6x6 Five

6x6

Swiss CHapter

five

A Swiss Chapter Publication

Photo: Max Robinson FRPS

6x6 A Quarterly Swiss CHapter eMagazine

6x6 five

March 2022

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

Detailed submission guidelines can be found on the last pages of the magazine.

Deadline for the issue no.6 is 31st of April 2022.

6x6 Six is due June 2022 © 2022 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: Nadja Niemann LRPS Back cover image: Richard N Tucker ARPS

EDITORIAL Jean-Luc Godard announced that “A photograph is truth. Film is truth 24 times a second” Neither of those statements is true. Photographs are not objective truth, We could always have put the camera in a different position, pressed the shutter a moment later, and the world would have looked different.

This issue is about different interpretations of our normal expectation of an objective reflection of what we perceive as reality. Beat Suter inverts the selfie. Normally we try to make the best representation of ourselves. Here the self is distorted, fractured, distanced and even imitating someone else. Rob Kershaw presents Corbusier’s Lake House with its occupants cut off, obscured. The essence of spaces created for people hides them away. Nadja Niemann goes one step further. The subject of her photographs has left the scene leaving only a series of trails.

The waters of Luzern reflect the buildings above, but water is never a true mirror. Jane Weinmann’s repeat patterns of a sunlit world become increasingly abstract, yet represent a concrete reality.

John Thain appears to present a more conventional picture, but the lines in his pictures break up and become graphic rather than pictorial. The closest we come to an undistorted view is in Max Robinson’s travel pictures, but his choice of black and white removes a huge amount of information. His beautifully composed groups, even if that is just his choice of viewpoint, and the use of back-light give these images an artistry which traduces the reality they are pûrporting to show. But that is how we have learned to value the photographic image.

Nothing is quite what it seems.

Photo: Max Robinson FRPS

Contents

Beat Suter

Selfportraits

Rob C Kershaw ARPS

Glimpses of Villa le Lac

Nadja Niemann LRPS

Trails

Jane Weinmann ARPS

Reflections

John Thain

Far Horizons

Max Robinson FRPS

Travels

BeatSuter Suter Beat

Selfportraits When I am taking pictures, I occasionally take a self-portrait. The earliest one dates back to my youth, when I made my first photographic experiments as a teenager. Later, it occasionally happened that I was reflected somewhere or an interesting shadow cast by me appeared and I had the impression that it could make an interesting picture. But what I enjoy most are the staged self-portraits, which are sometimes meant to have a humorous touch.

Glimpses of Villa Le Lac Glimpses of Villa Le Lac Street photography and architecture/building detail come to the fore when I am on Street photography detail come to the fore when I “Walkabout” in townsand andarchitecture/building cities. am on towns cities.

Every two“Walkabout” years Veveyin hosts an and International Photo Festival, “Vevey Image”, which Every two years Vevey hosts an International Photo Festival, provides a great opportunity for street photography whilst also“Vevey viewingImage”, a great many which provides a great opportunity for street photography whilst also Thne photographs along the way. Exhibitions are spread out throughoutviewthe town and ing a great many fine photographs along the way.

Exhibitions are spread outwanton one occasion there was an exhibition at Villa Le Lac, a place I had always the townwas anddesigned on one occasion there was&an exhibition at Villacan Lebe edthroughout to visit. fle building

by Le Corbusier more information Lac, at a place I had always wanted to visit. The building was designed by Le Corfound https://www.villalelac.ch/en busiermy & more can be found at of https://www.villalelac.ch/en During visit Iinformation tried to capture “Glimpses” the structure and other visitors and a selection from this mini project is shown here.

During my visit I tried to capture “Glimpses” of the structure and other visitors and a selection from this mini project are shown here.

Nadja Niemann LRPS

Trails (‘Radula’)

Seeing these weird marks triggered my interest. A macro lens and a shallow depth of field did the rest to reveal a hidden, abstract world.

Jane Weinmann ARPS

Reflections Studying photography has challenged me to be patient. I’ve learned to be curious about a subject, to observe and wait. It’s a sense of curiosity and exploration that lies behind my work with light and reflections on water. I am intrigued by the way the early morning sunlight glances off the metalwork and railings of boats, creating golden doodles, lightning bolts and deep shadows that constantly shift and change. And by the way the wind ripples the water surface, gradually transforming reflections into abstracts of light and colour.

This work is still in progress. I am experimenting with ways to enhance the gold in post processing or with gold leaf added to printed images. Some of these experiments are naturally more successful than others but each brings learning and discovery. I look forward to continuing until I feel finally ready to say ‘I am there’.

John Thain

Like most people interested in photography, I enjoyed “taking pictures” from an early age, my first camera being a Brownie 127, _ _I’ve progressed a little since then”.

My main interest is landscape photography, l am also keen on wildlife, but during lockdown I spent a lot of time experimenting with macro.

I have been a member of the RPS for about 5 years.

Max Robinson FRPS

This selection of images is from a long-term project Max is working on entitled “The Silk Routes – a cultural heritage”. They depict the lives of ordinary people going about their daily activities in towns and cities along the many branches of the Silk Route, stretching from China in the east, westwards towards Turkey and neighbouring countries. The peoples of Xin Jiang (China), India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are represented here.

Guidelines for submissions Entries are accepted from all Swiss Chapter members.

Please send images and text to the editor: tucker42@bluewin.ch Pictures: Send at least six and no more than ten pictures from which six will be chosen. Images should be in JPEG and sRGB colour space, and 2500 pixels on the longest side. A portrait in portrait format and a 3/2 ratio, should also be included.

Text: Word Document. Optimum length between 100 and 240 words and should not exceed 1500 characters with spaces included.

Biography: Should have maximum 700 characters (spaces included); which means about 110 words, the optimum being between 60 to 95 words.

The Photographers Beat Suter (Hinterkappelen, Switzerland). Since 2004 he has worked part-time as a freelance photographer. Besides the RPS he is also a member of the professional Swiss photographic associations «vereinigung fotografischer gestalterInnen (vfg)» and «Schweizer Pressefotografen und Videojournalisten (SPV)».

Using digital and analogue, standard and medium format camera equipment his main topics in photography are architecture, arts, landscape, still life, professional life, the history of photography as well as experimental photography.

Rob C Kershaw ARPS. 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. www.robckershawphotography.com

Nadja Niemann, LRPS is a cognitive scientist exploring hidden worlds with her camera. Colours, textures, abstract images as well as capturing her children’s development on camera, are her creative main focuses.

Being born in Germany, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Japan and moved 11 years ago to Zurich in Switzerland to enjoy a calm family life and lifelong learning.

Jane Weinmann ARPS. I explore photography as a way to represent the hidden aspects of an idea or scene. In the landscape, I am intrigued by shapes and forms and the unexpected elements not immediately seen. In my conceptual work, I explore the feelings and emotions associated with life events. I stage images using my own person as the posed subject and then employ double exposure techniques or add colour as ways of layering or challenging meaning.

I hold an BA (Hons) in Photography from the University of Creative Arts and an Associate Distinction from the Royal Photographic Society. My work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions. www.janeweinmann.ch John Thain was born a stone’s throw from Wembly Stadium in September 1943, but grew up in Cranham, at the time a village east of London in Essex. On leaving schoolhe did a five year printing apprenticeship. For about nine years he worked in the general trade before joining The Bank of England. He was fortunate, for the last 25 years of his working life to travel the World commissioning machines for Banknote production.

Max Robinson, FRPS. Max’s has had a love for photography since the age of 10. His career took him to Switzerland in 1980 where he studied zone technique under the renowned Swiss photographer, Peter Gasser. Max joined the RPS in March 2013 and gained his first Fellowship in the Multimedia genre in November 2016 with a documentary film about the renowned Russian concert pianist, Rustem Hayroudinoff and was subsequently awarded Fellowships in Travel (2018) and Landscapes (2021).

Max has produced many videos and thousands of photographs to promote the work of his charity, Rainbows4children which provides education for the children of disabled veterans in Ethiopia. www.maxvmax.com www.rainbows4children.org

6x6 PREVIOUS ISSUES

6x6 zero

January 2021 Timo Lehto Rob C Kershaw Richard N Tucker Urs Albrecht

6x6 one

March 2021 Candia Peterson Hakim Boulouiz Chris Jenkins Urs Albrecht John Norris Rob C Kershaw

6x6 two

6x6 three September 2021 June 2021 Michael Qvortrup Rafael Rojas Francesco PennacSergio Figliolia chio Urs Haeberli Ulrich Ackermann Max Robinson Timo Lehto Neil Dodd Jaqueline Alexandre Jill Taylor Jane Weinmann

6x6 four December 2021 Richard N Tucker Candia Peterson Timo Lehto Thomas Kähr Jill Taylor Urs Albrecht