RPS Travel Group Newsletter #37

TRAVEL GROUP e-NEWSLETTER

#37 August 2018

Travel Image of the Month is: “Serenity” by Sitanath Paul, from his gallery Kausani

©SitanathPaul

Thank you Sitanath for this lovely shot – great control of the exposure to keep detail in the shadows, peaks, and mist.

Well done.

Contents Springboard 2019 Information Brazil – Off the Beaten Track – Trip & Booking information Women in Photography – 100 Heroines cont …

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#37 August 2018

Conents continued:

How do I get it Right? – Joint TG & Documentary Group Workshop Part 1 of an article by Stan Spurling about his love of Burma Bits & Bobs Don’t forget – articles, travel & technique tips and suggestions are always welcome!

SPRINGBOARD 2019 I come from the North-West of England and my maternal grandparents lived in Salford, “Lowry Country”. Lowry is, of course, one of the most famous of British Artists – probably the only one to have had pop-song written about him – and it really is great news that Springboard 2019 will be held in Salford!

The Travel Group have arranged a discount for members at a local hotel, The Copthorne Hotel and I hope to have the full information pack and on-line booking form up on the RPS website very soon.

Watch out for the “mid-month Springboard Special” which should be in your mailbox near the middle of August This is a great opportunity to meet up with your fellow enthusiasts, enter the competitions and perhaps enjoy a little of a great artist’s legacy.

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#37 August 2018

Brazil – Off The Beaten Track

2019 looks like being a good year for Travel Group Members as, in addition to Springboard, Robert Akester (in collaboration with Journey Latin America) is organising a very exclusive trip to Brazil. The trip is planned for August 2019, and is limited to just 15 participants, so it really is one to book early if you want to be sure of a place.

In Robert’s words “Join us for a trip to north-eastern Brazil from 16th August 2019. We’ll visit the World Heritage Site town of Olinda, wave-like dunes and clear lagoons, two National Parks with wildlife and unusual scenery, a mangrove fringed delta and many other wonders. Accommodation is expected to be modest, but with en-suite facilities.

Numbers are strictly limited to 15 participants and some spaces are already taken. Book early (through Journey Latin America) to avoid disappointment”

The full info pack is at: Brazil Trip or you can contact Robert direct at: bob.akester@btinternet.com

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#37 August 2018

Women in Photography Hundred Heroines: Celebrating Women in Photography Today To celebrate the centenary year of women’s suffrage in the UK, The Royal Photographic Society is running a campaign to honour one hundred photographic Heroines and we’re inviting you to take part. Anyone can nominate heroines, you do not have to be a member of The RPS. The heroines will be part of a landmark exhibition and receive a specially minted medal – the Margaret F. Harker Medal, Harker being the Society’s first female President and the UK’s first female Professor of Photography. 2018 is being hailed as the Year of the Woman, it marks the centenary of women’s suffrage in the UK and has seen significant steps taken to highlight women’s rights – from the #metoo and Times Up movements to increased awareness of the gender gap and global protests fighting for equality.

Through the Hundred Heroines initiative, The RPS is adding its voice to the global discussion.

You can nominate your photography Heroine via the below link. This could be someone who has inspired you, challenged you, used photography to highlight particular issues or has shown bravery or courage through their photography. The Royal Photographic Society firmly believes that the campaign will redefine and realign the status of women in photography today. The global reach of the initiative will empower female photographers and showcase talent that might otherwise have been overlooked.

“If my grandmother and great-grandmother were able to come back and look at the world today, I think they would be heartened by much of the progress in women’s rights [ . . . ] However, they would also be spurring us on, highlighting how much we still have to do - given ongoing levels of gender inequality in almost all spheres.” Helen Pankhurst, Women’s Rights Activist & Great Granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst.

Join the conversation Help us add our voice to the global debate on equality by joining the conversation on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @RPS100Heroines #HundredHeroines - and you can click on the icon below to make your nomination:

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#37 August 2018

How do I get it Right?

I’m pleased to report that there is a joint Documentary & Travel Group Workshop being launched under the above title. The Workshop will be held at various locations in October & November 2018, and the following are a few words from the organiser, Janey Devine, FRPS: A joint Travel and Documentary Group workshop on producing successful Travel and Documentary Images Learn to get the most out of your photo opportunities and how to critique your own and others images in an informal, friendly, atmosphere with a small group of fellow photographers.

Aim:  Tips and Tricks to help you get the best images  Get more satisfaction from your photography  To be clearer on what you want from your photography Max participants: 12 Everyone should bring 12-15 A4, or 25-50 A5 documentary or travel prints, preferably all from one travel trip or documentary project.

Bring images that you feel are successful as well as ones that you feel if you’d taken differently might have improved your ‘story’. In the case of: Travel: Documentary:

Images reflecting the essence of a place Images telling a story

This sounds like a really useful workshop for those wishing to hone their skills, and the full information pack & booking details are here:

I do hope that some TG members attend this workshop as I would like to do a newsletter article about their experiences.

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#37 August 2018

And now for the first part of the article, “SEVEN YEARS IN BURMA – Prof. Stan Spurling ARPS DPAGB"

Kayah woman

We first tried to visit Burma in 2007 but a few days before I was due to fly riots by monks in Yangon caused the military to cancel all visas.

The country suffered a bad cyclone in 2008 with wide spread flooding so our next chance was 2009.

Our first visit was then in 2009 and like the soldier in Kipling’s poem The Road to Mandalay I was drawn back to visit again. In fact, we have been drawn back seven times.

There are three reasons for this. The people are the nicest I have met in 30 years of travelling all over the world. The country is beautiful, full of beautiful temples and stupas.

In 2011 I became involved through an old school friend with the Royal Burma Society of Great Britain. In 2012 I was made president of the society and my wife Director of Communications (organising memberships and functions) On my visits since 2009 my wife and I had been donating to a school in the area of Bagan run by a wonderful monk.

As president of the Society I decided that it would be formed into a charity (The Royal Burma Trust) to specifically help schools in Bagan.

So, the third reason for returning is the charity. A few days on every visit is reserved for the schools. The money we raise is used in different ways. The average wage for a teacher is US$100 a month so they all receive a bonus from us. The children receive a special lunch, exercise books, pens and a goody bag which the school has purchased from our donations. Money is also reserved for building projects such as increasing the size and quality of the classrooms. Monks are specially revered so they can achieve a lot in a short time. One year a new modern ceiling was put in a village school within 48 hours of receiving our donation.

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#37 August 2018

We have always chosen to travel at the end of the monsoon season, the end of October –beginning of November when there are fewer tourists. The country at this time is very lush and we have been lucky to have had only 2 part days of rain during all of our visits.

Donation certificate Stan, Isolde & Phone Phone

School in Bagan

Entry into Burma is generally from Bangkok or Delhi (not recommended) to Yangon where you will find the famous Shwedagon Pagoda. This was first constructed some 800 years ago. The main stupa is covered with more than 8000 sheets of gold with the top set with thousands of diamonds and other precious stones. Yangon itself has seen better days, and most of the wonderful colonial buildings are in a poor state, though there is some attempt to restore these. The Strand hotel built in the 1901 and acquired by the Sarkies Brothers who owned Raffles Hotel in Singapore, is worth a visit for lunch, dinner or just a drink. I stayed there on one occasion and our very large suite came with a butler and an enormous balcony overlooking Strand road.

There has been a lot of news on the plight of the Rohingya refugees in Rakhine state. This area and the Chin state to the north was restricted for many years but we were lucky to travel there in 2010. A flight to a town on the coast called Sittwe is the starting point to discover this area.

Inle Lake Farmer

Stupas Indein

Sittwe is a fishing port and apart from the market there is little of interest. From here you can travel by boat, or car as we chose to do, north to Mraul U. The trip through villages with welcoming people who love you to spend time with them, takes most of the day. We take medicines with us to give away like paracetamol as

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#37 August 2018

these items are much sought after by the people.

Mrauk U was once the first capital of the Burmese empire. The architecture here is very different to the rest of Burma. The stupas are much more rounded and of a dull red earth colour. From Mrauk U a 2-hour trip by

Fisherman Inle Lake

small boat up the Kadadan River brings you to the Chin villages.

The Chin women traditionally tattooed their faces but this is dying out and rarely seen on young girls. What struck me most in addition to their friendliness was how clean the villages were.

At one I was offered a shave by a young girl using half of a razor blade held in a small piece of bamboo, but managed to avoid that. I did however enjoy a fresh coconut with a bamboo straw. This village was building a school and my donation was duly documented, amount, name and address.

I returned to Yangon then on to Kyaiktiyo to see the famous Golden Rock a Buddhist pilgrimage site. Here sits a large bolder covered in gold leaf with a pagoda on top, balanced on a rocky out crop. We were here at the festival of light and hundreds of people slept out all night. – to be continued

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#37 August 2018

Article text & images ©Stan Spurling

Girl with Gold Earrings, Bagan

Kayan Lah Wi (Pandaung) Woman

Bits & Bobs Continuing the theme of “Women in Photography” let me tell you about Me & Annie Leibovitz!

She’s one of the most famous of current lady photographers but let me say right from the start that I have never worked with, or met her – although I have admired much of her early work. But …

A few years ago I was contacted by Bulgari The Jewellers who were producing a coffee-table book to promote their “Serpenti” collection; they wanted to licence one of my images for inclusion therein. A very small amount of money changed hands, but later I duly received a complimentary copy of the book (and let me tell you, it would need to be a BIG coffee-table), and there, on the photo-credit page, I am listed (as photograhame) just above Ms Leibovitz, as a contributor!

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#37 August 2018

Don’t forget to let me have your news, information, articles, c&c for inclusion in the newsletter, or just drop me a line to say “Hi!”.

See you next issue Grahame Postscript –my proof-reader, Katharina, is away this week so any errors are all mine, and duly apologised for.

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