THE DECISIVE MOMENT: THE E-JOURNAL OF THE DVJ APRIL 2015 EDITION 1
PHOTO: CHRIS HILTON
The people who manage the DVJ: CHAIRMAN : MO CONNELLY LRPS Retired from the UN refugee agency after a career as a workaholic, frequently living in a tent on remote borders in troubled regions. Have now achieved my work-life balance by getting a life after work. What do I like? Photography, photographers, being at home, travelling and people who respect human rights. What do I dislike? The fact that I am becoming a grumpy old woman and actually enjoying it. T REASURER: JUSTIN CLIFFE LRPS I have been interested in photography since my late teens however family and work commitments took then priority and I’ve really only got back to it over the past 5 years since retiring from a life in the City. I joined the RPS, and the DVJ group, about 4 years ago and was awarded my LRPS in 2013. I am also a member of Woking Photographic Society and the Street Photography London collective. My particular interest is ‘street photography’, something that I’m able to combine with my part time work for a charity in London.
SECRETARY : WAN SHUN FAN A trainee solicitor, Wan has been the Secretary of the DVJ Group for almost four years. Wan is still amazed at the wealth of knowledge that committee and group members have to offer. Wan hopes to do his Licentiate in the near future.
COMMITTEE MEMBER AND REPRESENTATIVE LIONEL SQUIRE ARPS
ON THE
A DVISORY BOARD:
"I was born in 1941. Took up photography in my teens and spent a lifetime in the motor industry. Fifty years involved with Volvo, the first twenty with the UK importers and the last thirty creating and building an independent retail motor group. I will have been married to Pamela for fifty three years in August and we have two sons. My other interests are golf and motorcycling. I am a former chair of the DVJ and gained my ARPS with a panel entitled Faces of Nepal.
Facebook: Jonathon Taylor Flickr: Chris Barbara DPOTY David Cantor WWI Project David Barnes Webmasters: David Barnes & Chris Barbara NE Documentary Group: Gordon Bates E-Journal Editor Keith Meredith Page 2
CONTENTS 4: Notes from the Chair ---5: WHISKY ECHO BY Alan Holland Avery FRPS ---9: SOME DECISIVE MOMENTS AT NEW ROAD WORCESTER by Colin trim ---12: ARPS Panel from Edward Forster ---14: DPOTY 2015 ---15: WW1 Project – Conclusion ---17: Members Photos ---21: North East Documentary Group ---22: Diary dates --26: News --27: Miscellany
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Note from the Chair: Dear Fel l ow Mem bers, Welcome to the second edition of Decisive Moment the e-journal of the RPS Documentary Group. I hope you enjoy it - let us have your feedback. Since the first edition we’ve had our AGM. Information on Committee members and those who volunteer on your behalf can be found inside the front cover. Perhaps the major decision at the AGM was to change our name to the Documentary Group – which was endorsed by the RPS Council shortly after. If you still see DVJ around in documents it’s because it takes a while to get everything changed. Other decisions taken were to keep membership fees at £15, except for overseas members who will in future be charged £5 per year. This was done as overseas members rarely benefit from events we organise nor do they benefit from the £10 annual discount against a paid DG event. This discount has been continued for the coming year – so don’t forget to use it!
with the exhibition. See David Cantor’s article. Don’t forget to enter in good time. I’m delighted to announce that we now have a Documentary Group North East. See article. We’re planning to focus the next edition of DM on our overseas members and will be contacting them in the coming weeks to seek their inputs on their own photography and photography in the country in which they live. Remember that this is your e-journal and it will be as good as your input – so keep your articles, thoughts, images, distinction panels coming in to decisive@rps.org. Lastly, welcome and thanks to our new editor, Keith Meredith, a professional photographer living in Birmingham. He can be contacted at the decisive@rps.org email. Hope you’re all having a good summer and happily snapping.
The WWI project ended with an exhibition and a symposium on war photography and we’re now planning a follow up project. See David Barnes’ article. We’re heading to the close of the fourth RPS/DG Documentary Photographer of the Year competition (DPOTY) – and our most ambitious yet, with some wonderful prizes, an exhibition in London and a special workshop being run in conjunction Page 4
Best wishes, Mo Connelly, LRPS Chair, DVJ
WHISKY ECHO
BY
ALAN HOLLAND-AVERY FRPS
Late in the afternoon of a fine spring day in April 1968, I was driving around the perimeter road of Heathrow airport on my way home from work. I looked into the afternoon sky and saw a Boeing 707 which was making an approach to land. The sun was glinting on the upper surface of the port wing. Nothing very peculiar about that I thought although it was unusual to see an aircraft landing on runway 05 right (heading 50 degrees) the cross runway. The evening sun was warm coming through the windscreen of my car and then I noticed something strange. The reflection was now coming from both sides of the wing, indeed it was no longer a reflection... the wing of the aircraft was on fire! My reaction to this was to stop the car and reach for a camera. I had always carried a camera with me ever since the Daily Express photographer Victor Blackman, writing in Amateur Photographer, said that every aspiring press photographer should carry one. I reached into my glove-box. There suitably loaded and ready to use was my little clockwork Robot camera which had cost me just ÂŁ8.00, only a few weeks earlier. I picked it up and held it in my sticky fingers as I fled from the car. In 1968 security was not yet a major problem at Heathrow airport and modern security facilities had not yet been devised. Apart from a low wooden fence, which I climbed easily, there was very little to impede my movement. I ran diagonally across the airfield in front of the old Air India hangar, where Terminal Four has since been built, until I came to Runway 28 left (it was later designated 27 left in July l987). There positioned ready for take-off, was a Comet 4B of British European Airways. Already the B707 had flown past me and landed ahead of me, very much on fire as it touched down. A series of dull thuds came from the region of the aircraft, which for the moment I could not see. Then I could see it in front of me. The aircraft was ablaze and so I ran on in front of the Comet with the full knowledge that, as it was an emergency, neither it nor any other aircraft would move. Page 5
I approached the aircraft which was burning violently and well down the runway, perhaps two-thirds of the way down and now stationary. It was in a catastrophic mess with black smoke billowing up high into the sky! I was out of breath (I felt as if I had just done a four minute mile although it was probably nearer five). Two fire engines had just arrived and the last of the passengers were getting off and congregating on the starboard side. There appeared to be over one hundred passengers but I could not tell at this stage if any were hurt because of the mixture of the shock and confusion of the occasion. Was it a miracle with all passengers and crew alive, I thought? But the rear of the aircraft was burning furiously! I said a little prayer as I looked at the shocking scene. Then I looked down at my precious Robot camera. It was completely manual with no light meter and no range-finder. Furthermore it’s film counter wasn’t working, and I had no idea how many photographs I had taken. All I knew therefore was that every frame I took might be the last and so I was determined to make every one count. My adrenaline was in full cry and I had total awareness of the situation as if it were all in slow motion. This enabled me to put mind over matter as I looked at every photographic possibility that was developing in front of me. Somehow I was able to consider every situation and carefully compose interesting pictures out of the chaotic scene. The aircraft was the ill-fated Whisky Echo (G-ARWE) operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation, and there were 121 survivors - but unfortunately five people died including a very brave stewardess who apparently had tried to entice four passengers out of the rear of the aircraft. There was an explosion in that area and we heard later that all five of them perished. I saw the port wing fall to the ground in a crumpled melting mess and everywhere was covered with foam. The number two engine was missing and I later discovered that the start of the fire was a turbine failure on take-off which had ruptured a fuel tank, and the crew were unable to shut off the fuel which fed the subsequent fire. Page 6
The number two engine had fallen off into a gravel pit near Thorpe (where Thorpe Park is located today) as the aircraft was turning to return to Heathrow, where it made a brilliant cross-wind landing on runway 05 right. More fire engines arrived and the police followed soon after. As they spotted me they asked me leading questions like “What are you doing here?” to which my constant reply was, “Don’t you see I’ve got a job to do?” Then I waited as firemen picked up a hose which they had just unwound, and I chose the moment as they ran towards the burning aircraft. This I framed in a puddle of foam. I got foam on my own shoes and on my socks, it seemed to be everywhere. I moved backwards and forwards trying to get the best compositions until I had no more film left. I thought it wise to stay away from the main party of rescuers and the rescued, as I did not wish to get mixed up with them. And so I made my way back across the airfield to where I knew I could get clear of the operational area and back to my car. Once again I was stopped by the police. “Excuse me sir, do you have authority to be here?” they asked. “Well I have a job to do.” I replied. “And now I would like to get back to my car. Perhaps you could give me a lift?” “Sir we can’t do that” came the reply. So I asked them how to get back to where I had left my car, and they showed me how to get to what was in fact the rear of the building where I worked! From there on life became easier as I ran through the building and on down to the perimeter road, and got a lift back to my car. This I reached just twenty-five minutes after leaving it and the engine was still running and gasping as I approached. I quickly found a container and went down to a little stream which I later discovered was called the Longford River. I filled up my container several times and poured it over the radiator of my engine. I knew that I didn’t want to stop the engine nor did I want it to seize up so I cooled it in my own primitive way leaving the engine running. Then I got into the car and drove away. Page 7
Where did I go? Well straight to Fleet Street of course, and I drove into London against the rush hour traffic which was coming out. As I stopped on the approach to Hyde Park Corner in the traffic jam, I looked at my little black Robot Camera and I thought about the other drivers in their cars around me and I thought to myself, “They don’t know what pictures I have in that camera.” When the traffic got going again I drove on to The Daily Express in Fleet Street. I chose the Daily Express as, before it became a tabloid newspaper, it had a good reputation for the way it used photographs and photo stories. Inside The Express I explained what I had to the receptionist, and was ushered upstairs where I was introduced to the picture editor Frank Spooner. Then my film was immediately rushed into their darkroom where it was processed. Whilst in the darkroom I discussed with the staff how much this film might be worth. This was very useful because minutes later the newspaper was deciding which of my pictures to run, but they had first to see some pictures from a helicopter which had been sent in some fifteen minutes after I had been on the scene. We agreed a figure and the helicopter photographs were not used. Then Frank Spooner invited me to return and see the newspaper being printed later that evening. So I went back later and watched the newspaper being printed with my picture right across the front page. I also saw that there were several on the inside pages as well. At midnight I drove home having seen a couple of editions of the newspaper on their way. It was not easy to put a clock on that day. It seemed that the last eight hours had just gone in a flash. I drove home (very gently this time) as the rush was over. On my car radio the Midnight News talked about a disaster at Heathrow airport and it talked about a photographer who was on the scene very quickly. I felt very proud! ALAN HOLLAND-AVERY FRPS
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SOM E DECISIVE M OM ENTS AT NEW ROAD W ORCESTER
There are such moments in all sports possibly none more so however than in cricket where the outcome of a match lasting hours or even days is often determined by fleeting lapses of concentration or technique and flashes of individual brilliance.
A Smart Catch by the Keeper
Capturing such moments with a camera is a challenge despite the availability of rapid motor-winds, high ISO sensitivity and fast shutter speeds. Long lenses are essential, backgrounds are often 'messy', and an informed appreciation of the game and the state of play is invaluable. Cricketers, like photographers, are also highly dependent on the quality of the light and other atmospheric conditions! This summer I am compiling a portfolio of cricket images which I hope will eventually become a submission for an Associateship. My 'decisive moment' will come when the Chair rises to announce the decision of the Panel! Colin Trim LRPS
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ATTEMPTED RUN -OUT
Runout Attempt
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Disaster Imminent!
Six!
Daryl Mitchell in full flow
All images: Colin Trim LRPS The End of Ali's Innings Page 11
EDWARD FORSTER ARPS Panel – Statement of Intent
The aim of my panel is to portray people living w daily lives, be it at work or leisure, amidst the tex
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within their environment. I chose the men, women and children of Cuba going about their xtures and character of the cities and towns in which they live.
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Documentary Photographer of the Year 2015 (DPOTY 2015) The countdown to the deadline for entering the RPS/DG Photographer of the Year photo competition has begun: the closing date is 31 August.
Documentary
Forget Taylor Wessing and the rest, this highly prestigious competition is only open to a privileged few, members of the Documentary Group of the RPS. IT'S FREE TO ENTER - what's more there are some wonderful prizes on offer. In a nutshell: Ÿ All the information you need to enter is at http://DPOTY.com Ÿ The top panels comprising of five images in both the Enthusiast and Expert categories will feature in the DPOTY exhibition at the Rag Factory, just off Brick Lane. Ÿ Every entrant will have an image exhibited at the exhibition. Ÿ Olympus has kindly donated an amazing OM-D EM-10 camera to the overall winner. Ÿ Top photo-lab, theprintspace have generously donated two prizes. The winner of each category will receive a 20" x 24" high-quality copy of an image chosen from their panel - see http://www.dpoty.com/breaking-news.html for more details. Ÿ The DPOTY exhibition will feature as part of this year's East London Photo Month. You'll find us and other events that are part of this important photography festival at http://2015.photomonth.org/listings
We have increased our headcount and ramped up our servers in anticipation of a last minute rush. This year our target is 25% membership participation, so rest is up to YOU!
Entries must be in by 31 August, w e aim to publish all
entries on the w eb site a few days later.
Please note that the email address for entries DPOTY@rps.org is CASE SENSITIVE.
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Our WWI Project – The End?
The project was conceived in July 2013 with a set of overly ambitious objectives which were eventually refined to a symposium, an exhibition of prints from 1914 and 2014 and a website of images from WWI and RPS Members. Mo Connolly used her persuasive powers to find a liaison officer from the Ministry of Defence. The officer arranged for small groups to attend a number of army training sessions at various sites. Attendance was limited mainly due to health and safety reasons – mixing uncontrollable photographers with men and women with weapons was considered a risk that needed to be managed. The Exhibition of prints at the Discovery Centre in Winchester ran for the month of April 2015 during which time the symposium took place. The website was made live on 19 April 2015 to coincide with the symposium. You can find our WWI site: http://www.dvj-war.photography/WW1/ Prints for the Exhibition were selected to give a broad coverage of our activities during 2014. The space available limited us to some 60 prints. There about 400 images from RPS members on the website. Below are some of the images from the Exhibition. There is still some work to be done. The website needs a bit of work and we have an opportunity to show some of the prints in November when the DPOTY exhibition and presentation takes place in London. So, our WWI project is over. Or is it? 2018 will mark the end of what, nearer the time, was called “The Great War”. No doubt there will commemorations in 2018 to mark the events of 1918. If you think that the Documentary Group should continue the WWI project in 2018 then send your ideas to DVJWWI@rps.org with a brief outline of how you will realise your ideas or what you think we could be organising. David Barnes, LRPS
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Office Cadets rehearsing their Passing Out Parade at Sandhurst. Chris Barbara
An exercise in command and control in a confused environment. Gilbert Turner
Army Training Regiment, Winchester. Bill Yates School of Infantry, Catterick Garrison. Edward Forster
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MEMBERS IMAGES ANDREW MILLS These are a selection of random street shots with some detailed captions. I like to see the humour in life but also try to emulate some of the greats like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Garry Winogrand etc.
A street in Prague - some girls emulate the poster
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Berlin - sometimes it's great when they spot you.
Pretzel cuffs Page 18
New York near Broadway
Vladivostok - he goes to work and she goes to a wedding - they cross the tracks near the chain ferry.
Tokyo - the International Forum Photos by Andrew Mills Page 19
"BLINK AND YOU MISSED THEM!"
Cunard celebrated their historic links with the City of Liverpool in style, staging the first-ever together meeting of their flagship vessels in the River Mersey. The Three Queens. as the event was called, took place on the late May Bank Holiday Monday this year, (May 25th). Liverpool has always been the spiritual home of Cunard and the companies first ever transatlantic voyage set sail from Liverpool on "The Britannia", 4th July 1840. Most people expected a spectacular Red Arrows flypast along the banks of the River Mersey on their way to an airshow in Blackpool. Instead, they flew directly across, taking seconds to traverse the River Mersey twixt Birkenhead and Liverpool ! Mike Jackson
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STOP PRESS: North East Documentary Group DG member Gordon Bates, together with other RPS documentary photographers in the north of England, set up the North East Documentary Group (NEDG), a regional sub-group of the RPS Documentary Group, at a meeting on 10 July. The NEDG decided it will meet about every three months to share and discuss their work as well as organise photoshoots in the region. Several possibilities are already being explored. The next meeting will be on Saturday, 26 September. A private flickr group has been set up to enable members to share images. A new sub-section of the RPS website will be set up shortly, as will as an email, for the sub-group NEDG will also circulate information on events in which members might be interested, as well as give members the opportunity to meet each other on an individual basis. Anyone with an interest in documentary photography is welcome to attend a meeting free of charge to see if they would like to join the RPS Documentary Group (see the website at http://rps.org/special-interest-groups/documentary for further information on becoming a member). Until the new email is set up you can contact Gordon via the dvj@rps.org email.
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DIARY DATES: A VERY SPECIAL DATE FOR
YOUR
DIARY
Social Documentary Photography Workshop for the Documentary Group of the RPS The Mystique of Making Better Photographs
As part of one of our flagship events in 2015, we’ve been working hard here to bring you a very special workshop that will accompany the exhibition of the winning entries of this year’s DPOTY photo-competition. We have teamed up with Olympus UK who are generously supporting a Social Documentary workshop presented by one of their leading Ambassadors, Gabrielle Motola. Date: Sunday, 1 November 2015 Venue: Spitalfields, London Delegates: We are limited to a maximum of 20 places which will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Cost: Non-members £70 RPS Members £65 D G Members £60
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It will be on the RPS/DG webpages soon, but feel free to express your interest before that to DPOTY@rps.org. Final details will be given with confirmation of place. Philosophy: One of the things that we shall be looking at and which is covered by Gabrielle’s teaching approach, is the psychology behind the photograph and what goes on in a photographer's mind, and how that shapes the images and the relationship. For more information about your presenter see http://www.gabriellemotola.com/
Summary In photography, especially during spontaneous situations, there is that moment when something catches our attention and we are moved to act. More often than not we are in the right place to take a photograph immediately; the exact place. There is little time to think of exposure, f-stops, shutter speeds, there is little time to think at all. Irrespective of our setup, we sometimes don’t take the picture right away. Instead something else happens. We may have an emotional response to the situation, we intellectualise, we may move our position to make the shot ‘better’, we hesitate, we fumble with our camera settings, we lose the moment. Sound familiar? How can we prevent this from happening and move towards a place of synchronous thought and action? What do we notice in the first place? How can we make our pictures better? We will explore this question within three main realms; aesthetic, awareness, and response. This workshop will address taste, thought, emotional response, observation, reaction, and touch briefly on technical technique, both in shooting and post production. This brings us to that question. If everyone more or less has the same equipment why do we get such vastly different photographs? When analysing this we often focus too much on equipment and technique because it is evident and easily identified. Not enough focus is put on the real machine creating the photographs; the mind behind the lens. To progress with our own photography we must examine how we think, how we react, and how we can better actualise what we perceive. In addition to honing our technique we must take steps to push ourselves to the greater limits of our mind’s perception and narrow the gap between thought and instinct. We will accomplish this through action oriented exercises as well as periods of ingestion and digestion of information both written and visual.
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Course Outline V1.0 (Subject to Revision)
Ÿ Other Photographer’s Work - A Meandering Look Ÿ You: What You See is What You Get Ÿ Your Awareness Ÿ Your Aesthetic Ÿ What’s Stopping You? Ÿ The World Around You Ÿ The Reading Animal Ÿ Stick With It Ÿ Your Gear Ÿ Integration Ÿ Finishing - The Image in Post 2 Ÿ Tools for the Future
Post is subject to time. There may not be enough time in this workshop to explore it and so it would become a part II.
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Spoilt for Choice Three photoshoots on Sunday, 13 September in Brighton Chris Barbara, stalwart of the Documentary Group, will be organising 3 different photoshoots on Sunday the 13th September 2015 as follows:
Group 1
The 22nd Ace Cafe Reunion - the Brighton Burn Up and Ride with the Rockers ends up in Madeira Drive.
Group 2
Brighton Rathayatra Festival (Hare Krishna) - the chariot festival originates in Jagannatha Puri on the East coast of India and dates back over 2,000 years. The Brighton festival is quite small compared to the London festival but it still enables some beautiful cultural images.
Group 3
Life's A Beach - A stroll along the beach between Brighton Pier and the old West Pier and back. We will be looking for fun beach life images in the style of Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr.
Each group will be for a party of 8 people who will be accompanied by a member of the RPS. We will plan for all the groups to meet up at the end of the day. Booking will be available on the RPS website from 5st August or contact Chris at DVJ@rps.org to obtain more details and/or to reserve a place on one of the photoshoots.
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NEWS:
Hi all A New Flickr Site for the Documentary Group A new Flickr site has recently been launched for the renamed RPS Documentary Group. To join the group click here: https://www.flickr.com/groups/2764974@N25/ Then click on ‘join the group’. To help with administration of the group you will be asked for the following details when you request to join: Your real name; your flickr name; your RPS membership number and an email address we can contact you on. As you will know the site is a ‘members only’ site so the details will enable the admins to check your membership with the RPS and DVJ; and to contact all members as a group or individually, if necessary. We look forward to seeing the Documentary Group Flickr Site grow to show some of the best documentary images on-line. Thank you. Chris
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MISCELLANY: Link to info on Artsy and Walker Evans Artsy strives to make all of the world’s art accessible to anyone. Their Walker Evans page, for example, includes his bio, several of his works, an exclusive article about his influence on American art, as well as recent exhibitions his work has been included in. Check it out at https: //www.artsy.net/artist/walker-evans Artsy also includes work on other well known photographers. Worth a look.
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The Docum entary Group (form erl y the Docum entary and Vi sual Journal i sm Group) focuses on photography whi ch chroni cl es everyday l i fe i n the broadest possi bl e way, as wel l as topi cal events and photography whi ch preserves the present for the future. It i s typi cal l y found i n professi onal photojournal i sm , real l i fe reportage, but i m portantl y for us i t i s an am ateur, arti sti c, or academ i c pursui t. The photographer attem pts to produce truthful , objecti ve, and usual l y candi d photography of a parti cul ar subject, often of peopl e.
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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, a prestigious annual Documentary Photographer of the Year (DPOTY) competition, exhibitions, and a quarterly e-journal “Decisive Moment’. In addition to our AGM and members get-together we have an autumn prize-giving for the DPOTY incorporating a members social day. Some longer-term collaborative projects are in the pipeline for the future. Additionally, we have an active Flickr group and Facebook page. Members are offered an annual £10 discount voucher on any paid DG event. 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 see: http://www.rps.org/special-interest-groups/documentary/about/dvj-membership Find us on the RPS website at: http://www.rps.org/special-interest-groups/documentary On flickr at: https://www.flickr.com/groups/2764974@N25/ On Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RPSDVJ/
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'Tis amazing what one can achieve with a small Lumix camera. I walked back to Waterloo via the South Bank yesterday and discovered this chap still trying to get votes for the Green Party. I didn't have the courage to tell him that the election was over. Alan Holland Avery 10 May 2015
http://www.rps.org/special-interest-groups/documentary
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