Capital Interest March 2015

CA PITA L INTEREST MARCH 2 0 1 5 / VOLUME 1 / NUMBER 3 / W W W .RPS.ORG

IM A GE ©JENNETTE RUSSELL LRPS

THIS M ONTH TA LK ?UNSEEN LONDON?

BY PETER DA ZELEY FRPS 2 8 t h Jan u ar y 2 0 1 5 Reported by Adrian McCarthy.

FROM THE EDITOR A DRIA N M cCA RTHY M A RCH 2 0 1 5 It?s March already I cannot believe how the year is racing by, already I have daffodils in my garden and snowdrops are long gone.

Wildlife is already anticipating spring, I saw my first Black Headed Gull in its breeding plumage two weeks ago. Now here is a challenge for the Natural History Photographers among you. I will definitely publish any photograph of a Cuckoo taken in the wild this year in the May or later edition.

Dazeley?s Illustrated talk on 28th January at his studio in Parsons Green, London included many pictures that were in his book ?Unseen London? plus some that were not. The quality of the images was amazing, projected to a huge screen no grain or noise were noticeable at all.

Dazeley speaks very well and encouraged people to ask questions throughout the presentation, questions were asked about technique and equipment. Nearly all the pictures were taken with available light using a Hasselblad with a 40mm Zeiss Planar Lens and a 52 Mega Pixel digital back. Also used was a laptop with stand (for tethered capture) a tripod and most important of all an assistant.

The bird must be recognisable. Editor may limit the number of pictures published from individual members according to the response.

In next month?s edition we hope to start a letters to the editor column, so we will be welcoming letters on any photography related subjects and as controversial as you like. Emails titled ?Letters to The Editor? to london-news@rps.org please.

We would like to hear if you like or dislike the new format newsletters or if you have any problems reading it, or any suggestions to improve it: again please Email london-news@rps.org And don?t forget, we?re still looking for material for Capital Interest. If you can write an article or have an idea for an article please email london-news@rps.org

A W ORLD W ITHOUT PHOTOSHOP

BY A DRIA N M CCA RTHY. How many things we take for granted these days and how our language has changed as well with words like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Photoshop appearing which didn?t exist only a few years ago?

Photoshop became 25 years old in February 2015 before then there was no digital editing software of any sort.

Although other digital editors have come along since Photoshop has grown to dominate the market, when bought by Adobe in 1988 it was called ?Display? and had been developed by Thomas Knoll and his brother John who wrote much of the code.

Adobe didn?t in the early days realise what a major product it would become and left the Brothers to continue to developing the software largely at their own expense, Photoshop has now become Adobe?s biggest selling package especially since their releasing it as Photoshop CC for Photographers at a monthly rental of just under ÂŁ9.00 just about anybody can afford to rent it.

The Journalist Tom Seymore has written an excellent article on this which is published in The British Journal of Photography, YOU CA N FIND HIS A RTICLE HERE

CONTENTS IN BRIEF : Capital Exposure, Wanted...

3

DISTINCTIONS : Jennette Russell LRPS, Norman Smith and Adrian McCarthy articles

4 -5

M EM BER A RTICLE : Orangutans and Klotoks

6 -7

LONDON, TOPICA L : Apex House

8 -9

LONDON, TOPICA L : Staying Power

10

BLEEDING LONDON : Legacy & What Next?

11

SOCIA L M EDIA : Events, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Blog, Website

12

LONDON, IN BRIEF CA PITA L EX POSURE We?re beginning to get some ideas and suggestions for our Capital Exposure week. If you want to get involved, download the form from the website and let us know your plans!

In case you missed last month?s article, YOU CA N REA D IT A GA IN HERE.

W A NTED: EVENT PHOTOGRA PHERS RPS London has teamed up with Kick It Out, the campaign for equality and diversity in football and other sports. We?re looking for a pool of volunteer photographers who can assist with publicity photography of their events - some of which are very high profile.

FURTHER DETA ILS HERE.

W A NTED: LONDON BLOGGERS Do you fancy writing for the London Blog for a week? Anything photographic is of interest.

For previous examples, click on each name to see the blogs of PENNY DIX IE A RPS and DEL BA RRETT A RPS.

Image: SW17 Flanders Crescent © Del Barrett ARPS

W A NTED: VOLUNTEERS At the risk of sounding like a scratched record, we?re still looking for volunteers to help out.

Can you spare a couple of hours a week? Or the odd day here and there? If so, we?d be delighted to hear from you. No previous experience required, no qualifications necessary but no pay either.

LONDON, DISTINCTIONS M Y JOURNEY TO SUCCESS BY JENNETTE RUSSELL LRPS It is hard for me to pin point when my LRPS journey began. I have been taking images since 2007 when I purchased my first DSLR to record one of those ?trips of a life time? having been frustrated with my results from my compact. The results were significantly better which encouraged me to learn more about how to use the camera and how to start creating images that I was beginning to imagine may be possible. Before long I was completely hooked and keen to try my hand at all sorts of photography attending various workshops, enjoying some great photographic trips and gradually seeing some improvement in my images, but the more I learnt the more critical I became, the reality was I was never really sure if my images were any ?good?. Feedback from friends and family encouraged me to start displaying selected images on-line and create greeting cards for them, which they seem to enjoy.

In August 2013, I had a conversation with Ravi, a fellow attendee on one of Julian?s Lightroom courses. Ravi was very encouraging and talked about what was involved, but the talk of A?s, L?s & F?s, printing and mounting images, when I?d never printed anything bigger than a greeting card, was going to be a challenge for me and not one I was sure I wanted to tackle. I attended a London advisory evening in January 2014 as an observer. My takeaways from this session were: the importance of reading the handbook; images need to be technically perfect, the need to display a range of different photographic skills; the subject matter could be diverse or common across the panel, printed images were preferred and not to print too large. The printing was equally as important. I better understood the challenge, it was not just about creating the images, but about selection and presentation. I continued enjoying creating images and got to grips with a new printer , but I still did nothing more about the LRPS, although I began to wonder if I had created images that were good enough.

Then last October, I attended an evening course at City Lit, which involved reviewing and discussing some great photographic images, as well as creating and showing your own images. Not something that I am comfortable with, but the environment was supportive and friendly and the feedback positive and constructive, it started me thinking that, maybe, my images were of a high enough standard and I should just take the plunge. I signed up for a London One-to-One Advice session in early January, which would give me the opportunity to have my panel reviewed before submission. I was on holiday the week before the assessment, so basically I had 7 weeks to sort out everything for the advisory session.

They say a deadline focuses the mind and it certainly did. I had decided an image size of 8x10 for all but one image; with no skills in mount cutting I decided I would get these pre-cut to size. I struggled to find a company, but eventually found one who would do a small run. What I had failed to think through was that my images would all have to fit the 8x10 aperture, fine for most but a couple of my original images just didn?t work...

[Co n t i n u ed Ov er l eaf ]

Printing proved a little taxing until I had the correct profile, but what I couldn?t do was confirm if the printing quality was good enough. Happily my One-to-One helped enormously. Bob closely inspected all the images and the overall layout, suggested a few minor tweaks to a couple of images that need reprinting and a change to one image in the panel. I could not believe I had managed to pull this all together in time, but I had. I went to Bath on the day, I felt I had no knowledge of the LRPS process, so I was keen to learn how it worked. My panel was one of the last, 27th out of 30 exhibited and the pass rate on the day had not been high, so I was very nervous as my panel was set out and the prints closely examined, there was a comment from the judge providing feedback that my images looked flat, but when inspected under light they were fine. I thought my printing had let me down, but when my name was announced I knew that my panel was going to be recommended and I was chuffed to bits.

DEFINITELY DISTINCTIVE Rep o r t o n t h e Fi r st Tu esd ay M eet i n g at Gr een w i ch . 3 r d Feb . 2 0 1 5

By No r m an Sm i t h LRPS Just what does it take to get a Society distinction? Well the First Tuesday group wondered just that and asked for some advice. Accordingly we invited Richard Walton FRPS, Distinctions Panel Member for Visual Art to run an Advisory session at Greenwich on the 3rd Feb. particularly around the Licentiate level of the Royal Photographic Society?s distinctions. Such was the clamour for places that we were not only fully booked for the evening session but with the additional interest managed to fill an afternoon as well.

Richard is an excellent speaker and outlined the three distinction levels within the Society plus a little of the RPS history before going on to show example panels for the Licentiate level. Then, several submissions from the floor were viewed and critiqued, with Richard?s firm eye on the requirements of the Assessment process.

Advice was dispensed in an objective and dispassionate manner, which is all to the good because as the creators we are often blind to the shortcomings of our own work and keep seeing the image we should have taken rather than the one that we have! Richard was able to show how a few edits or substitutions were able to substantially improve the candidates draft submissions, particularly concerning the ?11th image?, the overall presentation of the panel as a set.

It is essential to go to at least one Advisory session in advance of a formal application for Assessment to better understand the minimum standard and the simple things to avoid that prevent success. We would like to thank Richard for his contribution on the day, which was quite exhausting running two sessions back to back, but which was well worthwhile. Just to note that the next First Tuesday meeting will be held on 3rd March, 7-9pm, in which Mike Farley, Chairman of Croydon Camera Club, will introduce us to the hidden wonders of RAW files and suggest why you should always shoot RAW if you are serious about your photography.

On e t o On e LRPS A d v i so r y

By A d r i an M cCar t h y .

The one to one advisory held 8th January at the Nikon Centre in London was a pilot method of providing advice to prospective LRPS candidates. With Bob Gates presiding advice was provided on a one to one basis to a series of people in a friendly and informative way, I was lucky enough to be one of those prospective candidates.

There was no Audience and no observers at this one to one.

I had previously attended as an observer a couple of LRPS advisories and also attended an actual assessment as a volunteer so I had some idea what to expect and what to bring with me. I brought a panel of 10 pictures all mounted and a plethora of other prints as spares some mounted some not, but it wouldn?t have mattered if I had been completely new to the process, Bob is a warm and welcoming character and quickly put me at ease. At this advisory there was no stand to put the panel on so I first handed Bob my proposed hanging plan, then the picture one by one, each was scrutinised carefully, some were rejected as being too busy and for a couple I was advised to reprint them and crop them to a different shape or to remove a distraction or correct a colour balance. Bob looked through my spares and some he liked better, a few substitutions were recommended, not always because a picture in my proposed panel wasn?t good enough but sometimes to make a better balance in the panel.

I have some work to do to reprint an mount some of the pictures but I now have a good idea what I need to do to give my panel the best chance of success.

This method of providing Advice is a little less daunting as there is no audience, but of course you do not get the chance to see other peoples work and hear what is said about theirs as well.

ORA NGUTA NS A ND KLOTOKS IN BORNEO

BY JULIE CA LVERT A RPS As a City dweller, watching wildlife can seem like a long, long time spent hanging around but it's a rare opportunity to slow down from the pace of London life and then, when the wildlife magic happens, well that's magic. There is also so much humanity can learn from observing the behaviour of wildlife.

Case in point, a trip to photograph the Orangutans in Kalimantan which is the Indonesian bit of Borneo. One of the four great ape species with just under 100% genetic match to our own, the world's Orangutan population has been decimated in recent years and they are now endangered as a result of human encroachment and loss of habitat (palm oil plantations, mining), illegal trade (pets, body parts), the usual stuff... One of the Orangutan sub-species is down to only 1,500 or so in number and their decline has been rapid and accelerating.

As with all the apes, it is easy to identify with their expressive eyes, protective and attentive parenting and in the case of Orangutans, more so than Chimpanzees, Gorillas and even the gentle-ish Bonobos, their gentle demeanour. If you are able to spend hours, possibly a day or two with the same semi wild Orangutan you get a good feel for their solitary lifestyle and just how much they need to eat to survive. They are loners, only spending time with other Os to mate, or when they're looking after their young. We spent 8 hours or so over two days watching an adult female with her youngster. She never let it stray more than feet from her before yanking it back to the safety of her bulk. When the mother was brachiating through the trees, baby was clinging on, looking very relaxed most of the time, but it's life definitely depended on clinging on! Baby Orangutans travel everywhere on their mother for several years and then travel behind mother for a few more, only then knowing what to eat in the rainforest and how to survive so. They can then strike out on their own. Until then, the mother-infant bond is incredibly strong. I could, and we did, watch them for hours. They are extraordinary and difficult to photograph given they're up in the trees and frequently back lit but just watching them is a simple pleasure.

Apart from viewing these fantastic apes, what's the rest of the trip like? Well, it's living aboard an Indonesian klotok which is a bit like glamping on water, (semi-toff camping). I'd say 3 star. Don't do it if you can't survive on fewer stars than that. : You need to be able to cope with a basic mattress, relentlessly crafty mozzies and thunderously noisy frogs at night and to sharing a towel with your partner for the duration of the trip, in our case 8 nights - this is not a hotel and yes, you will look forward to sleeping in a decent bed when you have a night in a hotel at the end of the trip but you will also start enjoying the on-board rhythm of life very, very quickly. This is the way to go! : The water in some parts of the river has apparently been poisoned by the mercury used during gold mining so water for showering is collected from the un-damaged area and it's precious so you take short showers with super-cold river water, or more frugally, a half bucket wash once or twice a day will do the trick, the cold water providing momentary relief from the oppressive humidity.

A LL IM A GES Š JULIE CA LVERT A RPS

ORA NGUTA NS A ND KLOTOKS IN BORNEO : On board, you get to sit on a throne but it's a bucket flush with river water and the used toilet paper goes into a small bin, obviously not in to the river. This becomes a bit unsavoury by the end of the trip. : You eat a lot of fish when the crew catch them - they put out lines overnight so it's exciting to see what's been caught in the mornings. Lunches and dinners comprise 6 or so dishes including fresh fruit (typically watermelon, pineapple or bananas). It all sounds healthy but unfortunately a few of the dishes, including the fish, tend to be fried. Hygiene is impressively good given the basic kitchen and high humidity although we still managed a bout of botty rot over the course of eight days. That episode was possibly the result of tucking into a serious amount of vegetables though, rather than poor food hygiene - the veges and our cook's food generally were that good. : Sharing the Orangutans with other photographers and the average tourist was not always ideal. Let's be honest, photographing wildlife is best done quietly and with some responsibility. And we're all after the money shot so it's a bit disconcerting when you see 50 or so other people, all wanting to see the Os. The worst are the noisy day trippers or the 20 something year old lads for whom the Orangutans just happen to be an incidental on their boozy Asian travel route. Oh, and the serious photographers, but obviously not serious wildlifers, who had big bazooka flash guns with them at Camp Leakey, lighting up the forest. Really. Please, leave the flash behind, for the sake of the animals and potentially everyone's safety. : There are villages along the way but on this trip we didn't stop, there was enough river life to watch and reflect upon and we were really keen to put the time in to finding wild Os. But it doesn't matter where we have been in the world, I have been fascinated by simple, basic lifestyles and this was no exception.

River life is casual, the scenery is lush and tropical and the people happy and friendly. The boat crew (captain, his no 2 and the cook) work very hard. They're constantly washing down the klotok to prevent mould (so prevalent in the tropics), maintain hygiene after scaling fish, to deter insects etc but there are times when their laughter and good natured Indonesian banter rings loud and the camaraderie and friendships struck between the different boat crews is heart warming: cooks sitting side by side in the openings of their respective boats gossiping and joking as they cut vegetables.

It's difficult to imagine a trip that is more relaxing, yet at the same time allows you to photograph one of the iconic species. Note to self: must not leave it so long before the next trip to this part of the world. It's a good tonic for modern London life and can be combined nicely with New Year's Eve fireworks on Sydney harbour. It also gets you away for a mid winter thaw. Magic.

A LL IM A GES Š JULIE CA LVERT A RPS

LONDON, TOPICA L

A PEX HOUSE W RITTEN BY CHUKW UNONSO IBE A ND A NDY FIELD

The Apex house, located in Uxbridge London, is home to artist and non artist alike who use the walls in the house to express their various styles of art work. Very few of these artists still reside at the house. The free nature of the art is what most interests me.

My friend Andy Field painted the black guy with the microphone who is Richard Pryor. He was going to write ?Bitch was so fine I?d suck her daddy?s dick? [one of Pryor?s more infamous quotes. Ed.] but he thinks he got distracted and never got around to it.

The apples were painted by his girlfriend Eryn. He doesn?t know if they symbolise anything but maybe she thinks he is fat. Andy Field is a stand up comedian if I might add and we attend Creative Writing M.A classes together.

The Hunter S Thompson Mural was done by a guy called AJ. He?s a friend of Andy?s housemate Yasar, Yas loves Thompson. AJ painted it during a party. A lot of them sat around watching him do it and getting high of paint fumes. Was great The black and white painting Andy has never asked about. It predates him in the house. He thinks it?s of his housemate Tom but he never asked who painted it. It sits over the staircase and tends to be covered with cobwebs and dust.

Andy likes it.

As for the Apex House sign, it?s a tricky house to find. Andy thinks they need a big sign.

Andy says the house is a converted office and warehouse space being occupied by anyone and everyone that would like to visit, provided they?ve got good stories and promise not to rob them.

A LL IM A GES Š CHUKW UNONSO IBE

LONDON, TOPICA L

STAYING POW ER PHOTOGRA PHS OF BLA CK BRITISH EX PERIENCE 1 9 5 0 ?S-1 9 9 0 ?S

BY NA TA SHA BENNETT Staying Power is the outcome of a 7 year collaboration between the V&A and Brixton?s Black Cultural Archives. It?s a powerful exhibition which shows work by 17 black photographers that illustrate the black experience in London in the second half of the twentieth century.

The works explore race and identity and look at the lives of black immigrants living in London. Armet Francis, Maxine Walker and Yinka Shonibare all look at self portraits. Whilst Neil Kenlock and Al Vandenberg photograph the black experience, the former in a domestic setting and the latter in a street setting, but both photographers use portrait poses.

Al Vandenberg, 'High St reet Kensingt on' from the series 'On a Good Day' © The Estate of Al Vandenberg Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The works also depict fashion, style and culture in black London.

Raphael Albert photographs black beauty pageants. Okhai Ojeikere shoots traditional and modern Nigerian women?s hairstyles. Normski looks at youth culture in the 1980s and ?90s and music is key to Dennis Morris?work.

The exhibition really explores what it is to be black in London. Maxine Walker plays with the whole notion of identity. She photographs herself in various racial stereotypes in passport style photos. She questions the idea of identity and the world?s response to stereotypes at that time.

Yinka Shonibare also plays with identity in his series,? Diary of a Victorian Dandy?, which is reminiscent of Hogarth?s ?The Rake?s Progress?. He portrays himself as the dandy using all his wit and charm to infiltrate the higher echelons of society that would otherwise be closed to him.

Hogarth?s paintings are set in the eighteenth century at the height of British colonial power, but Shonibare turns the status quo on its head by making himself the central character.

Neil Kenlock takes portraits but not in a studio in a peoples? homes, surrounded by their possessions, proud of what they?ve earned. Whereas Al Vandenberg portraits are taken on the street usually with a shop front as a back drop. However, the pictures are not taken on the hoof, each picture is posed. He has a rapport with his subjects.

Armet Francis, ?Self-Portrait in Mirror?

London, 1964, gelatin silver print © Armet Francis Victoria and Albert, London

Okhai Ojeikere focuses on the patterns of hair styles which are described as, ?sculptures for a day.? Normski?s pictures show youth culture of the time, combining top sports brands with a more traditional heritage.

This exhibition is only one room but it contains so many strong images that it brings to mind Christopher Marlowe?s line, ?infinite riches in a little room?. This show not only introduced me to some great photographers but gave me a very positive picture of the black experience in London.

VICTORIA & A LBERT M USEUM 1 6 Feb r u ar y - 2 4 M ay 2 0 1 5 (f r ee ad m i ssi o n )

BLA CK CULTURA L A RCHIVES, BRIX TON 1 6 Feb r u ar y - 3 0 Ju n e 2 0 1 5 (f r ee ad m i ssi o n ) Yinka Shonibare, 'Diary of a Victorian Dandy' © Yinka Shonibare Victoria and Albert, London

BLEEDING LONDON, UPDA TE A LEGA CY

BY DEL BA RRETT A RPS

There?s an interesting art-work near South Kensington tube station ?

Text Pieces by Stefan Brüggemann. One of the texts runs ?This work is realized when I die?, which resonates, in the context of Bleeding London, as it is likely that the true significance and the value of the project will only be fully recognized when all the Bleeding Londoners are long dead and buried. But it would appear that we?re not the first RPS members to attempt a contemporary mass participation project.

Another BL?er sent us the link below to a fascinating radio programme. It?s well worth a listen and chimes with the BL project in so many ways ? particularly the record vs aesthetics debate.

Sadly, W Jerome Harrison was forced to resign from the Society after he accused the photographic establishment of being ?fossils [and] lacking in imagination?.

CLICK HERE FOR THE BBC RA DIO PROGRA M : THE BROOM COTTA GES SW7 Harrington Road © Del Barrett ARPS

BLEEDING LONDON...W HA T NEX T?

BY DEE ROBINSON A RPS Wandering along the roads of Brixton yesterday, ticking off a few more streets chattering away, one thought led to another. There must be other cities that have an equivalent to an A to Z so why haven't other regions picked up the baton and started to organise their own Bleeding Somewhere; Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham etc. Think what we as members of the RPS could do, we could leave a photographic record of the whole of the UK. There aren't many organisations that have the ability to do this for posterity. To catalogue the whole of the UK I for one would feel that we had achieved something very special. Why should London be unique in this way and nowhere else? What other organisation could get anywhere near this? Only the RPS. I am surprised that the "powers to be" haven't seen the potential of this project plus the chance to increase the profile of the Society . One of the great successes of Bleeding London is that it has attracted many people that aren't members of the RPS or perhaps have never heard of the Society. What an opportunity to increase membership.

What an opportunity to leave such a legacy for future generations of the UK at the beginning of the 21st century.

Just a thought.

Image: SW2 Appach Lane © Dee Robinson ARPS

RPS London is delighted to announce that the first Bleeding London exhibition will be held at City Hall in July.

If you?ve participated in the Bleeding London project, you?ll be hearing from us very shortly. And if you haven?t participated, why not? It?s not too late to help fill in those last small pockets of uncovered streets. Email us at london@rps.org for details of how you can still join in.

Image @ Will Cheung FRPS

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