PHOTOJOURNALISM
MASTERCLASS
ETHICAL DILEMMA
DODGING DEATH ON THE PAMPLONA BULL RUN
HOW TO TAKE GREAT PICTURES IN THE SUN
SHOULD PHOTOGRAPHERS PAY TO SHOOT PORTRAITS?
JULY 2017 / VOLUME 157 / NUMBER 7 / WWW.RPS.ORG
TRAVEL S P E C I A L
SALGADO ‘AFTER THE HUMAN SPECIES DISAPPEARS THE PLANET WILL REBUILD ITSELF’
© Tim Kemple
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OPENING SHOT
| JULY 2017 | 481
NEW HORIZONS
T COMING UP
IN FUTURE ISSUES In a documentary special, Zed Nelson HonFRPS talks about gun culture; Alison Baskerville FRPS considers masculinity; and Joan Wakelin Bursaryrecipient Matilda Temperley reports from Ghana
PRINCIPAL PATRONS
his issue of the Journal is all about pushing boundaries and broadening horizons as we celebrate the world of travel photography. Whether it explores far-flung places or throws new light on familiar territory closer to home, great travel photography often expresses a feeling of time and place, a location or an event. Sometimes it even changes lives. One photographer determined to influence hearts and minds is Honorary Fellow Sebastião Salgado, who spoke to us after his RPS talk at the Photography Show in Birmingham. He describes his most recent work as a love letter to the planet. In this, my first issue as editor of The RPS Journal, we feature stunning images by the renowned photojournalist on our cover and in ‘Best shots’, starting on page 514. The Brazilian, who trained as an economist, has visited more than 100 countries in an attempt to understand humanity and the environment. His ongoing project, Genesis, is a quest to reconnect the human race with nature as we contemplate an uncertain future. At the age of 73 Salgado’s appetite for discovering new horizons seems unabated. Beginning on page 508 veteran photojournalist Jim Hollander explains the lure
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of running with the bulls in Pamplona during the fiesta of San Fermin– and why he switched to photographing them after a life-changing moment nearly 40 years ago. The acclaimed travel and landscape photographer David Noton FRPS considers the ethics of paying for portraiture in the effort to capture the essence of a culture. Liz Rhodes MBE, chair of the RPS Travel Group, also discusses the issue faced by travellers and tourists. Turn to page 530 to discover more. Proving that small is beautiful from page 522, Nicholas JR White ARPS celebrates the British bothy with his three-year project that proves travel photography can be as inspiring at home as it is abroad. Find out what drew him to these secluded shelters – along with the people who rely on them. And with a Masterclass on how to photograph in the sun, let the adventure begin.
KATHLEEN MORGAN Editor
SUPPORTING PARTNERS
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482 | JULY 2017
IN THIS ISSUE The Royal Photographic Society Fenton House, 122 Wells Road Bath BA2 3AH, UK www.rps.org reception@rps.org +44 (0)1225 325733 Incorporated by Royal Charter Patron Her Majesty the Queen President Walter Benzie HonFRPS Vice-President Robert Albright FRPS Treasurer Geoff Blackwell ARPS Chief Executive Dr Michael Pritchard FRPS Published on behalf of The Royal Photographic Society by Think Red Tree Business Suites 33 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow G40 4LA thinkpublishing.co.uk
© 2017 The Royal Photographic Society. All rights reserved. Every reasonable endeavour has been made to find and contact the copyright owners of the works included in this newspaper. However, if you believe a copyright work has been included without your permission, please contact the publishers. Views of contributors and advertisers do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Royal Photographic Society or those of the publishers. All material correct at time of going to press.
Circulation 11,374 (Jan-Dec 2016) ABC ISSN: 1468-8670
Cover Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by Sebastião Salgado HonFRPS
498 An image from Suzanne Trower FRPS's successful fine-art submission
CONTRIBUTORS
JIM HOLLANDER Pamplona bull run (PAGE 508)
A photojournalist who has covered one World Cup, three Olympics and conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, Hollander is currently EPA staff photographer for Israel and the Palestinian Territories GEMMA PADLEY Best of bothy worlds (PAGE 522) Padley is an editor and journalist who specialises in photography. Her clients have included LensCulture, Getty Images and Magnum Photos, and she contributes to the British Journal of Photography
FEATURES
508 | HIGHLY CHARGED Jim Hollander's long-term love affair with the Pamplona bull run 530 A Naxi woman captured by David Noton
522 | GIMME SHELTER Off the beaten track for Black Dots, Nicholas JR White ARPS's three-year project on bothies
DAVID NOTON Portrait payments (PAGE 530)
Author, writer and a triple winner of the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, the Dorset-based Fellow is a travel and landscape specialist who also runs his own freelance business
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514 | GLOBAL WITNESS Sebastião Salgado HonFRPS shares his sobering world view
530 | PAY AS YOU GO? David Noton FRPS on the ethics of paying to take photographs
558 Up close with Martin Addison FRPS
534 | HIGHER PURPOSE Rare access to the world's oldest monastic community
MARTIN ADDISON FRPS; DAVID NOTON FRPS; SUZANNE TROWER FRPS; JIM HOLLANDER
EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES Editor Kathleen Morgan kathleen.morgan@thinkpublishing. co.uk 0141 375 0509 Contributing editors Fiona McKinlay, Jonathan McIntosh, Gavin Stoker, David Clark Design Matthew Ball, John Pender, Andrew Bell Sub-editors Sam Bartlett, Andrew Littlefield Advertising sales Elizabeth Courtney elizabeth.courtney @thinkpublishing.co.uk 020 3771 7233 Editor-in-chief Clare Harris clare.harris@thinkpublishing.co.uk Group account director John Innes
508
The thrills and spills of the annual bull run in Pamplona, Spain
THE CRAFT
541 | MUST TRY Gavin Stoker turns his focus to the Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG HSM OS 542 | LATEST KIT New bags, lenses, gizmos, gadgets and cameras, plus we member test the Nikon D5600
NICHOLAS JR WHITE ARPS
546 | MASTERCLASS Architectural photography with Martine Hamilton Knight ARPS
EVERY MONTH
484 | BIG PICTURE Village in the swamps by Yann Arthus-Bertrand 487 | IN FOCUS Society news and views 497 | BOOKS This month's titles include Lauren Greenfield's Generation Wealth 498 | FINE,ART FELLOWSHIPS Suzanne Trower and Eion Johnston 558 | SHOWCASE Martin Addison FRPS exhibits his work at Fenton House
522 Glendhu bothy in the northern Highlands of Scotland by Nicholas JR White ARPS
560 | TIMES PAST Roger Fenton's Crimean War VOL 157 / JULY 2017 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 483
484 | BIG PICTURE |
Village in the swamps By Yann Arthus-Bertrand Since becoming the director of a nature reserve in France at the age of 20, Yann Arthus-Bertrand has been captivated by the natural world. He began taking pictures a decade later as a visual aid during a three-year study of lions in the Maasai Mara reserve in Kenya. Earning a living as a hot-air balloon pilot while in Africa he discovered the earth from above and began reporting on environmental issues for publications such as Géo and National Geographic. 484 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2017 / VOL 157
Now he is as well known for his environmental and campaigning work as his photography. His bestselling book The Earth from the Air, the result of a five-year airborne odyssey across five continents and 60 countries, is being updated to include new images including this one, Village in the swamps of the White Nile, near Bor, Jonglei, South Sudan (6° 22’ N – 31 °32’ E). The Earth from the Air: New Edition by Yann Arthus-Bertrand is published in September by Thames and Hudson. Visit yannarthusbertrand.org
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487
GEOFF BLACKWELL ARPS The honorary treasurer’s view 489
EXHIBITION EXCELLENCE What not to miss 492
HAVE YOUR SAY Vote on Society rule changes 495
INFOCUS NEWS, VIEWS, EXHIBITIONS AND MEMBER INSIGHT
PUBLIC SCULPTURES TO BE RECORDED
CAPTURE LIGHT/SHUTTERSTOCK
Society to play a prominent role
An ambitious initiative to catalogue the UK’s national sculpture collection over the next three years has been launched by Art UK. Partly funded by a £2.8 million grant from the National Lottery, the arts charity aims to create a digital record of all 170,000 sculptures made during the past 1,000 years, in public collections and on outdoor display. Photographs will be made of around one-fifth of sculptures in collections and all 16,500 outdoor monuments and sculptures. Some will be captured in 3D. The Society’s role will be to
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help with the recruitment, training and management of the volunteer photographers who will document the sculptures. The first Society member to take part in a pilot scheme to test the feasibility of the project, R Keith Evans FRPS, said: “I share CEO Michael Pritchard’s enthusiasm for the Society’s involvement in this important venture, and I’m sure members will find taking part interesting and enjoyable.” The information and images collected on UK sculptures will be posted on the Art UK website.
See future issues of the Journal for information on how to get involved
MACRO AND ART PHOTOGRAPHY
One of Sir Antony Gormley’s sculptures that make up Another Place on Crosby Beach, Merseyside
Why not hone your skills at this Society workshop on Friday 8 September in Amersham, Buckinghamshire? For more information turn to page 554 VOL 157 / JULY 2017 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 487
488 | IN FOCUS |
TRAVEL GROUP TRIP TO ARLES
One of the year’s major photography festivals, Les Rencontres de la Photographie, takes place in Arles, southern France from 3 July-24 September. The festival’s 48th edition will feature exhibitions by Joel Meyerowitz HonFRPS, Alex Majoli, Roger Ballen and
Éric Julien, untitled
many others. The Society’s Travel Group is organising a field trip to Arles from 21-27 July, during which participants can visit the festival and explore other locations in the region. The cost is £2,050 for two people sharing. For details see rps.org/ special-interest-groups/travel
Samuel Gratacap, Day of an Offensive. War with the Islamic State in Sirte, 2016
ENVIRONMENTAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR The 2017 Environmental Photographer of the Year competition, which is organised by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), is open for entries. For the first time in its 10-year history the competition has a celebrity judging panel including actor Stephen Fry, adventurer Ben Fogle and wildlife presenter Steve Backshall.
The closing date for entries to the Environmental Photographer of the Year is 8 September. Visit epoty.org
Flight of the Rays by Florian Schulz, Germany
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SAMUEL GRATACAP; ERIC JULIEN; FLORIAN SCHULZ
Competition invites entries from amateurs and professionals
GROUP FOCUS
The Society’s Travel Group has a 780-strong membership and is described as ‘an active group of enthusiasts who enjoy the pleasures of travel photography’. The group’s activities include photographic travel trips, meetings at which members show images and describe trips, and an annual exhibition/ competition. Members also receive The Travel Log, a journal published three times a year which features travelrelated articles and photos by members. To join, visit rps.org/special-interestgroups/travel
SOCIETY VISIT TO LEICA FACTORY
Dr Michael Pritchard FRPS (left) and Dr Afzal Ansary ASIS FRPS (centre) meet Andreas Kaufmann, CEO of Leica Camera, during a visit to the manufacturer’s factory at Leitz-Park in Wetzlar, Germany. The trip was open to members of the Historical Group.
FROM GEOFF BLACKWELL
A FOND FAREWELL
The Society heralds a new era
I
t is now widely known that I will not be offering myself for re-election in the 2017 round of nominations. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking the many people who have supported and encouraged me during my four years in office as honorary treasurer. I hope I may be permitted a special note of appreciation to Nick Rogers and Jackie Rumble, the finance staff at headquarters, who have been unfailing in their support and assistance. The experience of meeting members from all over the country has been immensely rewarding and I have learned a lot. There is, though, a negative aspect to this experience, and that is the poor attendance observed at some regional events. The Society aims to support and encourage the photographic practice of all members and the regional events are a significant part of the offering. In some cases it is logistically impossible to arrange frequent meetings within easy reach of all members, but there are also examples of meetings that do not provide the type of activity members want – if this is the case in your region please speak up and become active. Members can influence their regional activities through active participation in committee work and volunteering. The Society’s recognition of the importance of our volunteers has been demonstrated by the appointment of a
volunteer coordinator and the introduction of the volunteer recognition scheme, but these changes will only be really effective if members participate. Looking back over the last four years there have been a number of important events but perhaps, for me, the most significant was the receipt of the substantial legacy from the estate of the late Tony Troman. This, along with other generous legacies and donations, has enabled the Society to look realistically at the possibility of relocation, prompting me to ask all members to consider leaving a legacy for the Society. When new premises are located the project will present a challenge for all concerned, but much of the responsibility will fall on the shoulders of my successor. I am sure the role will be exciting and at times challenging, and I would ask everyone to give the new honorary treasurer the same enthusiastic support and cooperation I have enjoyed. Thank you all. GEOFF BLACKWELL Honorary treasurer of The Royal Photographic Society
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DISTINCTION SUCCESS
FELLOW TAKES VIRTUAL ROUTE An innovative spin on the well-trodden Route 66 has fuelled the latest collaboration between a Fellow of The Royal Photographic Society and a landscape poet. Carol Ballenger FRPS swapped her camera for digital tools to join forces with John Powls as he made the 2,400-mile journey from Chicago to the California coast. The resulting book, Route 66 – Open Road for Promiseland, is to be launched at an event in association with the Society at the Photographers’ Gallery,
Carol Ballenger FRPS and John Powls
London, on July 13. In response to poems by Powls, Ballenger used the Google street view tool to ‘travel’ along Route 66, looking for subjects just as if she had a
camera. Ballenger, a photographer, digital maker and musician, has collaborated with Powls for more than 20 years. She said: ‘I have never actually been on Route 66, even though I grew up in America, but am pleased to have made and documented my virtual journey from Chicago to California.’
Route 66 – Open Road for Promiseland is launched at the Photographers’ Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London, July 13, 6-8pm, admission free
ARPS Recommendations Applied 05/17 Jamie Bodley-Scott, Northants Tsun Ip Patrick Chow, Hong Kong Chris Dixon, Hampshire Edward Anthony Hyde, Surrey Charlotte Nuttall, Derbyshire Derwood Pamphilon, Bristol Angus Stewart, London King Chee Tsai, Hong Kong Duncan Webster, Northants Ying Zheng, Beijing Tam Keng, Macau ARPS Exemptions 05/17 Elizabeth Brown, London Rachel Slater, Norfolk Louise Upham, Bristol Fellowships 06/17 Eion Johnston FRPS, Edinburgh Suzanne Trower FRPS, Jersey James Mann FRPS, Dorset
RECOGNISING VOLUNTEERS Well done to members who have given their service to the Society FOUR TO EIGHT YEARS’ SERVICE John Curgenven LRPS
John Scotten ARPS Richard Tucker ARPS Terence McGhie ARPS David Cooke FRPS David Beaumont Ruben Buhagiar Janet Davies ARPS
Agatha Bunanta ARPS Wan Shan Sang FRPS Yan Li Jeff Barton Rajen Nandwana Yoshio Miyake Peter Frisby LRPS
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IN FOCUS | 491
365 THE LIZARD AND THE MOTH By Lawrence Eagling At the old train station in Camogli, Italy, lizards scamper inside the
HARVEST HARE By Kevin Pigney LRPS As the title suggests this photo of a hare was captured on a
streetlights in a bid to catch insects. This individual seemed rather confused by a moth alighting on the outer side of the glass. For this
freshly harvested stubble field. It was taken just after the sun had set, which gave me a rich golden light to work with, and I
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WILDLIFE GET INVOLVED
Submit photographs for the next competition at rps–365.org
shot I used a Fuji X-Pro2 body with a Fuji XF 50-140mm lens and a 1.4 teleconverter. I cropped the image and adjusted levels in Lightroom.
had to really push the ISO when the ambient light diminished. I shot using a tripod set up almost completely flat to
the ground. I love getting down to eye level with my subject because it gives a much more intimate image. I used a Canon
EOS-1D X MkII with a 500mm f/4 lens and X1.4 converter – giving 700mm focal length – at 1/800sec, f/6.3 and ISO 2,000.
HANGING ON BY A THREAD By Ernest Eaton LRPS I was out walking alongside the River Great Ouse in Norfolk when I came across this slug hanging from vegetation. I had to take a grab shot as the thread of slime was extending continually. This image was taken at 560mm using a Canon EOS 5D MkIII with an EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II and EF 1.4 x II extender using the camera settings f/16 at 1/500sec and ISO 500. Afterwards, the raw file was cropped and processed in Lightroom and Photoshop CC.
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492 | IN FOCUS |
WHAT NOT TO MISS USAKOS ! PHOTOGRAPHS BEYOND RUINS: THE LOCATION ALBUMS, 1920s TO 1960s The Brunei Gallery, London 14 JULY-23 SEPTEMBER
Photographs from three private collections of historical images from Usakos, Namibia, preserved by four of the town’s women. The images, taken before African residents were moved out of the area under apartheid, are shown along with contemporary colour photographs by Paul Grendon. soas.ac.uk/gallery
UNTIL 1 OCTOBER
David Octavius Hill (1802-70) was a painter and Robert Adamson (1821-48) had trained as an
LOWRY AT HOME: SALFORD 1966 The Lowry, Salford, Manchester UNTIL 24 SEPTEMBER
This collection of previously unseen and intimate portraits of LS Lowry was taken in and around the artist’s Manchester home by portrait and fashion photographer Clive Arrowsmith, as part of the Society Fellow’s first commission for Nova magazine in 1966. thelowry.com
engineer, but both were passionate about the new medium of photography. Their partnership began in 1843, just four years after Louis Daguerre and Henry Fox Talbot had unveiled rival processes. The duo mastered the technically challenging calotype process and went on
MICHAEL KENNA: CONFESSIONALS/ABRUZZO Beetles + Huxley, London UNTIL 15 JULY
Photographs from two new bodies of work by Michael Kenna, best known for his minimalistic black-andwhite landscape work, make up this exhibition. It includes more than 20 photographs from his series Confessionali, studies of confessionals in Italian churches, and images from southern Italy’s Abruzzo region. beetlesandhuxley.com
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to produce around 3,000 photographs before the partnership was cut short by Adamson’s death, aged 26. This exhibition of more than 200 of their photographs includes portraits, urban landscapes and social documentary images. nationalgalleries.org
RPS INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION 159 Out of the Blue Arts and Education Trust, Edinburgh 10-21 JULY
IPE 159 features work by 75 photographers from 16 countries, and for the first time in the exhibition’s history all four medal winners were women. As ever, it’s a thought-provoking, eclectic and entertaining mix of styles and genres. rps.org/ipe159
NEIL LIBBERT Michael Hoppen Gallery, London UNTIL 21 JULY
Libbert, born in 1938, has been a photojournalist and street photographer for nearly 60 years, winning the Nikon News Photographer of the Year award in 1999. This exhibition focuses on important images from earlier in his career and includes previously unseen vintage prints. michaelhoppengallery.com ALSO SHOWING
Women, Children and Loitering Men
Manchester Art Gallery Until 28 August Sergey Ponomarev: A Lens on Syria
Imperial War Museum, London Until 3 September
Gregory Crewdson: Cathedral of the Pines
The Photographers’ Gallery, London Until 8 October
SCOTTISH NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY; CECILIE/GEISES COLLECTION; MICHAEL KENNA; DAVID CREEDON ARPS; CLIVE ARROWSMITH FRPS
A PERFECT CHEMISTRY: PHOTOGRAPHS BY HILL AND ADAMSON Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh
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494 | IN FOCUS | Richard Prince, Untitled (Girlfriend), 1993
Work by Daidō Moriyama in Provoke: Between Protest and Performance
KRASZNA!KRAUSZ AWARDS ANNOUNCED
Dfgd sgd df dgdffdgsf dgdfdgs dfd sgdf sfdgfs Diane Dufour, winner of the sfdsfgsfrd dgsf
Society’s Curatorship Award in 2016, has now won the KrasznaKrausz Foundation’s 2017 Best Photography Book award. Dufour co-edited Provoke: Between Protest and Performance, which focuses on the late 1960s Tokyo magazine Provoke. The Best Moving Image Book award was given to Anatomy of Sound: Norman Corwin and Media Authorship, edited by Jacob Smith and Neil Verman. Visit kraszna-krausz.org.uk
Oden's Dawn_RPS_June_17.indd 1
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HONORARY FELLOW TO HOLD ART AUCTION
The renowned portrait and fashion photographer, Mario Testino HonFRPS, is auctioning his art collection in aid of Museo Mate, a not-for-profit cultural centre in Lima, Peru, which he founded in 2012. Testino’s collection, which he has amassed over the past 30 years, includes work by Wolfgang Tillmans HonFRPS, Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, Gilbert and George, and Richard Prince. More than 400 works, with a combined value of £8m, will be sold. Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said: ‘This is a collection driven by passion, intellectual curiosity and a desire to support a new generation of artists.’
Museo Mate (pronounced mah-teh) was set up by Testino to bring Peruvian artists and culture to international attention, and to provide a venue in which international artists can show their work. The sale will go towards developing the centre’s programme of exhibitions and events. An exhibition of the work to be auctioned, Shake it Up: Works from the Mario Testino Collection, will be displayed at Sotheby’s London galleries from 8-13 September. The auction of artworks is on 13-14 September, followed by an onlineonly sale of photographs.
Visit sothebys.com
27/04/2017 11:27
IN FOCUS | 495
GOVERNANCE CHANGES
Action on Society rules and regulations As part of its ongoing scrutiny of governance council is recommending changes to the by-laws and rules of The Royal Photographic Society in order to strengthen its management. These are made in the light of the findings of the governance review, chaired by Douglas May in 2016, and after consultation with staff, volunteers and members. The revised by-laws and rules are available on the RPS website. You will be asked to approve these changes at the AGM on 30 September, or by using your proxy vote. Details of the AGM resolution and a proxy form will be circulated to all members with the August issue of The RPS Journal. The most important changes are:
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY; LESLEY ANTROBUS; MIKAEL BUCK
To introduce electronic voting, which will bring the Society into line with other comparable organisations. This will bring significant cost savings and encourage more members to participate in the election process. To increase the length of service of the trustees to four years. This will ensure a smoother transition between council terms. Staggering the elections, such that half the elected members retire every two years, will facilitate a broader mix of
HIGH FIGURE
The Eiffel Tower is the world’s most photographed landmark, featuring in more than 4.5 million images. Big Ben, with 2.4m captures, came second in the Sony Mobile survey of Instagram images.
trustees and the attendant skills they bring to council. To establish a representatives committee to replace the existing advisory board. This will be comprised of members from the special interest groups, regions and other standing committees. This will strengthen the working relationship between the different components of the Society and council. To introduce the position of a president-elect to replace the current role of vicepresident. This will remove any uncertainties over succession (and the potential hiatus that this could cause) and ensure that the incoming president is better prepared for their future role. To increase the minimum requirement of the number of members needed to call for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) from 20 to 200. This will ensure that only issues commanding reasonable support can be brought to an EGM. In order for the above recommendations to be implemented the changes to the by-laws and rules require your approval. We would urge you to participate and to support these proposals for the benefit of the future of the Society. Visit rps.org/rules
Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the chains of the SS Great Eastern
HOWLETT TALK AT NPG
Rose Teanby ARPS will present a talk on the origins, background and impact of Robert Howlett’s iconic 1857 portrait of Isambard Kingdom Brunel on 20 July. The event is in the Ondaatje Wing Theatre of the National Portrait
Gallery at 1.15pm. Teanby is Howlett’s biographer and wrote about him, and the project to restore his neglected grave, in the January 2017 issue of The RPS Journal.
Visit npg.org.uk
CORRECTION We would like to apologise for the reproduction of an image by Lesley Antrobus printed in the May issue of the Journal. A Desolate Identity, above, shows an exercise yard for sex offenders at the former Peterhead Prison, now a museum. NEWS IN BRIEF
SOCIETY AWARDS DATE The 2017 Society Awards ceremony, sponsored by The Macallan, are on Thursday 21 September at The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton Terrace, London, 6pm-10pm. Entry by ticket only. Contact the awards manager, Jo Macdonald, on 01225 325721.
TRAVEL IMAGES ON SHOW The winning images from the 2016 Travel Photographer of the Year competition will be exhibited at the University of Greenwich, London, from 4 August-3 September. The 2017 competition is open for entries until 25 September. See tpoty.com
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| BOOKS | 497 A WILD LIFE: A VISUAL BIOGRAPHY OF PHOTOGRAPHER MICHAEL NICHOLS Melissa Harris Aperture (£25) Alabama-born Michael ‘Nick’ Nichols has devoted himself to photographing wildlife, often pushing to his physical and mental limits. His photojournalism, most notably for National Geographic, has highlighted conservation issues over a 30-year period. Melissa Harris has left no stone unturned in discovering what makes this talented, driven individual tick and the result is an intimate and compelling book.
Limo Bob in his office, Chicago, 2008
ALL THAT GLITTERS A captivating focus on gaudy excess and aspiration
GENERATION WEALTH Lauren Greenfield Phaidon (£59.95)
© LAUREN GREENFIELD/INSTITUTE
Photographer and documentary filmmaker Lauren Greenfield has been recording aspects of contemporary culture for more than 25 years. She focused on the youth culture of Los Angeles in her first book, Fast Forward: Growing Up in the Shadow of Hollywood (1997), before taking a broader look at the effects of materialism and celebrity obsession in Girl Culture (2002). Five years later she published Thin, which focused on women with eating disorders. Generation Wealth brings together new and previously published work on themes developed throughout her career. It is only partly about the wealthiest people in society. As Greenfield says, it’s mainly about ‘the aspiration for wealth and how that has become a driving force
Christina, en route to her wedding, Walt Disney World
– and at the same time an increasingly unrealistic goal – for individuals from all classes of society’. The book’s 500 pages are filled with Greenfield’s brightly lit colour images exploring conspicuous consumption in countries around the world, but particularly the USA. Excess is everywhere on display, from ‘Limo Bob’ wearing 33lb of gold jewellery to expensively coiffured pets and child pageant stars dressed like showgirls. Greenfield highlights these gaudy excesses and shows how they influence the aspirations of less wealthy people to emulate them. Arranged in chapters with titles such as I Shop Therefore I Am, the photographs are complemented with first-hand accounts from the people in the images. The chapters include The Fall, which concentrates on what happens when wealth and possessions disappear, as they did for many during the financial crash of 2008. Greenfield has clearly gained the confidence of the people she is photographing, but has a knack for capturing the key details and telltale expressions that reveal much more than the subjects realise. Disturbing and occasionally stomach churning, Generation Wealth is a powerful and timely critique of values and attitudes held by many people in society today.
The Polaroid Project At the Intersection of Art and Technology William A. Ewing Barbara P. Hitchcock Deborah G. Douglas Gary Van Zante Rebekka Reuter Christopher Bonanos Todd Brandow Peter Buse Dennis Jelonnek John Rohrbach
THE POLAROID PROJECT: AT THE INTERSECTION OF ART AND TECHNOLOGY William A Ewing et al Thames and Hudson (£34.95) Edwin H Land’s camera, which first went on sale in 1948, brought ‘instant’ photography to the general public and inspired a range of artists and photographers to experiment. This celebrates the ‘Polaroid Project’ with a series of essays and more than 300 illustrations, including photographs by David Hockney HonFRPS, Chuck Close and Sarah Moon, plus images of the cameras that enabled them to be created. FEAST FOR THE EYES: THE STORY OF FOOD IN PHOTOGRAPHY Susan Bright Aperture (£45) This chronological journey through the history of food photography includes stilllife studies, recipe-book and magazine illustrations, fineart conceptual work and scientific images. Referring to an interesting range of photographs by Irving Penn, Harold Edgerton, Martin Parr HonFRPS and others, Bright writes eloquently on the numerous and disparate photographic uses to which food has been put.
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FELLOWSHIP SPECIAL WHAT ARE SOCIETY DISTINCTIONS?
Distinctions are standards of achievement recognised throughout the world
LRPS Applicants need to show good photographic competence in five key areas
A tale of two Fellows Meet the latest members to be awarded the highest level of Distinction
T
he Society welcomes two new Fellows following the spring assessments. I would like to congratulate Suzanne Trower and Eion Johnston on their successful submissions – both in the fine art category, but with very different approaches. At a time when the number of successful landscape submissions is sometimes questioned, Suzanne’s submission shows a clear statement of what she wants to portray through her landscape images. She successfully achieves this, with slow shutter speeds and strong contrasts making simple, very pure statements of light against stark dark – but not black – land; the detail successfully held in both highlights and dark landscape; the land setting off the moody skies and the variety of light playing on water.
‘A FELLOW MUST DEMONSTRATE DISTINGUISHED PHOTOGRAPHIC ABILITY’
Eion’s submission in contrast, although also monochrome, constructs images to make a very strong statement about conflict. His images echo fragments of stone friezes, reflecting the neoclassical architecture of Berlin, but in a manner which illustrates the impact of conflict on both the structure of a city and those involved, as combatants and as civilians. Each image is tightly cropped – fragments of buildings, fragments of bodies – all faceless. The approach is consistent but each image is subtly different in tone and construction so that the viewer is drawn deeper into the images and their message. To be awarded the Fellowship of the Society an applicant must demonstrate distinguished and distinctive photographic ability combined with technical excellence. Suzanne and Eion achieve this, combined with a clarity of thought and consistency throughout their submission in presenting what they set out in their statement of intent.
Roy Robertson HonFRPS Chair, Fellowship Board
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ARPS Evidence of a creative ability and personal style, plus complete control of the technical aspects of photography
FRPS Our highest Distinction is given for excellence and a distinguished ability in photography
FEATURE SPONSORED BY
Emotion Through Image
Suzanne Trower FINE ART
I wanted to build a portfolio around the idea of a silver lining, a theme that appeared to come naturally in many of my pictures INSPIRATION
Much of my time shooting landscapes is spent enjoying the scenery around me while my camera is doing its magic with long exposures. It is during this time that I start to see in shapes, with light reflecting on water and details kept to a minimum. My images show the effect of light shining through clouds, onto waterfalls and over the sea and streams. I emphasised the graphic effect by converting to monochrome. I wanted to see how far I could go with my photography and trying to gain a Fellowship was the logical next step after achieving my Associate Distinction. I also felt I had found a style I really enjoyed and I wanted to would see where it would take me. TIME TAKEN
Living on a small island I have to make the most of what is VOL 157 / JULY 2017 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 499
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available, and consequently patience is needed to wait for the conditions to be just right. It took around two years to complete the portfolio and I also used some older images that formed the basis of the original inspiration. I had to develop my technical skills to really convey a feeling of silvery light breaking through inky dark tones. WORD OF ADVICE
Once I had built up the portfolio I had informal chats with a couple of Fellows who suggested that I attend an advisory day. Knowing the concept was acceptable gave me the confidence to push on and complete the portfolio. Initially I 500 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2017 / VOL 157
was unsuccessful and was referred due to small technical issues. I had to replace some images which were not of the standard required. I was also advised to change the paper I printed on. I took on board all the advice I was given and gained the Distinction a year after my first submission. It was a roller coaster of an emotional journey but well worth it in the end. It is difficult to know if an idea is sufficiently different to those of past portfolios, so I would advise anyone looking for a Fellowship to take their idea and images along to an advisory day. You will receive an honest critique which will provide you with a way forward.
FEATURE SPONSORED BY
Emotion Through Image
HANGING PLAN
‘Suzanne uses slow shutter speeds and strong contrasts to make simple, pure statements of light against stark dark – but not black – land’
STATEMENT OF INTENT
I am drawn to the stark contrasts the light can produce as it plays across the landscapes at different times of the day. Sometimes this is evident when the light catches the sheen on water, static or moving, and the brightness in clouds, often both together. By producing this panel in monochrome I intend to highlight these features while keeping the detail in the dark areas to a minimum. VOL 157 / JULY 2017 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 501
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Eion Johnston FINE ART
For my portfolio I have created frieze-like fragments echoing the neoclassical architecture in the centre of Berlin – and symbolising human suffering in the final days of the Second World War INSPIRATION
On my first visit to the east of Berlin 27 years ago the visible damage to the historical buildings sustained during the Battle of Berlin in 1945 made a great impression on me. Over the years I have observed how most of these buildings have been renovated and repaired. Three years ago I came across one remaining building that had not been repaired and decided to photograph the damaged stonework. Coincidentally, I had been photographing models living in Berlin. I decided 502 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2017 / VOL 157
combining photographs of people with those of the damaged stonework would illustrate the human suffering during the war. TIME TAKEN
The initial photographs were taken on two annual visits to Berlin. The detailed work in producing the final images was done over six months. My submission was created by taking photographs of the remaining damaged stone walls and combining them with those of human forms. The human forms are my photographs of models living in Berlin. WORD OF ADVICE
You need a concept to help you create a sustained piece of work. I found attending the Fellowship advisory day was useful even
though my initial ideas were rejected there. I got a clear sense of how big a deal the Fellowship Distinction is. I realised that I had to step up my ideas by several gears.
FEATURE SPONSORED BY
Emotion Through Image
‘YOU NEED A CONCEPT TO HELP YOU CREATE A SUSTAINED PIECE OF WORK’ VOL 157 / JULY 2017 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 503
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STATEMENT OF INTENT
‘I GOT A CLEAR SENSE OF HOW BIG A DEAL THE FELLOWSHIP DISTINCTION IS’ 504 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2017 / VOL 157
Berlin is a city of contrasts. In one way it looks like so many other capital cities with its shopping malls and designer names. Look deeper and you see the signs of the past. A number of buildings still fully bear the scars of the hail of shrapnel and bullets which flew towards the end of the Second World War. In my portfolio I am seeking to express the human suffering in the days of war in Berlin, as both combatants and civilians stood effectively naked against the onslaught. I have created frieze-like fragment echoing the neo-classical architecture in the centre of Berlin. These were created by taking photographs of the remaining damaged stone walls and combining them with those of human forms. The human forms are my photographs of models who live in Berlin.
Emotion Through Image
HANGING PLAN
‘Eion’s images echo fragments of stone friezes, reflecting the neoclassical architecture of Berlin, but in a manner which illustrates the impact of conflict’ 11
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How to pursue a Distinction
H
ave you been inspired by what you’ve seen on the previous pages? Then come along to a Distinctions advisory day for guidance on the standard of work and preparation of a portfolio. Another benefit of Society membership is being able to receive online advice regarding your proposed submission. This process is
particularly useful for those who cannot attend an advisory day or want advice on their portfolio prior to attending one. Members seeking LRPS and ARPS Distinctions can book to attend an assessment day. Visit rps.org/Distinctions/ Advisory Days. Unless otherwise stated assessments take place at Society HQ, Fenton House, 122 Wells Road, Bath BA2 3AH.
AT T E N D A N A S S E S S M E N T O R A D V I S O R Y D AY
LRPS (prints and/or images for screen) Wed 12 July (fully booked) Thu 13 July Sun 17 September (print only) London Sun 8 October (print only) Newcastle-upon-Tyne Thu 12 October ARPS (prints and/or images for screen) Natural history Tue 12 September (print only) Wed 13 September (screen only) CONCEPTUAL AND CONTEMPORARY Wed 20 September APPLIED Wed 25 October (print only) Thu 26 October (screen only) 506 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2017 / VOL 157
TRAVEL Mon 4 September (print only) Tue 5 September (screen only) FINE ART Wed 18 October (print only) Thu 19 October (screen only) FRPS (Natural history) Wed 13 September CONCEPTUAL AND CONTEMPORARY Wed 20 September APPLIED Thu 26 October TRAVEL Tue 5 September FINE ART Thu 19 October
BOOK NOW
For the latest availability, please visit rps.org/events and, for details on attending each of these dates, please email distinctions@ rps.org or call 01225 325733
FIND OUT MORE
For more information on assessments, including how-to guides and application forms, go to rps.org/ distinctions
EXPERT ADVICE Turn to our member guide on page 549 to find dates for advisory days, where you can gain expert advice on your portfolio
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‘The flying shoe was in my frame as a complete surprise, but is in the correct position as if it is still running: a ghost runner around the curve,’ says photographer Jim Hollander
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BLOOD. SWEAT. FEARS Award-winning photojournalist Jim Hollander explains he began capturing the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona after a life-changing experience
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eturning each July to Pamplona and its famed Fiesta de San Fermin is like a healing tonic in a sense. My work involves covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – a relentless story – and at times entails risky and dangerous situations. I’ve covered many conflicts in the Middle East area and Africa so returning each year to the swirling chaos of merriment in with Basque ‘jota’ dancing, singing and the city’s generous spirit has always been a welcome change from my dayto-day hard news shooting. It is a pause for recharging my batteries, making nice pictures in a long-term story I have been very personally involved in. I’ve been photographing the eight days of encierros since I stopped running in 1977. I ran the bulls about 90 times and started photographing the event after luckily avoiding a bad goring on 8 July that year. On that day the Miura bulls charged up the streets causing panic, one death and some 40 taken to hospital. I was running at the top of the street on my way into the ‘callejón’ at the bullrings when I noticed a crowd had formed and something was wrong with the ‘run’. I stopped and hung on to the fence
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ABOVE
Revellers watch a statue of Saint Fermin being carried through the streets of Pamplona, Spain, as festivities begin on 7 July
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SEQUENCE, RIGHT
1. A shoe lost by a runner flies through the air during the Pamplona bull run of 2015 2. A runner is picked up between the bull’s horns 3. He twists and lands on his feet facing the bull 4. Miraculously he avoids being gored by a horn
HOW I SHOT THIS DRAMATIC SEQUENCE Jim Hollander talks us through a tense few seconds of the Pamplona bull run
The photo was made on a ‘remote’ camera with a Pocket Wizard slave unit. I was shooting from the wooden fence at right – I am just out of frame – to be able to get two angles on the super-quick running of the bulls as they round a sharp corner. Quite often there are slipping or colliding bulls at this section of the 900m ‘encierro’, or bull run. Often runners miscalculate or
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LEFT
Protesters from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) demonstrate before the Fiesta de San Fermin begins in Pamplona
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find themselves, unfortunately, on the inside of the turn where the bulls slam against the fence, get up and hopefully continue on their way towards the bullring. The turn is about halfway up the course so the bulls are not tired at this point – or lacking in speed and determination to get off the city streets and to a nice familiar pasture. It is the first time these fighting bulls have witnessed city streets and the first time
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many of the thousands of runners have witnessed stampeding fighting bulls. This unfortunate man in white turning and looking at the slipping bull had to be the luckiest man in the world that day. He obviously is a first timer as he turns to look at this charging wild animal weighing close to 600kg instead of continuing to run. He knows he is about to get slammed. He holds some sort of
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running shoe insole, for some reason. What I love about the photo is the flying shoe that was in my frame as a complete surprise, but is in the correct position as if it is still running: a ghost runner around the curve. I only noticed this part of the image on close editing. What I saw from my position on the fence as the bull fell and got up was this man hooked between the horns and then – all in maybe
half a second – he swivels and is facing the bull, and is about to get a horn slicing into his abdomen or chest. Somehow – and many will pronounce that San Fermín had spread his cape over this runner and saved him – the bull’s left horn does not even scratch his stomach area and the bull continues on the street following his brothers. In that split second I cringed and thought I was about to witness a man’s imminent death.
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RIGHT
Spectators pack every available balcony to watch the bull runners race along Pamplona’s famous Estafeta Street on 10 July 2014. The bulls run at 8am on each morning of the eight-day festival made famous by Ernest Hemingway in his 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises
when all of a sudden a white steer broke from the crowded streets where the ‘monton’ had formed at the entrance to the bullring. He charged directly at me and I figured I could cut sharply across the street and he would go by. I was wrong – he picked me up and charged directly at me as I sprinted, turning to slow motion as his horn entered between my legs and he flicked his head, sending me in several somersaults in the air and landing with a thump on my stomach in the middle of the street at Teléfonos. Little did I know there were two
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‘HE FLICKED HIS HEAD, SENDING ME IN SEVERAL SOMERSAULTS IN THE AIR’ Miura bulls following the steer and they saw me as I fell from the sky, landing just in front of them. They both lowered their horns to hit me, but as I stayed down and did not rise up they passed over my head, neck and upper body without their horns hitting a surface. However, their hooves did strike me a few times and I believe the second bull
even slipped on to me with his withers (the area between the shoulder blades). It happened quickly but lasted a lifetime. With adrenaline pumping I scurried to the fence where people immediately helped me up. I did have x-rays taken to see if there was anything broken or internal bleeding, and then vowed to begin photographing the spectacle – which I did the next morning, with a monopod as a cane. I’ve been photographing it almost every year since and in all my fiestas – 2017 marks my 49th – I have never slept through an ‘encierro’ or bull run.
JIM HOLLANDER; RINA CASTELNUOVO
AUTHOR PROFILE JIM HOLLANDER Now staff photographer for the European Pressphoto Agency based in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Newark-born Jim Hollander began his career in New York. He worked in Spain before being sent to Tel Aviv as chief photographer for UPI, later working for Reuters. He has covered the Middle East and Africa, including conflicts in a number of countries. His book, Run to the Sun – Pamplona’s Fiesta de San Fermin, documents the annual festival in the Spanish city he loves
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THE WILDERNESS YEARS
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One of the world’s most acclaimed photojournalists, Sebastião Salgado HonFRPS tells David Clark why his life’s work has culminated in a love letter to the planet
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SOUTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL CALVES (2009) LEFT
These southern elephant seal calves were photographed by Salgado at Saint Andrews Bay, South Georgia, during November and December 2009. In the background of this shot is a colony of king penguins.
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ICEBERG BETWEEN PAULET ISLAND AND THE SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS, WEDDELL SEA (2005) ABOVE
‘At sea level,’ wrote Salgado in his 2013 book Genesis, ‘earlier flotation levels are clearly visible where the ice has been polished by the ocean’s constant movement. High above, a shape resembling a castle tower has been carved by wind erosion and detached pieces of ice.’
SEBASTIÃO SALGADO (2013) BELOW
Concerned about earth but encouraged by its ability to restore itself Salgado decided to explore its beauty. Over eight years he made 32 trips to distant corners of the globe. The result was the book Genesis. ‘Our mission was to seek out the land and seascapes, the animals and ancient communities that have escaped the long - and often destructive - arm of modern man,’ he said.
W
hen Sebastião Salgado was giving his sell-out talk at this year’s Photography Show, an event supported by the Society, he began by expressing wonder at the range of equipment on display. ‘I’m really impressed,’ he said, ‘but this is just one part of what we need as photographers. In reality, we photograph with our life experience, our ethical heritage; we have to assimilate our work as a photographer with our personality. That’s the most important thing.’ The 73-year-old Brazilian has done just that throughout a career as one of the world’s foremost photojournalists. A passion for social justice has led him to produce major projects on issues
including the plight of the world’s poorest workers, mass migration and the current state of the natural world. During the course of this work he has photographed crises such as war, genocide and famine. After his inspirational Photography Show talk I ask Salgado if his work has been driven by a desire to change the world for the better. He pauses for a moment then says: ‘When you do these things you don’t do them because you have an agenda to change the world for the better – you do them because you must. ‘I don’t believe my pictures alone have changed anything about the world but they were part of a system of information. I worked with humanitarian organisations, with newspapers, I put myself inside a movement and my pictures were part of this movement. I
SING SING FESTIVAL, PAPUA NEW GUINEA (2008) RIGHT
TASCHEN
A performer at the Sing Sing festival of Mount Hagen in Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.
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NEED HI RES
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T R AV E L SPECIAL
YAMAL PENINSULA, SIBERIA, RUSSIA (2011) ABOVE
Salgado photographed the Nenet people in the inhospitable terrain of northern Siberia as part of his Genesis project (2013). ‘When temperatures fall sharply and fierce winds blow the Nenets stay in their temporary shelters until milder weather allows them to continue their migration,’ he wrote.
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don’t have any pretension that I changed something in the world, but I’m sure I participated in a change.’ Salgado’s photographic career began at the relatively late age of 29, after spending much of his twenties studying economics at universities in São Paulo and Paris, then working as an economist for the International Coffee Organization. His detailed academic knowledge, he says, ‘gave me a series of tools that allowed me to have a capacity of analysis and the comprehension of political, social and economic events’ which then influenced the direction and content of his photography. He initially covered news assignments for the Sygma and Gamma agencies before joining Magnum Photos in 1979,
but Salgado’s social and humanitarian concerns soon led him to work on his own long-term, issue-based projects. He began with a photo-essay on South America’s rural communities –published as Other Americas in 1986 – before spending six years documenting the lives of manual labourers in 23 countries, published in 1993 as Workers: An Archaeology of the Industrial Age. He was awarded the Society’s Centenary Medal in the same year. Salgado left Magnum in 1994 to form his own photo agency, Amazonas Images, in partnership with his wife Léila. Since then, his major projects have included Migrations (2000), which documented migrants and refugees in 35 countries, and Genesis (2013), an
‘I DON’T HAVE ANY PRETENSIONS I CHANGED THE WORLD, BUT I PARTICIPATED IN A CHANGE’ eight-year exploration of the world’s remaining pristine landscapes, which he described as ‘my love letter to the planet’. All these projects have been shot in black and white, although he initially also used colour transparency film. ‘When I started, I took some colour as well as black and white, but it wasn’t possible for me to go to my darkroom and print my way in colour,’ he says. ‘Also, using black and white meant I didn’t have to care about distracting colours so I could concentrate on the
personality and situation of the people I was photographing.’ A key part of Salgado’s distinctive style comes from the highly skilful way he uses light and manipulates the tonal range of his prints to create dramatic and striking images. He adds: ‘It was very important for me to develop my films and to print my work. I had to learn how I should expose my negatives and decide what I wanted to bring from this reality I was photographing, how I should use the light.’ Although in his seventies, Salgado continues to work and is developing a project on indigenous people living in the Amazon rainforests. His progress has been temporarily halted after recently fracturing a knee, but he hopes
CHURCHGATE STATION, BOMBAY (1984) TOP
This image was published in Salgado’s book Migrations. He wrote: ‘Churchgate is the terminus of the Western Railway line, which brings 2.7 million commuters into Bombay every day. It is not a large station, but at rush hour trains seem to arrive every 20 seconds. The trains are always dangerously overcrowded.’
SAHEL REFUGEES AT THE KOREM CAMP ETHIOPIA (1984) ABOVE
This image is from Salgado’s two-year coverage of the great famine across the Sahel from 1984-5.
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DESERT HELL, KUWAIT, (1991) RIGHT
Salgado captured the aftermath of the Gulf War in 1991, when the retreating Iraqi army set ablaze around 700 oil wells. Here, men struggle to remove the bolts of what is left of an old well head. ‘Workers are exposed to severe burns and their lives are in danger,’ Salgado wrote. ‘Conditions are extremely painful; the oil comes out at a very high pressure with a deafening sound of turbine jet engines.’
to return to work in a matter of weeks and complete this project within two or three years. Asked whether he would still become a photographer if he had his life over again he gives an overwhelmingly positive response. ‘Yes, I’d still become a photographer, absolutely,’ he says. ‘When I was a young photographer I went to so many different places but I didn’t have the understanding of life and techniques I have now. If I’d had that understanding, oh boy, I’m sure 100 per cent of my pictures would be much better than they were in the beginning. Becoming a photographer was the most fabulous thing that happened to me, ever. Being a photographer is a huge privilege.’ Photography aside, the Salgados are the co-founders of Instituto Terra, an environmental educational centre on his family’s former cattle ranch. More than four million trees have been raised in the centre’s nursery, reforesting 17,000 acres of once-barren ranch land and rebuilding its ecosystem, as well as in projects in surrounding areas. Their work is an example of the kind of positive environmental change that can be achieved in a relatively short time. However, given the rapid urbanisation and deforestation in developing countries, in conjunction with the accelerating pace of global warming, Salgado is gloomy about the human race’s prospects. ‘I’m hopeful for the future of the planet,’ he says. ‘The planet
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‘WHEN I WAS YOUNG I WENT TO MANY PLACES BUT DIDN’T HAVE THE UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE AND TECHNIQUES I HAVE NOW’ BROOKS RANGE, ALASKA (2009) LEFT
will survive. After the human species disappears the planet will rebuild itself, no problem. Most of the wildlife species that are now threatened with extinction will come back. ‘But for us humans, I don’t have a big hope. We are too much predators and the earth cannot give to us what we are taking from it. We will become aliens in our own planet and it will be easy to push us out. I think it will be complicated for us. I have not a big hope for us, no – but for the planet, yes.’
To see more of Sebastião Salgado’s work visit amazonasimages.com
This photograph was taken in the eastern part of the Brooks Range, which rises to more than 9,800 feet (3,000m). It is located in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in north-eastern Alaska, the largest wildlife refuge in the USA. ‘Here the rugged stretch of mountains is sliced by deep river valleys and numerous glaciers,’ wrote Salgado. ‘The immense variety of microclimates results from the collision of cold air from the Arctic and hot air coming from the Yukon River region of central Alaska, USA.’
SERRA PELADA, STATE OF PARA, BRAZIL (1986) RIGHT
This image, made at the Serra Pelada gold mine and published in Salgado’s 1993 book Workers: An Archaeology of the Industrial Age, was shot on 35mm Tri-X film pushed to ISO 1600, adding grain. ‘Every day 50,000 “garimpeiros” (gold diggers) descend the open-top mine the size of a football field,’ wrote Salgado. ‘Each well has 10 persons working on it and the carriers haul sacks of 65-130 pounds of soil for 20 US cents per sack. If gold is found, the plot owner pays 10 per cent commission to the cooperative.’
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BOTHY
BEST OF
He has trekked across the UK’s remotest regions with his large-format camera in search of secluded shelters known as bothies. Nicholas JR White ARPS tells Gemma Padley why he embarked on this ambitious and rewarding journey
RIGHT
Dulyn bothy and Craig Y Dulyn, Snowdonia, Wales
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WORLDS
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BELOW
Jake at Kearvaig bothy, Cape Wrath, Scotland RIGHT
Assorted items, Dulyn bothy, Snowdonia National Park, Wales FACING PAGE, TOP
Sandy at Peanmeanach bothy, Ardnish peninsula, Scotland FACING PAGE, BOTTOM
Outbuilding at Penrhos Isaf, Snowdonia National Park, Wales
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ntil he set off on the trip that would take him to large swathes of the UK, photographer Nicholas JR White had never been to Scotland. He and his family used to go on hiking holidays to Dartmoor but venturing north of the border had not been among their holiday plans. ‘All through college, every photographer who liked the outdoors had made a pilgrimage to Scotland but I hadn’t been,’ says White. ‘So I started researching walking holidays, where to stay, and so on. I stumbled across bothies – free, unlocked shelters in the middle of the mountains. The
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more I read about bothies and the culture that surrounds them the more I thought this could be a really interesting project.’ And so the seeds of his three-year labour of love Black Dots – an exploration of bothy culture in the UK – were sown. Motivated by his love of the outdoors and by curiosity, White, an Associate of The Royal Photographic Society, set about planning and saving for his first trip, which took him and a friend – photographer Andy Ford – to the Lake District, where he says there are two bothies. Ford ended up accompanying White on every trip he made, capturing behind-the-scenes shots for a blog White kept about his experiences, while
three of White’s images were shortlisted for the Society’s International Print Exhibition 159. ‘The first night in a bothy was ‘the most incredible experience’, remembers White who, bolstered by the encounter, began finding out more about bothy culture and the community of people – often hikers – who rely on these places for shelter. Often far from main roads and accessible only on foot, bothies – the word is thought to have roots in Scottish and Irish Gaelic – are remote, primitive huts, dotted around the UK in Wales, Scotland and northern England. Originally these buildings were crofters’ cottages or farmers’ huts, explains White, often on estates where shepherds could make use
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of them. When they fall into disrepair the Mountain Bothies Association, with the agreement of the estate, steps in. The association, which has been in existence for more than 50 years, maintains the buildings for walkers and others. A code of conduct underpins the bothy network, White stresses, which visitors are expected to abide by to ensure the longevity of the shelters. Information about the code can be found on the association’s website at mountainbothies.org.uk ‘Bothies have been described as “camping without a tent”,’ says White. ‘There are stone floors, and some have nothing [inside]. At best they have a fireplace and a raised platform to sleep on, but they provide emergency
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shelter for people who are stuck in foul weather as well as offering an incredible experience to those who love the outdoors.’ Over the time he worked on Black Dots – the title is a play on the way buildings were identified on old Ordnance Survey maps, he says – White travelled to the fells in the Lake District, the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands, and the coast of Cape Wrath in northern Scotland, among other places, and would be away for a week or two at a time. Kitted out in protective hiking clothing and armed with provisions including firewood, he had with him a Chamonix
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‘I QUICKLY REALISED PEOPLE WERE AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF THE STORY ! THEY’RE WHAT MAKES THEM SO INTERESTING’ 45N-2 large-format camera loaded with colour negative film (Kodak Portra 400), and 150mm, 210mm and 300mm lenses. The images he took depict expansive landscapes – breathtakingly beautiful and rugged, the rawness of nature on display for all to see. But White was keen to also capture the human factor –
the people who use bothies – so he made portraits too. ‘I quickly realised the people were an important element of the story – they are the reason the bothies are there and what makes them so interesting,’ says White. ‘You never know who you are going to meet. I drank whisky with incredible characters by the fire until the early hours … it’s like you’ve known each other for ages.’ This was the first time White had embarked on a project of such scale and difficulty. Previously working in sports advertising photography White had camped and taken images on Dartmoor, but this was on a whole other level.
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ABOVE
Warnscale Head and Haystacks, the Lake District, England ABOVE RIGHT
Lyndsay at Ryvoan, the Cairngorm mountains, Scotland RIGHT
Achnanclach, northern Highlands, Scotland FAR RIGHT
John at Strabeg, northern Highlands, Scotland
‘Black Dots was the first project I did that had a physical and mental element to it – in terms of its scale and the ground I had to cover. [But] experiences like looking out of the window from a little hut in the Lake District and seeing the northern lights – you remember things like that. Even the bad experiences are funny looking back.’ He recounts one occasion when his knee ‘popped’ while traversing a rocky mountain pass during the first Scottish winter he spent on the project. ‘I was in agony but I knew it was quicker to go up and over than it was to walk back … I ended up having to
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T R AV E L 528 | XXXX | SPECIAL
ABOVE
Sandy’s canoe at Peanmeanach, Ardnish peninsula, Scotland FAR LEFT
Inside Mosedale Cottage, the Lake District (eastern Fells), England LEFT
William at Corrour bothy, the Cairngorm mountains, Scotland ABOVE RIGHT
go home a week early. That was the lowest point.’ Among the biggest challenges, beyond carrying heavy gear and battling the elements, was one with which any photographer will be familiar – how to faithfully translate into images what you’re seeing and experiencing. ‘The smell of the peat, and the sounds – it’s really hard to convey all that,’ White says, ‘especially when you’re shooting on 5x4; there are certain limitations. For example, you can’t be as reactive to situations … ’ He adds: ‘I didn’t want to create an architectural survey of every single bothy in the UK.
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Strabeg, northern Highlands, Scotland
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ANDY FORD
I picked a selection I thought would convey a varied look at bothy culture. I also wanted to steer clear of clichéd shots – people sitting around a fire. The bothies needed to be in context with their surroundings, to appear dwarfed by the landscape.’ White did his last shoot at the end of January and has spent months on the all-important edit. ‘Because I had long gaps between shoots I had the luxury of time,’ he says. ‘I would get my negatives developed, scan them, and make little prints. They were the first things I’d see when I got up each day and I started to notice what worked and what didn’t. ‘I struggle with positioning myself in genres of photography – landscape, documentary – but if someone asked me “what do you like to shoot?” I’d show them Black Dots. And I’ve a newfound love of shooting images of people. I’m excited for my next project, whatever that may be.’
Visit nicholasjrwhite.co.uk and nicholasjrwhite.co.uk/blog
NICHOLAS JR WHITE’S TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS PLAN, BUT ADJUST COURSE IF NEEDED ‘I’m a huge fan of planning but I’ve learned you should always allow room for surprise. Don’t have a plan that’s so rigid it doesn’t give you any freedom; if things change it can induce panic because you feel you should be sticking to your plan.’ DON’T GET HUNG UP ON YOUR EQUIPMENT ‘Knowing your photography gear inside out is important but don’t let that take over the project itself. Shoot with what you want to use to get the job done.’
contacted White to ask if they could use one of his images on their Instagram feed he asked if he could send a PDF of the project. The company ended up supporting him by providing equipment for each trip. CONSIDER BLOGGING ABOUT YOUR PROJECT ‘I didn’t want to disappear for three years so it was nice to have a blog. It enabled me to get a spotlight on the project before I released it.’ SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES When the marketing team at outdoor equipment company Rab
PROMOTE YOUR WORK It’s tempting to send out your finished project across the entire internet but White recommends being selective. ‘If someone offers to publish your images and they’re not paying you have to weigh up if it’s worth it, asking “will it benefit me and my work?”,’ he says.
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‘MY PORTRAITS ARE OF REAL PEOPLE DOING REAL THINGS’
SPECIAL
As the world ‘shrinks’ capturing authentic travel images is becoming increasingly difficult, argues acclaimed photographer David Noton FRPS
T
here is an old geezer who makes a tidy living by hanging around Havana’s main square posing for tourists’ photos. With his Che Guevara beret, long cigar, distinguished wrinkles and fulsome silver beard he is the epitome of the Cuban cliché, and at $5 a shot probably a very affluent one. His face has graced many a travel feature, and when I was there, more than a decade ago, he had plenty of takers. I guess he has long since retired comfortably.
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Did I do the deed and dig into my pockets for the privilege of shooting his portrait. Yes. I also got him to sign a model release, because back then stock photography was my living, and advertising loves clichés. I’m not proud of doing any of that. Would I do it now? No, because stock photography is no longer my living, and I disagree fundamentally with the concept of paying for portraits. Hypocritical? Maybe, but let’s look at the issues, starting with the subject’s point of view. I am a professional photographer. I make my living from my photography; maybe no longer from
ABOVE LEFT
Old man with pipe, Havana, Cuba. Nikon F5, 70-200mm lens
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selling the actual pictures but still, it’s my job. They, the subjects, are often impoverished peasants scratching out a meagre living in a ‘third world country’. Why shouldn’t they expect to be paid? Actually, I think if they are posing for pictures that will be sold for commercial gain they should. The key word there is posing, or conforming to a preconceived idea of how their image will be used to represent a country, region or culture. In effect they are modelling, and models quite rightly expect to be paid for their services. But my travel portraits are not of models posing
– and are no longer for sale to the world of advertising, partly because the business of waving legal documents around for signing in crowded market places in Yunnan province just isn’t me. But that does beg the question what they are for. Well, I aim to come back from a trip to Peru with a set of pictures which accurately portrays the experience of being there, from epic, sweeping vistas to street scenes, details and portraits of the people we come across on our travels. Those portraits are of real people doing real things, not models touting for tourist dollars. Put all those images together and I
ABOVE
A girl near Vang Vieng, Laos. Canon 1Ds MkIII, 24mm, 1/800sec @ f/1.4, ISO 100
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AUTHOR PROFILE DAVID NOTON FRPS A leading landscape and travel photographer, Noton’s books include Waiting for the Light and The Vision. His work appears in titles such as Lonely Planet Magazine
RIGHT
A Quechua woman collecting firewood on Pampasmojo at dawn, near Maras, Sacred Valley, Peru. Canon 1Ds MkII, 70-200mm lens @ 85mm, 1/250sec @ f/2.8, ISO 400
have a collection of maybe 20 of the best which tell a story, especially when supported with my words and, increasingly nowadays, the video blogs. In essence I strive to create a photo essay, but for it to have any worth to myself and the outside world it must be genuine, and be true to reality rather than imagination. Portraits of people dressing and posing to conform to a stereotype as if they are models do not meet those criteria, while a lady selling tomatoes in Burma beaming back at my interest in her produce does. I do not pay for such documentary images, never have and never will. If that lady in Pyin Oo Lwin had responded to my request to photograph her with a demand for cash I would have merely declined and moved on, sad at the missed opportunity but satisfied in the knowledge I’d given it a go. Had I paid her I would have set a precedent that twists the local economy, makes touts out of its inhabitants and ultimately results in the antics of our Cuban Che clone.
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DAVID NOTON; DAVID BAKER
ABOVE, RIGHT
A woman selling tomatoes in the market at Pyin Oo Lwin, Shan Highland, Myanmar (Burma). Canon 1D X, 35mm, f/1.4 L lens, 1/250sec @ f/1.4, ISO 800
| XX | 533 SECOND OPINION
‘IT IS UP TO INDIVIDUALS' CONSCIENCE’
LIZ RHODES
In a world where tourism plays such an important part in a country’s economic growth it is becoming harder to distinguish between tourists and travellers. For both groups bringing back photo memories of any trip is important and often includes taking portraits of people one encounters. Those who have little time to spare in any one place may well decide to pay someone so they can take a photo of them, and think nothing of it. After all, you could convince yourself you
But plenty of people – tourists and photographers, pro and enthusiast – do pay for pics, and the results are plain to see. In the square in Marrakech the snake charmers have the business of charging for pictures down to a fine art. Try capturing a scene anywhere in their general vicinity and they’ll be on you like hyenas; I have heard of one grabbing the camera and formatting the card in the blink of an eye following a dispute over one furtive frame. They charge by the click of the shutter, and the whole place is just one great tourist pantomime. I hate the place but it does illustrate forcefully the end result when the locals twig they can earn a living by posing for tourists’ photographs. It’s like feeding the wildlife; it spoils it for everyone when a dependency is created, and sows the seeds of destroying the very environment that drew us there in the first place. Clearly the more mainstream a tourist destination the more likely a request for portrait payment will be. In contrast, the further off the beaten track I go the fewer the requests for payment become. Encounters with tea pluckers in Sri Lanka or shepherds in Peru are what travel is all about for me, and the resultant images still give me real pleasure years later. The one of the guy in the beret in Cuba does not. In fact, I’m ashamed of it. I rest my case.
were putting money into the local economy. The resulting portrait may not truly reflect the essence of the place but it will still provide a memory. Anyone with more time might feel getting to know someone is the important part of their
experience before thinking about what sort of portrait they wish to take. It is all too easy to see the logic of those who ask for money: ‘here are “rich” tourists visiting my country – they obviously have plenty of money so I’ll ask for some if they want to take my picture’. Whatever you may feel about this issue my view is that it is up to each individual’s conscience as to the approach they take. LIZ RHODES MBE Travel Group chair
Clowning around
Group of boys at sunset on Lake Malawi
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T R AV E L SPECIAL
HIDDEN LIVES
Society bursary applicant Rick Findler spent nine days documenting daily life on Mount Athos in the world’s oldest surviving monastic community. He tells Rachel Segal Hamilton the story behind his pictures
Photojournalist Rick Findler spent nine days documenting daily life at Mount Athos, the world’s oldest surviving monastic community. He tells Rachel Segal Hamilton the story behind his pictures
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hen photojournalist Rick Findler heard about a 2,000-strong community of Orthodox Christian monks on a holy mountain in northern Greece, he was intrigued. The monks live together in 20 monasteries or by themselves in isolated huts built into the cliff faces of Mount Athos. Findler learned about Mount Athos through his girlfriend, also a photographer, whose uncle is a monk on the peninsula. Since women – and even female animals – are banned from the area, the opportunity fell to him to photograph the world’s oldest surviving monastic community. Findler had applied for the 2016 Joan Wakelin Bursary, run by The Royal Photographic Society in partnership with The Guardian. While he didn’t win the bursary, picture editors at the newspaper were so impressed with the idea that they commissioned him anyway. Findler, initially attracted by the inaccessibility of the location, was stunned by the peninsula’s breathtaking buildings, some more than 900 years old. ‘These monasteries seem to crop out of the mountains from nowhere,’ he says. ‘It is just fantastically beautiful.’ After seven years covering wars in Syria and Iraq the calm of Mount Athos was refreshing. ‘For whatever reason a lot of conflict is based on religion,’ says Findler. ‘It was nice to do a feature that had religion at its essence but was documenting something peaceful, rather than suffering.’
ASCETIC ASPECT Some monks live and die in their sketes. One guy we met was around 85 and too old to get out. He can’t climb the cliffs, and hadn’t left for 63 years. But that’s what they want: to live in isolation to be closer to God. Other monks bring them firewood or vegetables. But some monks are only on one meal a day – they don’t eat much as they don’t expend any energy
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AWAY FROM IT ALL BELOW
This is Pantokratoros – one of the 20 monasteries on the peninsula. There are monks there from all over the world, including England, New Zealand and
Australia, but most come from Bulgaria, Russia, Greece and surrounding countries. Nothing can prepare you for the sheer tranquillity of the place – it is infectious. You
settle into this extremely calming environment with the most picturesque landscapes, crystalclean water and the constant drone of hymns and things being sung in the background
SPIRITUAL AWAKENING From the moment the monks rise prayer fills their every waking hour. The first service of the day, which lasts for four hours, usually begins at 2am because the monks believe they are closer to God in the early morning. This is followed by other services throughout the day but no matter what they’re doing – whether working, eating or reading – the monks are always praying
LABOUR OF LOVE LEFT
A monk prepares to install a new window frame in Pantokratoros monastery, which is undergoing restoration. Monks often have to carry out jobs given to them by the abbot, the leading monk of that particular monastery. These can involve anything from cleaning the guest rooms where visiting pilgrims stay, making wine, cooking and preparing food for the next meal to carrying out work on the surrounding buildings
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MALE DOMAIN RIGHT
The monks of Pantokratoros eat daily in silence in the ornate refectory, while listening to a sermon by one of the fathers. Each monastery has its own vineyard and farm, where vegetables are grown, but the monks shop on the mainland for extra supplies. They don’t keep any cattle or hens, as there are no female animals allowed. The exceptions are birds, because the monks can’t control where they fly, and cats to catch the mice
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T R AV E L SPECIAL
HEAD FOR HEIGHTS LEFT
A monk makes his way up a cliff face to visit a friend in Karoulia. Not all monks in Mount Athos live in monasteries – some prefer to live as hermits in small huts called ‘sketes’ in Karoulia, a remote, mostly inaccessible area of the peninsula. To reach Karoulia monks must travel by boat then make a perilous climb down the cliffs where there are sheer drops of hundreds of feet on to the jagged rocks below
GETTING ACCESS Officially part of Greece, Mount Athos is governed by its holy community. To visit requires a permit from the Mount Athos office and it only issues 10 a day for nonGreek Orthodox visitors or ‘pilgrims’. ‘With a limited number of visas it gets very busy in the summer months so I went in the dead of winter,’ says Findler. Normally a permit is for three days but since the photographer had been commissioned by The Guardian he was granted an extended visa of nine days. At each monastery Findler needed permission from the abbot to photograph the monks. Only one agreed, and even then there was fierce resistance from some monks. Findler was keen to photograph in Karoulia, an area only reachable by boat. Halfway through his visa and with no ‘in’ to Karoulia, Findler found himself praying for access. The next day he met a monk living there who invited him to stay. To see more visit rickfindler.co.uk
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FATHER FIGURE ABOVE
The remains of Father Iusuf lie in a silver box. When they arrive on Mount Athos each monk is taken under the wing of their ‘father’, a
monk who will show and educate them about life on Mount Athos. Often after death their bones are kept, as they usually pray with them or kiss them each morning
FACTFILE RICK FINDLER An award-winning photojournalist, Findler has covered conflicts in Syria, Somalia, Burundi and Iraq. His work has appeared in publications including The Guardian, the Sunday Times and the Wall Street Journal
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MEMBER TEST Focus on the Nikon D5600 543
MASTERCLASS How to make the most of light 545
IN DEPTH The key to architectural images 546
MUST TRY
JULY 2017 SKILLS, TECHNIQUES AND THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY
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A broad focal range is the enticement of this ‘more affordable’ third-party telephoto lens. Gavin Stoker checks out its versatility and performance
his ultra telephoto lens comes in Canon, Nikon and Sigma DSLR fits, supplying users of the first two a choice of a broad focal range at less than they might pay for their manufacturer’s own-brand equivalent. Or buy an optional MC-11 adapter and it will work with the AF system of Sony’s E-mount cameras. Build wise it feels substantial and, while being the length from my elbow to wrist, is compact for its class. At its widest
100mm setting it will still slip into a small daypack and is relatively lightweight, at 1,160g. Constructed from 21 elements in 15 groups, the pro-grade build includes a dust and splashproof durable brass bayonet mount. While Sigma has sacrificed the equivalent of a 1/3 stop to reach such dimensions we can’t say we noticed this ‘loss’, on occasion needing to dial down exposure on the camera to maintain a contrast-rich, punchy image. With the Sony, a close
Price: £799 Available fits: Nikon, Canon, Sigma (without adapter) and Sony via MC-11 adapter Construction: 21-lens element in 15 groups, dust and splashproof brass mount Filter size: 67mm Weight: 1,160g More: sigma-imaging-uk. com Summary: Well-made third-party alternative for anyone wanting a powerful zoom that appears to punch above its weight for performance and value
crop of the subject is provided in the viewfinder, allowing us to easily find the focus sweet spot. For manual operation there is a chunky focus ring. The optical image stabilisation with a gyroscopic sensor works well, achieving blur-free results hand held, and at both ends of the available focal range, with the scope to produce dynamism and depth, compress perspective and throw the background of any shot out of focus to zero in attention on our subject. VOL 157 / JULY 2017 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 541
542 | THE CRAFT | 2
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As the name suggests, all Tenba ‘Roadies’ have wheels, with the Roadie 21 Hybrid model allowing for conversion into a backpack, should you wish. Claiming an industry first for a rolling case, a camera compartment is removable and can be transported separately for travelling light. A side pocket finds room for a tripod, while an exterior pocket fits a laptop, with a smaller pocket for accessories and cable. An exterior strap allows for the attachment of an extra bag. Lockable zips, a steel cable and padlock, padded handles and rigid honeycomb-type internal frame, plus wet-weather cover, complete the package.
Broadening creative scope for Sony’s full-frame, E-mount cameras is a large part of the enticement here. The 12-24mm option has the widest reach in the range’s lens line-up, but the f/2.8 aperture of the 16-35mm lens just as readily delivers subtle bokeh effects for portrait photographers as wide-angle landscape and architectural imagery. Both lenses claim dust and moisture resistance and feature a focus-hold button. On the 12-24mm, a direct drive super sonic wave motor (DDSSM) helps ensure fast, precise and quiet autofocus, while the construction of the 16-35mm is both lightweight and the first wide-angle ‘Master G’ series model from its maker.
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Freezeproof, dropproof, waterproof and crushproof, while recording pressure and temperature, and equipped with a compass, the Tough TG-5 also offers 4K video capture courtesy of an improved, back-illuminated sensor and faster process. The headline 12-megapixel still resolution feels modest, but this is for taking videos and photos where you wouldn’t risk a smartphone, never mind a DSLR. A raw capture option, along with optional additional housings, conversion lenses and adapters, might attract a wider enthusiast audience to what is otherwise very much a pointand-shoot tool. Art-filter digital effects applied in-camera, plus underwater HDR capture, add further interest. 3
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The D5600 is a good entry-level DSLR
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Resembling something from a 1980s arcade game, the Palette is a clever modular device that acts as an alternative to a mouse for image editing and computer-based pursuits. Designed to speed up image adjustment and cataloguing – providing, for example, a 40 per cent time saving when using Adobe Lightroom – its dials, buttons and sliders can be assigned to favourite functions. The Palette’s ‘core’ connects via USB to your computer and elements include a button to which common functions are assigned, a dial for toggle-style control, and a rectangular slider for the adjustment of editing parameters and values. Various kits provide increasing numbers of these control modules.
Leading drone supplier DJI and high-end camera stalwart Hasselblad have teamed up to introduce what they call the world’s first 100-megapixel integrated aerial-photography platform. It combines the DJI M600 pro drone with Ronin-MX gimbal and a Hasselblad H6D-100c camera, which features a 53.4x40mm sensor. Its aim is to enable the capture of highly detailed imagery for landscape and fine-art photography, with users controlling camera operation in flight via the DJI ‘Go’ app. DJI acquired a stake in Hasselblad in late 2015., and this combination will be released in the third quarter of 2017, at a price yet to be set.
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This lightweight DSLR is convenient when you are on the move but can be fiddly
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he first DSLR I bought was the Nikon D5000 in 2010. Since then I’ve upgraded to full frame and now own the D810. I was keen to see how the successor to my introduction to photography would stack up. The first thing I noticed is how compact and light the D5600 is – a great attribute if you want to travel light. The downside to this is that the controls are a little small and can be a bit fiddly. The D5600’s touchscreen works well and is great for zooming in on shots to check sharpness. Far less intuitive is Nikon’s remote camera app, SnapBridge, which was somewhat unreliable and seemed to involve a whole sequence of steps to get it working every time. Undoubtedly the best feature of this camera is the adjustable flip-out screen. I really saw the benefit of this when taking flower shots at
Purple crocus
ground level and I can see another advantage when taking shots over the top of a crowd, not to mention the convenience when taking selfies. I think Nikon should include this on every model. Using the camera with the 18-55mm kit lens is a pleasure and the image quality is superb in good lighting conditions. Although images at very high ISOs become quite noisy that is to be expected. The video quality is also terrific and the flip-out screen comes in to its own in this mode. I would certainly recommend this as an entry-level DSLR for the enthusiast photographer.
AUTHOR PROFILE DAVID JENNER A landscape and natural-world photographer based in Kent, Jenner has won the Society’s 365 photo competition three times. See davidjenner.co.uk
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| THE CRAFT | 545
How to photograph people in the sun
MASTER CLASS
Not all light is good light, says Portia Crossley LRPS
I
nvariably when I arrive for a job people will turn to me and exclaim ‘oh, a bright sunny day ... perfect for photography’. In the early days of my career my heart used to sink as I prayed for cloud and tried to figure out how I was going to deal with this harsh, uneven and unflattering light. However, I love the sunshine and have learned to work with it. Here are my top three tips for photographing people in the sun.
SHADE
Most subjects automatically arrange themselves facing the sun and bravely squint as their eyes water in the bright light. This never makes for a good experience or portrait. Place your subjects in even shade (not dappled, unless you want spotty people) with the sun behind to create flattering, soft images.
AUTHOR PROFILE
BACKS TO THE SUN, BOKEH AND LENS FLARE
Position your subjects with their backs to the sun so their faces are in the shade. Get in close, focus and take the exposure from your subject’s face. Use a wide aperture to generate some lovely bokeh in the background. When shooting into
the sun you may get some lens flare. To reduce this either reposition yourself slightly, shade the lens with your hand or use a lens hood. Or just allow the flare to naturally create the kind of hazy photos everyone is now artificially producing with post-production filters.
SILHOUETTES
To achieve silhouettes place your subjects in front of the sun and focus on the bright background using a small aperture so your subject as well as your focus point is sharp. Alternatively, if your subject is fairly small in the frame use all your focus points to trick your camera into exposing
for the background while keeping your subject sharp. Sometimes it is nice to leave a bit of light and detail on your subject but if the silhouette is not defined enough try tilting your camera until you get the right result, or play with the tone curve and contrast in post-production.
PORTIA CROSSLEY LRPS A commercial, portrait, wedding and landscape photographer, Crossley is based in Devon
VOL 157 / JULY 2017 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 545
546 | THE CRAFT | IN DEPTH
Find the beauty in buildings
Martine Hamilton Knight ARPS reveals how to take compelling pictures of architecture
CAPTURE DEPTH Looking down through a space gives you a great way of showing depth, especially if you can have something of interest happening to take your eye down, either by the use of movement or colour.
STAND BACK Give depth to images by using something in the foreground to take your eye to the building beyond. Stand back and zoom in to minimise distortion and converging verticals.
TRY A TRIPOD A tripod with a three-way head will allow you to isolate movements to the horizontal or vertical axes.
546 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2017 / VOL 157
F
or successful architectural photography, a perspective-control lens can be a key item of equipment. However, costing several hundred pounds and the need for training to use them can put off all but the most dedicated enthusiast. So is it possible to shoot architecture in a rewarding way with conventional lenses? Almost certainly, provided you anticipate the limitations and think about what will work best. Your focal length and viewpoint will have a major effect on what results you can achieve, and I encourage photographers to stand back then zoom in on the building where possible, as wideangle lenses close to the subject simply cannot escape the effect of ‘converging verticals’, which can look unnatural and ugly. Getting elevated is also a great idea: putting yourself equidistant between the ground floor and roof level of the building you’re shooting will avoid the distortion altogether, even if you’re fairly close to the subject. I confess to being rather a
fan of those tatty old 1960s multistorey car parks in urban centres, as they allow you to see a cityscape in proportion, and avoid clashing with all the visual clutter at street level. I try to avoid A-boards, cars, buses and people blocking the view unless they form a meaningful addition to the story. Putting yourself at extremes of viewpoint can be a dramatic approach too. Tops of stairs looking down through a building, or placing the camera on the floor shooting straight up can be splendid for decorative ceilings. Light is the first thing I think about when planning a shoot, and I’m afraid most architectural photographers are frightful weather bores; any building is a threedimensional object and needs showing as such. Flat, dull light makes scale, material and volume impossible to interpret in a 2D photo and even after the best part of 30 years shooting professionally I have no answers for what to shoot on a dull day. I simply don't go out for clients. If I'm on holiday and the weather is
‘I'M AFRAID MOST ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE WEATHER BORES’
| THE CRAFT | 547
poor I change tack entirely, and shoot in a documentary style, or if I want to specifically capture a building I’ve seen I will try to work at twilight with all the lights switched on internally, so that it feels ‘alive’ again. People and styling play a large part in the success of a picture, and I would argue that ‘empty’ pictures will make telling the story of a building’s design and use harder to realise. A little confidence in directing willing models to give a sense of scale, or carry out a small acting role, in the shots will make for not only pleasing compositions but a greater understanding of the subject matter itself. Of course, tight details can work with neither models nor styling, and a little local colour on a dull day can give you a ‘get out of jail free’ card.
| LEARN MORE |
I've often resorted to this approach when on holiday to rescue a dull scene and make a pleasing series of shots. Finally, as a Manfrotto brand ambassador, I'm going to eulogise about carrying a tripod with you. I use their X-Pro three-way geared head on 190 carbon fibre legs for my personal work, and carry these heads and legs when running courses for people to try, as three-way heads for architecture are more accurate than ball-andsocket combinations. In summary, a lack of high-end technical gear need not defeat those with a zest for architecture. Simple planning and lady luck in the form of a blue sky will ensure you come away with a card of full images to enjoy and look back on from your trips this summer.
ELIMINATE THE FOREGROUND If you have access to perspectivecontrol lenses you'll benefit from being able to eliminate boring foregrounds, and instead see the full height of your chosen building as it appears in real life without distortion. AUTHOR PROFILE
MARTINE HAMILTON KNIGHT DLITT!HON" ARPS A commercial architectural photographer, Hamilton Knight runs a photography school in the East Midlands with courses in historic and contemporary buildings across the region, plus specialist days dedicated to Society photographers. builtvision.co.uk lineandlight.co.uk
LEVEL BEST Using the grid screen in live view will help you ‘square up’ buildings and keep horizons level.
Hamilton Knight's 'How to shoot modern architecture' workshop in Nottingham takes place on Friday 14 July (fully booked), Friday 3 November and Monday 11 December. See rps.org/events VOL 157 / JULY 2017 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 547
DAVID NOTON FRPS
SO YOU WANT TO GAIN A ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY ASSOCIATE IN TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY? l Find out how the Society defines travel photography for its Distinctions l Discover what the most common faults are in submissions l Learn how to prepare your submission l Read interviews with successful applicants and see their portfolios
THE RPS DISTINC TION GUIDE / TRAVEL
Start with the Travel Distinction Guide, packed with practical tips from the experts
Travel EVERYTHING YOU
NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT GAINING
YOUR ASSOCIATE
IN TRAVEL PHO TOGRAPHY
The Travel Distinction Guide is £10 plus postage and packing. Go to rps.org/shop
DISTINCTION
FROM ANALOGUE TO VISUAL ART Special interest group events 552
WORLD OF DISCOVERY The wide range of Society workshops 554
| GUIDE | 549
SOCIETY SHOWCASE Martin Addison FRPS at Fenton House 558
GUIDE MEMBER JUL!AUG!SEP
GO TO
RPS.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES
See the light
Discover the art of light painting in Amersham this month
J
oin experienced instructor Claire Harper for this practical workshop on Friday 14 July, and learn how to create your own images. The day features a two-part approach to learning this photographic technique. In the morning participants will be shown how to set up a DSLR camera and how different equipment can produce different effects. After a complimentary lunch, participants will have the opportunity to unleash their creativity and produce individual lightpainted images.
Delegates will learn how to plan pictures, create special effects and work with models and portraits, including light painting for wedding photography. Claire Harper is an enthusiastic and experienced photographer with a particular interest in this specialist art form. Visit wexphotographic.com to view her work and learn more. For more information on this workshop contact reception@rps.org, see the events section of the Society website or turn to page 554
Top: Participants at a previous Amersham workshop, pictured by Simon Ellingworth Above: A light painting VOL 157 / JULY 2017 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 549
550 | GUIDE |
REGIONS
Meet photographers and view work in your area CENTRAL
MIKE SHARPLES ARPS, 07884 657535 MIKES.SHARPLES(VIRGIN.NET
Rollright Visual Art Group – summer meeting Saturday 19 August / 10:00-16:00
`` £8 entry/£5 ploughman’s
lunch `` Village Hall, High Street, Long Compton, Shipston-on-Stour CV36 5JS `` Andreas Klatt ARPS, 01608 684848, rpsva@klatt.co.uk EAST ANGLIA IAN WILSON ARPS, 07767 473594 IAN(GREENMEN.ORG.UK
Outing to RAF Barnham Sunday 10 September / 10:30-16:30
`` A visit to RAF Barnham, a cold war nuclear-storage facility
`` RAF Barnham, Gorse
Industrial Estate, Barnham, Thetford IP24 2DJ `` Ian Wilson ARPS, as above
RPS Nature Group annual exhibition Sat 30 Sep – Sun 15 Oct / 11:00-16:00
`` Wingfield Barns, Church
Road, Wingfield, Diss IP21 5RA
`` Moira Ellice,
moira.ellice@icloud.com EAST MIDLANDS STEWART WALL ARPS, 07955 124000 STEWART(STEWARTWALL.COM
Rollright Visual Art Group – summer meeting Saturday 19 August / 10:00-16:00
`` £8 entry/£5 ploughman’s
Putney SW15 2SP
`` London Web,
Londonweb@rps.org
Advisory day – LRPS and ARPS (all five categories) Thursday 13 July / 10:30-16:00
`` £15 spectators `` Fully booked `` The Nikon Centre for
Excellence, 63-64 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SW `` London Distinctions, londondist@rps.org
Bookworm Club special: book launch of Route 66 Thursday 13 July / 18:00-20:00
`` Launch of Route 66 – Open
Road for Promiseland by Carol Ballenger FRPS and poet John Powls `` The Photographers’ Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, Covent Garden, London W1F 7LW `` London Bookworms, LondonBookworms@rps.org
Breathing London exhibition opening night
LONDON JUDY HICKS AND NEIL CORDELL LONDONEVENTS(RPS.ORG
Street walk Saturday 8 July / 9:45-14:00
`` London BA2 3AH `` London Cave,
londoncave@rps.org
Regular meeting of the SW London Group Tuesday 11 July / 19:00-21:00
`` Details to be confirmed `` The Prince of Wales, 138 Upper Richmond Road,
Regular meeting of the SE London Group `` Greenwich Gallery, Peyton Place, London SE10 8RS
`` London Cave,
londoncave@rps.org
London Region street walk Saturday 9 September / 9:45-14:00
`` Regular monthly walk
for those interested in street photography `` London – to be confirmed `` London Cave, londoncave@rps.org
An afternoon in the company of Joe Cornish HonFRPS Saturday 25 November / 14:00-16:00
`` See website for costs `` The Catrin Finch Centre,
Glyndwr University, Mold Road, Wrexham LL11 2AW `` Martin Brown LRPS, as above NORTH WEST BRIAN SMETHURST, 01942 719766 BSMETHURST(HOTMAIL.CO.UK
RPS North West Region members’ day 2017 Sunday 16 July / 11:00-16:00
`` Hough End Centre, Mauldeth Road West, Manchester M21 7SX `` Brian Smethurst, as above
North West Region advisory day – LRPS and ARPS (all five categories)
Tuesday 12 September / 19:00-21:00
Sunday 24 September / 10:00-16:00
`` Croatian Embassy, 21 Conway
`` The Prince of Wales,
`` See website for costs `` Hough End Centre, Mauldeth
like to come let us know
coordinators, londonro2@rps.org
138 Upper Richmond Road, Putney SW15 2SP `` London Web, Londonweb@rps.org
Breathing London exhibition
Understanding and creating a photobook
Tuesday 18 July to Friday 11 August
Saturday 16 September / 10:00-17:00
`` Free. For opening hours
`` £65/£50 Society members `` The workshop will help you
Street, London W1T 6BN
`` Breathing London
see website `` Croatian Embassy, 21 Conway Street, London W1T 6BN `` Breathing London coordinators, londonro2@rps.org
`` The Crusting Pipe, 27
INFO(MOSULLIVANPHOTO.COM
Upper Richmond Road, Putney SW15 2SP `` London Web, Londonweb@rps.org
To ensure inclusion of your events in The RPS Journal please post them on the RPS website six weeks prior to publication. For a list of deadlines, cancellations or last-minute amendments, please contact Emma Wilson on 0141 375 0504 or email emma.wilson@ thinkpublishing. co.uk. These listings are correct at time of going to print
members £12, North Wales Region members £10, students £5 `` Electric Mountain, Llanberis, Gwynedd LL55 4UR `` Martin Brown LRPS, as above
`` By invitation – if you would
Compton, Shipston-on-Stour CV36 5JS `` Andreas Klatt ARPS, 01608 684848, rpsva@klatt.co.uk MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN
Tuesday 8 August / 19:00-21:00
`` The Prince of Wales, 138
Your events
Regular meeting of the SW London Group
Monday 17 July / 18:30-20:30
The Bookworm Club
EIRE
Regular meeting of the SW London Group
Tuesday 29 August / 19:00-21:00
lunch
`` Village Hall, High Street, Long
07768 923620, londonro2@rps.org
Road West, Manchester M21 7SX
`` Brian Smethurst, as above NORTHERN CAROL PALMER ARPS CAROLMPALMER(BTINTERNET.COM
Northern Documentary Group meeting
create a photobook based on your images `` Regent’s University College, Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4NS `` London Events, londonevents@rps.org
Thursday 24 August / 10.30
`` Would any new members
who intend coming let Gordon Bates know by email `` Kibblesworth Village Millennium Centre NE11 0XN `` gordon@gordonbates.co.uk
Wednesday 19 July / 18:30-21:00
The Market, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8RD `` London Bookworms, LondonBookworms@rps.org
A Sunday morning walk with the London Naturally Group Sunday 30 July / 10:30-13:00
`` TBC `` london_naturally@rps.org Brighton Pride community parade
A Sunday morning walk with the London Naturally Group
Guided walk along Hadrian’s Wall Sunday 10 September / 10:30-17:00
`` A guided walk along part of
Sunday 24 September / 10:30-13:00
`` London – to be confirmed `` London Naturally,
Hadrian’s Wall including the iconic Sycamore Gap, Steel Rigg and Crag Lough `` Steel Rigg car park, Henshaw NE47 7AN `` Carol Palmer ARPS, northern@rps.org
london_naturally@rps.org
Regular meeting of the SE London Group Tuesday 26 September / 19:00-21:00
`` Greenwich Gallery, Peyton
Northern Region advisory day – LRPS and ARPS (all five categories)
Place, London SE10 8RS
`` London Cave, londoncave@ rps.org
Saturday 5 August / 9:00-14:00
`` RPS London and SE Region are joining together for a morning in Brighton to celebrate the 2017 Brighton Pride community parade `` Brighton Station/Hove Gardens, Queens Road, Brighton BN1 3XP `` Judy Hicks, Paul Connor,
550 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2017 / VOL 157
Sunday 17 September / 10:30-16:00
`` See website for details `` Newton Community Hall,
NORTH WALES MARTIN BROWN LRPS, 01691 773316
Newton, Stocksfield NE43 7UL
NORTHWALES(RPS.ORG
‘How to cheat in Photoshop’ with Steve Caplin Saturday 16 September / 10:30-16:00
`` Non-members £16, Society
GO TO
RPS.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES
`` Carol Palmer ARPS, northern@rps.org
NORTHERN IRELAND RICHARD CORBETT, 07805 381429 RICHARD(RICHARDCORBETTPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
| GUIDE | 551 SCOTLAND JAMES FROST FRPS, 01578 730466/07881 856294
Lane, Crawley Down RH10 4LJ
`` Paul Connor,
JAMES.FROST11(BTINTERNET.COM
rps.sussexarearep@gmail.com
Photo forum Larkhall
South East Documentary Group meeting
Saturday 1 July / 10:30-16:00
`` £10/£8 Society members `` Blackwood and Kirkmuirhill
Community Wing, Lanark ML11 9SB `` James Frost FRPS, as above
Scotland Region members’ print exhibition 2017/18 – Falkirk
Sunday 17 September / 10:00-13:00
`` A review of members’ work – prints or DPI
`` Tangmere Village Hall,
Malcolm Road, Tangmere PO20 2HS `` Janey Devine, docse@rps.org
`` Falkirk Town Hall, Westbridge
Visit to Holy Trinity Cuckfield and St Nicholas’ Worth
`` Bob Black,
`` The A&H Group is organising
Thu 3 – Thu 24 August /10:00-17:00
Street, Falkirk FK1 5RS
blackbr@btinternet.com
Photo forum Aberdeen Sunday 13 August / 10:30-16:00
`` £10/£8 Society members `` An informal day to meet
members and receive constructive feedback on work `` Aberdeen Arts Centre, 33 King St, Aberdeen AB24 5AA `` James Frost FRPS, as above
Scotland Region members’ print exhibition 2017/18 – Glasgow Sat 2 – Fri 29 Sep / 10:00-20:00
`` Hillhead Library, 348 Byres Road, Glasgow G12 8AP `` Ian Robertson LRPS, j.robertson15@ntlworld.com
Scotland Region advisory day – LRPS and ARPS (all five categories)
Monday 18 September / 10:00-16:00
a trip to two churches in Sussex `` Holy Trinity Cuckfield, Church Street, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath RH17 5JZ `` Garry Bisshopp, gbphoto@btinternet.com SOUTH WALES MIKE LEWIS, 07855 309667, 01446 710770 MIKEGLEWIS101(BTINTERNET.COM SOUTH WEST MICK MEDLEY, 01626 824865/07980 073808 RPSSWREGION(GMAIL.COM
panel members `` Bridge of Allan Church Hall, Keir Street, Bridge of Allan FK9 4NW `` James Frost FRPS, as above
DIG Scotland Centre – September meeting Sunday 17 September / 13:30-16:15
`` £15 group season ticket/£5 `` All welcome. DIG members
and non-members. Non-DIG members £5 at the door `` Bridge of Allan Parish Church, 12 Keir Street, Bridge of Allan FK9 4NW `` Dave Hunt, digscotland@rps.org SOUTH EAST REGIONAL COMMITTEE SOUTHEAST(RPS.ORG
South East Region advisory day – LRPS and ARPS (all five categories)
Field trip Torbay area Saturday 8 July / 11:00-16:00
`` A geology field trip along part of Torbay
`` St George’s Parish Church,
Barn Road, Goodrington, Paignton TQ4 6NG `` Rod Fry ARPS, 01803 844721, rod@rodfry.eclipse.co.uk
SW Visual Art Group members’ day Sunday 16 July / 10:30-16:00
`` £8/£5/£3 group members `` The Dolphin Hotel, Station
Road, Bovey Tracey TQ13 9NG
`` Linda Wevill FRPS,
linda.wevill@btinternet.com
West Cornwall Group meeting
Wed 20 September / 18:45-21:00
`` Bi-monthly meeting of the West Cornwall Group
`` The Copper Room, Heartlands,
Robinson Shaft, Dundance Lane, Pool, Redruth TR15 3QY `` Vivien Howse, 01326 221939, vivien939@btinternet.com
WESTERN WESTERN(RPS.ORG
Summer outing – Swindon Steam Museum Sunday 9 July / 10:00-16:30
`` Linda Wevill FRPS,
`` David Norfolk ARPS, as above
Road, Bovey Tracey TQ13 9NG
A day with Nigel Hicks Sunday 17 September / 10:30-16:00
`` £10 spectators `` Fully booked for participants
`` £20/£10 Society members `` Lectures and showing work by Nigel Hicks `` The Dolphin Hotel, Station
Chedworth Roman Villa and St John the Baptist Church
SOUTHERN PAUL COX ARPS, 07748 115057
Wednesday 12 July / 10:00-16:30
SOUTHERN(RPS.ORG
`` The A&H Group visit to
Imaging the sun
Chedworth Roman Villa and St John the Baptist church `` St John the Baptist Church, Market Place, Gloucestershire, Cirencester GL7 2NX `` Walter Brooks, grange.hill@tiscali.co.uk
Friday 7 July / 11:00-14:00
`` £15/£10 Society members `` Safely photograph the sun through a telescope
`` Lilian’s Observatory, 36
Linden Grove, Chandler’s Ford, Eastleigh SO53 1LD `` Lilian Hobbs, 07785 264684, me@lilianhobbs.com
Imaging the moon
use a large telescope and take photographs of the moon `` Lilian’s Observatory, 36 Linden Grove, Chandlers Ford SO53 1LD `` Lilian Hobbs, 07785 264684, me@lilianhobbs.com
Sunday 10 September / 10:30-17:00
EX39 6DU `` Mick Medley, as above
Road, Bath BA2 3AH
linda.wevill@btinternet.com
`` £15/£10 Society members `` Enjoy a rare opportunity to
`` A day exploring the area `` Hartland Quay, Bideford
Emmview Close, Woosehill, Wokingham, Berkshire RG41 3DA `` Alan Bousfield ARPS, digthamesvalley@rps.org
`` The Dolphin Hotel, Station
`` Bi-monthly meeting of the
Field trip to Hartland Quay
DIG Thames Valley Centre
`` Woosehill Community Hall,
`` Western Region outing `` Fenton House, 122 Wells
Friday 29 September / 19:30-22:00
West Cornwall Group `` The Copper Room, Heartlands, Robinson’s Shaft, Dundance Lane, Pool, Redruth TR15 3QY `` Vivien Howse, 01326 221939, vivien939@btinternet.com
`` An open event organised by
DAVID NORFOLK ARPS, 07771 515273
SW Visual Art Group members’ day
Wednesday 19 July / 18:45-21:00
Sunday 3 September / 10:30-17:00
but spectator places available `` The Haven Centre, Hophurst
West Cornwall Group meeting
The South West Region has arranged a field trip to Hartland Quay
Sunday 16 July / 10:30-16:00
Saturday 2 September / 10:30-16:00
`` See website for costs `` Distinctions advice from
Road, Bovey Tracey TQ13 9AL
`` Mick Medley, as above
THAMES VALLEY MARK BUCKLEY,SHARP ARPS, 020 8907 5874 MARK.BUCKLEY,SHARP(TISCALI.CO.UK
Terry Hewlett ARPS: ‘Master flash and film noir lighting’ practical session Sunday 10 September / 10:00-15:30
`` £15/£12/£8 group members
Your events
To ensure inclusion of your events in The RPS Journal please post them on the RPS website six weeks prior to publication. For a list of deadlines, cancellations or last-minute amendments, please contact Emma Wilson on 0141 375 0504 or email emma.wilson@ thinkpublishing. co.uk. These listings are correct at time of going to print
Family picnic Sunday 13 August / 10:00-16:30
`` An informal day out/ family picnic
`` Fenton House, 122 Wells Road, Bath BA2 3AH
`` David Norfolk ARPS, as above Members’ showcase Sunday 10 September / 10:00-16:30
`` A showcase of Western Region members’ work
`` Fenton House, 122 Wells Road, Bath BA2 3AH
`` David Norfolk ARPS, as above DI Group Western – David Mallows workshop Sunday 10 September / 10:30-16:00
`` £10/£8/£6 group members `` This lecture workshop is aimed at intermediate to advanced users of Photoshop and Lightroom `` Merryfield Village Hall, Ilton, Somerset EX4 9HG
VOL 157 / JULY 2017 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 551
552 | GUIDE | `` Sheila Haycox, 01392
Bridge of Allan FK9 4NW
`` Dave Hunt, digscotland@rps.org
468859, sah2@live.co.uk
Digital Imaging Expo 2017
YORKSHIRE
Saturday 23 September / 9:00-17:00
MARY CROWTHER ARPS, 07921 237962
`` See website for costs `` Holiday Inn, Birmingham
PHOTOBOX50(GMAIL.COM FACEBOOK: BIT.LY/RPSYORKSHIRE
Airport, Coventry Road, Birmingham B263QW `` Rex Waygood, 01425 673216, digexpo@rps.org
Showcasing Yorkshire print exhibition Fri 28 July – Sat 26 August / 18:30-17:00
`` Yorkshire images and
Advisory sessions for LRPS and ARPS at Digital Imaging Expo
photographers on display
`` Creative and Cultural Art
Space 2, Main Deck, Princes Quay, Hull HU1 2PQ `` Mary Crowther ARPS, as above
Self-help group Saturday 29 July / 13:30-15:00
`` £7/£3 Society members `` Creative and Cultural Art
Saturday 23 September / 10:00-16:00
Visit the spectacular Lacock Abbey with the Documentary Group
Space 2, Main Deck, Princes Quay, Hull HU1 2PQ `` Robert Helliwell, 01904 500231, bobhelliwell@clara.co.uk
Gloucestershire GL7 2NX
DIGCHAIR(RPS.ORG
grange.hill@tiscali.co.uk
Terry Hewlett ARPS: ‘Master flash and film noir lighting’ practical session
`` Walter Brooks,
Exclusive visit to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Friday 7 September
`` King Charles Street, London, SW1A 2AH
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
`` Chelin Miller,
heritageweb@rps.org
Holy Trinity Cuckfield and St Nicholas’ Worth Monday 18 September / 10:00-16:00
`` The A&H Group is organising
a trip to two churches in Sussex
`` Holy Trinity Cuckfield, Church Street, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath RH17 5JZ `` Garry Bisshopp, gbphoto@btinternet.com
Explore more aspects of photography and digital imaging ANALOGUE
AUDIO VISUAL
RICHARD BRADFORD ARPS ANALOGUE(RPS.ORG
HOWARD BAGSHAW ARPS, 01889 881503 HOWARD.BAGSHAW(NTLWORLD.COM
ARCHAEOLOGY AND HERITAGE CONTEMPORARY
RODNEY BERNARD THRING LRPS, 01276 20725 RODNEY.THRING(NTLWORLD.COM
Chedworth Roman Villa and St John the Baptist Church Wednesday 12 July / 10:00-16:30
`` A&H Group visit `` St John the Baptist Church,
PETER ELLIS LRPS, 07770 837977 WORDSNPICSLTD(GMAIL.COM
GO TO
RPS.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES
Market Place, Cirencester,
CREATIVE MIKE COWLING ARPS CREATIVE.CHAIR(RPS.ORG DIGITAL IMAGING JANET HAINES
Sunday 10 September / 10:00-15:30
`` £15/£12/£8 group members `` An open event organised by the Digital Imaging Group Thames Valley Centre `` Woosehill Community Hall, Emmview Close, Woosehill, Wokingham, Berkshire RG41 3DA `` Alan Bousfield ARPS, digthamesvalley@rps.org
`` See website for costs `` Holiday Inn, Birmingham Airport, Coventry Road, Birmingham B26 3QW `` Simon Vercoe, 01225 325733, si@rps.org
Steven Le Prevost FRPS Sunday 1 October / 10:00-15:30
`` £6/£9/£12 non-members `` Weald of Kent Grammar School, Tonbridge TN9 2JP
`` Steven Le Prevost FRPS will
lead morning and afternoon sessions on his work, work flow and methods `` Barrie Brown, 07482 275811, digsetreasurer@RPS.org
DI Group Western – David Mallows workshop
MO CONNELLY LRPS, 01590 641849
Sunday 10 September / 10:30-16:00
DVJ(RPS.ORG
`` £10/£8/£6 group members `` This lecture workshop is aimed at intermediate to advanced users of Photoshop and Lightroom `` Merryfield Village Hall, Ilton, Somerset EX4 9HG `` Sheila Haycox, 01392 468859, sah2@live.co.uk
DIG Scotland Centre – September meeting
DOCUMENTARY
Field trip to Lacock village and abbey Monday 3 July / 10:00-18:00
`` A guided day around the
abbey, museum, Fenton Collection and village `` Lacock Abbey, Lacock, near Chippenham SN152LG `` Mo Connelly, doc@rps.org
Homage to Arles
Sunday 17 September / 13:30-16:15
Fri 21 – Thu 27 July
`` £15 group season ticket or £5 entry
`` £2,050 `` Hotel Amphitheatre, 5 Rue
Church, 12 Keir Street,
`` Jay Charnock or Mo Connelly,
`` Bridge of Allan Parish
Diderot, Arles, France
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| GUIDE | 553 jaypix@hotmail.com, 0208 570 4116
South East Documentary Group meeting Sunday 17 September / 10:00-13:00
`` A review of members’ work – prints or DPI `` Tangmere Village Hall, Malcolm Road, Tangmere PO20 2HS `` Janey Devine, docse@rps.org HISTORICAL JENNIFER FORD ARPS, 01234 881459 JENNYFORD2000(YAHOO.CO.UK IMAGING SCIENCE KEN MACLENNAN,BROWN KEN.MACLENNAN(BTINTERNET.COM LANDSCAPE MARK REEVES LRPS, 07968 616551 RPS.LANDSCAPE.EVENTS(GMAIL.COM
Lightroom for landscapes
Your events
To ensure inclusion of your events in The RPS Journal please post them on the RPS website six weeks prior to publication. For a list of deadlines, cancellations or last-minute amendments, please contact Emma Wilson on 0141 375 0504 or email emma.wilson@ thinkpublishing. co.uk. These listings are correct at time of going to print
Sunday 23 July / 9:30-16:30
`` £80/£60/£50 group
members `` Oldbury, West Midlands `` Mark Reeves LRPS, as above
MEDICAL DR AFZAL ANSARY ASIS FRPS, 07970 403672 AFZALANSARY(AOL.COM NATURE KEVIN ELSBY FRPS WILDLIFE(GREENBEE.NET
RPS Nature Group annual exhibition Saturday 30 September / 11:00-16:00
`` Wingfield Barns, Church
Road, Wingfield, Diss IP21 5RA
`` Moira Ellice,
moira.ellice@icloud.com TRAVEL
01225 325724, SALLY(RPS.ORG
Homage to Arles
2017 Members’ Biennial exhibition
`` £2,050 `` Hotel Amphitheatre, 5 Rue
Diderot, Arles, France `` Jay Charnock or Mo Connelly, jaypix@hotmail.com, 0208 570 4116
`` £2,250 `` Join us on an autumn
photographic adventure through the Rocky Mountains from Denver to Yellowstone National Park and back `` Denver, Colorado, USA `` Keith Pointon LRPS, as above
Sunday 3 September / 11:00-20:00
members
`` Led by professional
photographer Mark Banks, this outdoor workshop will share his expertise in using filters for landscape photography `` Around the Tees estuary. Meet outside the Joe Cornish Gallery, Register House, Zetland Street, Northallerton DL6 1NA `` Mark Reeves LRPS, as above
VISUAL ART VIVECA KOH FRPS, 07956 517524 VIVECA.KOH(GMAIL.COM
SW Visual Art Group members’ day Sunday 16 July / 10:30-16:00
Dinorwig quarry visit
`` £8/£5/£3 group members `` The Dolphin Hotel,
Sunday 17 September/ 10:30-16:00
`` Details and bookings on
Station Road, Bovey Tracey TQ13 9NG `` Linda Wevill FRPS, linda.wevill@btinternet.com
Landscape Group events page `` Dinorwig Quarry, Llanberis `` Mark Reeves LRPS, as above
OVERSEAS CHAPTERS
`` AUSTRALIA Elaine Herbert ARPS, eherbert@alphalink.com.au `` BENELUX Richard Sylvester LRPS richard.sylvester@skynet.be `` CANADA webadmin@rps.org `` CHINA BEIJING Yan Li, yanli88@yahoo.com `` CHINA CHONGQING `` CHINA WESTERN Wei Han (Richard), oolongcha@hotmail.com `` CHINA SHANGTUF
EXHIBITIONS
BAGPOINT(AOL.COM
Mon 2 – Thu 19 October
`` £80/£70/£65 group
£5 ploughman’s lunch `` The Rollright Visual Art Group’s members’ day with a focus on peer review `` Village Hall, High Street, Long Compton, Shipston-on-Stour CV36 5JS `` Andreas Klatt ARPS, 01608 684848, rpsva@klatt.co.uk
SALLY SMART ARPS, EXHIBITIONS ASSISTANT
Fri 21 – Thu 27 July
`` gracesalon.com `` RPS 2017/24
Saturday 19 August / 10:00-16:00
`` £8 entry/
KEITH POINTON LRPS, 01588 640592
Rocky Mountain Gold 2017 – photo tour
Using filters for landscape photography
Rollright Visual Art Group – summer meeting
1st Mahfuz Ullah International Memorial Photo Contest 2017 Closing date: 5 August `` `` mmsalon.net `` RPS 2017/23 5th Danubius International Photo Art Salon ‘Best of CF’ Closing date: 7 August `` `` photoclub.voltin.ro `` RPS 2017/28 Tafklub International Salon Closing date: 12 August `` `` pssa.co.za `` RPS 2017/29
Until Saturday 5 August
`` Warrington Museum
and Art Gallery Roger Jeffery, 01925 442396, rjeffery@culturewarrington.org Fri 18 August – Thu 21 September
`` Arts Centre, Washington RPS International Print Exhibition 159 Until Sunday 2 July
`` Titanic Museum, Belfast Monday 10 – Friday 21 July
`` Blue Drill Hall, Edinburgh `` Jason White, 01226 327011,
jasonwhite@barnsleycivic.co.uk
PATRONAGE
Salons/exhibitions with RPS-approved patronage
The South Devon Salon Closing date: 16 July `` `` newtonabbot-photoclub.org. uk/
`` RPS 2017/19 Grace International Salon of Photography 2017 Closing date: 24 July ``
6th China International Digital Photography Art Exhibition Closing date: 15 August `` `` 2017cidpae.lsphoto.org `` RPS 2017/37 Tai Po Photography Club International Salon 2017 Closing date: 20 August `` `` tppc-hk.org `` RPS 2017/27 Sydney International Exhibition of Photography Closing date: 28 August `` `` siep.org.au `` RPS 2017/14 38th Northern Counties International Salon Closing date: 1 September `` `` northerncountiessalon.org.uk `` RPS 2017/20 The 50th E.A. International Salon of Photography Closing date: 5 September `` `` psea-photo.org.hk `` RPS 2017/35
Royal Photographic Society members around the world
Guo Jing, shangtuf@yahoo.com.cn `` CHINA QUANZHOU Xiaoling Wang, hgudsh@163.com `` DUBAI Mohammed Arfan Asif ARPS, dubai@rps.org `` GERMANY Chris Renk, germany@rps.org
RPS Germany Chapter exhibition – ‘Reflection’ Until Wed 19 July / 10:00-17:00
Altes Stadtbad, Hagen Berliner Straße 115,
Hagen, Germany `` HONG KONG Shan Sang Wan FRPS, shansangwan@ yahoo.com.hk `` INDIA Rajen Nandwana, rajennandwana@gmail.com `` INDONESIA Agatha Bunanta ARPS, agathabunanta@gmail.com `` ITALY Olivio Argenti FRPS, cirps@olivioargenti.it `` JAPAN TOKYO Yoshio Miyake,
yoshio-raps@nifty.com `` MALAYSIA Michael Chong ARPS, michaelcsc1985 @gmail.com `` MALTA Ruben Buhagiar, info@rubenbuhagiar.com `` NEW ZEALAND Mark Berger, rps@moothall.co.nz `` SINGAPORE Steven Yee Pui Chung FRPS, peacock@sandvengroup.com `` SRI LANKA Romesh de Silva,
romesh@access.lk `` SWISS CHAPTER Richard Tucker ARPS, tucker42@bluewin.ch `` TAIWAN Joanie Fan Hui Ling ARPS, djpassionfoto@gmail.com `` USA ATLANTIC CHAPTER Carl Lindgren, lindgren.carl @gmail.com `` USA PACIFIC CHAPTER Jeff Barton, rps@vadis.net
VOL 157 / JULY 2017 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 553
554 | GUIDE |
WORKSHOPS
Printing with Lightroom Sunday 3 September /10:00-16:00
Hear from the experts and hone your skills
Pinhole photography Saturday 1 July / 10:00-16:30
`` £76/£56 Society members `` Bath HQ
Introduction to Photoshop Sunday 2 July / 10:00-17:00
`` £95/£71 Society members `` Bath HQ Bring your own inkjet printer workshop Sat 8 – Sun 9 July / 10:00-16:30
`` £165/£140 Society members
`` Bath HQ
`` £120/£95 Society members
`` At the Westcountry
Wildlife Photography Centre with tutor Nigel Hicks `` Devon
Introduction to mindfulness, meditation and how this links to photography Thursday 20 July / 10:00-16:30
`` £95/£71 Society members `` Buckinghamshire Learn to film with your DSLR Friday 21 July / 10:00-16:30
Child portrait photography Sunday 9 July / 10:00-17:00
`` £120/£95 Society members `` Amersham
A beginner’s guide to product photography Thursday 13 July / 10:00-16:30
`` £115/£90 Society members `` Amersham
`` £120/£95 Society members
`` Buckinghamshire Peak landscapechallenge photography Saturday 22 July / 9:30-18:00
`` £120/£95 Society members `` Ashbourne
Studio portraiture Sat 22 – Sun 23 July /10:00-17:00
Painting with light Friday 14 July / 10:00-16:00
`` £95/£71 Society members `` This workshop covers all aspects of basic light painting from setting up a camera, focusing in the dark, equipment, basic kit and spinning the perfect orb to different light-painting techniques and effects to create images including light-painted portraits `` Amersham
How to shoot modern architecture
`` £165/£140 Society members
`` Lacock
Theatrical and creative dance lighting
`` £95/£71 Society members `` Bath Macro and art photography Friday 8 September / 10:00-16:30
`` £55/£41 Society
Saturday 2 September / 10:00-16:30
members
`` RPS HQ
Movement photography
`` £120/£95 Society
Sat 16 September / 10:00-17:00
Saturday 9 September / 10:00-16:30
`` £95/£71 Society members `` Bath HQ Creative dance lighting photography Saturday 9 September / 10:00-17:00
`` £120/£95 Society members `` Surrey
Developing personal projects and storytelling with Ben Cherry Wed 13 September / 10:00-17:00
`` £120/£95 Society members
`` This aims to teach the
skills to plan and develop personal projects and storytelling abilities, and equip participants with ideas on how to market and tell the world about their story `` Amersham
`` £115/£90 Society
`` £95/£71 Society members `` Bath HQ
`` £75/£56 Society
Art figure painting with light
`` Surrey
Introduction to Lightroom
Pinhole photography
members
`` Amersham
`` £130/£105 Society members
members `` Amersham
Sat 16 September / 10:00-16:30
Introduction to Photoshop essentials for creative photographers
Saturday 2 September / 10:00-17:00
`` £155/£90 Society
Thu 14 September / 10:00-17:00
members `` Amersham
Creative techniques in Photoshop Friday 15 September / 10:00-16:30
members
`` Surrey
Two-day wedding workshop Sat 16 – Sun 17 Sep / 10:00-17:00
Painting with light Wed 20 September / 10:00-16:00
`` £95/£71 Society members `` This workshop covers all aspects of basic light painting from setting up a camera, focusing in the dark, equipment, basic kit and spinning the perfect orb to different light-painting techniques and effects to create images including light-painted portraits `` Amersham
Plant and garden photography Friday 22 September / 10:00-17:00
`` £130/£105 Society members
`` £165/£140 Society
`` Hereford
`` Fully booked `` Lacock
Advanced creative compositing in Photoshop
members
Child portrait photography Sunday 17 September / 10:00-17:00
`` £120/£95 Society members
`` Amersham The landscape photographer’s calendar workshop with Tony Worobiec FRPS
Friday 22 September / 10:00-17:30
`` £140/£115 Society members
`` This practical workshop
will demonstrate and guide participants through the process of creating a composite image `` Surrey
Introduction to your digital camera
Sunday 17 September / 10:30-16:30
Saturday 23 September /10:00-17:00
`` £55/£41 Society
`` £85/£63 Society members `` Bath HQ
members
`` Bath HQ Shooting for stock Monday 18 September / 10:30-16:30
`` £65/£48 Society
members `` This is aimed at helping participants to get the most from their images, with the potential to licence and sell them through image libraries and other stock suppliers `` Bath HQ
Art-nude photography Sat 23 September /10:00-17:00
`` £120/£95 Society members
`` Lacock
Introduction to Photoshop Sunday 24 September / 10:00-17:00
`` £95/£71 Society members `` Bath HQ How to photograph children and babies
Friday 14 July / 10:00-16:30
Sunday 24 September / 10:00-17:00
`` £99/£75 Society
`` £120/£95 Society
`` Fully booked `` Nottingham
`` Lacock
members
members
Portraiture photography and getting the most from your subject
Introduction to Lightroom Saturday 15 July / 10:00-16:30
`` £95/£71 Society members `` This course provides an
Wed 27 September / 9:30-17:00
`` £115/£90 Society
introduction to Lightroom’s organisational, editing and printing tools and is suitable for beginners `` Chester
Practical wildlife photography Saturday 15 July / 10:30-16:30
members
`` Amersham Architectural and travel photography in and around Exeter Saturday 30 September / 12:00-19:00
Learn how to photograph children and babies at a range of Society workshops
554 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2017 / VOL 157
`` £95/£71 Society members `` Exeter
ADVERTISING PROMOTION
| FUJIFILM | 555
Back to a silver future A group of leading UK pro labs visited Fujifilm’s vast photographic paper manufacturing plant in Tilburg, the Netherlands, to see for themselves that silver halide technology really is alive and kicking
output, were keen to see for themselves the work that goes on behind the scenes to keep Fujifilm ahead of the game and to hear about the plans that are afoot to ensure that silver halide products continue to hold their own. Those making the trip comprised owners and senior managers from Loxley Colour, Metro Imaging, GF Smith, One Vision Imaging, Bayeux, Digitalab, Genesis Imaging and Colorworld, who had flown in from airports all around the UK. One of the truly great things about the pro lab business is that, despite the fact that all of those on the Tilburg trip are in serious competition with one another, there was still a great sense of camaraderie in evidence, along with a willingness to network and to share experiences. So, it was a buzzing, lively crowd that donned the mandatory white overalls on that first afternoon to undertake the factory tour and to see for themselves where the papers they use actually come from.
FOCUS ON QUALITY
N
T
he Fujifilm Europe B.V. challenge was to assemble a cluster of print experts from professional labs around the UK, secure their undivided time and attention for a full two days and create an opportunity to not just see the creation process first hand but to hear about the exciting future of silver halide. The tour was also timed to coincide with the launch of Fujifilm’s new ‘Make it an Original’ silver halide photo paper campaign – which focuses on creating awareness of the blossoming silver halide marketplace and Fujifilm’s own inventory of 27 different colour papers in varied surface types and sizes. For those who believe that the unstoppable tide of digitisation has all but carried away traditional processes it might come as a surprise to hear that silver halide has a future at all in fact, but the pro labs know better, and Fujifilm’s
‘YOU REALISE THAT YOU’RE IN SAFE HANDS AND THAT YOU CAN RELY TOTALLY ON SILVER HALIDE PAPERS BEING AROUND FOR THE LONG TERM’ classic Crystal Archive paper, revered for its exceptional specification and archival qualities, is still the media of choice for professional and hobbyist photographers right across the board. But nothing stands still, and the lab representatives who had been invited to Fujifilm’s vast Tilburg plant in the Netherlands, an enormous 150-acre site that, among many other things, produces the photo paper on which more than one third of prints made worldwide are
othing was off-limits, barring those areas where coating processes need to be carried out, for obvious reasons, in complete darkness. So, guide Wil der Kinderen who, like so many of the Fujifilm employees encountered on the tour, has worked for the company for decades, proudly showed his guests everything from the store where the vast rolls of paper waiting to be coated were kept – along with the ingenious automated traverser system employed to move them around – through to the high-tech systems that cut the paper to size and take care of quality control. Everything is checked thoroughly at every stage, and attention to detail is impressive: Fujifilm’s reputation and that of its customers is on the line, and that message has clearly been received loud and clear. There was no shortage of questions on the way round the building as the various processes were explained. Ken Sethi, CEO of Genesis Imaging, a lab that handles the printing for many major exhibitions as well as the fine-art print requirements for Getty Images, was one of those who was having his eyes opened as to how much goes into the production of silver halide print materials in terms of R&D and physical production methods. ‘It’s incredible when it’s all explained to you,’ he enthuses, ‘a real eye-opener, and not at all what I imagined it to be. Silver halide paper still represents the vast bulk of my business. It’s what brings photographers through my door, so it was reassuring to hear from Fujifilm about their confidence in the future of the product. When you hear this first hand you realise that you’re in safe hands and that you can rely totally on silver halide papers being around for the long term.’ Tim Berry, commercial manager at GF Smith, was another taking a huge interest in the tour, appreciating the opportunity not just to get an insight into and a deeper understanding of the products that his lab uses extensively but to get a feel for what the future might hold for silver halide papers in general. ‘GF Smith has worked with Fujifilm products since the start of 2001,’ he says, ‘but I’ve personally had dealings with the company for over 30 years now on various projects. I was
PROMOTION 556 | FUJIFILM | ADVERTISING Below left to right: From raw material paper rolls to cut sheet final products; Wil der Kinderen explains the process control. Bottom, the Tilburg site with its wind turbines
very impressed with the whole papermanufacturing process, but equally it was really good to see the knowledge of the staff at the factory and the pride they had in their work.’ The following day the pro lab party was back at the Tilburg plant, this time to hear from Fujifilm product manager Judith van Linden and key account manager Evert Groen, who both gave presentations that focused on the bright future that lies ahead for silver halide paper. In particular, a dedicated website that will focus on the massively growing market for fine-art prints has been launched with the aim of this driving custom to professional labs that can evangelise about the supreme qualities of the silver halide papers that they’re working with. ‘We are constantly working to achieve ever greater print permanence,’ Evert told his audience. ‘Statistics show that the number of prints still hanging on a wall after 50 or 60 years is less than 1 per cent. That’s a reasonable lifetime but we want to extend that longevity still further. Fujifilm paper prints are officially the best in class among silver halide print types – especially our renowned DPII Professional Paper. Fujifilm professional paper prints will last 48 years under 250 lux and 12 hours’ indoor light exposure.’
THE GROWTH OF ALBUMS
T
‘WE ARE SEEING AN EXPONENTIAL INCREASE IN GROWTH’
here’s also going to be a strong focus on the booming market for albums that are printed on silver halide paper, especially those that feature a lay-flat design, with Fujifilm looking to secure 50 per cent of the album market in the not-too-distant future. ‘We are seeing an exponential increase in growth,’ says Judith. ‘Today, 95 per cent of all professional albums within the EU are created with Fujifilm colour papers. We currently have an inventory of 27 different colour papers of varied surface types and sizes – and, of course, innovative new products such as Album XS paper. Our album papers are growing by 17 per cent a year and we have new papers for wall décor in the pipeline.’ ‘It’s great to see that Fujifilm is continuing to invest in silver halide papers in this way,’ says Metro Imaging director Tony Window, who has worked with the company’s products for around E nha 25 years. ‘I was delighted to learn that nc the m e the valu e of y the company’s paper range is going to o st o n Fuji o ur p beco hotos film’s me a continue to expand, and obviously ori by pri one-o colou nting f-a-kin ginal pho rs for those to d item a very we’ll be looking to incorporate any you lo , keep paper. Yo long v ur ph ing its time. w w w.o oto w e new products that are introduced It in will b tense rigina e you and b ill lphoto r going forward. We’ll also be ri perso pape nal ‘o lliant r.com rigina continuing to work with Fujifilm to l’. promote the value of printing on professional photo papers, and it’s great to be hearing that silver halide has such a positive future.’
EXCITING PLANS
Overall this was a valuable bonding exercise, a chance to cement relationships, for those who base their businesses around the quality of silver halide paper to be able to see first-hand how much goes into the manufacturing process and to share the news about the exciting plans that will firmly establish traditional printing at the heart of professional photography for many years to come. All of those who made the trip came away enthused and inspired, and now it’s the turn of their customers to reap the benefit of the considerable investment and development that is currently going on in the depths of that cavernous Fujifilm plant in the Netherlands. Browse the new Fujifilm website dedicated to photo papers at originalphotopaper.com
MAKE IT AN
Original
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558 | GUIDE | SHOWCASE
A lasting impression Martin Addison FRPS hopes his exhibition at Fenton House will inspire visitors to see the world differently
H
e began taking pictures of family events and holidays during his teenage years. It was when Martin Addison joined the Worcester Camera Club in 1970, however, that his interest in photography intensified. His passion was to fuel his working life. Addison has lectured for more than 30 years in various media, as well as teaching Photoshop for 20 years and Lightroom since 2007. He is the author of four books published by Focal Press explaining how to use the complex Corel Painter program and holds regular workshops on how to use Lightroom effectively. Joining the Society in 1991, Addison gained his Associate Distinction the following year before achieving his Fellowship in 1994. He explains how his exhibition at Fenton House, the Society’s headquarters in Bath, places the spotlight on using movement and
558 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2017 / VOL 157
multiple exposures to create his impressionistic style of photography.
What inspired this body of work? Early in my photographic life I saw images by Ernst Haas of a bullfight where the bull and matador were beautifully blurred. I was hooked on creating images depicting movement. Ever since I have been moving the camera, or allowing the subject to move to create impressions, rather than reality. I like the fact that only the camera can create these effects;
we cannot see them with the naked eye. I love multiple exposures and started creating them as soon as I had a film camera. Digital cameras allow me to see what I am doing immediately rather than waiting for the film to be processed. The overlapping of images adds depth and mystery. Mirroring is another fascinating way to create new compositions of familiar subjects.
How have you honed your technique? I derive most of my pleasure from photography by heading outdoors and getting lost in the moment of shooting. I live about 100 yards from a river where I take daily photographic trips. If the photographs don’t work out well I don’t worry because I’ve enjoyed taking them. This habit has taught me not to dwell too much when composing a photograph. Having 40 years of experience means I can just look at a subject that piques my interest and visualise a photograph. I
ABOVE LEFT
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Moving Eye RIGHT
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rely on my intuition more than ever. It has taught me a lot.
What do you hope visitors to Fenton House will take from your exhibition? I hope it inspires everyone to take a keener interest in the world around them. For those photographers who have an interest in the more traditional forms of photography – which I enjoy too – I hope they’re inspired to create something a little bit different. If you explore different types of photography it informs all of your future work. Photographers and artists often have a better sense for lighting, texture and design than many others. Photography enables us to enjoy our wonderful world more fully. After all, how many people see beauty in rust and decay in the way many photographers do?
VOL 157 / JULY 2017 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 559
560 | TIMES PAST |
FROM THE RPS COLLECTION
Hardships in the Camp (Colonel Lowe and Captains Brown and George), 1855
The front line
W
ith 36 sturdy boxes – including 700 glass plates and five cameras – and a horse-drawn darkroom, Roger Fenton arrived in Balaclava in March 1855 to document the Crimean War. Commissioned by a London publisher, supported by the UK government and with letters of introduction from Prince Albert he was, to all intents, the world’s first war photographer. The technical problems he faced were enormous. Apart from being in a war zone the unwieldy wet-collodion plates had to be prepared just
prior to exposure and used before the heat dried them. They needed immediate development, often in an atmosphere full of dust and flies. He also had to contend with soldiers clamouring to have their portraits taken. Remarkably, he produced more than 350 images of aesthetic power. Fenton was a skilled landscape photographer and this shows in his images of the terrain, campsites and military installations. This image is a good example of the care he took in composition, and its sharpness would please any present-day photographer. The trip, which ended with
560 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2017 / VOL 157
WAS FENTON AN OBJECTIVE OBSERVER OR ACTING FOR THE STATE? him contracting cholera, raises questions that continue to be troubling. Was he an objective observer or acting for the state, worried about negative reporting by the Times and wanting more positive material? Did his embedded, close relationships with the officers influence his choice of subject? There are no images of conflict or its consequences for soldiers – despite the fact he came under fire, and regularly saw carnage and
human destruction. Was this to avoid offending Victorian sensibilities, to reduce the risk of commercial failure or to avoid embarrassing his royal supporters? Was he guilty of staging the iconic Valley of the Shadow of Death images? Definitive answers are unlikely, but we can be sure the subsequent exhibition of these prints established his celebrity – and the public’s interest in images of conflict. PETER HARVEY
Shadows of War: Roger Fenton’s Photographs of the Crimea, 1855 is at The Queen’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, 4 August – 26 November
THE RPS COLLECTION AT THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON
How Roger Fenton made the transition from landscape to war photographer
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