved this coincidence and remarked on it to several Villagers as he chatted to them in 2007. A shot of his welcome at Salisbury (Harare) airport in April 1980 was included in Crown from the Crowd. Photobox selected two other pictures of mine for the publication and sent one to The Telegraph newspaper who included it in a special colour supplement on the Royal wedding. But in the end that particular snap was not used in the book and a different one of mine was chosen. Clearly the newspaper didn’t know this and so The One that got Away was published, making four pictures in total.”

In the picture left, Prince Charles is helping steady the centenary cake which is being cut by 105 year old resident Hettie with Care Manager Lisa Sparrow Below, a young Prince of Wales being greeted by Mary Soames in 1980.

Text & images ©Jim Buckley

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#36 July 2018

“India” by Peter Jones, ARPS

India is a land of contrasts and not without reason; the land mass is some 1800 miles North to South and East to West and over 1.2 billion people live there. Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi is some 9 hours flying time from London the two cities being about 4,500 miles apart. The fear of India that some have is perhaps not unfounded however with a few sensible precautions it shouldn’t present any problems; check out with the internet or your local health adviser about any vaccinations that you may need; when in India do not ingest any drinking water under any circumstances therefore avoiding salad, peeled fruit, ice in drinks even when showering avoid swallowing any water even washing your toothbrush in bottled water; when buying bottled water check that the bottle has not been tampered with; it is not unknown for some local entrepreneur to refill a bottle with tap water for resale. Avoiding India does not help with people’s poverty issues; hopefully our travel there will put some money back into the economy; the unit of currency is the Rupee and is a protected currency in that you cannot obtain it outside India and you cannot take any significant sum out of India. You will need a Visa which used to be a torturous process now made much easier by being obtainable online. India as a country is dotty, infuriating, illogical but stunningly beautiful, absorbing, magical, addictive and fascinating with wonderful people; apart from portraits of elderly Sikh gentlemen it is a country that is very under photographed; blissfully you will not find hordes of your fellow photographers there; in my opinion India is a wonderful venue for your photography whatever your particular interest is.

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#36 July 2018

Your options for visiting India are many; most people prefer to visit India as part of a tour for their first time; I toured NE India using a company based in Guwahati in Assam: Jungle Travels; you will quickly find that customer service in India is generally way out in front of anything that you will experience in the UK; for example our car broke down in Arunachal Pradesh; within two hours a replacement car was available; in the UK either the office would have been shut and/or we would have had to wait for a week. A lot of travellers start their India experience with the Golden Triangle which connects Delhi, Agra and Jaipur in Rajasthan; it is a well trodden route and you won’t be far from other travellers but is an excellent introduction to India. My particular interest in India is the fascinating people of various cultures, religions and beliefs; the vast majority don’t mind being photographed but as always it is wise to be sensitive to feelings and observe body language; my last two caveats apply in any street, town or city throughout the world; it is often preferable to photograph situations or occurrences when you are far less likely to be noticed; some purist photographers avoid obvious tourist areas; in my opinion such an elevated view is a big mistake as people in these areas are often used to being photographed. We in the UK live in a paranoid society, one effect of which is that it is inadvisable to photograph children in any situation; luckily our paranoia has not spread to the rest of the world and in India there is no issue whatsoever; as always engage brain: do not take images of children which could cause offence for any reason whatsoever. The pictures that accompany this piece have been taken in Delhi – a street photographer’s dream – also in Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. This is a very short article on India and to do the country real justice would require a whole series of articles or a book. If you visit India you will never be bored or ever run out of subjects to photograph.

Text & Images ©Peter Jones

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#36 July 2018

More of the “Highly Commended” photos from the PIC.

Above L – “Home”, Hong Kong, by Mike Berry Above R – “Hanging Around Havana-Style” by Carol Hudson Below L – “Moon Mountain”, Bolivia, by Lynda Golightly Below R – “The Dirty Business of Wool-Dyeing”, Marrakesh, by Justin Cliffe

The Greatest Traveller? If I asked who you thought was the greatest traveller of all time, then you might come up with “Marco Polo”, “Charles Darwin”, “Captain Cooke” or similar? Well here’s another name for you to consider …

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#36 July 2018

Shams al-Din Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Ibn Battutah al-Lawati al-Tanji is a bit of a mouthful, so he is commonly known as Ibn Battutah and was perhaps the greatest of all travellers. A Muslim, he set off from his home in Tangiers to Mecca, for the Hajj, in 1325 and just kept going – for 29 years and 75,000 miles, three times the distance travelled by Marco Polo. His journey took in the whole of the Arabian Peninsula, India, China, Turkey, The Maldives, Africa North & East ….. It was decreed by the Sultan of Morocco that he should dictate his story, which was written down and today you can still read “The Travels of Ibn Battutah”. No photographs, but some excellent illustrations.

Coming soon! “Me & Annie Leibovitz”, plus I’m expecting to receive shortly an article which demonstrates that our passion can lead to much more than just “travel” and “photography”. And I haven’t forgotten about “The Elephant in the Photo”! Also, it would be great if some of you could let me have your views on this new way of delivering your newsletter, and don’t forget to let me have your news, photos & text for publication here!

See you next issue Grahame