6x6 zero

Swiss CHapter

6x6 0/2021

A Quarterly Swiss Chapter eMagazine

6x6 Publisher: The Royal Photographic Society, Swiss Chapter tucker42@bluewin.ch Editor: Richard N Tucker ARPS Editorial Assistants: Rob C Kershaw ARPS, Urs Albrecht LRPS Magazine Design: Timo Lehto Submissions are open to all Swiss Chapter members.

Please send images and text to the editor: Richard N Tucker tucker42@bluewin.ch Images are preferred as high-quality JPEGs, about 2500 pixels on the longest side.

Text should be in Microsoft Word.

Deadline for the issue no.1 is 31st of January 2021.

6x6 1/2021 is due March 5 2021 © 2021 All rights reserved on behalf of the authors. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission from the publisher. The Royal Photographic Society, Swiss Chapter and the Editor accept no liability for any misuse or breach of copyright by a contributor. The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the policies of the Royal Photographic Society or of the Swiss Chapter

Cover Image: “3 6 ” by Timo Lehto Back Cover Image: “S h a r p E d g e s” by Timo Lehto

Edition Zero

Richard N Tucker ARPS

This is Edition Zero of the Swiss Chapter magazine "6x6" featuring the work of six members of the Chapter, through six photographs. The concept is arbitrary, but by having a standard conceptual format, should allow members to present a full range of work. The magazine will be digital and free to RPS members. This edition is for Swiss Chapter members only, but from Edition 1 it will be public within the RPS web.

Because the Swiss Chapter has few members, there should be opportunities for those wishing to participate to show their work more than once a year. Four issues per year are proposed: March 5, June 5, September 5, and December 5. The deadline for submission is one full month before the publication date. If there are more than 6 submissions the editors will make a choice to create a balanced issue and hold folios over for the next edition. Offerings for Edition 1 should arrive with tucker42@bluewin.ch before the end of January 2021. Up to 10 images may be submitted but only six will be used.

No conditions have been set, other than those set by the laws of libel and decency.

The intention is that members can choose work to show what they are doing, to raise questions about concepts or techniques, to invite responses from other members, to suggest topics for future group cooperation. Though the idea is to limit this publication to short statements by the photographers and six images, the door is open for an adjoining mechanism for comment and debate, with a link between the two.

This first edition contains 6 portfolios from four photographers, simply to get the numbers in for this trial.

The hope is that you will recognise sufficient quality here to want to submit your own pictures.

Timo Lehto Rob C Kershaw ARPS

Richard N Tucker ARPS Richard N Tucker ARPS Urs Albrecht LRPS Richard N Tucker ARPS

Song of Menhir Alternative Viewpoints

What Is A Portrait Dark Fruit Woods in Autumn Flowers

Timo Lehto

Song of Menhir 1. The Feeler 2. The Dignity of Being 3. Sounds Without Words 4. Keepers’ Game 5. Fallen Sentinel 6. The Strike

In bright sunshine or in the darkness, oft encircled by fog and occasionally covered by snow, those upright stones, with some of them fallen, feel like guardians of the ancient spirits. One may easily overlook them, so quietly and stoically they sit inside the forest, surrounded by trees and bushes, dead leaves, and moss. Almost nothing is known of the stones: who, why, when are the questions asked, but no satisfactory answers have been provided.

My walks with the dog regularly lead us to this small area where the stones are, just few minutes from home. I believe the stones, menhirs, invite if not lure both of us to visit and to spend some time with them. They are not many, and they remain silent, yet every now and then I hear them whisper.

One’s close surroundings might often appear to be too ordinary or uninteresting, but with a closer look surprises and precious moments will arise. The “Song of Menhir” is an ongoing project to vision my perceptions while strolling among the trees and stones, and these six impressions are echoes of that song.

The Feeler The Dignity of Beiong

Sounds Without Words Keepers’ Game

The Strike

Fallen Soldier

Rob C Kershaw ARPS

Alternative Viewpoints

For several years now I have had a project taking photographs in high end furniture shops, here in Switzerland. The photos were taken with the consent of the shop management. Usually handheld and working in mixed ambient light, the pictures are not intended to be records of the objects in the shop or “marketing” shots. The idea was to look for interesting visual juxtapositions or subjects that lent themselves to a creative process, be that in camera or in post processing. Patterns, shapes and shadows often came into play. With the images in this article I am illustrating some of the concepts I have pursued.

My initial inspiration for this work was the modern lighting on show and its juxtaposition with other art in the background. “Target” is an example of this as are both “Light talk” which takes advantage of a shadow created by the shop lighting and “Marilyn” which has been manipulated to produce the final image.

“Heartlight” presents an interesting lighting concept with the light patterns enhanced by post processing. “Choice of Light” contrasts two lighting designs that were actually next to each other on display. “Lightstorm”, the central sphere of which was a globe shaped lighting structure. involved multiple imaging in Photoshop and Fractalius software to enhance the colours and patterns.

I hope that seeing my exploration of what is perhaps an unusual subject will encourage you to consider alternative locations and subjects for your photography.

Marilyn Heartlight Light Talk Target

Lightstrom Fractalius

Richard N Tucker ARPS

What is a portrait?

The portraits shown here were created for the planned studio portrait workshop in Zurich last October. Starting with an interesting face the lighting was systematically altered using single and double flash with diffuser umbrella's; LED panel lights of different sizes.

Away from the workshop context the portraits, with changes of lighting and costume, provide different information and raise other questions. Different viewers have given different titles to each image, the clothing often leading to suggestions of Eastern Europe, or the Western States. But what are we looking at when we see a portrait? Is it a good representation of the person? The last picture in the series shows the subject in a more usual setting, as he spends months in the Sahara in that vehicle, taking photographs. He is the retired Managing Director of an international industrial search engine company based in Zug. More of a Swiss bean counter than a Persian philosopher.

So, what is a portrait? Is it simply a photograph of an object, that happens to be a human? Or are we trying to explore the inner character? And how do we know when we have got it? There are many famous portraits that have expressed something profound about the person shown and their known background, but a photograph does not necessarily show us the “real� person. There is a continuing debate to join.

Richard N Tucker ARPS

Dark Fruit

Autumn arrived this year 2020, along with the threat of a new wave of Covid 19 infections.

Perhaps it was the pervading mood or the thought of my own hospitalisation a year before that promoted me to view the normally glowing autumn fruits through a darker lens. The resulting pictures not only satisfied my poetic gloom, but also provided a useful context for experimenting with reduced exposures.

The task was to show enough of the fruit to make it identifiable but reduce the visual information enough to make it seem to be something seen for the first time.

No doubt this is only the beginning of a lot of experimentation.

A world of dew, And within every dewdrop A world of struggle.

A World of Dew

by Kobayashi Issa

Urs Albrecht LRPS

Woods In Autumn

Last Stand In this series I was fascinated about the change of trees and their colour in response to the days that get shorter in fall. A last colourful celebration of the last sunny days of the year before the leaves have all fallen and nature goes to rest in the dark and cold part of the year.

Richard N Tucker ARPS

Flowers

Here there would be a deeply sensitive piece on flowers and their transitoriness, but in this case they have just been put in to complete this dummy issue. However it should serve to show how very different sorts of pictures might be displayed in any one issue.

6 Timo Lehto

Rob C Kershaw ARPS

Richard N Tucker ARPS

A self-taught photographer, keen to catch and record a fleeting moment and preserve the precious emotions.

A Finn living in Switzerland since March 2000.

Born in Liverpool in 1952 and graduated from Liverpool University with a postgraduate degree in Biochemistry. Joined ILFORD Limited in 1977 working in sales and marketing roles in the UK then Japan for four years. Following a brief return to the UK moved to the Swiss operation in 1988. Held the position of OEM Business Director and Regional Sales Director Asia Pacific. Involved with ILFORD ink jet printing products since their introduction in 1995. Had two photo exhibitions in Tokyo one in London, one at the Members Gallery in the Octagon plus several in Switzerland. Work has been published in several photographic magazines in the UK and Japan. A regular contributor to Inscape magazine.

Became photographer with the Yorkshire Evening Post before going to University. Postgrad study in Film and Television at Bristol University and then taught that course for three years. Then Scottish Film Council, The Netherlands Institute for Audiovisual Media, Dutch Students Library for the Blind and finally The Force Foundation. Photography has been part of my working life.

Now retired and living in Switzerland since 2007.

timo.photo photogarp15

richard-tucker-photography.com

Urs Albtecht LRPS Born 1962 in Mexico City and growing up in Switzerland he is a scientist and self-taught photographer, keen to explore the world to uncover hidden relationships between organisms and their environment.

His work has been exhibited in various national and international exhibitions including the Nikon Gallery, ZĂźrich (1982), Fabriggli (1987), Salaj, Romania (2018), Atoud Sud, France (2019,2020), Shangtuf Exhibition, China (2019), Chemin de Photo, France (2020).

6x6 0/2021

The Royal Photographic Society, Swiss Chapter eMagazine, January 2021