RPS Yorkshire Region lockdown E-Newsletter July 2020

LOCKDOWN JULY 2020 in this issue Contacts - who’s who in Yorkshire P.1 Notes from your RO P1 & 1A

Yorkshire Region Contacts

RPS President elect Simon Hill FRPS P2 & 2A

Regional Organiser: Mark Slater E: yorkshirechair@rps.org T: 07718 336298

Community demonstrates emotions during lockdown; Mary Crowther ARPS P3 & 3A

Regional Treasurer: Geoff Blackwell FCCA ARPS E: gblackwell@fastmail.fm T:

What not to miss in Yorkshire P4 New Yorkshire members P4 Distinction successes P4

Photography in Lockdown Yorkshire P4

Newsletter Editor: Brian Crossland LRPS E: RPS.Yorkshire.News@gmail.com T: 07540 824112 Regional Secretary/webmaster: David B Hall

Notes from your RO

Where the Documentary SIG can take you…..

I hope this newsletter finds you all well, in the strange times we live in. I feel that my life has moved on line with meetings and social distancing, looking forward to getting back to some sort of normality and being able to start to run events again.

But we have the online LRPS advisory day to look forward to in October.

The image of the body of Aylan Kurdi, the child from Syria, whose body was photographed face down in the surf of a Turkish beach, haunts me to this day, bringing back memories from previous conflict zones where children lost not just their childhoods but their lives. The image went viral, causing world-wide outrage that such a thing could happen, a steady stream of politicians and world leaders queued up to express outrage, with quotes such as “how can this happen in the 21st century”.

But what has happened on the ground since then? During my time there, I did not see any tangible difference that these words had made on the ground, the fact is that conditions have only gotten worse.

One picture of one boy’s body washing ashore is tragic but current records show that in excess of 2,600 people had died trying to reach Europe, with more and more people risking their lives every day. Each year the numbers increase, more people drown and 10,000’s are interned into the squalor of camps such as the one at Moria.

In just one day during 2019 over 600 people drowned in the Mediterranean when their boat capsized shortly before midnight on April 18 in Libyan waters. The rescue attempt by Italian and Maltese forces could only save 50 of the estimated 700 lives that were on board. Men, women and children drowning together in the belief of a new life where they would be safe and have a future for their children. I was living in Germany at the time when the Berlin wall fell, we all felt that this was a pivotal moment in European history, hoping and praying that this was last we saw of walls dividing people and countries. But Hungary has completed its fence along the border with Serbia, Turkey has closed its boarder to Syrian refugees as it can no longer cope with the influx, to date there is over 3 million refugees in Turkey. Other European countries have reinstated border controls, which has made people more desperate and willing to take put their and the lives of their children into the hands of smugglers and criminal gangs to escape the violence and look to make a new life in Europe.

Both Greece and Turkey are now considering deploying a floating net barrier in the sea to deter the smugglers boats. …continued…

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LOCKDOWN JUNE 2020 YORKSHIRE REGION

RO - Mark Slater Documentary SIG …con7nued…

At the start of the new decade over 920,000 refugees and migrants had arrived on European shores in little over a year with over 4,000 lives being lost during that time. The majority of these (75%) new arrivals had fled conflict and persecution in Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq.

The nearest main town of Mitilini on the island of Lesbos, hosts the now infamous Moria refugee camp. This single camp houses over 20,000 refugees. That has grown from 5,000 in less than a year, when originally constructed it had an official maximum official capacity of only 3,000. For the lucky ones living in the olive grove, they have canvas tents, provided by one of the NGO’s, even these are inadequate during the winter months, for the rest they make do with either a festival tent or a tarpaulin sheet wrapped round a wooden or bamboo frame. Their thin tents are surrounded by piles of rotting rubbish, sanitation is poor, food scarce, and limited access to vital medicine and healthcare.

There is now a real risk of a major outbreak of disease and a Covid-19 pandemic, due to the poor sanitation and the overcrowded living conditions, the majority of people I spoke to were from either Afghanistan or Syria, but there are people there from a wide range of other countries. One of the main frustrations for people is the time it takes to go through the asylum process, there are plans to move 1,000’s of asylum seekers to mainland Greece, but for the people, it cannot come soon enough.

Most of the children I met did not have adequate clothing for the winter, at night the temperature plummets, during one of the days the wind picked up and there was torrential rain for most of the day and it became bitterly cold. Children were walking around in crocks and sandals their feet blue from the cold, a lot of the children are coughing and have runny noses and scabies is becoming a real issue due to being unable to wash properly.

Just before I arrived there was a lot of tension between the refugees and the local population which is only increasing. When I was there NGO staff’s vehicles were targeted, alarmingly a number of far-right activists arrested, being armed with clubs, near to the main camp. During a peaceful protest by the refugees, protesting and wanting freedom, they were fired upon by riot police using tear gas. The crowd was led by families and children in buggies and pushchairs, many of them were hospitalised, due to the gas that they inhaled.

I set out to document the plight of these people living in Europe in the 21st century. Having witnessed the conditions and met so many people who just want their family to be safe, fleeing war and persecution and leaving everything they have or have ever known, to try and forge a better life has had a profound impact on me.

If things continue as they are something will have to give, the book I made was in some small way to try and shine a light on those people living in the olive groves around the now infamous Moria refugee camp. The book was self-published and had a limited run, with any proceeds donated to refugee charities providing support to those in the camp.

One of the images from the book was the winning image in April’s RPS Documentary Group bimonthly photographic competition, the image can be seen by following this link https://rps.org/ media/1nvmi01p/february-bi-monthly-gallery.pdf

Mark

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LOCKDOWN JULY 2020 YORKSHIRE REGION

Meet our RPS President Elect;

Simon Hill FRPS

Photography has been a very important part of my life from my very earliest memory. There is a photograph in my parents’ house, of me with a very simple point-andshoot Instama=c camera, taken a few weeks before my fourth birthday. This was my first camera and, since then, a camera has never been out of reach. Now, fiBy years later, while pursuing a career combining two careers - photographer and designer - I oBen struggle to find =me for non work-related ac=vi=es but I do manage it occasionally.

As a professional photographer, I specialise in editorial and documentary work, forever inspired by the prospectus for Life magazine; if you don’t know it, it is worth looking it up on Google. I really enjoy learning about the life and work of other people, wherever they are in the world, and although I do many privatelyfunded projects I feel very privileged that editors will (occasionally) pay me to photograph people in some farflung place.

As an exhibi=on designer, my work is firmly rooted in the past. About thirty years ago I formed a design group that specialises in crea=ng museums, galleries and themed visitor aMrac=ons (like Na=onal Park Visitor Centres). As Managing Director and Lead Designer of the group, now based in Harrogate, VIDAR Media Group works out of London, Reykjavík and Dublin but undertakes projects as far afield as India, Malaysia and Vietnam.

My ‘down =me’ has always been ac=ve, par=cularly with sport. I am a 4th Dan judo blackbelt and I play rugby for a team in Leeds. Being six foot four and weighing sixteen stone has a dis=nct advantage to both of these ac=vi=es although it can be a bit of a hinderance to my more ‘relaxing’ pas=me of cycling … geYng my sixteen stone up Trapping Hill (Côte de LoBhouse) in Nidderdale or the Cow and Calf near Ilkley can be a bit of a struggle!

S=ll, it is nice to get out of the studio or away from my desk. …….con=nued on next page

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LOCKDOWN JULY 2020 YORKSHIRE REGION

Meet our RPS President Elect;

Simon Hill FRPS

…….con'nued from previous page.

Growing up close to the Derbyshire Peak District and now living on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, I never been far from beau'ful landscapes. I suppose this is a bit of a missed opportunity as I don’t consider myself to be a landscape photographer - I am much happier photographing people, whether in the studio or (beDer s'll) in the context of their own environment. That said, I do enjoy walking in the countryside, oIen with a camera in my pocket but always with my four year old border terrier - Oskar (named aIer Oskar Barnack, inventor of the Leica) - sniffing about in the heather for a rabbit or other tasty morsel.

On the subject of tasty morsels, ea'ng is another favourite occupa'on of mine. I consider this to be a very important indulgence that I do not take lightly - I would hate to give the opposing rugby team a weight advantage! My two favourite restaurants are Jómfrúin - a Scandinavian fusion restaurant in Reyjkavík - and Café Goa - an Indian restaurant in Waterford, Ireland. Both of these are a bit of a hike for a ‘spontaneous’ desire to eat out so, closer to home, the Devonshire Arms in Bolton Abbey takes some bea'ng. Coincidentally, the ‘Devonshire’ is owned by the Duke of Devonshire (the clue is in the name!) And he kindly wrote the foreword to my photo-documentary book on the Great Yorkshire Show (published 2018). His son Bill, the Earl of Burlington, is also a photographer and a few years ago I worked with him on a project at the family seat, Chatsworth House, in Derbyshire … so, a couple of nice personal links back to the Devonshire Arms. In fact, my wife would never forgive me if I didn’t include a third - and probably the most important - connec'on … Harriet and I were married at Bolton Abbey and had our recep'on at the ‘Devonshire’.

Despite the difficul'es of combining my two ‘professions’ - as a photographer and as a designer - the pressures on my 'me have increased several fold with a recent turn of events. When I came back to live in the UK, two years ago, I decided to get more involved with my personal photography but liDle did I expect this to lead to a renewed involvement with the Royal Photographic Society.

Having joined as a teenager and having been a member for over forty years, with the ‘dis'nc'ons journey’ mapping out my early career as a photographer, there is a certain elegance to that journey now coming full circle. Elected as a Trustee and Member of Council in September 2019 and now becoming President Elect, I have a marvellous opportunity to ‘give something back’ to the Society that has been so much a part of my life as a photographer. It is a posi'on that I take with great responsibility and look forward to working with members, staff and my fellow Trustees as we make the Society ‘fit for purpose’ in what is proving to be a very challenging 'me.

Simon Hill FRPS Harrogate, North Yorkshire, June 2020

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LOCKDOWN JUNE 2020 YORKSHIRE REGION

Mary Crowther ARPS

Lockdown – Community Demonstrates Emo6on On March 14th I was sat in the airport ready to jet off to a warmer climate. A;er a two hour wait, watching the advisory no@ces of delayed flights, then closure of the flights, eventually to be turned away as all flights were cancelled. So to return home.

This was at the start of many media announcements and alerts about Coronavirus or COVID 19 as it spread into and across the UK. With some trepida@on about the decision to go into self-isola@on, a state where we have remained for 15 weeks, and the @me of wri@ng, and it goes on.

During this rather unprecedented but relaxed period it allowed me to think about any unfinished projects and new ones that could be worked on, not forgeRng the work required in the garden, as well as having @me to actually do some photography.

It occurred to me that we have a younger popula@on in the community and how they have either been affected or how they pleasingly demonstrate emo@on for the NHS and key workers with crea@ve displays. The images shown form only part of a project which focuses on the local community and the effects endured for a long period of lockdown.

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LOCKDOWN JUNE 2020 YORKSHIRE REGION

Mary Crowther ARPS

Lockdown – Community Demonstrates Emo6on …con6nued from previous page

Please respect the copyright of all images

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LOCKDOWN JULY 2020 YORKSHIRE REGION WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT MISS Please check the RPS website for further details, updates, cost and any essential booking information.

The range of events and on-line activities/workshops can be found on the RPS website.

Please check the website for details, which may change at short notice due to the pandemic.

• Aug 24th 2020 - North Yorks Moors, photo day from £79. Landscape SIG. LIMITED NUMBERS. • 3rd Oct 2020 - RPS Photography Roadshow, Sheffield Hallam University. From £10.

• Oct 24th 2020, on-line, LRPS Advisory Day. LIMITED NUMBERS. • Nov 8th 2020 - Falling Foss (near Whitby). From £63. Landscape SIG. LIMITED NUMBERS. • 14th Nov 2020 - Research Day. Historical SIG. From £5.

The Yorkshire Region continues to grow. Welcome to our new members: Michael Ryan Marian Pearson

Richard Lacey Dr Kim Bevan

NOTE: Due to the current virus situation, and some staff being on furlough, information from HQ has been limited.

Congratulations on your Distinction:

Adrienne Lucas LRPS Andrew Darling LRPS Harry Wentworth LRPS Julie Kirrane LRPS Tracy Lund ARPS (exempt) Joanne Gower ARPS (exempt)

NOTE. If anyone has been missed, or there are any errors, please email the correct details to the editor for checking and correction.

Photography in Lockdown Yorkshire Before 23rd March 2020, some of us would have describe photography as an individual activity in which we did our own thing for our own reasons. Photographic Societies, Special Interest Groups (SIGs), Camera Clubs, etc, generally brought many of us together to meet regularly in order to share our common interest, learn something new, etc, with some of us still considering photography as an individual activity. Since that date, we have had an enforced opportunity to pursue our individual photographic interests further than we ever imagined.

Throughout lockdown, some groups have used on-line conference calls/meetings such as Zoom, Teams, etc, some willingly, some kicking and screaming - but many went with the flow, as there were few alternatives. This may have allowed some clubs and societies to find different approaches to photography, and many will have recorded ‘lockdown’ within their own patch, or beyond. We’re hoping that some would like to share it in a future news letter.

This edition of Yorkshire News contains a detailed introduction to the RPS new President Elect, Simon Hill FRPS; a fascinating insight into some of the volunteering done by our new Regional Organiser, Mark Slater; and a project carried out by our most recent past RO, Mary Crowther ARPS, with a photo-report on her local community and the impact of Covid-19.

Do you have a project or a story you could share with our Region? Please contact the editor with some details and it could be in a newsletter in the near future.

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