by
RPS
Northern Region Newsletter
Spring 2025
Image
David Boath
Beamish Portraits
We have now had two workshops at Beamish and would like to share some of the images taken by our members
Steve Smith LRPS
Matt Kerridge
Rachel Manley
Jane Morris LRPS
Alex Prescott FRPS
AGM report
Welcome everyone to our first newsletter after a long gap. We are a new committee and still finding about how to do things and how the RPS works. The idea of this newsletter is to introduce ourselves, to let you know what is happening and to highlight some of the activities we have been involved in.
A group of us got together in May 2023 to revive the region. Heather Lawrence took the helm and we held meet ups at the Sunderland Glass Centre and in Durham. We held our first Advisory Day at Newton and Bywell Village Hall in late 2024 and took part in the new Talk-Walk -Talk programme run by the Landscape Group and Digital Imaging Group. Heather bowed out in December 2024 and I took over with Steve Balback as secretary and John Dilworth as treasurer.
We have been working hard with our committee putting together a programme for the region continuing with the Talk-Walk-Talk programme and Advisory Days with the help of Hazel and James Frost and Alex Prescott.
We are also developing a number of ideas for the future and the first one to come to fruition was working with Phil Punton, an experienced photographer. We advertised three workshops to take place at Beamish using natural light to take portraits. These sold out within three days and have been very successful. We will be arranging with Phil to run another series at Beamish when the current workshops are over.
Building on our relationship with Phil we have been working with him on a Viking Workshop to take place in Northumberland in May. Phil has contacts with Viking enactors and he also has flash triggers so everyone can get well-lit images. He had done lots of these events in the past and is keen to do more in the future.
Our first big event with a speaker took place in April 2024 when Iain McDonald gave his talk “Shooting Time” which focussed on his 50 year archive of images taken in and around the river Tees. This was a rare opportunity to see a nationally recognised documentary photographer.
Unfortunately we had to postpone our second speaker event when Joe Cornish injured himself. However, the talk is now schedules for 21st June when Joe will talk about ”A Landscape Photographer’s Story” reflecting on his three decades as landscape photographer in the north of England.
We have invited Tesni Ward to give a talk in September. She is a Derbyshire-based photographer who concentrates on the natural world.
Continuing with Advisory Days we have one shortly when Hazel and James Frost will comment on potential Licentiate panels and also panels in the Travel, Applied and Documentary genres for Associate and Fellowship levels. We have another one in October when Paul Mitchell will be available to comment on panels in the Landscape, Visual Art and Photobook genres.
This has not been an easy year for the RPS with concerns over income generation dominating discussions. A consequence of that was that we had to give up an accrued amount of over £5000 and submit to a new budgetary process. That was very hard to do because we appreciate that the hard work of others who came before us had built up that money.
Our committee has worked very hard to set up all these events and we are on a steep learning curve. The various programmes that we have to use, largely without any proper training, would try the patience of a saint. Here I should particularly mention Steve Balback who manages the bookings for our events which is a crucial job for the region.
Sadly we lost our treasurer and techie John Dilworth in January. He was completely unflappable and very much missed. Brigitte Thomasson has taken over as treasurer and Mike Curry is acting as technical adviser. Helen Crute looks after facebook and is working on accessing our webpages on the RPS website. She has also been responsible for liaising with Iain McDonald and Joe Cornish and making the arrangements with them for their talks. Mike Allport has helped with our newsletter and Carmel Morris supports our activities as a committee member. Over the past 18 months we have also had the support of Mike Lovett, Brian Morgan, Susan Rowe and Simon Green.
We are very aware that there is lots more work to be done. One area that we would like to improve on is the location for our talks. We are well aware that Middlesbrough is not centrally situated for our region and would love to find more venues which offer a similar service to that of Acklam Green. Do let us know if you know of anywhere.
Likewise we would welcome more people to join us on the committee particularly someone with computer skills and also someone who lives in Cumbria. We mostly meet on Zoom and it would be good to develop some activities in that area.. I never actually intended taking up this role but a group of us felt very strongly that we needed to revive the region and that there was RPS money there which could benefit RPS members in the north through the activities we could offer. I am prepared to do the job for another year but would be delighted to hand the role over to someone else.
Committee members
HeatherLawrence ROuntilDecember24
MikeLovett CommitteememberuntilFeb24
BrianMorgan CommitteememberuntilNov24
SimonGreen CommitteememberuntilAug24
SusanRowe CommitteememberuntilJan24
CarolHudson ROfromDecember24
SteveBalback RegionalSecretary
JohnDilworth RegionalTreasureruntilJan25
HelenCrute Communications
BrigetteThomasson TreasurerfromMarch25
MikeCurry Committeemember
MikeAllport Committeemember
Upcoming Events
All events can be found here https://rps.org/regions/ northern-region/rps-events/
Viking Workshop
Prudhoe 17th May 2025
An outdoor workshop, led by Phil Punton, a professional photographer with experience in arranging outdoor shoots. The workshop will involve taking images in a woodland setting using Light triggers, constant lights and natural lighting. The subject will be a Viking gathering including warriors and shield maidens in their camp and around a campfire.
A Landscape Photographer’s Story by Joe Cornish Hon FRPS
Acklam Green Centre, Middlesbrough 21st June 2025
A working photographer since 1980 Joe Cornish is based in North Yorkshire and has devoted the last three decades of his career to landscape photography, especially in the north of England and Scotland.
Advisory Day 5th Oct 2025
Newton and Bywell Village Hall
This is for Associate and Fellowships in Landscape, Visual Art and Photobooks. Technical Advice is also available for panels in other genres. It is for print and digital submissions, but panels will be limited to 12, so please book early to avoid disappointment.
Working with Wildlife by Tesni Ward
Acklam Green Centre, Middlesbrough 13th September 2025
Challenging yet rewarding, Wildlife photography will push you to your limits and test even the most determined of individuals. This talk goes through some of my experiences, both good and bad and how I work to develop an extensive and varied portfolio in challenging situations, both in the UK and further afield.
Northern Documentary Group by Peter Dixon
The group was started up in 2015 with Gordon Bates, Harry Hall, Ed Forster, Tony Griffith and John Clarke. They met for the first time in the cafe at The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne and have gone from strength to strength since then with 30+ members to date.
Our aim for the group is to encourage members to pursue documentary projects, some personal, and some group projects, such as Cafe Society, Coast and Summer Fares.
We meet monthly for 9 months of the year September-May at Kibblesworth Community Centre on the third Thursday of each month, 10.00am for a 10.30 am start. More info can be accessed on the RPS website (rps.org). Skipping the summer period, we have outdoor events instead.
Members are encouraged to exhibit their work at our meetings, projects that are completed or work in progress. Prints/or digital projection is used as a means of viewing the work.
Occasionally we invite local documentary photographers to come and give a talk on their photography giving a wonderful insight to their approach to documentary photography.
The group has had many days by car or train to London, Manchester, Edinburgh to name a few. Those venues have dovetailed well with the projects we happen to be working on at that time.
Peter can be contacted at docnorthern@rps.org
The Nightwalker by Peter Dixon
A Bumpy Road to a Distinction
For over a decade I had been considering going down the distinction route, starting in the very naive days when I hardly knew my iso from my f-stop! Then several years ago I summoned up the courage and sought advice from a photographer. Having been advised that I would never get my L because technically I wasn’t good enough, however, I was told I was quite creative so an A was probably more easily achievable. I followed this advice and failed!
With wounds licked and several years lapsed, I started reviewing images which I thought were technically acceptable, and that maybe after all I could achieve an L if I approached this the RPS way. After months of sorting images, putting panels together, shuffling the order, images and layout I had something to share at an Advisory Day, then a 1:1 and taking the advice from both, onto an Assessment Day and success. LRPS and thrilled. Celebrations in order!
During this sifting process and reviewing previous projects and exhibition work, I had a lightbulb moment, I also had the theme and beginnings of an A panel from my work in Venice. This is my favourite city in the world, which I first visited in the 1970’s and now go twice a year so I knew going back for more images was not a problem. It is my dream destination. So with a similar route of an Advisory Day, shuffling, reshooting and broadening the submission, followed by a 1:1, more advice, final tweaks and then to Assessment. ARPS and delighted, more celebrations and book next trip to Venice!
There is so much advice available through the RPS website, Advisory Days, 1:1s, and watching Assessment Days, before going to Panel. It is not easy gaining Distinctions and takes time, hard work and commitment. Leave your ego behind, however good you think that one favourite image may be, and follow the advice you are given at every stage, because the advisors are truly trying to help you.
Associate panels need a strong, cohesive theme that has depth and variety. It really helps if you can identify a theme, location, genre or story that you can photograph with heart and soul, and is readily accessible, so that you can revisit with ease and build on your body of work. A two week holiday to the other side of the world is not ideal fodder.
Spend time reviewing images, print them out contact sheets, then cut them up so you can shuffle them around and experiment with the layout and sequence of your panel. I use this for sequencing images whatever the outcome, panels, exhibitions, and books. I stick my work to kitchen cabinet doors, or to a magnetic board as things look very different laid out on a table top or flat surface or seeing them at eye level. I find myself noticing what did and didn’t work as I go about everyday life.
Be really fussy with edges, horizons, dust spots, and print/digital quality. Present your work as beautifully as you can. And this is just the images, because of equal importance is the Statement of Intent, which should be clear and concise. Start it early, it helps to focus the mind and clarify which images truly are part of what you are trying to say, and review it again when the final images are selected.
Without the help and encouragement of the amazing Northern Region volunteers, I am not sure that I would have achieved what I did. Take courage, do the hard work and you will achieve that Distinction.
Kate Somervell ARPS
Statement of Intent
The extraordinary city of Venice cast its spell on me when I was 13.
Returning often over decades, I love just wandering through the city, in order to share both the known and less know.
I hope to show the solace I find in the Venice of nocturnal winter, where it is possible to slow down, be still.
There is both time and space to contemplate the atmosphere, damp, often foggy and chilly.
The rhythm of the city ebbs and flows, I find myself surrounded by faded beauty, architecture and echoes of the past.
It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of our treasurer,John Dilworth. He will be greatly missed because of all the hard work he did for the committee. Our condolences go out to his family.
Early April saw the 100 birthday of Roy Elwood FRPS MPAGBAPAGBEFIAP
Roy, who is the Honorary President of Whickham Photographic Club started his photography just after the second World War ended when he exchanged some coffee for a roll of film in Norway.. The Club celebrated his 100th by giving him a party and organising a display of some of his excellent photographs
