The RPS Journal July 2016

CLIVE ARROWSMITH

‘I MADE UP THE RULES AS I WENT ALONG’

JULY 2016 / VOLUME 156 / NUMBER 7 / WWW.RPS.ORG

CASE STUDY

IN DEPTH

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OPENING SHOT

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FROM HIGH FASHION TO HIGH HOPES

O COMING UP

IN FUTURE ISSUES Wildlife photographer Stephen Dalton HonFRPS welcomes David Clark to his home in West Sussex and we showcase some of the best work by members of the Nature Group

PRINCIPAL PATRONS

ver the past few months, in the lead-up to this issue, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know our cover photographer Clive Arrowsmith.

I have particularly enjoyed hearing his tales of being an art student in the 1950s, when he was friends with members of a band called The Quarrymen, who would later become The Beatles. Since then, Arrowsmith has been one of Britain’s foremost photographers working in fashion, beauty and portraiture.

Needless to say, this is not Arrowsmith’s first cover, and we’re grateful to him for letting us use one of his images from a 1972 Vogue shoot. Despite being more than four decades old – predating Photoshop by nearly 20 years – this double-exposure shot still looks impressive today.

Sarah Moon, another doyenne of the fashion world – and fellow Pirelli calendar photographer – also graces the pages of this month’s Journal. Writer Lucy Davies speaks to Moon about her remarkable career and hears from others in the industry, including fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki, about how Moon managed to develop her distinct style.

Also in this issue, we bring you some

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seasonal flavour with a feature on garden photography. We meet Society members who were either finalists or commended for their recent entries into the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition, including Polina Plotnikova ARPS, David Jordan FRPS, Justin Minns LRPS and Gillian Hunt ARPS, each giving an insight into their individual processes.

Finally, we chatted to 24-year-old photographer Sophie Wedgwood about her project looking at millennials who, without the money to move out of their family homes, are spending much of their 20s living with their parents.

Her images are a sad reflection on the consequences of the cost of living, full of dark, moody bedrooms that speak of a life in stasis.

Thought-provoking work from a rising star.

ANDREW CATTANACH Acting editor

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

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482 | JULY 2016

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 Preasident Walter Benzie HonFRPS Vice-President Robert Albright FRPS Treasurer Geoff Blackwell ARPS Director-General 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

524 Heather in Petts Wood by Sophie Wedgwood, part of her acclaimed Waithood series

EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES Acting editor Andrew Cattanach andrew@thinkpublishing.co.uk 0141 375 0481 Contributing editors Gavin Stoker, Geoff Harris LRPS, Fiona McKinlay, Kathleen Morgan, Jonathan McIntosh Design Matthew Ball, John Pender, Victoria Axelson Sub-editor Sam Bartlett Advertising sales Helen Rosemeir helen.rosemier@thinkpublishing.co.uk 020 3771 7230

FEATURES

Group account director John Innes © 2016 The Royal Photographic Society.

All rights reserved.

518 | BEYOND BORDERS How IGPOTY-shortlisted Society members broke new ground in their garden photography

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.

524 | INSIDE STORIES Sophie Wedgwood explains the emotional connections that inform her work 'on the margins'

Circulation 11,237 (Jan-Dec 2015) ABC ISSN: 1468-8670

Ann Schaufuss, London, 1972 by Clive Arrowsmith

498 An image by Jo Teasdale, one of three new Fellows we talk to about their successes

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530 | SHOTS FROM THE HIP The mercurial Clive Arrowsmith reveals he's driven by an insatiable hunger, despite finding inner harmony after his years of high-end hellraising

JO TEASDALE FRPS, SOPHIE WEDGWOOD, JUSTIN MINNS LRPS

510 | OTHERWORLDLY OEUVRE Sarah Moon, fashion pioneer and auteur, shares a rare glimpse into her singular style and sensibility

Account director Helen Cassidy helen.cassidy@thinkpublishing.co.uk

518

Hear what it takes to make the grade in the IGPOTY competition. Image by Justin Minns LRPS

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541 | MUST TRY ) LATEST KIT How the Nikon D500 adds up, plus member test and our pick of the newest equipment 545 | MASTERCLASS/IN DEPTH More than the sum of its parts: create composite images with our how-to guide

EVERY MONTH

484 | BIG PICTURE By award winner Trevor Paglen 487 | IN FOCUS ) BOOKS Society news and views, plus exhibitions, competitions, and four new works reviewed 498 | DISTINCTIONS A Fellowship special

MOHAMMAD SOROUSH

538 | SHOWCASE Overlooked wonders of the world about us, by Mohammad Soroush 551 | MEMBER GUIDE Diary dates for the UK and beyond

538 Mohammad Soroush’s exhibition, Beyond the Lens, is on now at Fenton House

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484 | BIG PICTURE |

Art of surveillance With Trevor Paglen THE PRIZE

The Octopus, the exhibition for which I won this year’s Deutsche Börse photography prize, was a small survey of work I’ve made since about 2006, mostly looking at surveillance infrastructures and covert military operations and technologies.

IMPACT

I think there’s a huge and growing awareness about how the US military and various global corporations have transformed the internet into the greatest tool of mass surveillance in human history.

Other programmes I’ve looked at over the years, from CIA renditions to covert drone strikes, have very much become a part of the public consciousness.

THE SHOT

This image was taken from a helicopter over the National Reconnaissance Office. I had to get special permission from the secret service, and hire a secret service guy to sit in the helicopter with me. We made all these images public domain so that anyone could use them for any purpose.

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Trevor Paglen is an artist who works across a number of media, including sculpture and photography. He is concerned with how we see the historical moment we live in, and ways of imagining alternative futures. paglen.com

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487

REJLANDER RESCUE Rare album saved for nation 488

BERLIN BONDS Anderson & Low in Germany 490

SIGNED SILVER PRINT SALE Own an Eric Howard original 494

INFOCUS NEWS, VIEWS, EXHIBITIONS AND MEMBER INSIGHT

NEW FOCUS ON PHOTOGRAPHY AT TATE MODERN

More space allows venue to integrate discipline across galleries The extended Tate Modern in London opened to the public on 17 June, featuring the new Switch House building designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron. The extension increases Tate Modern’s size by 60 per cent, enabling hundreds

BOOK NOW!

more artworks to be displayed, including photographs.

‘Because there is much more space there is much more room for photography,’ senior curator Simon Baker told the Journal. ‘Our policy is to integrate photography into all the galleries, so it’s part of the Tate Modern’s

MOVEMENT PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

DNA. We don’t want the photography to be in a little gallery by the toilets.’

To mark the opening of the extension, work by Bernd and Hilla Becher, Boris Mikhailov, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen and others are on display, as well as more photobooks.

Visit tate.org.uk

Tate Modern’s senior curator Simon Baker

Enhance your skills at this workshop on Sunday 4 September at Society headquarters. For more information see page 554 VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 487

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REJLANDER COLLECTION SAVED FOR NATION

Rare works by Victorian darkroom pioneer to go on display A rare album of photographs by the early Victorian photographer Oscar Gustav Rejlander has been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery (NPG). The gallery first received the album in November thanks to an Art Fund grant and an export ban; the collection was nearly sold to an overseas buyer.

Rejlander (pictured in a self-portrait below) is best known for his work combining multiple negatives in the darkroom to create new compositions.

The album will go on display at the NPG in October.

See npg.org.uk

John and Minnie Constable looking into the fire, All Hallows’ Eve – albumen print, 1866

Postgraduate teaching role added to portfolio Dr Afzal Ansary, a Fellow of the Society, has been appointed an honorary professor at the University of Nottingham in the School of Life Sciences. Dr Ansary is also an accredited senior

imaging scientist who is the chairman of the Imaging Scientist Qualifications Board, chairman of the Medical Group, a member of the Science Committee and the Distinctions Advisory Board (DAB).

At Nottingham Dr Ansary will teach on the postgraduate

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MSc course in biological photography and imaging.

Dr Ansary joined the Society in 1966 and has been actively involved in a number of different roles.

In 2011 he established and coordinated the first International Images for Science Exhibition.

NICK SCOTT FRPS; NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY LONDON

SOCIETY FELLOW APPOINTED HONORARY PROFESSOR

| IN FOCUS | 489 FROM VANESSA SLAWSON FRPS

THE SOCIETY’S BACKBONE

In praise of our volunteers and Distinctions

I

Bat’s Head, Dorset, by Andy Farrer, overall winner, Landscape Photographer of the Year 2015

ONE VISION

Brian May reveals 3D viewer for smartphones The London Stereoscopic Company, the brainchild of Queen guitarist Brian May, has adapted its OWL stereo viewer so Victorian stereo cards can be enjoyed on smartphones.

The OWL VR kit also lets you

view 3D content online, as well as other virual reality material.

It costs £25.

See londonstereo.com

am immensely proud and honoured to represent you, the members, on our Society’s Council. My two main areas of interest are our volunteers – the backbone of the Society – and Distinctions.

Working as I do in the voluntary sector, I know only too well the value and importance of the members who give so much help to organisations like ours. On behalf of the Society, volunteers run events, sit on committees, guide policy and procedures, and, of course, advise on and assess our Distinctions. Today, there are nearly 100 panel members and chairs involved in Distinctions alone.

I first attended a Distinctions assessment nearly 25 years ago and have been actively involved since the mid1990s. During this period, I have witnessed the continual development in all aspects of the process, making our Distinctions what they are today – recognised as a quality standard of photographic achievement.

With first-hand experience of being an applicant and subsequently a panel member and chair, I have seen the changes and improvements made to the procedures. One such example is the referral system, which gives those who are close to being successful, the opportunity to reach the standard. It is heartening to receive messages from unsuccessful applicants who compliment the Society on every aspect of the process, from the

support and guidance available before they apply to the professionalism of the assessment day.

It is also gratifying to see that other national organisations have adopted our methods.

In this month’s edition, it is particularly rewarding to see the recent successful Fellowship panels. This is the pinnacle of the Distinctions and shows the diversity of the photography we assess.

The Society encompasses a wealth of genres and fields, and while not all work needs to be totally original, we nonetheless recognise photographers who have a distinct approach and distinguished ability.

If you have not already started the journey towards a Distinction, I would encourage you to do so. Read the criteria, get advice and, most importantly, listen. Without the huge army of volunteers, however, none of this would be possible.

So, on your behalf, I would like to say thank you to them, whatever their role – big or small.

Vanessa Slawson FRPS Lead chair, Licentiate panel Deputy chair, Applied Photography panel

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RECOGNISING VOLUNTEERS Well done to members who have given their service to the Society FOUR TO EIGHT YEARS’ SERVICE Geoffrey Einon ARPS Ruth Wyss ARPS Roger Towell ARPS Paul Styles LRPS Max Pickering LRPS John Margetts ARPS Elizabeth Restall ARPS Sheila Wilder George McCarthy FRPS Geoff Blackwell ARPS George Ledger

ANDERSON ! LOW EXHIBITION IN BERLIN Images from the set of the James Bond film Spectre and more Honorary Fellows Anderson & Low, who gave a Society lecture at The Photographers’ Gallery last year, are holding their first-ever major exhibition in Germany at CWC Gallery, Berlin.

It premieres their latest project, On the Set of James Bond’s Spectre, and runs until 27 August.

The Bond images continue

the artists’ exploration of reality’s relationship to fantasy. In an earlier project, Manga Dreams, which will also be presented at the Berlin exhibition, they photographed young people in east Asia who had modelled their appearance on manga and anime characters. bit.ly/andersonlowshow

Untitled (Kit the Swordsman) from Manga Dreams

EIGHT TO TWELVE YEARS’ SERVICE Anne Crabbe FRPS Steve Boyle ARPS Jack Bates FRPS Richard Revels FRPS TWELVE YEARS’ AND OVER SERVICE Bob Gates ARPS Barry Senior HonFRPS Fiona Senior FRPS Keith Evans FRPS Gwilym Owen ARPS Keith Brown FRPS Ted French ARPS Trish French ARPS Ian Bailey LRPS Paul Foley FRPS Richard Walton FRPS Rosemary Wilman HonFRPS Roy Robertson HonFRPS Patricia Ruddle ARPS

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©ANDERSON & LOW ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

A spectacular Spectre set photographed by Anderson & Low

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365

BAD DAY AT WORK

By Martin Burrage LRPS This image was taken on 5 July 1968, outside our family home in Woodside Park, north London.

Express Dairies delivered by electric milk float, but on that day the vehicle

caught fire. The fire brigade arrived quickly and soon had the flames extinguished – I particularly remember that the glass milk bottles shattered noisily.

I took a number of photos including this one of the milkman, Alfred

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

By Hania Farrell My photo portrays a motorcyclist finding his way through Mumbai’s intense traffic, his face hidden behind a white handkerchief in a bid to protect himself from the dangers of air pollution. I was grabbed by the way the larger vehicles framed him.

Captured during a trip to Mumbai in 2013, the image was shot using a Nikon D700 with a 50mm lens, with ISO 200, f/1.4 for 8,000.

Newman, looking on before the firemen arrived.

This image, scanned from my original negative, was taken with an Exakta Varex IIb; my archive includes the negative set, some 48-year-old prints and two local press reports.

IN THE STREET

By Chris Jennings ARPS The was taken in my favourite city in Bolivia, Cochabamba, which boasts friendly people, tasty food and a perfect climate.

Unfortunately, it also suffers

divisive politics and catastrophic public services.

The worker was mesmerised by me sitting in the street to get down to his level in order to fully depict him with his trowel, pickaxe and buckets.

I wanted to say something about

the city, the unmade road and the hint of electioneering slogans on the wall.

I captured the image using a Canon 5D MkII and 50mm lens, using an aperture of f/3.5 to make the background out of focus.

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492 | IN FOCUS |

WHAT NOT TO MISS SUMMER SIXTEEN Robert Adams Gallery, Hemel Hempstead UNTIL 18 JULY

Photographer Ian Jeffrey is among the artists whose work is on display at this major local show. ‘My camera captures the image and I use the computer as my paintbrush,’ he says. ‘I get great pleasure out of images that push my creative boundaries.’ toth.dacorum.gov.uk/exhibitions

SEVENOAKS CAMERA CLUB EXHIBITION Sevenoaks Library UNTIL 9 JULY

TERENCE DONOVAN: SPEED OF LIGHT The Photographers’ Gallery, London 15 JULY'25 SEPTEMBER

One of the foremost photographers of his generation, Society member

Donovan (1936-1996) came to prominence in London in the swinging 60s. Like David Bailey HonFRPS, he was an east ender who broke into the creative industries through sheer force of personality and talent. Along

with vintage material and previously unpublished works, the exhibition will include the films and videos he produced for musicians such as Robert Palmer and Malcolm McLaren. bit.ly/tpgdonovan

The finest work from the 80-member Sevenoaks Camera Club is on display at this show, part of the town’s 47th summer festival.

Entry to the exhibition is free and you can vote for your favourite image. sevenoakscameraclub.org.uk JULY ONWARDS

EXHIBITIONISM: THE ROLLING STONES The Saatchi Gallery, London UNTIL 4 SEPTEMBER

The bumper year for connoisseurs of Rolling Stones photography continues at the Saatchi Gallery, with more than 500 artefacts, including images from Gered Mankowitz FRPS and others who have worked with the band throughout their career. saatchigallery.com

NEWBURY CAMERA CLUB PRINT EXHIBITION West Berkshire Museum, Newbury UNTIL 2 OCTOBER

This club, which includes a significant number of Society members, will be showing more than 90 prints displayed in three groups during the course of the exhibition, with images being changed on 26 July and 31 August. newburycameraclub.org.uk

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THE ENGLISH GARDEN Beyond The Image Photographers’ Gallery, Suffolk UNTIL 25 SEPTEMBER

English garden-inspired images by members of the gallery make up this exhibition on the Thornham Walks Estate. Established in 2005, Beyond the Image is run by nine like-minded photographers who put on quarterly themed exhibitions. beyondtheimage.co.uk

Elliott Landy: The Band Proud Camden Gallery, London Until 24 July Ephemera by Spencer Murphy Francesca Maffeo Gallery, Leigh-on-Sea Until 13 August Unseen: London, Paris, New York, 1930-60s Ben Uri Gallery, London Until 29 August Peter Marlow’s Cathedrals Coventry Cathedral Until 5 September Painting with Light Tate Britain, London Until 25 September

FRENCH ELLE, 1966, TERENCE DONOVAN; POPPIES, IAN JEFFREY; LYNDA ATKINSON; JOHN THOMPSON; ALAN TEECE; ROLLING STONES, SAATCHI GALLERY

ALSO SHOWING

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JOURNAL UNVEILS NEW PARTNERSHIP

REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT

We are happy to announce that the Journal is now in partnership with Zenfolio, which offers website solutions for photographers.

Zenfolio, part of the Art.com family, is a multiaward-winning subscription service that provides photographers with the ability to create a responsive website in minutes.

With gallery facilities, unlimited storage and marketing and business tools available, Zenfolio is an allin-one solution, trusted by hundreds of thousands of photographers to help them grow their businesses online.

To find out more, go to zenfolio.com

Tucano nose detail by David Richardson Zenfolio for Society members

OBITUARY

Sir George Frederick Pollock, at one time a leading exponent of audio-visual work, an accomplished art photographer and a past president of The Royal Photographic Society, has died aged 87 years.

Sir George joined the Society in 1962, gained his Associate in 1963 and his first Fellowship in 1965, which he followed up 28

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years later with his second Fellowship. He was one of the Society’s more active and important presidents during his two-year term.

Alongside his wife, Lady Doreen, Sir George was a key figure within British photography for many years and his work is held in several international collections.

He invented a method of making abstract colour

photographs using controlled light, originally through glass, in 1962, which he named ‘vitrographs’. The following year he devised a method of making large-scale photographic murals.

He received a Fenton Medal for his services to the Society in 1984.

To read the full obituary, go to bit.ly/GeorgePollock

DAVID CALVERT; DAVID RICHARDSON

SIR GEORGE POLLOCK BT. HonFRPS, FRSA

| IN FOCUS | 495 NEWS IN BRIEF

YORKSHIRE

Dambuster helmet

by David Richardson

In this issue we speak to regional organiser Mary Crowther ARPS IN A NUTSHELL We currently have around 480 members spread across one of the Society’s larger geographical regions.

In recent years, Nigel Tooby FRPS founded the North East Contemporary Group, which is now run

by Patricia Ruddle ARPS. These meetings offer ideal opportunities to view some captivating works and to share ideas with likeminded individuals.

In 2015 we twinned with the Canadian Chapter. This has allowed us to share images and best practice on an international scale.

We’re encouraging members to get actively involved and plan to arrange visits in the future.

ACCOLADE FOR JOURNAL

In May, the Journal won Best Sport and Recreation Membership Magazine at the MemCom awards. The judges said they were impressed ‘with the high production values and not surprisingly the superb photography. Since the publication was relaunched it has seen increased readership, with three quarters of the membership reading most of the Journal.’

PRIZE DRAW WINNER

WHAT’S ON IN THE AREA? In the next few months we’re hosting café sessions, advisory days and guest speaker events to help photographers develop their skills and techniques.

We’re also fortunate enough to be hosting the Halifax remains

by David Richardson

RPS Open International Photobook Exhibition 2016 in November at the Bradford Impressions Gallery.

CHALLENGES OF THE REGION Trying to please so many members across such a broad spectrum of photographic genres is always going to be difficult.

Fortunately, the region is blessed to have other active groups including the AV Group, North East Contemporary Group and the Yorkshire Monochrome Group. With such wideranging options available, there’s definitely something for everyone.

The winner of the random draw for respondents to the Society’s recent All-Member Survey was Mr David Kernek of Bath. He wins £200.

SOCIETY AWARDS TICKETS

The Society’s awards ceremony will be held at the Royal Society, London, on 15 September. Tickets are available to members but are limited and are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please contact Jo Macdonald, awards manager, for a ticket and further information: jo@rps.org

Bryan Adams HonFRPS at the awards

DISTINCTION SUCCESSES

ERIC HOWARD

05/16 ' LRPS Susan Ashford, Swansea Paul Richard Crockett, Co Westmeath George Gray, Aberdeen David Kitson, Gwent John Riley, Oxfordshire 05/16 ' EXEMPTION

Susan Williams, Coleg Morgannwg 05/15 ' LRPS Michael Nolan, Scarborough 10/15 ' LRPS Emm Eason, Exeter 02/16 ' LRPS Eleanor Tearle, Dorchester

ERIC HOWARD HOLDS A PRINT SALE Society medallist invites guests to grab a bargain Eric Howard, who was awarded the Society’s Gold Medal in 1995, will open his studio later this month for a studio print sale in Bath.

On offer will be signed silver gelatin originals of some of his best-known work.

Howard will also be selling images by

big-name photographers that he has collected over the years, including Bob Carlos Clarke and John Swannell HonFRPS.

The sale will run from mid-July to early August, or until everything is sold out. Please contact Howard to arrange a viewing: 01225 822134 or email e@erichoward.eu Horse and guard by Eric Howard VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 495

BOOK REVIEWS

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ONE SECOND OF LIGHT Giles Duley Benway (£30) The portrait on the cover of this major documentary collection evokes Don McCullin’s shell-shocked marine. Duley, like the Honorary Fellow, is a deeply compassionate photographer who has recorded the human cost of war in troubled spots such as Ukraine and Afghanistan (where he lost both legs and an arm to an IED).

Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in 1989

GEOFF HARRIS LRPS

FOR THE RECORD

© STUART FRANKLIN

Distinguished exponent Dr Stuart Franklin analyses his genre

THE DOCUMENTARY IMPULSE STUART FRANKLIN Phaidon (£19.95) Renowned documentary photographer Dr Stuart Franklin HonFRPS has produced many stunning press photographs and is a member of Magnum Photos, where he was president from 2006-2009. If the name is still not familiar, he took one of the most powerful documentary photographs of the 20th century – the lone man bringing to a halt a line of tanks entering Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in 1989.

This is Franklin’s most recent book, but it’s not actually about his photography. Instead, it’s a highly readable and stimulating history of documentary images, going right back to the earliest days of caveman drawings.

From there, Franklin takes us, with his photographer’s eye and wellread mind, on a fascinating journey through the documentary genre, right up to the present day.

The Documentary Impulse also looks at how documentary photography has changed in parallel with society’s views, while considering how photography can not only be a witness but a catalyst for change. Franklin then goes on to consider how photography can affect

the way we interpret everyday life, all the time using the work of other photographers to make his points.

While I enjoyed all of The Documentary Impulse, I thought the most thought-provoking chapter was on Manipulation, Staging and the Future. It recounts the controversy, which has been rumbling away since the beginning of photography, about what is documentary, what isn’t documentary, and what are the rules photographers need to abide by.

Franklin discusses how photojournalism differs from other forms of documentary, as well as looking at the differences between manipulating, staging and posing images. A great postscript to this chapter is a quote from Oliva Maria Rubio, who was asked where the boundaries of documentary lie. ‘I didn’t say there were any,’ she laughed.

To conclude, this book will be of interest to all documentary photographers, as well as students of photography – or indeed, anyone who wants to get a better understanding of how our views of life can be shaped by photography and photographers.

MAUREEN CONNELLY LRPS, GROUP CHAIR, DOCUMENTARY GROUP

PRECIOUS Jane Hilton Schilt Publishing (£25) Nevada is the only state in the USA where prostitution is legal, and Precious is the fruit of a 15-year project by Jane Hilton to photograph the state’s ‘working girls’.

Hilton visited 11 different brothels and her portraits are candid, touching and non-judgemental.

‘I hadn’t even thought about prostitution until I walked into a brothel,’ she reflects.

‘I was probably very naive, which in retrospect did me a favour.’

JANE NORTON

THE CREATIVE WORKPLACE Various photographers Roads Publishing (£25) If you’re stuck in an office looking at grey walls and the back of photocopiers, show your boss this book, where photographers from China to Scandinavia reveal the world’s hippest workplaces. Some look like they’d be hard to concentrate in, and the ubiquity of motion-blurred people gets repetitive after a while.

GERRY BARNETT

If you would like to review photography books for the Journal, please contact RPSJournal@thinkpublishing.co.uk

VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 497

FELLOWSHIP SPECIAL WHAT ARE DISTINCTIONS?

Distinctions are standards of achievement recognised throughout the world

LRPS Applicants need to show good photographic competence in five key areas

Illustrating the diversity of photographic interests in the Society

M

Three of the latest Fellows discuss their panels

ay’s meeting of the Fellowship Board recommended three additions to the Society’s highest level of Distinction.

Each were very different genres of photography, illustrating very clearly the diversity of interests in the Society, while maintaining the quality and depth of thinking necessary to be awarded a Fellowship.

Andrew Marker’s Creative submission took a very clean, minimalist approach to photographing Santorini, producing a series of images that were beautifully constructed, with delicate tones that perfectly illustrated the detailed townscape that makes the Greek island famous.

The second successful submission was by Michael Rowe, in the Natural History category. Focusing specifically on birds of south-west Florida, Michael’s submission illustrated a wide range of behaviour and interaction between

individuals of the same – or different – species. As with the other submissions, the quality of printing, and the knowledge and understanding of the subject, showed a photographer using his skills to communicate a very personal viewpoint in his chosen subject.

Jo Teasdale’s submission in the Conceptual and Contemporary category utilised a warehouse of discarded, overcrowded mannequins to illustrate the complex dynamics and nonverbal communication in personal relationships – and ultimately the loss of identity, overpowering control and claustrophobia manifested in a relationship’s breakdown.

Illustrated in stark monochrome images, the series draws the viewer in to explore greater depths – and everyone will interpret the series differently, depending on their own life experiences.

Three very different submissions – my congratulations to each of the successful photographers.

Roy Robertson HonFRPS

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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

Jo Teasdale

CONCEPTUAL $ CONTEMPORARY

My panel focuses on the complex dynamics and non-verbal communication in personal relationships INSPIRATION

The inspiration for my project came when I randomly visited a disused mannequin factory. It was not simply a building filled with endless, dismembered bodies – to me it was a part of my life being played out in front of me.

TIME TAKEN

The images were taken over a period of a few weeks. The factory was in the process of being sold and completely gutted, so it wasn’t going to be long before everything disappeared.

Post-production was not excessive but I did leave the images for periods of time so I could view them with fresh eyes and see different possibilities.

SIGN OF SUCCESS

CLOCKWISE, FROM ABOVE

Affection Submission

I firmly believe that a panel of work should have a personal connection to the photographer.

You have to feel it. If you have an affinity with your subject your images will have integrity and depth.

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500 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

FEATURE SPONSORED BY

CLOCKWISE, FROM ABOVE

Control Indifference Silenced Agony

HANGING PLAN

‘Illustrated in stark monochrome images, the series draws the viewer in to explore greater depths’

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502 | DISTINCTIONS |

Mike Rowe NATURAL HISTORY

My portfolio illustrates aspects of bird behaviour and high-speed action. It is all about catching the moment INSPIRATION

The critical image in my portfolio is Fighting willets, because it was head and shoulders better than any picture I had taken previously.

It made me realise what was possible in bird photography and, by implication, what was likely to be required for 502 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

my Fellowship. It was the starting point for my portfolio.

TIME TAKEN

The images were taken over five years, during which I visited south-west Florida six times, where they were all taken – mostly on Sanibel Island and nearby Fort Myers. I’d estimate I spent around 350 hours doing on-location photography, plus probably double that in preparing and refining my portfolio.

SIGN OF SUCCESS

You need to impress the Fellowship Board with something fresh and exciting so that they sit back and say ‘wow’. This is not at all easy as they have immense collective experience and have seen it all before. It therefore requires some flash of inspiration to come up with a different slant that makes your portfolio stand out from the crowd. In my case, this was to include a good proportion of images showing bird interaction.

FEATURE SPONSORED BY

HANGING PLAN

‘A photographer using his skills to communicate a very personal viewpoint in his chosen subject’

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT

Wilson’s plover courtship Fighting willets Juvenile ospreys simulating mating

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504 | DISTINCTIONS |

504 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

FEATURE SPONSORED BY

A QUIET CORNER LEFT

Typical of the images in the bottom row of my panel, using objects of limited colour to provide a contrast to the white walls SHAPES $ SHADOWS ON THE CHURCH ROOF RIGHT

CHURCH DOORWAY BELOW

ALCOVE $ ROOFTOP WALKWAY BELOW LEFT

Two images from the top row where the emphasis is on simplicity and varying shades of white. The walkway introduces blue into the panel which is then picked up in the second row

Andrew Marker CREATIVE

Taking a minimalist approach, I’ve tried to capture the serene beauty and sense of peace and tranquillity while exploring the island INSPIRATION

In May 2015 I went on a photographic workshop to Santorini. From the moment I arrived, I could see the potential for graphic images with shapes, shadows, textures and colours.

One morning I got up early and went to a small country church.

The lighting was soft and gentle and I was captivated by the simplicity of the architecture and the varying shades of white. Taking pictures, I felt they were of a personal nature – not consciously for a panel.

on the layout and standard of the panel. After receiving positive feedback, I contacted the Society and was booked into an assessment. This gave me six months to fine-tune the panel.

TIME TAKEN

A Fellowship panel has to come from the heart with a subject that is personal. Be prepared to spend time exploring ideas and allow the panel to come to you rather than chase after it.

SIGN OF SUCCESS

Over the next four months I began to assemble a set of images with simple compositions and strong elements of design. Armed with about 25 images I sought advice

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506 | DISTINCTIONS |

HANGING PLAN

‘A series of images with delicate tones that perfectly illustrated the detailed townscape’

506 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

FEATURE SPONSORED BY

WINDING STAIRWAY ABOVE

Narrow alleyways with steep flights of steps are a characteristic feature of Santorini BLUE BENCHES IN THE CHURCHYARD RIGHT

CALL TO WORSHIP LEFT

As a church bell ringer, including this image adds a personal touch to the panel STEPS TO THE BELL TOWER FAR LEFT

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508 | DISTINCTIONS |

Image: Fiona Alison

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nspired by what you’ve seen on the surrounding pages?

Then come along to an assessment day to see more portfolios being assessed by the Society’s expert panels, and learn what makes for a successful submission.

LRPS and ARPS assessments are open

to an audience, for which tickets are free to applicants and Society members (£10 for non-members), and must be ordered in advance.

Unless otherwise stated, our assessments take place at The Royal Photographic Society headquarters, at 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 D AY

LRPS (prints and/or images for screen) Sunday 18 September (Norfolk) Friday 21 October (Multimedia) Wednesday 26 October Thursday 27 October Tuesday 8 November Wednesday 9 November ARPS (prints and/or images for screen) Natural History Tuesday 13 September Wednesday 14 September

Conceptual & Contemporary Wednesday 21 September Applied Wednesday 28 September Thursday 29 September Pictorial Wednesday 12 October Thursday 13 October Creative Wednesday 19 October Thursday 20 October Multimedia Friday 21 October

Travel Monday 24 October Tuesday 25 October FRPS Natural History Wednesday 14 September Conceptual & Contemporary Wednesday 21 September Applied Thursday 29 September Multimedia Friday 21 October Travel Tuesday 25 October

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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

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MOON LANDING

In a rare interview, the enigmatic and elusive Sarah Moon reveals what fires her imagination. By Lucy Davies

| SARAH MOON | 511 MONETTE For Comme des Garcons, 2007 SARAH MOON MAIN IMAGE

Moon as photographed

by Ilona Suschitzky, September 2015

S

arah Moon started out taking pictures of her model friends in the downtime between fashion shoots and other bookings. At the time – the late 1960s – she was often modelling herself; the subject of editorial by Helmut Newton, Irving Penn and Guy Bourdin, then the holy trinity of fashion photographers.

But, as she has said many times, she was never comfortable in front of the lens, and it became clear very quickly that her path lay behind it.

Since then, she has ploughed a furrow so tangential to mainstream fashion editorial, with its mass insistence on a high-gloss, high-definition version of beauty, that her impressionistic, shadowy and narrative-oriented photographs seem as distinctive today

as they were in 1968, when Jean Bousquet, founder of Cacharel, hired the unknown Moon to shoot a campaign for his fledgling ready-to-wear label.

He may have been the first but he wasn’t the only visionary to catch sight of something remarkable in Moon’s work. Barbara Hulanicki, whose designs for Biba boutique – a favourite with Twiggy and Marianne Faithfull – defined the swinging sixties, was an early fan. ‘I remember seeing these posters in Paris …’ Hulanicki says, ‘Big close-ups of heads, and I thought: “God, I’ve got to find this photographer”…

She was feminine without being soppy, which was what I needed, because the English girls back then were quite sharp, sort of tough, and she dampened that beautifully.’

Now in her mid-seventies, and in spite of her immense success – since VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 511

512 | SARAH MOON |

512 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

| SARAH MOON | 513 CHRISTINA LEFT

By Sarah Moon, 2007

L’AVANT DERNIÈRE PIVOINE RIGHT

By Sarah Moon, 2011

‘THE ENGLISH GIRLS BACK THEN WERE QUITE SHARP, SORT OF TOUGH, AND SHE DAMPENED THAT BEAUTIFULLY’

THE RED DRESS LEFT

By Sarah Moon, 2010

those early days Moon has shot consistently for Dior, Chanel, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar et al and has branched out into making films, including the feature-length Mississippi One, about a father kidnapping his child – she remains reluctant to share the limelight with her photographs. She has no website and shuns interviews, particularly in person.

In November, though, she staged her first retrospective, a vast affair including around 350 of her works and five of her films, at the House of Photography in Hamburg, Germany. To accompany the exhibition, she collaborated on a new book, the most comprehensive to date, including transcripts of her conversations with an artist friend, and comments from the few others she trusts to speak about her work.

It’s probably the most exposed Moon has allowed herself to be in half a century, but the texts always circle back to the image rather than the taker.

Nevertheless, for the purposes of this interview, she agreed to answer questions by email, from the home in Montparnasse, Paris, where she has lived since 1972 with her husband, the VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 513

514 | SARAH MOON

514 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

| SARAH MOON | 515 THE PEAR TREE LEFT

Photographed by Sarah Moon in 1992

FOR YOHJI YAMAMOTO LEFT

By Sarah Moon, 2006

THE BIRD OF MISFORTUNE ABOVE

By Sarah Moon, 2007

publisher and long-time patron of photography, Robert Delpire.

Born Marielle Warin, in Vichy, France, 1941, Moon moved with her family to England to escape the war – she had an aunt and cousins in London – and for a time she went to school in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

Although small in stature she became a model in her teens, from which she learned: ‘complicity [with the models]; the consciousness of the effect of light on a face’. She also adopted the name Marielle Hadengue, which she used until she became a photographer, before emerging as Sarah Moon.

She says she first understood how powerful images could be ‘when I began looking at photographs that I loved – by Robert Frank and Diane Arbus, among others … [Guy] Bourdin is probably the one that gave me the taste of doing fashion pictures, because he used it as a trampoline for his imagination’.

Provoking her imagination to take flight remains key. She describes her photographs as ‘fiction,’ and confesses to reading ‘a lot’ as a child and young adult.

When asked if she had a particular affinity to fairy stories and myths, whose timbre stipples all of her work (enigmatic landscapes, enchanted buildings, restless women), she replies: ‘the tales I tell are the ones I remember’.

In a conversation with fellow photographer Frank Horvat in 1982, Moon explained: ‘I’ve always felt that photography provides an opportunity for staging, for telling a story through images ... To seat someone on a chair, for example, can be the beginning of a photo, even though it may not mean much by itself. But if I say, possibly only to communicate with the model: “You sit on this chair, and you are waiting, as if you were on a platform at a railway station”, that may introduce the sense of an event.’

‘Sarah was much deeper than most fashion photographers,’ says David Hillman, who, as art director of the edgy women’s magazine Nova from 19691975, commissioned Moon on a regular basis. ‘It was never just a case of a model on a background or in a field somewhere: there was always a

‘GUY BOURDIN PROBABLY GAVE ME THE TASTE FOR DOING FASHION, BECAUSE HE USED IT AS A TRAMPOLINE FOR HIS IMAGINATION’ VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 515

516 | SARAH MOON | ‘THE PIRELLI PICTURES WERE BEAUTIFUL BUT I DON’T THINK THEY DID ANYTHING FOR ANY MOTOR MECHANIC ANYWHERE …’ storyline and it was never the same.

We were criticised because you couldn’t see much of the clothes, but we weren’t Vogue – they could focus on the stitching as much as they liked – we were trying to do something more sophisticated.’

Watching Moon work, Hulanicki was enthralled. ‘Sarah would do incredible things,’ she says. ‘After working with her a while you just trusted her. For example, the models would be their usual perky selves at the start, striking poses, and she’d exhaust them. She’d wait until they were really, really tired and that’s when she took the picture. It was brilliant, and she went about it all in her own little world, shut off from everything. I learned a lot from her.’

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Moon shot much of Biba’s promotional material and helped cement its success.

She suited Biba, says Hulanicki, ‘because she understood the particular kind of look we were aiming for – sort of Garboish, Vaseline-egded, old movie-style’.

Hillman agrees: ‘Nova was seen as a sexy magazine at the time, it was filled with sexy pictures, but while the kinds of images she made for us were erotic, they were for women rather than men.

That’s where her success lay: she understood what women really like.

I still remember the shoot she did for Pirelli [Moon was the first woman to shoot the Pirelli calendar, in 1972].

The pictures were beautiful but I don’t think they did anything for any motor mechanic anywhere, yet women saw them and said “oh, isn’t that fantastic.”’

Does she spend a long time planning her photographs? ‘Some I do,’ says Moon, ‘but it is never what I have planned that happens. You can’t stick to an idea, it is like a mirage.’ Hillman remembers her taking longer than was usual over shoots: ‘But I think that’s because she was always trying to push the boundaries, so there was a lot of time spent working out whether or not what she wanted to do was actually going to come out,’ he adds.

To Horvat, Moon explained: ‘I keep telling myself that something else might yet happen … Because I am always afraid of having missed something.’ It’s a 516 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

VEILED WOMAN ABOVE

By Sarah Moon, 2011 THE SEAGULL RIGHT

By Sarah Moon, 1998

torment common to all photographers, she thinks. ‘We are always afraid that it may already be over.’

One would think agonies such as these might have stilled over the years, but growing older has only made her ‘appreciate the moment’ even more.

‘This is what I find the hardest in ageing,’

she says, ‘to feel constantly that you didn’t have time, which probably also makes the moments so precious.’

This might sound anguished, but it’s also the cornerstone of why she loves photography. ‘To see what I see, sometimes capture it, always memorise it,’ she says. ‘It is a way to be present.’

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BLOOMING GREAT GARDEN PHOTO TIPS

Society members shortlisted in the recent International Garden Photographer of the Year competition reveal some secrets of their craft. By Geoff Harris LRPS

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| IGPOTY | 519

POLINA PLOTNIKOVA ARPS

Highly Commended: Photo Projects, Monochrome polinaplotnikova.com My approach to flower photography is somewhat similar to that of a portrait photographer – for every flower and plant, I try to find its unique look, study its mood and character, and ultimately unlock its hidden beauty.

Also, a good floral portrait – unlike a purely botanical illustration – triggers

G

arden photography is more popular than ever, as the high quality of entries submitted to International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) confirms.

Since it was started in 2007 by five members of the Garden Photographers’ Association, IGPOTY has blossomed.

The competition is now run in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and attracts entrants from all over the world.

a thought or emotion in the viewer’s mind. I like a limited colour palette and work a lot in monochrome; in the absence of colour, you need to concentrate on lines, shapes and tonality.

I work in my home studio, and studio flower photography is great for a perfectionist. Nobody fidgets or makes faces, your models

don’t talk back to you, and no sudden gust of wind or other quirk of ever-changing weather can spoil your shot.

But, by the same token, you cannot count on something interesting that just happens all of a sudden.

It is all up to you; the choices are infinite, the result entirely in your hands.

The IGPOTY main exhibition is also held annually at Kew, with a rolling programme of touring exhibitions in the UK and overseas.

The Society has strong links with IGPOTY and sponsors the Portfolio Category. We spoke to some of the Society members who made the final cut in this year’s contest, including Polina Plotnikova ARPS, David Jordan FRPS and Justin Minns LRPS.

For more information on the winners or entering the competition, see igpoty.com VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 519

520 | IGPOTY |

DAVID JORDAN FRPS

Finalist in the Portfolio Category Creative photography often turns the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Botanical subjects can be the source of really inspirational images – being rich in colour, shape, form and texture.

One way to achieve interesting images is to use a textured barrier between the subject and camera.

This first came to my notice at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 2008, when I saw a fern pressing against a mouldy wet window (it inspired my successful FRPS panel).

Greenhouses, textured glass,

polytunnel tents and insulating fleece can all add to creativity.

The materials often generate a soft-focus effect, which is achieved as objects close to the material appear sharp, while more distant ones become significantly blurred – despite using a wide-angle lens at a small aperture (f/8 – f/11).

Fairly simple cameras and lenses can be used very creatively, and compact system cameras are especially effective, since their flexible viewing screens make it much easier to work at awkward angles.

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‘ONE WAY TO ACHIEVE INTERESTING IMAGES IS TO USE A TEXTURED BARRIER BETWEEN THE SUBJECT AND CAMERA’

| IGPOTY | 521

VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 521

522 | IGPOTY |

JUSTIN MINNS LRPS

Commended, Wildflower Landscapes justinminns.co.uk The soft, delicate nature of flowers attracts me, so these are the qualities that I try to emphasise in my floral images.

Using a combination of a large aperture and a telephoto or macro lens to create a shallow depth of field, it’s possible to focus the viewer’s attention on the flower while leaving the rest of the image to fade into beautiful blurriness.

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Accurate focusing is essential and my Canon 5D MkII’s nine AF points don’t cut it, so I focus manually, with the image magnified in live view.

My favourite lenses for this sort of photography are the Canon 100mm f/2.8 L macro and Canon 70-200mm f/4L.

The former produces wonderfully smooth blurred areas and allows me to really fill the frame with the subject, while the zoom range of the latter gives me more flexibility and the longer focal length makes for very shallow depth-offield effects.

‘ACCURACY IS ESSENTIAL SO I FOCUS MANUALLY, WITH THE IMAGE MAGNIFIED IN LIVE VIEW’

| IGPOTY | 523

GILLIAN HUNT ARPS

Highly Commended and Commended: Photo Projects, Macro Art photographybygillianhunt.com I’ve been taking macro images of flowers and grasses, both domestic and wild, for around 10 years, and I am always drawn to macro, no matter what I set out to shoot.

I spend a lot of time observing my chosen subjects and the available natural light throughout the day, and doing short test shoots to see what is

working and what isn’t.

I grow domestic/ cultivated plants in my decking garden and photograph them in situ, whereas I visit wild flowers on a daily basis until I find the best time to do a ‘serious’ shoot.

I’m lucky that I live in rural Perthshire, an area with a wide variety of wild flowers and grasses.

I always shoot with a Nikon D800 and a choice of three macro lenses: a Nikon 60mm, a Lensbaby, which I use mainly, and a Nikon 105mm.

Photography for me is as necessary as breathing. Wherever I go, I’m constantly wondering if what I am looking at would make a good photograph.

VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 523

524 | SOPHIE WEDGWOOD | BELOW

North London

‘You get better results if you take pictures of things you know’ Sophie Wedgwood’s work has attracted international acclaim but she’s still focused on stories close to home, finds Donatella Montrone

W

aithood. It’s a word that conjures up images of stagnation, where time passes but where life stands still.

The term was coined

by Diane Singerman, co-founder of Middle East studies at American University in Washington, to describe the period of limbo experienced by young adults in Egypt who, unable to afford a wedding, are adrift between childhood and adulthood, stuck at home with their families.

But it’s a concept that has come to

524 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

define the lives of people coming of age the world over.

In Britain, millennials are entering adulthood at a time of social and economic disruption, when traditional markers of that stage of life – a good job, settling down, saving for a deposit – seem like the ideals of a bygone era.

Struggling to emancipate themselves from family, this generation is trapped in waithood.

London-born photographer Sophie Wedgwood examines this state of limbo in her Waithood series.

‘I focus on regular people – some earning above minimum wage, some

earning below. But none of them can move out,’ she explains.

‘Or, if they can, they’ve decided they would rather not live hand to mouth in the most expensive city in the world.

The housing crisis was the motivation.

It’s so easy to become homeless, especially since there’s so little support for young people.’

Wedgwood grew up in Camberwell, and in recent years has witnessed the unprecedented asset-stripping of her own neighbourhood, where those born and raised in south-east London have been priced out of their own communities. ‘I think you get better

ABOVE

Sisters Rosa and Maddy in East Dulwich LEFT

Heather in Petts Wood

photographs if you take pictures of things you know, because you understand the nuances of a place and might convey the story more passionately. I know most of the people I photographed for Waithood and I, like them, still live at home.’

She’s always loved photography and as a teenager used to take pictures of her friends with a disposable camera.

‘I think I was quite anxious about forgetting things, so I used to take photos of my friends as a way to remember. Like a lot of state schools in London, mine didn’t have the resources to encourage the arts. I honestly thought VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 525

526 | SOPHIE WEDGWOOD |

526 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

| SOPHIE WEDGWOOD | 527

it was impossible to become a photographer. People told me that photography was too hard and competitive, but I didn’t want to end up doing a job I didn’t love, so I decided to pursue it anyway.

‘Growing up in London, where you are around so many types of people – you get an understanding of how different people live.

Everyone has something interesting about them. I really wanted to tell people’s stories – and I wanted to do it through photography.’

Shot in homes in Brixton, Camberwell, Stoke Newington, East Ham, Forest Hill, East Dulwich, Chislehurst and Brockley, Waithood evokes an intimacy inspired by Wedgwood’s personal approach to storytelling.

‘One of the things I wanted to get across is that it’s not just unemployed people who are living at home but also graduates in low-wage jobs. London is probably the worst hit by the housing crisis, and I wanted to capture this without saying too much, or shoving it down anyone’s throat. I want viewers to make up their own minds.’

As a Londoner, Wedgwood remains devoted to the capital city; she teaches photography in several after-school clubs for children, some of whom – as

she herself once did – believe that being a photographer is an unattainable dream. By focusing on creative thinking she hopes to make a difference in the lives of children who are often marginalised because of the socioeconomic class in which they were born.

‘Younger children often make the best art because they’re less conditioned in terms of what’s considered “good”. They don’t have an ego so they have no filter on what they produce. Photography doesn’t

‘I THINK I WAS QUITE ANXIOUS ABOUT FORGETTING THINGS, SO I USED TO TAKE PHOTOS OF MY FRIENDS AS A WAY TO REMEMBER’ FACING PAGE

Rose in Forest Hill TOP

Leo in Brixton BOTTOM

East Ham VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 527

528 | SOPHIE WEDGWOOD | MAIN IMAGE

Kae in Peckham BELOW, LEFT

Jack in Camberwell BELOW, RIGHT

Stephen in Brockley

need a traditional classroom setting, which is great for kids with ADHD. A lot of the best, most original, photographs are taken by kids with learning difficulties; they see the world in a different way.’

Still only 24, Wedgwood has been commissioned by The Guardian, Arab News, the BBC, Reuters, i-D, Dazed & Confused, VICE and countless others.

She’s been nominated for Magnum’s graduate photographer award, as well as this year’s World Press Photo award (Joop Swart Masterclass) by Australian photographer Max Pam. ‘I was so honoured to be nominated by Max. I love his work,’ says Wedgwood.

She is currently working on a 528 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

‘YOUNGER CHILDREN OFTEN MAKE THE BEST ART BECAUSE THEY’RE LESS CONDITIONED IN TERMS OF WHAT’S CONSIDERED “GOOD”’ documentary series about mental health. ‘The people who are most in need of help are often the ones who receive it the least, and this often compounds the homeless crisis in the capital. Most of my projects focus on London because it’s my home, it’s what I know. I always try to keep a strong, current narrative and focus on the intricacies of wider issues we see in the news.’

For more of Sophie Wedgwood’s work, visit sophiewedgwood.com

AUTHOR PROFILE SOPHIE WEDGWOOD A London-based photographer and writer, Wedgwood has been nominated for the World Press Photo Award and Magnum’s Graduate Photographer Award

FLIGHTS OF FANCY

The ‘wild man’ of fashion photography, Clive Arrowsmith FRPS rejected his hedonistic 530 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

PIRELLI CALENDAR, CHINESE ZODIAC: YEAR OF THE RAT Spain, 1992 ‘This shoot had its problems. We did it in the Almeria desert in southern Spain and it was over 100°F. I had a set built with scaffolding and tarpaulin, and one day a sand storm lifted it up and carried it down a ravine. We had to get down and drag it back up.

Also, the make-up artist spent hours putting water-based make-up on a model but it was so hot it just ran off her. So we phoned another make-up artist, Charlie Duffy, flew her out to Spain and she did a marvellous job.’

lifestyle and embraced Buddhism. But he’s still hungry for images, hears David Clark VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 531

CHARLOTTE RAMPLING London, 1970 ‘This was taken at Vogue studios and is one of my favourite photographs.

I just used one Balcar light and an umbrella, which was pointing slightly towards me.

That gave the lovely shadow around the side of her face, while the back of the picture fell into shadow. She had no top on and was very confident and in control.

Just before I took this shot she was looking away, then turned towards the camera with that “Mona Lisa” smile. It’s just an extraordinary picture.’

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| CLIVE ARROWSMITH | 533

W

ithin a few minutes of arriving at Clive Arrowsmith’s house in Chiswick, west London, it feels like I’ve known him for years. I’m carried along on the tide of his quick-witted, irreverent and sometimes outspoken conversation, peppered with anecdotes, whimsical diversions, vocal impersonations and philosophical asides. It can switch from photography to Buddhism at any moment.

Arrowsmith’s ‘gift of the gab’ has served him well during an almost 50-year career in which he’s photographed everyone from top models and pop stars to the Dalai Lama.

He’s shot fashion and portraits for Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Sunday Times and others, and advertising for De Beers, Revlon and Hasselblad – the camera brand which he primarily uses.

He’s also the only photographer to have shot two consecutive Pirelli calendars.

Yet being a photographer wasn’t originally part of his game plan. As a young man he dreamed of being an actor or artist. His parents insisted that he train as a chartered accountant for the local authority in his native Wales, but he abandoned the job after eight months and headed for Queensferry Art School (then Kingston College of Art), where he studied painting, illustration and graphic design for a total of six years.

‘I was trying not to leave art school because I didn’t think I’d get a job,’ he says. ‘So I was constantly inventing and winning new bursaries so I could stay another year.’ He finally left and joined

ANN SCHAUFUSS FOR VOGUE London, 1972 ‘This is Annie, my muse, in a picture for the Vogue Beauty Book. It was a double exposure on the same negative, taken using two Hasselblad bodies, long before Photoshop came along. For the profile shot I used a spotlight through a cardboard tube to frame the face with a sharp, crisp light.

I put a glass 2¼” square holder on the back of the camera and drew around the profile with a wax pencil. Then I set up the lily, lit the background and adjusted the position of the flower until I thought, yes, that’s definitely in line.’

PHIL SPECTOR London, 1972 ‘I photographed Phil dressed as Father Christmas for the cover of Phil Spector’s Christmas Album.

George Harrison was in the studio in Soho, sitting in the corner chanting ‘Hare Krishna’.

Phil had obviously been taking something.

At one point I was photographing him in front of a Christmas tree. I fired the flash, then left the shutter open to get the fairy lights. Suddenly, there was a crash. We turned the lights on to find Phil had fallen over in the gloom. Afterwards we had to prop him up with a brush behind his back.’

MONTY PYTHON TEAM Surrey, 1976 BELOW

‘The Sunday Times magazine asked me to photograph the Monty Python team while they were rehearsing on stage at a studio in Shepperton, Surrey. I needed to light them but couldn’t get lights on the stage. So I had to put an umbrella on a stand, pointing up, to make it look a little like a Footlights Review.

Necessity was the mother of invention on this shoot. Getting them to do anything was difficult. At one point John Cleese wrapped the curtains around his head and most of the others followed.’

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534 | CLIVE ARROWSMITH | PAUL MCCARTNEY London, 1976 ‘Paul asked me to shoot the back cover of the Wings at the Speed of Sound album. When we were at the studio, he said: “We just want something that looks like the speed of sound, d’yer know what I mean?” So, thinking on my feet, I put some white camera tape on the floor, blacked out all the studio lights and asked Paul to stand in the middle. Then I fired the flash, keeping the shutter open, and told him to step to the side and do a different face.

We repeated this lots of times to get the overlap.’

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| CLIVE ARROWSMITH | 535

PIRELLI CALENDAR: SPANISH HEROINE France, 1991 ‘The calendar’s theme that year was ‘Heroines’ so I photographed models representing heroines of different nationalities. Art director Martin Walsh and I drove for a week around the Massif Central to find locations. This model was the Spanish heroine.

We took a cannon (pictured) and at one point on the journey it rolled out of the van and banged into a post office, which got us in trouble with the local police.

They also came along when we were setting off smoke bombs during the shoot, but didn’t mind too much when they saw the models.’

Rediffusion Television where he worked as an art director on the groundbreaking rock and pop show Ready Steady Go! Needing pictures for the title sequences, Arrowsmith began photographing the show’s stars.

Soon photography became an allconsuming obsession. Freelance jobs for Nova (photographing artist LS Lowry) and Harpers & Queen led to a visit from Vogue’s fashion editor Grace Coddington and art director Barney Wan. Arrowsmith was offered a job the next day.

All this happened without him having any photographic training. ‘I didn’t study photography at art college and I was too egotistical to assist,’ he says. ‘I learned all I needed from painting, although, because I hadn’t been trained, I broke all

BAND ON THE RUN ALBUM COVER London, 1973 RIGHT

‘Paul McCartney asked me to shoot this with a ‘band’ of celebrities, as if escaping from prison. I used a theatre spotlight on top of a van but it wasn’t powerful enough and the exposure was about 1½ seconds.

They were all very merry on champagne and keeping them still was frustrating. I only got three frames that were reasonably sharp.’

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536 | CLIVE ARROWSMITH |

the rules. I learned photography by trial and error, but it was like walking across Niagara Falls on a high wire and I had to get it right. A couple of times of course it went wrong, but I managed to get away with it.’

Arrowsmith quickly gained a reputation for his imagination and technical inventiveness. He also became known for being a ‘wild man’ of fashion photography, a party animal who took things to extremes at work and play.

At one point he was drinking almost a bottle of vodka a day. Alcohol, he says, fuelled one notorious incident during a complicated Vogue shoot.

‘After I’d been fiddling with this picture most of the afternoon I showed the editor the Polaroid very proudly,’ he recalls. ‘She said, “Yes, it’s very good, Clive, but you’ll have to do it all again if it doesn’t work.” You had to be like a slave to Vogue, which I wouldn’t.

‘Afterwards I dressed up as Jesus 536 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

‘DRESSED AS JESUS, I WENT IN TO THE EDITOR’S OFFICE CARRYING THIS HUGE WOODEN CRUCIFIX …’

Christ in a white robe and went into the editor’s office repeating, ‘Why persecute thou me?’ I was carrying a huge wooden crucifix and had my foot in a bucket of strawberry yogurt, which spilled on to the carpet. They loved the pictures, but I didn’t work for Vogue again for six months.’

His alcohol and drugs-fuelled lifestyle continued in parallel with a successful career until the early 1990s, when one night he took a long look at his two-year-old son, Paris, asleep in his cot. ‘At that moment, I thought: I’m not doing this any more,’ he says. ‘I stopped on a Good Friday and I’ve never had a drink, a drug or a cigarette in the 25 years since.’

Married four times and the father of seven children, these days Arrowsmith finds inner peace through Buddhism and daily meditation, which he says helped him regain his equilibrium. As part of the process of looking back over an active and colourful life, he produced a retrospective book. Beautifully designed and printed, Arrowsmith: Fashion, Beauty and Portraits shows 300 of his best images. A second book is due next year.

Arrowsmith remains a very active photographer and the whole process of creating images excites him as much as ever. ‘I love working, I love taking pictures,’ he says. ‘It’s about having an incredible devotion to it, you know? For me, taking pictures is an obsession. I’m hungry for images all the time.’

Arrowsmith: Fashion, Beauty and Portraits is published by ACC Editions, price £50

| CLIVE ARROWSMITH | 537

DONNA MITCHELL Paris, 1970 LEFT

‘I shot this image for the Paris Collections in 1970.

It was styled by Grace Coddington, Vogue’s fashion editor. Donna Mitchell is wearing a Perspex windscreen and lattice vinyl body by Pierre Cardin. The clothes were going to be shown the following day on the catwalk, so we had to shoot the collections overnight, starting at 7pm. At one stage they weren’t going to show this picture in the magazine as it was far too sci-fi, but I said it was the best thing in the collection. The picture has become iconic.’

DANCER IN DAVID BOWIE COSTUME Japan, 2013

GHOST CAMPAIGN London, 2016

LEFT

‘Touker Suleyman, who owns the fashion label Ghost, asked me to do a shoot featuring the company’s clothes, together with Ghost Home soft furnishings, designed by Sera of London. The model for this shoot was actually a sergeant in the Israeli army and I photographed her at Sera HershamLoftus’s apartment.

The background was shot using tungsten light, to give it a warm tone. I separately photographed the foreground with the girl, cushions and bed cover. Then, using Photoshop, I cut around this area and blended the two images.’

‘This dancer was in between rehearsals for a spectacular show by the Japanese fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto, who is a friend of mine. I had half an hour with the cast with a white curtain behind them, and I shot one costume after another. It was the first show Kansai had done for 20 years and the dancer was wearing a costume he had designed for David Bowie to wear on his Aladdin Sane tour in 1973. The assistants were quickly attaching it to the dancer using Velcro.’

ABOVE

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SOROUSH 538 | SHOWCASE | MOHAMMAD

SMALL WONDER

Mohammad Soroush hopes his images will inspire others to look afresh at the hidden gems all around them

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his month, Mohammad Soroush’s exhibition Beyond the Lens is on show at Society HQ. Currently working as a graphic designer and professional photo editor, Soroush has, over the past few years, focused his efforts on continually improving his photographic skills.

Soroush has also fully immersed himself in the activities of the Society since joining three years ago, becoming an active member of the Creative and DIG groups.

What inspired you to create this project?

I have experience in a variety of photographic fields but my passion lies in marrying nature and macro photography.

I enjoy highlighting the overlooked beauty of the natural world, so macro photography is perfect for me. It allows me to reveal the minute and intricate details of my subjects. Discovering and sharing these unseen details with audiences is what makes this field of photography so exciting.

there were a few complex issues that had to be dealt with, especially when shooting insects. As they move so quickly, and are so minute to the naked eye, capturing strong images of them required extremely precise planning, equipment and techniques.

What do you want visitors to get from your images?

This collection focuses on subjects from nature and things that we often don’t spend time noticing during our busy lives. Therefore, I hope this collection instils a sense of excitement in visitors and motivates them to fully appreciate and immerse themselves in the wonders of the world around us.

What were the challenges of capturing these images?

As a large number of these photographs were captured in natural environments,

What were the highlights of creating this body of work?

Photographing the natural world offers me a sense of calm and connects me with life, so I try to take my camera with me wherever I go. Photographing nature does more for me than simply sitting or walking in it, as it allows me to focus on what’s important to a scene and helps me truly focus on what’s in front of me.

One of the ways I liked to shoot when creating this body of work was to make connections with each subject and its surroundings, as this helps me to capture images to the best of my ability.

I intend to go on marrying my passions for photography and the natural world by continuing to create a combination of macro and abstract photos and developing my skills.

Soroush’s exhibition, Beyond the Lens, is on show at Society HQ this month. | VISIT | Mohammad See the Society website for more details: rps.org/exhibitions-and-competitions 538 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

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MUST TRY

JULY 2016 THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY, TECHNIQUES AND SKILLS

Nikon D500

Is this DSLR really the full-frame D5 in a more agile body? Gavin Stoker finds out

T

his 20.9-effective megapixel DSLR – topping Nikon’s APS-C sensor ‘DX‘ range – offers a performance akin to that of its considerably more expensive D5 big brother, but in a more portable, lighter body (760g body only).

While lacking the latter’s fullframe chip, the D500 does feature the same 153-point AF system (with 99 cross-type sensors), plus the ability to shoot at a relatively high 10fps for up to 200 images, jpeg or raw. Its ISO range is expandable from a

core of 100-51,200 to a huge ISO 1,640,000 equivalent.

For video, the D500 introduces 4K UHD recording to the range for the first time. For moving images, or just when manually focusing, use of the 3.2-inch LCD is a boon. It also tilts, still a rarity on a DSLR at this level, and a stereo microphone input is provided for improved audio.

To cope with the demand of ultra high-res video, there’s a new image-processing engine in the Expeed 5. Wi-fi

Price £1,729.99 body only or £2,479.99 with 16-80mm kit lens Sensor APS-C CMOS sensor Lens Optional, Nikon DX mount LCD screen 3.2-inch, 2,359K dots Weight 860g with battery and card More nikon.co.uk In brief Best-in-class APS-C sensor DSLR boasts quality aplenty for those who don’t require a full-frame performance.

equipped, it features Nikon’s always on, instant sharing, Bluetooth-compatible SnapBridge software.

The camera feels good in the hand. Its optical viewfinder is large, bright and clear, with a handy dioptric adjustment wheel, although we found our nose butting up against the LCD below if we wanted to get up close. Handily there is a second, smaller window top right of the top plate, as on any pro DSLR, providing access to key settings at a glance.

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542 | CRAFT | LATEST KIT 2

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Leica M-D £4,650

Rotolight Anova Pro From £999

The Leica M-D (Typ 262) rangefinder is the first in the digital ‘M’ series to junk an LCD screen in favour of what Leica deems a more ‘purist’ approach, (hopefully) bringing back an anticipation of the end result not felt since the days of film only.

An ISO dial (with a range of 200 to 6,400) occupies the space on the camera back where the screen would otherwise sit, making for a slightly odd, minimal-looking device at first glance.

Still a digital camera of course, benefits include a 24-megapixel resolution via a 23.9x35.8mm CMOS sensor and the fact that you can share pictures nigh instantly. Flash is attached via the vacant accessory shoe, and at least we do get a switch to turn the camera on or off.

This UK-manufactured continuous light comes with the advantage of built-in flash sync capability for those who want to freeze movement – such as wedding guests whirling around the dance floor.

Fashioned for use on location and in the studio (with a long battery life), the Anova Pro comes complete with barn doors in order to shape the light; the idea being that we get a natural, soft-looking light and flatteringly warm skin tones whichever setting we’re shooting in.

That the LED is cool to the touch and flicker free means that it works as readily for video work with your DSLR as stills photography.

In a nutshell, this is one light that potentially does it all.

A digital camera without an LCD screen: mad or inspired? leica-camera.com 1

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GEAR SPY

Continuous LED light for pro portrait stills and video capture rotolight.com 2

Sony RX10 III From £1,250

High-end bridge camera with powerful optical zoom capability sony.co.uk l NIKON/SONY Natural disasters in Japan have delayed production and despatch of previously announced gear to the UK. Nikon has experienced delays in the production of camera sensors and semi-conductors, while Sony has said that previously announced cameras will be arriving a little later than planned. l NIKON’S new premium cameras – the DL18-50 f/1.8-2.8, DL24-85 f/1.8-2.8 and DL24-500 f/2.8-5.6 – with model numbers denoting the lens reach, and scheduled for release last month, had been delayed indefinitely at the time of writing.

Need a long focal length but don’t want to spend big on glass for that DSLR? Sony’s latest all-in-one super zoom – now in its third iteration – offers a wide-angle 24-600mm equivalent (25x optical zoom) and reasonably bright f/2.4-4.4 aperture range, with glass supplied by Zeiss.

Its heart is a larger-thanaverage one-inch sensor.

A latest-generation Bionz X processor handles the file sizes generated by another of its key features: 4K video. The pro-level features continue with up to 100fps slow-motion capture offered (albeit not in 4K).

Performance is, as one would expect given the price tag, DSLR-like, with 0.09-second AF response and light sensitivity ranging from ISO 64 to 12,800.

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| THE CRAFT | 543 MEMBER TEST 4

5

Canon Speedlite 430EX III-RT Compact flashgun’s favourable results

O Sevenoak Camera Snapp Guides Stabiliser Pro From £143.94 From free Camera support system for pros who shoot video as well as stills sevenoak.biz

Location-finding app for landscape/travel photographers snapp-guides.com

‘Steadicam-type’ accessory options from third-party manufacturers include the Camera Stabiliser Pro from Sevenoak, in small, medium or large camera set-ups (from £143.94 to £215.94 respectively).

The cheapest option has a flexible handgrip, three-axis gimbal, adjustable counterweight discs, front and back trim screws and quick-release camera-mounting platform. The combination allows for smooth shooting with a DSLR, ‘even if running up and down stairs’.

The SK-SW Pro1 is designed for DSLRs weighing up to 2.5kg, has an aluminium/carbon fibre construction for strength and portability, and features removable counterweights, while its big brother in the Pro2 supports cameras up to 3kg.

This app aids in finding new locations to capture.

Available initially on iOS but coming on Android too, the app is also pitched as providing inspiration once we’ve found our location, as well as guiding on best times and conditions.

Useable on or offline once downloaded to our smartphone or tablet, the aim is to provide ‘local knowledge’ from the off.

Up to 12 destination guides were accessible at the time of writing, including London, Dubrovnik, Yosemite and the Oregon coast, with 15 more promised from July, covering destinations in Europe, the Americas and Africa.

In-app purchases of the guides (via apple.co/1ZADWch) range from £3.99 to £10.99, with some guides available free.

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5

f the current eight Canon flashguns on sale, three are specialist macro devices. At around £220, the Speedlite 430EX III-RT is the second most expensive.

As a stand-alone flashgun, it did everything expected: fast recycle time, good results and being fairly compact in size. With a guide number of 43, it coped well with the outdoor use during my test.

Instruction manuals come on CD, the box containing only basic printed instructions.

While adequate for most uses, the full manual can be downloaded as a PDF and stored for reference as needed.

One of the main selling points of the 430EX III RT is radio transmitter functionality, enabling use as either a master or slave. I don’t have any Canon RT equipment so was unable to test this, but my independently manufactured RT transmitter worked perfectly.

With the rise in LEDtype video lighting, Canon has announced the introduction of a light source switched on directly from the lens.

Many may prefer these to a traditional flashgun, but specialist units such as this will be popular with those wanting the RF benefits of working at longer distances from the subject.

Primroses by Nigel Spencer ARPS AUTHOR PROFILE NIGEL SPENCER ARPS Midlands-based Spencer specialises in macro and wildlife photography.

His images can be seen at nigelspencer.co.uk

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MASTER CLASS

Create composite images

Darren Woolway ARPS explains how to make an artificial scene believable

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t can be easy to think that creating a composite image is all about the post-processing.

But to make really slick

careful planning. This image of a Ferrari F12 in an abandoned building is actually constructed from nine photos.

EXPERT TIPS

WIGGLE ROOM

HEAD TO TOE

LIGHTING IS KEY

Shooting in raw allows for correction of any issues with colour or shadows. The background is a bracketed image put together using layers and layer masks. Here I took all the shots, but you can find yourself working with a stock image as a background – making it harder to match the exact set-up.

Composites can be easier if you don’t need the feet, or the base of the object, in shot.

Adding shadow was essential to anchor the car and make the image work, but is perhaps one of the hardest things to get right. As well as the shadow underneath, the area left of the car required darkening to convincingly place the F12 in.

It is important that the direction of light is the same in the background image and your subject, as otherwise the highlights and shadows will be in the incorrect place and look odd. This F12 is composed of six photos, with lighting set up in different places around the vehicle.

I shoot lighting from several

1

DARREN WOOLWAY ARPS

results that can be used in major marketing campaigns, for example, and fully convince viewers, it takes a great deal of

AUTHOR PROFILE DARREN WOOLWAY ARPS Based just south of London, Woolway is a commercial photographer specialising in still life and automotive imagery

| SIGN UP |

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positions to create a high contrast between highlight and shadow which can only be achieved by close and sharp angles of light to subject. If this was lit in one shot you would see me in the image, therefore by shooting several parts of the car separately and retouching in only the lit sections I am no longer seen.

MAKE IT MATCH To make a flawless composite, it’s important to keep settings the same in all the component shots – this means using the same camera, lens, focal length, distance, height, tilt and orientation.

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Join an introduction to Photoshop workshop on Sunday 18 September at the Society’s Bath HQ. See more on page 554 VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 545

How to use layer masks

MASTER CLASS

Linda Wevill FRPS explains one of the keys to creating composite images in Photoshop

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n my photography I really love the soft painterly effect, however this is achieved.

This may be with in-camera techniques such as long or multiple exposures, or intentional camera movement (ICM), but I am just as happy to experiment with Photoshop to achieve this result, and more besides.

One of the keys to creating original images, which can

take some time, is mastering layer masks – essential for composites to give a seamless blend of two or more images.

Get things started Layer masks are nondestructive and leave the original image intact. To start, open the background image and the one you want to add.

Show both images on the

546 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

screen and click and drag the second image on to the background. Use the move tool to position the new image. Some transformation may be required: Edit > Transform > Scale (make sure upper layer is highlighted).

Add a layer mask to this top layer. This can be created by 1) Clicking on the layer mask icon (white circle within a grey square) at the

bottom of the layers palette, or 2) Via layer > add layer mask > reveal all.

The layer will now have two rectangles – one is the image thumbnail, the other is the layer mask.

If you want to work on the image itself, ensure the image rectangle of the active layer is on. To work on the layer mask, ensure the layer mask icon is on.

| THE CRAFT | 547 LASTING BEAUTY FAR LEFT

Adding white layers made the image a more pastel shade THE RUSTY RING CENTRE

A composite that was part of Linda Wevill’s Fellowship panel VIOLA WITH MUSIC TEXTURE LEFT

‘I used the mask to bring through the instrument’ THE PENGUINS BELOW

A combination of London graffiti and a photograph taken on Dartmore

Working in layer mask The foreground and background colours should be black and white respectively. Choose a suitable brush (Ctrl B) – select brush size (brackets up and down) and choose softness/ hardness (in tool bar).

With brush opacity at 100 per cent and foreground colour on black, the brush reveals all of the layer beneath. To restore an area, change the foreground colour to white (shortcut ‘x’). The brush then paints the image back in again.

You can change between black and white foreground colours with different opacities/pressures and brush sizes to create the image you want.

Many people use the eraser tool to rub out unwanted areas. However, the problem with using this method is that if you make a mistake you cannot easily ‘undo’, apart from going back through the history. You are not able to go back later and change the mask.

In my Fellowship panel I blended the objects in the process of securing boats to the shoreline: the pulleys, rings, ropes and so on, with

images of the rough sea and I wanted to give them a soft, painterly feel, as in the image The Rusty Ring.

While working on my panel I changed my mind as I felt it was becoming a bit harsh and wanted softer images. Luckily I had saved all my layers, and was able to go back to the sea layer and change the mask, bringing through less of the original image and making it softer around the edges of the subject.

Music or text can be used as a texture layer, such as in the example with the viola, using the mask to bring through the instrument. White layers (new fill layer) may be added in the same way to make the image a more pastel shade, as with Lasting Beauty. Here again, the flowers were brought through all the layers and are, in fact, quite sharp in the centre.

I keep a file of texture images, such as raindrops, peeling paint, rocks, net curtains etc, as it is good to have a choice when needing a texture for an image.

I found the painted penguins for my image The Penguins at the bottom of a wall of graffiti near Brick Lane in London and thought I would be able to use them in

an image. I combined them with a snowy scene from Dartmoor and added a texture layer to help combine the images.

Once you master layer masks, you can start experimenting, combining images you feel might work together. Use the techniques to create your own style with the type of images you enjoy taking. Remember to always be subtle, especially round the edges of your masked subjects. Save your images with the layers open, with their layer masks, and you will always be able to go back if you change your mind. The most important point is to enjoy what you do and to have fun.

‘ONCE YOU MASTER LAYER MASKS, YOU CAN START EXPERIMENTING ! COMBINING IMAGES YOU FEEL MIGHT WORK TOGETHER, TO CREATE YOUR OWN STYLE’ AUTHOR PROFILE LINDA WEVILL FRPS On the South West Region committee, Wevill also organises the region’s Visual Art Group

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WHY I LOVE IT

SONY A7R II SPECIFICATION Introduced: 2015 Lens: E-mount Dimensions: 126.9 x 95.7 x 60.3mm Weight: 625g (with media) Focus: Fast hybrid AF

MY FAVOURITE CAMERA

QUIETLY DOES IT

SONY a7R II

Wildlife photographer Stephen Dalton HonFRPS on how the mirrorless Sony helps him capture crystal-clear images

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A long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus) in Sussex, England 548 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

ood Medal recipient Stephen Dalton, who will feature in next month’s Journal, studied under former Society president Professor Margaret Harker before embarking on a career in nature photography.

Awarded a number of Society accolades, he has published 15 books and developed techniques and equipment to capture ultradetailed images of wildlife.

The elimination of mirror shake is especially beneficial in macro photography and creates less noise, a significant factor when photographing wildlife. The option to employ firstcurtain electronic shutter means there is no camera sound whatsoever before the exposure takes place, so the wild and nervous subjects that I tend

to photograph don’t twitch during the exposure, until after they have been captured on film.

OPTIMAL OPTICS

The detail and sharpness the a7R II provides is superior to any previous 35mm cameras I’ve owned, a factor helped by the quality of the Zeiss optics and the efficient five-axis image stabilisation incorporated in the body. Furthermore, with special adaptors it’s possible to attach non-native lenses, some even functioning in full AF mode.

SUM IT UP

The Sony a7R II has not only prompted me to indulge in more availablelight photography than before, but has helped me to produce stunning image quality – in most cases allowing me to enlarge tiny sections of the frame with relative impunity.

STEPHEN DALTON HonFRPS

WHY THIS CAMERA?

For my type of photography, size and weight come high on my list of virtues. In spite of being full-frame, the a7R II is significantly smaller and lighter than my previous cameras because it’s mirrorless. Not only does this save space, it also eliminates mirror vibration, a factor that’s bugged me ever since I started photography and one of the reasons I decided to adopt electronic flash for much of my work.

9.6 out of 10

Use “rps10” on checkout for 10% off your 1st order + ask us about permanent discounts for RPS members

www.point101.com

020 7241 1113

Photo © Yiannis Roussakis

Your images, printed.

MEMBER Northern exposures

Capture beautiful scenery on the Northern Region’s weekend getaway

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nspiring landscapes and a host of Society speakers are just some of the attractions at this year’s Northern Region Lake District weekend event in November.

Alongside capturing images of the Lakes scenery in the company of other enthusiasts, attendees at the four-star Burnside Hotel and Spa will hear from local Society members Rosamund Macfarlane ARPS and John Macfarlane LRPS. The Cumbria-based couple, who discovered photography in their retirements, are members of Keswick Photographic Society and have achieved high recognition in competitions including the 2015 Scottish

Nature Photography Awards and 2015 Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

The other speakers are Peter Paterson FRPS, a specialist in abstract, still life and landscape images, whose work has been widely published and exhibited, and Smethwick Photographic Society’s Dinah Jayes ARPS, who has earned success in international competitions.

The package includes two nights’ dinner, bed and breakfast at the hotel, which overlooks Lake Windermere.

| GUIDE | 551

GUIDE

YOUR RPS EVENTS ! COURSES PROGRAMME

JUL!AUG!SEP

GO TO

RPS.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES

Capture magnificent scenery in the Lake District Image: Gerry Adcock ARPS

The Northern Region’s Lake District weekend will take place from 11-13 November. For more details turn to page 553 VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 551

552 | GUIDE |

REGIONS

Meet photographers and view work in your area

GO TO

RPS.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES

MIKE SHARPLES ARPS, 07884 657535

‘An evening with …’ presented by Gabriel O’Shaughnessy FRPS Thursday 7 July / 19:30-22:00

Sunday 21 August / 10:00-16:00

`` £20/£15/£5 spectators `` Smethwick Photographic

Society, Churchbridge, Oldbury, Birmingham B69 2AS `` Mike Sharples ARPS, as above

Society, Churchbridge, Oldbury, Birmingham B69 2AS `` Mike Sharples ARPS, as above

‘On the edge’ presented

by Vic Attfield

Gavin Hoey – Photoshop training and live demonstration

Thursday 14 July / 19:30-22:00

`` £3 Society members `` Smethwick Photographic

Society, Churchbridge, Oldbury, Birmingham B69 2AS `` Mike Sharples ARPS, as above

Sunday 28 August / 10:00-16:00

`` £12/£10 group members `` The day is a mix of

prerecorded photo shoots, live photo editing in Photoshop, Elements and Lightroom, plus some live photography with a little help from members `` Smethwick Photographic Society, The Old Schoolhouse, Churchbridge, Oldbury B69 2AS `` Ian Bailey, 07980 376301, digmidlands@rps.org

‘Southern Iceland’ presented by Leigh Woolford Thursday 21 July / 19:30-22:00

`` £3 Society members `` Smethwick Photographic

Society, Churchbridge, Oldbury, Birmingham B69 2AS `` Mike Sharples ARPS, as above

‘An evening with Jan and Ed’ presented by Jan Cawley

‘Miles and miles of fresh air’ presented by Nick Jenkins ARPS

Thursday 4 August / 19:30-22:00

Thursday 18 August / 19:30-22:00

`` £3 Society members

Thursday 8 September / 19:30-22:00

`` £3 Society members `` Smethwick Photographic

Society, Churchbridge, Oldbury, Birmingham B69 2AS `` Mike Sharples ARPS, as above

‘Confessions of a competition addict’ presented by Robert Millin LRPS Thursday 15 September / 19:30-22:00

Distinctions advisory day (Creative/Pictorial) LRPS or ARPS

`` £3 Society members `` Smethwick Photographic

‘Portfolio’ presented by Christine Widdall

Saturday 20 August / 10:00-16:30

Long Compton CV36 5JS `` Andreas Klatt ARPS, rpsva@klatt.co.uk

MIKES.SHARPLES(VIRGIN.NET

Society, Churchbridge, Oldbury, Birmingham B69 2AS `` Mike Sharples ARPS, as above

Rollright Visual Art Group summer meeting `` See website for details `` The Village Hall, Main Street,

CENTRAL

`` £3 Society members `` Smethwick Photographic

`` Smethwick PS Club House `` Mike Sharples ARPS, as above

Thursday 1 September/ 19:30-22:00

Visit the East Anglia members’ wildlife exhibition of prints and projected images Image: Hoopoe Tossing Grub by Liz Cutting ARPS

`` £3 Society members `` Smethwick Photographic

Society, Churchbridge, Oldbury, Birmingham, B69 2AS `` Mike Sharples ARPS, as above

‘Me and my eye’ presented by Andy Beel FRPS

`` £3 Society members `` Smethwick Photographic

Society, Churchbridge, Oldbury, Birmingham B69 2AS `` Mike Sharples ARPS, as above

project aims to capture the diversity of London’s open spaces – the lungs of the capital. The project will run until spring 2017, with monthly competitions and walks, workshops and events. A major exhibition is planned for later in 2017, with smaller exhibitions around the capital during the course of the project `` Londonwide `` Judy & Jen, greenlondon@rps.org

Regular meeting of the SW London Group Tuesday 12 July / 19:00-21:00

‘An evening with …’ presented by Des Clinton Thursday 22 September / 19:30-22:00

`` £3 Society members `` Smethwick Photographic

Society, Churchbridge, Oldbury, Birmingham B69 2AS `` Mike Sharples ARPS, as above EAST ANGLIA IAN WILSON ARPS, 07767 473594 IAN(GREENMEN.ORG.UK

Members’ wildlife exhibition of prints and projected images

`` The Prince of Wales `` 138 Upper Richmond Road, Putney, London SW15 2SP

`` London Web, Londonweb@ rps.org

LRPS advisory day Wednesday 13 July / 10:30-16:30

`` £25/£20/£15 spectators `` With Cathy Roberts FRPS and Rosemary Wilman HonFRPS

`` Nikon Centre of Excellence,

63-64 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SW `` London Distinctions, londondist@rps.org

Saturday 2 July – Saturday 30 July

`` Admission free `` Woodbridge Library, New

Street, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1DT `` Open during library hours `` Moira Ellice ARPS, Moira. ellice2011@btinternet.com

An introduction to Distinctions

London Region street walk Saturday 16 July 9:45-13:00

`` Regular meeting of the London street group

`` London - to be confirmed `` londoncave@rps.org Handmade photobook workshop

Saturday 17 September / 10:30-16:30

Saturday 23 July / 9:30-16:30

`` £15/£10 Society members `` The Barn, Sacred Heart School,

`` £55/£45 Society members `` Spend the day with Malcolm

Swaffham, Norfolk PE37 7QW

`` Ian Wilson ARPS, as above LRPS assessment day Sunday 18 September / 10:30-17:30

`` Society members £60, non-members £70

`` For print submissions only `` Sacred Heart School,

17 Mangate Street, Swaffham, Norfolk PE37 7QW `` 01225 325733, lrps@rps.org EAST MIDLANDS STEWART WALL ARPS, 07955 124000 STEWARTWALL(ICLOUD.COM EIRE MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN INFO(MOSULLIVANPHOTO.COM LONDON DEL BARRETT ARPS LONDONEVENTS(RPS.ORG

Breathing London project

Raggett, photographer and photobook artist. Bring along a selection of your images and Raggett will teach us to make these the pages of a beautiful, A4-sized hardback book with a smaller photograph inlaid on the cover `` The Idea Store, 321 Whitechapel Road, London E1 1BU `` London Events, londonevents@rps.org

Getting started with macro photography at the Nikon School Saturday 23 July / 10:30-16:30

`` £129/£99 Society members `` RPS London has again teamed up with the Nikon School to offer our members excellent training courses at competitive prices `` London events, londonevents@rps.org

Until Friday 30 September / 9:00-18:00

`` Following the success of Bleeding London, our new

552 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

London, Naturally – walk Sunday 31 July 2016 / 10:00-13:00

| GUIDE | 553 Visit Tudeley and Capel with the South East Group Image: St Thomas à Becket by Chelin Miller LRPS

heritageweb@rps.org

LRPS advisory day Sunday 4 September / 10:30-17:00

`` £20/£15/£10 spectators `` Cobham Village Hall,

Lushington Drive, Cobham, Surrey KT11 2LU `` David Powell, 07721 312533, southeast@rps.org SOUTH WALES MIKE LEWIS, 07855 309667, 01446 710770 MIKEGLEWIS101(BTINTERNET.COM SOUTH WEST MICK MEDLEY, 01626 824865/07980 073808 MICHAEL.MEDLEY(BTINTERNET.COM

SW Visual Art Group workshop on creative Photoshop Sunday 10 July 2016 / 10:30-16:00

`` £8/£5/£3 group members `` Dolphin Hotel, Station Road, `` Regular monthly Sunday

morning walk arranged by the London, Naturally micro-group `` London – to be confirmed `` London, Naturally, london_naturally@rps.org

The art of product photography at the Nikon School Thursday 11 August / 10:30-16:30

`` £99/89 Society members `` This one-day workshop will show you how to capture inspiring and eye-catching product images `` London Events, londonevents@rps.org

Nikon digital darkroom – Photoshop

in The Scala Media Centre, The Scala Cinema, 47 High St, Prestatyn LL19 9AH `` Meet in the cafe at Abakhan Fabrics, Coast Road, Llanerchy-Mor, Mostyn CH8 9DX `` Martin Brown LRPS, as above NORTH WEST DR AFZAL ANSARY ASIS FRPS, 07970 403672 AFZALANSARY(AOL.COM

Members’ day Sunday 17 July / 10:30-16:00

`` The Hough End, Mauldeth

Road West, Chorlton, Manchester M21 7SX `` Dr Afzal Ansary ASIS FRPS, as above

Distinctions advisory day

Thursday 15 September / 10:30-16:30

Sunday 25 September / 10:30-16:30

`` £129/£99 Society members `` London, Nikon Centre of

`` £20/£15/£10 spectators `` The Hough End, Mauldeth

Excellence, 63-64 Margaret Street, London, W1W 8SW `` London events, londonevents@rps.org NORTH WALES

Road West, Chorlton, Manchester M21 7SX `` Dr Afzal Ansary ASIS FRPS, as above NORTHERN

MARTIN BROWN LRPS, 01691 773316

GERRY ADCOCK ARPS, 01661 830882

NORTHWALES(RPS.ORG

GERRY(GERRYADCOCK.CO.UK

Members’ day

Lake District weekend

Sunday 10 July / 10:00-16:00

Fri 11 – Sun 13 November, 18:00-13:00

`` An opportunity to meet your

`` Single room £250, shared

new committee members and other Society members, and to photograph the beautiful surrounding area `` Pensychnant Conservation and Nature Centre, Sychnant Pass House, Sychnant Pass Road, Conwy LL32 8BJ `` Martin Brown LRPS, as above

room £230 `` Burnside Hotel, Bowness, Windermere LA23 3HH `` Gerry Adcote, as above, or Sandra Taylor, 0191 488 6900, staylorr@hotmail.com

Sunday 14 August / 10:30-16:00

`` Aberdeen Arts Centre,

33 King Street, Aberdeen AB24 5AA `` James Frost FRPS, as above

Scotland Region members’ print exhibition 2016/17 Sat 3 – Fri 20 September / 10:00-20:00

Saturday 23 July / 10:30-16:00

`` Godolphin House, Godolphin, Truro TR13 9RE

`` Margaret Hocking ARPS,

01872 561219, bosrowynek@ btinternet.com

West Cornwall Group meeting Tuesday 19 July / 19:30-21:30

`` The bi-monthly meeting of the West Cornwall Group

`` Ian Robertson LRPS,

`` Vivien Howse ARPS,

Rd, Glasgow G12 8AP

j.robertson15@ntlworld.com

Distinctions advisory day Saturday 3 September / 10:30-16:00

`` £20/£15/£10 specators `` Bridge of Allan Parish Church, Keir Street, Bridge of Allan FK9 4NW `` James Frost FRPS, as above

DIG Scotland Centre – September meeting Sunday 18 September / 13:30-16:15

`` £5 `` Bridge of Allan Parish Church, Keir Street, Bridge of Allan FK9 4NW `` Doug Berndt ARPS, digscotland@rps.org

Chacewater, Truro TR4 8PZ

01326 221939, vivien939@btinternet.com

Day out at South Devon Railway Sunday 11 September / 6.45-16:00

`` £20/£15 Society members `` South Devon Railway, The

Railway Station, Buckfastleigh, TQ11 0DZ `` Mick Medley, as above

West Cornwall Group meeting Tuesday 20 September / 19.30-21.30

`` The Village Hall, Church Hill, Chacewater, Truro, TR4 8PZ

`` Vivien Howse ARPS, 01326 221939, vivien939@ btinternet.com

SOUTH EAST DAVID POWELL, 01273 251485 SOUTHEAST(RPS.ORG

Thursday 7 July / 10:30-14:00

Photo forum Larkhall

Field trip in Cornwall

`` The Village Hall, Church Hill,

`` Two ancient churches on the

JAMES.FROST11(BTINTERNET.COM

linda.wevill@btinternet.com.

`` Hillhead Library, 348 Byres

SCOTLAND

Sunday 24 July / 10:00-16:00

Bovey Tracey, Devon TQ13 9NG

`` Linda Wevill FRPS,

Saturday 16 July / 10:30-16:00

Photo forum north-east

Visit to Tudeley and Capel

JAMES FROST FRPS 01578 730466/07881 856294

Talacre beach and the famous ship. Afternoon session will be

Community Wing, Carlisle Road, Blackwood ML11 9SB `` James Frost FRPS, as above

NORTHERN IRELAND

Members’ day `` We’ll head out to discover

`` Blackwood and Kirkmuirhill

Pilgrims’ Way. More details on the website `` All Saint’s Church, Tudeley, Tonbridge TN11 0NZ `` Chelin Miller,

SOUTHERN PAUL GILMOUR LRPS, 07899 042372 SOUTHERN(RPS.ORG

On my doorstep Sunday 3 July / 9:00-16:30

`` £35 group members `` See travel guide listing for details

`` Chichester Cathedral, The Royal Chantry, Cathedral

VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 553

554 | GUIDE |

WORKSHOPS

The natural and man-made landscape Saturday 2 July / 9:00-18:00

`` £155/£130 Society members

`` Another great location for this opportunity to work alongside three excellent tutors `` Monyash, Derbyshire

Introduction to Photoshop

Hear from the experts and hone your skills

Photographing landscape; whatever the weather with Tony Worobiec FRPS Saturday 3 September / 10:30-16:30

`` The Fryern Pavilion,

Monday 4 July / 19:00-22:00

`` Surrey

Greenways, Chandlers Ford, SO53 2LE `` Mo Connelly, doc@rps.org

Saturday 17 September / 10:00-17:00

members

Photograph a blacksmith at work

Sunday 4 September / 10:00-16:30

`` £95/£71 Society members `` Bath HQ

Introduction to Photoshop

Thursday 28 July / 10:00-12:00 Thursday 15 September / 10:00-12:00

`` £15/£10 Society members `` Little Duck Forge, Eastney

Sunday 18 September / 10:00-17:00

Wedding photography `` £145/£120 Society

Buckinghamshire

Creative dance photography lighting

Movement photography

`` £95/£71 Society members `` Bath HQ

`` £95/£71 Society members `` Amersham,

Documentary Group South meeting

`` £120/£95 Society

Wednesday 7 September / 10:00-17:00

Thursday 21 July / 10:00-16:30

`` £85/£63 Society members `` Bath HQ

`` £45/£33 Society members `` Bath HQ

Saturday 2 July / 10:00-17:00

Introduction to Lightroom

Cloisters, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1PX `` Tony RS Ashford, 020 8767 1911, tonyashford@live.co.uk

members

`` Nottinghamshire Introduction to Lightroom

`` £95/£71 Society members `` Bath HQ

Beam Engine House, Henderson Road, Portsmouth PO4 9JF `` Martin Silman, 07703 598303, southernevents@rps.org

Art nude photography Saturday 24 September / 10:00-17:00

`` £120/£95 Society members

Corfe Castle with A&H Group

`` Lacock, Wiltshire

Saturday 10 September / 10:00–16:30

`` £95/£71 Society members `` Bath HQ

Art figure painting with light

Printing with Lightroom

`` £115/£90 Society

Friday 5 August, 11:00-15:00

`` Meet at the castle’s ticket

office. This event is free, but an entry fee to the castle applies for non-National Trust members `` Chelin Miller, 01892 670056, heritageweb@rps.org

Saturday 24 September / 10:00-17:00

Studio portraiture Sat 23 – Sun 24 July / 10:00-17:00

`` £165/£140 Society

Sunday 11 September / 10:00-16.00

members

`` £95/£71 Society members `` Bath HQ

Creative dance lighting photography – fully booked

Shooting modern architecture

`` Lacock, Wiltshire

members

`` Surrey

Wildlife photography

Distinctions advisory day (LRPS/ARPS)

Sunday 25 September / 10:00-16:30

Saturday 30 July / 10:00-17:00

`` £115/£90 Society members `` Leigh, Surrey

`` £99/£75 Society members `` Nottingham

members

`` Surrey

How to photograph children and babies members

Hedge End, Upper Northam Rd, Southampton SO30 4BZ `` Martin Silman, 07703 598303, southernevents@rps.org

members `` Lacock, Wiltshire

Running your own photographic business

DIG Southern Centre: portraiture as art lecture

by Vicki-Lea Boulter

Mon 26 – Tue 27 Sep / 10:00-16:00

Sunday 25 September / 10:30-16:00

Introduction to your digital camera

`` £190/£165 Society

`` £10/£7 Group members `` Barry Senior HonFRPS, 01425

Sunday 25 September / 10:00-17:00

Two-day wedding workshop `` £165/£140 Society

Saturday 27 August / 10:00-17:00

`` £120/£95 Society

Saturday 10 September / 10:00-16:00

`` £10 spectators `` King’s Community Church,

Monday 12 September / 10:00-16:30

Sat 17 – Sun 18 Sep / 10:00-17:00

Cinematic Hollywood beauty lighting made simple

`` £45/£33 Society members `` Bath HQ

Saturday 17 September / 10:00-17:00

`` £120/£95 Society `` Lacock, Wiltshire

members

`` Bath HQ

471489, digsouthern@rps.org

Southern Region AGM Sunday 13 November, 10:30-11:00

`` Millennium Memorial Hall,

Littleton, The Hall Way, Winchester SO22 6QL `` Paul Gilmour LRPS, as above THAMES VALLEY MARK BUCKLEY,SHARP ARPS, 020 8907 5874 MARK.BUCKLEY,SHARP(TISCALI.CO.UK

DIG Thames Valley: Andy Beel FRPS and Prof Bob Ryan ARPS, ‘Me and my eye’ and ‘Rewiring the photographers’ brain’ Sunday 18 September / 10:00-15:30

GO TO

Learn more about landscape photography with Tony Worobiec FRPS Image: Landscape reflecting sky

554 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

RPS.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES

`` £12/£8 group members `` Woosehill Community Hall,

Emmview Close, Wokingham, Berkshire RG41 3DA `` Laurie Pate, digthamesvalley@rps.org

| GUIDE | 555

WESTERN KEVIN SCHWAERZLER, 07710 172203 WESTERN(RPS.ORG

Western Region field trip Sunday 10 July / 9:00-17:00

`` £35 `` Brooklands Motor Museum, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0SL

`` Kevin Schwaerzler, as above Western Region LRPS and ARPS advisory day Sunday 17 July / 10:30-16:30

`` £20/£15/£10 spectators `` Fully booked `` Fenton House, 122 Wells Road, Bath BA2 3AH

`` Michelle Whitmore, michelle@ michellewhitmore.co.uk

Ilton group field trip Sunday 21 August / 11:00-17:00

`` £12 `` Mapperton House and

gardens, Mapperton, Beaminster, Dorset DT8 3NR `` Mick Humphreys, mick@somersite.co.uk YORKSHIRE

Self-help group Saturday 30 July 2016 / 11:30-13:30

`` £7/£3 Society members `` White Cloth Gallery, 24 Aire Street, Leeds LS1 4HT `` Robert Helliwell ARPS, 01904 500231, bobhelliwell@clara.co.uk

Café session Saturday 30 July 2016 / 11:30-13:30

`` £2 non-Society members `` White Cloth Gallery, Aire Street, Leeds LS1 4HT `` Mary Crowther, as above

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Explore more aspects of photography and digital imaging ANALOGUE

MARY CROWTHER ARPS, 07921 237962

RICHARD BRADFORD ARPS

PHOTOBOX50(GMAIL.COM

ANALOGUE(RPS.ORG

ARCHAEOLOGY AND HERITAGE RODNEY BERNARD THRING LRPS, 01276 20725 RODNEY.THRING(NTLWORLD.COM

Visit to Tudeley and Capel Thursday 7 July / 10:30-14:00

`` Two ancient churches on the Pilgrims’ Way. More details to be confirmed `` All Saint’s Church, Tudeley, Tonbridge TN11 0NZ `` Chelin Miller, heritageweb@rps.org

Corfe Castle with Southern Region Friday 5 August, 11:00-15:00

`` Meet at the castle’s ticket

office. This event is free, but an entry fee to the castle applies for non-National Trust members `` Chelin Miller, 01892 670056, heritageweb@rps.org

The Society’s AV Festival is now in its 22nd year

Sat 24 Sep – Sun 25 Sep / 9:45-17:00

`` 1914 Centenary Hall, Dean

Close Preparatory School, Lansdown Road, Cheltenham GL51 6QS `` Edgar Gibbs, +44 (0)29 2056 4850, edgar.gibbs@ntlworld. com CONTEMPORARY PETER ELLIS LRPS, 07770 837977 WORDSNPICSLTD(GMAIL.COM

RPS Contemporary Group AGM Saturday 9 July / 10:00-16:00

`` After lunch we are pleased to

welcome presentations from Fergus Heron and Tom Owens, followed by an open forum `` The Art Workers Guild, 6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT `` Peter Ellis LRPS, 07770 837977, wordsnpicsltd@ gmail.com

AUDIO VISUAL HOWARD BAGSHAW ARPS, 01889 881503 HOWARD.BAGSHAW(NTLWORLD.COM

The 22nd Royal Photographic Society International Audio Visual Festival 2016

CREATIVE BARRY COLLIN LRPS CREATIVECHAIR(RPS.ORG DIGITAL IMAGING JANET HAINES DIGCHAIR(RPS.ORG

VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 555

556 | GUIDE |

COUNCIL REPORT ! APRIL 2016 MINUTES OF COUNCIL

`` The minutes of 16

February and 18 March were approved.

MATTERS ARISING

`` Vanessa Slawson offered

to review recent past minutes and to provide a list of outstanding actions for inclusion in the actions register. The directorgeneral would progress the all-member survey. Council asked that future surveys be undertaken immediately after the council elections to assist with setting its two-year agenda.

SOCIETY FINANCE

`` Geoff Blackwell reported

that the Society’s cashflow was satisfactory. There were no concerns with any of the main budget headings. Nick Rogers had been continuing to cover on financial issues relating to the membership database but this would ease with the appointment of Alan Hitch as IT support officer. The Society’s audit was scheduled for 23-25 May. `` Funding proposal. The director-general had prepared a detailed proposal to make use of the released funding approved by council at an earlier meeting. Council considered each recommendation: `` Appointment of a communications manager.

This was approved. The director-general would prepare a full job description and initiate recruitment. `` Volunteer coordinator. Del Barrett was asked to comment before approval was given. `` Digital film officer.

Vanessa Slawson asked that consideration be given to using a Bath Spa University student. Robert Gates noted that resources from other sources such as corporate sponsors could be used. `` Telephone system replacement. This was approved. `` Council asked that clear targets needed be set so that the success of each role could be

Miss Mansfield 2013-2014 by David Severn, one of the images featured in IPE158

established, and it set a membership growth of 800 new members by October 2017. Robert Albright felt that the investment should be made on an annual basis and reviewed annually, although it was accepted that results might not be apparent for 12-18 months.

SOCIETY PREMISES

`` Geoff Blackwell reported

that, following the last meeting, he had followed up on the suggestion that the premises search area should be widened. He and Vanessa Slawson would visit a possible property and report back.

MEMBERSHIP

`` Membership stood at:

11,751, with 137 new members having been signed up at The Photography Show. This was down on 2015 and it was not clear what the reasons were for this.

Vanessa Slawson noted that the retention of TPS sign-ups from 2015 was better than in the past.

556 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

GROUPS / REGIONS / OVERSEAS CHAPTERS `` Council approved the 3D and Holography Group’s proposal regarding its dissolution and the use and distribution of its remaining funds. Separately, it noted that all group constitutions should conform to the Society’s model constitution, particularly in respect of funds reverting to the Society in the event of a group closing.

It asked that each group be asked to supply their constitution for review. `` Martin Brown, the new organiser for North Wales, would be asked for a plan for the region. Stewart Wall’s appointment as East Midlands organiser was confirmed. `` Robert Albright asked that a process be put in place to acknowledge the contribution of key volunteers when they stepped down from their roles.

STRATEGIC REVIEW AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN `` Changes were made to

the updated strategic plan document. The plan would be recirculated. Vanessa Slawson asked that it be sent to the advisory board so that it could be discussed at their September meeting.

AWARDS

`` Jo Macdonald was asked

to give an update of nominee acceptances before the next council meeting. `` Documentation. Walter Benzie reported that all documentation had been passed to Vanessa Slawson for review. She would distribute it.

STAFF AND HEADQUARTERS MANAGEMENT `` Alan Hitch had joined the staff as IT support coordinator. He was welcomed by the trustees.

DISTINCTIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS `` Robert Albright gave a summary of progress with the Distinctions review.

The group had held three full-day meetings to collate

and categorise the responses it had received.

The next steps were to structure a report and to provide recommendations for council to consult on with the DAB. `` Vanessa Slawson reported on various matters that would be considered by the Distinctions advisory board at its May meeting. `` Geoff Blackwell raised a concern over the Open University course, which had since been rectified by the OU. The DAB would be considering offering an exemption for the strongest OU students at its next meeting. Any recommendation would come to council for approval. The Society needed to consider more external marketing of the course. `` David Cooke reported that he had recently become aware of changes to exemption criteria which had not come to council for approval. Council asked that Scottish Highers, the equivalent of English A Levels, be added to the website and affirmed its view that a member rejoining the Society should have his/her Distinction reinstated, irrespective of when it was achieved.

EXHIBITIONS

`` Robert Gates reported

that entries for the IPE159 were ahead of the same period for the IPE158.

Walter Benzie had attended the opening exhibition at the Magic Gallery, which had been impressive.

EDUCATION

`` The Society’s stand at

The Photography Show had been well received and its presence worthwhile, despite the reduction in new members joining. The one-to-one Distinctions advice sessions had been very well received and would be extended in 2017.

WEBSITE

`` Recent upgrades,

particularly the ability to create a hyperlink back to portfolios, had been well received.

| GUIDE | 557

NATIONAL MEDIA MUSEUM `` Walter Benzie reported that he had received further feedback from John Page on the RPS Collection move.

The director-general would be speaking at the National Photography Symposium on 22 April to restate the Society’s position and objectives for the collection. `` Robert Gates would be joining the Society volunteers at the museum on 26 April for their final session and would present President’s Commendation certificates to recognise their service.

ADVISORY BOARD, COUNCIL AND GOVERNANCE `` The director-general reported that the previous day’s governance review meeting had gone well.

There were two immediate actions: surveys on the advisory board, and voting, which would be issued later in the week.

EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS `` Robert Albright had attended a two-day PAGB meeting. He reported that there was a possible shared interest in the PAGB and Society working together on audiovisual/multimedia.

The DAB would be asked to consider this at its next meeting. `` The British Copyright Council had issued a copyright ‘highway code’ sheet which summarised the main areas of copyright law. This has been instigated by the Society’s Andy Finney. The BCC was distributing the document to all its constituent members and the Society would be printing it and including it with the May RPS Journal.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS `` The director-general reported that, following an initial conversation at The Photography Show, he was meeting with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to discuss copyright and rights education, which was of mutual interest.

Gavin Hoey – Photoshop training and live demonstration

DOCUMENTARY MO CONNELLY LRPS, 01590 641849 DVJ(RPS.ORG

Sunday 28 August / 10:00-16:00

`` £12/£10 group members `` The day is a mix of

prerecorded photo shoots, live photo editing in Photoshop, Elements and Lightroom, plus some live photography with a little help from members `` Smethwick Photographic Society, The Old Schoolhouse, Churchbridge, Oldbury B69 2AS `` Ian Bailey, 07980 376301, digmidlands@rps.org

DIG Thames Valley: Andy Beel FRPS and Prof Bob Ryan ARPS, ‘Me and my eye’ and ‘Rewiring the photographers’ brain’ Sunday 18 September 2016 / 10:00-15:30

`` £12/£8 group members `` Woosehill Community Hall,

Emmview Close, Wokingham, Berkshire RG41 3DA `` Laurie Pate, digthamesvalley@rps.org

DIG Scotland Centre – September meeting Sunday 18 September / 13:30-16:15

`` £5 `` Bridge of Allan Parish Church, Keir Street, Bridge of Allan FK9 4NW `` Doug Berndt ARPS, digscotland@rps.org

Documentary Group South meeting Monday 4 July / 19:00-22:00

`` The Fryern Pavilion,

Greenways, Chandlers Ford SO53 2LE `` Mo Connelly, as above

Dalton-on-Tees DL2 2NS

`` Terence Laheney ARPS,

07849 026561 or 01325 720575, pepperfieldfarm@ hotmail.co.uk

Nature Group residential weekend Friday 15 July – Monday 18 July

`` £195 single/£185 shared room

`` A residential weekend of photography

HISTORICAL

`` Flatford Mill Field Centre, East

JENNIFER FORD ARPS, 01234 881459

Bergholt, Suffolk CO7 6UL

JENNYFORD2000(YAHOO.CO.UK

`` James Foad LRPS, 01843

Visit to Stonyhurst College

580295 or 07810 306365, jamesfoadlrps@inbox.com

Thursday 28 July / 11.00-15.30

`` £5 non-Society members `` Stonyhurst College, Near

TRAVEL KEITH POINTON LRPS, 01588 640592

Hurst Green, Clitheroe BB7 9PX

BAGPOINT(AOL.COM

0114 266 8655, gblackwell@fastmail.fm

On my doorstep

`` Geoff Blackwell ARPS,

Sunday 3 July / 9:00-16:30

`` £35 group members `` The first of what we hope will

IMAGING SCIENCE

be a series of one-day training workshops held around the country and specifically aimed at new members of the Travel Group or those whose camera skills are still at a basic level and wish to improve `` Chichester Cathedral, The Royal Chantry, Cathedral Cloisters, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1PX `` Tony RS Ashford, 020 8767 1911, tonyashford@live.co.uk

KEN MACLENNAN,BROWN KEN.MACLENNAN(BTINTERNET.COM LANDSCAPE TIM PARISH LRPS LANDSCAPE(RPS.ORG MEDICAL DR AFZAL ANSARY ASIS FRPS, 07970 403672 AFZALANSARY(AOL.COM NATURE RICHARD REVELS FRPS, 01767 313065 RICHARD.REVELS(TALKTALK.NET

DIG Southern Centre: portraiture as art lecture

by Vicki-Lea Boulter ARPS

Nature Group field meeting to Pepperfield Farm

Sunday 25 September / 10:30-16:00

Sunday 3 July / 10:30-16:00

`` £10/£7 group members `` Barry Senior HonFRPS,

`` Wildlife reserve with lake/

01425 471489, digsouthern@rps.org

DIG Southern Centre has arranged a lecture on portraiture as art, 25 September Image: Missing by Vicki-Lea Boulter ARPS

woodland on a working rare breeds farm `` Pepperfield Farm,

Travel Group tour to Soria and Old Castile

GO TO

RPS.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES

Tue 27 September – Mon 3 October

`` £1,875 group members `` Hotel Las Nieves, Salduero del Duero, Soria

`` Colin Howard,

colin.howard@mac.com

VOL 156 / JULY 2016 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 557

558 | GUIDE | Wallingford wanderings Fri 7 – Sun 9 October/ 17:00–18:00

`` £25/£15/£5 spectators `` Wallingford Town Hall, Market Place, Wallingford OX10 0EG

`` Andrew Barrow,

arb@andys-scribblings.co.uk

Cambodia overland photo tours – November Saturday 12 – Thursday 24 November

`` £950 group members `` Highlights include Phnom

Penh, the temples of Angkor and Tonle Sap lake `` Keith Pointon, as above VISUAL ARTS VIVECA KOH FRPS, 07956 517524 VIVECA.KAOH(GMAIL.COM

Creative Photoshop Sunday 10 July / 10:30-16:00

`` £8/£5/£3 group members `` Topics covered will include

layers, masks, texture layers, white layers, softening etc `` Dolphin Hotel, Station Road, Bovey Tracey, Devon TQ13 9NG `` Linda Wevill FRPS, linda.wevill@btinternet.com

Rollright Visual Art Group summer meeting Saturday 20 August / 10:00-16:30

`` See website for details `` The Village Hall, Main Street, Long Compton CV36 5JS

`` Andreas Klatt ARPS, rpsva@

klatt.co.uk or Mike Sharples ARPS, mikes.sharples@virgin. net, 07884 657535

EXHIBITIONS

LESLEY GOODE, EXHIBITIONS MANAGER 01225 325720, LESLEY(RPS.ORG

RPS International Print Exhibition 158 – Derby Until Friday 19 August

`` University of Derby, Kedleston Road, Derby DE22 1GB

PATRONAGE

The following salons/ exhibitions have Societyapproved patronage:

The South Devon Salon Closing date: 17 July `` `` newtonabbot-photoclub.org.uk `` RPS 2016/42 `` 36th Northern Counties International Salon Closing date: 21 August `` `` northerncountiessalon.org.uk `` RPS 2016/53 `` 17th International Photographic Salon, Sibiu Closing date: 28 August `` `` orizontfoto.ro `` RPS 2016/60

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

`` Sydney International Exhibition 2016 Closing date: 29 August `` `` siep.org.au `` RPS 2016/68

`` 10th Image Salon Delft

GO TO

RPS.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES

`` psea-photo.org.hk `` RPS 2016/54 `` The 13th Shanghai International Photographic Art Exhibition Closing date: 9 September `` `` www.shphoto.com.cn `` RPS 2016/63 `` 3rd International Salon Shadow 2016 Closing date: 14 September `` `` srbijafoto.rs `` RPS 2016/56

`` The 4th Danubius International Photo Art Salon ‘Best of CF’ Closing date: 5 September `` `` photoclub.voltin.ro `` RPS 2016/59

`` 15th PSI International Salon 2016 Closing date: 17 September `` `` photographicsocietyofindia.

`` The 49th E.A. International Salon of Photography Closing date: 7 September ``

`` Grace Salon 2016 Closing date: 17 September `` `` gpcsalon.com `` RPS 2016/69

com

`` RPS 2016/58

Royal Photographic Society members around the world

oolongcha@hotmail.com `` CHINA SHANGTUF 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 `` HONG KONG Shan Sang Wan FRPS, shansangwan@ yahoo.com.hk

558 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

`` Closing date: 1 September `` hollandcircuit.nl/ `` RPS 2016/06

`` 1st China Shangbang International Photography Award 2016 Closing date: 1 September `` `` shangbangsalon.com `` RPS 2016/61

`` 6th Tribute to Colour Closing date: 1 September `` `` hollandcircuit.nl/ `` RPS 2016/04 `` 10th Image Contest Wageningen Closing date: 1 September `` `` hollandcircuit.nl/ `` RPS 2016/05

The Singpore Chapter is celebrating the launch of a new exhibition space

`` 1st Epic Photo Salon Closing date: 1 September `` `` hollandcircuit.nl/ `` RPS 2016/07

`` 8th Rainbow Challenge Rijen Closing date: 1 September `` `` hollandcircuit.nl/ `` RPS 2016/03

OVERSEAS CHAPTERS

`` AUSTRALIA Elaine Herbert ARPS, eherbert@ alphalink.com.au `` BENELUX Richard Sylvester richard.sylvester@ skynet.be `` CANADA John Bradford, jb.rps@cogeco.ca `` CHINA BEIJING Yan Li, yanli88@yahoo.com `` CHINA CHONGQING `` CHINA WESTERN Wei Han (Richard),

Your events

`` INDIA Rajen Nandwana, rajennandwana@gmail.com `` INDONESIA Agatha Bunanta ARPS, agathabunanta@gmail.com `` ITALY Olivio Argenti FRPS, info@rps-italy.org `` JAPAN TOKYO Yoshio Miyake, yoshio-raps@nifty.com `` MALAYSIA Michael Chong ARPS, michaelcsc1985@gmail.com `` MALTA Ruben Buhagiar,

`` 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 Launch of digiRAP Until Sunday 31 July `` USA ATLANTIC A newly launched exhibition CHAPTER hall with weekly exhibitions Carl Lindgren, and talks lined up lindgren.carl@ gmail.com digiRAP, Singapore Funan `` USA PACIFIC CHAPTER DigitaLife Mall #05-01, Jeff Barton, rps@vadis.net Singapore info@rubenbuhagiar.com `` NEW ZEALAND Mark Berger, rps@moothall.co.nz `` SINGAPORE Steven Yee Pui Chung FRPS, peacock@ sandvengroup.com

Student, Stan Dickinson

Open College of the Arts 0800 731 2116 oca.ac.uk

560 | TIMES PAST | FROM THE RPS COLLECTION

The Rajah of Drangadru Samuel Bourne’s images of India prove his mastery of the collodion process, even in inhospitable conditions

S

amuel Bourne (18341912) is probably best known for his superb landscapes of northern India. Less well known are his images of the rulers of the country, both native and imperial.

Many of these were taken in collaboration with William

Howard and Charles Shepherd, with whom he was in partnership from his early days in India.

This portrait of the Rajah of Drangadu is interesting partly because of the comment (which he attached to many of his portraits), describing the sitter as ‘a regular savage’.

560 / THE RPS JOURNAL / JULY 2016 / VOL 156

Bourne, the son of a Shropshire farmer, began his photographic career while a bank clerk in Nottingham and became particularly proficient using the collodion process, which he used throughout his career.

In 1858, aged 24, he made a photographic tour of the

Lake District, and in 1862 Bourne decided to become a full-time professional landscape photographer.

He had contributed articles to the British Journal of Photography (BJP), and felt an expedition to India would enhance his career. The BJP announced he would be sending a series of articles to them relating to his travels.

He arrived in Calcutta in January 1863.

Although photography had reached India in the 1840s, obtaining supplies was difficult and water quality for processing was poor.

Bourne used the northern hill town of Simla as the base for his three tours into the Himalayas. Each tour, which lasted up to nine months, required some 50 porters and personal staff to transport chemicals, glass plates (12” x 10” and 8” x 4.5”) tents, utensils, food, furniture, cameras etc, and the daily management of shelter and food at altitudes of up to 18,500 ft caused major issues.

Despite this, and the technical difficulties of collodion photography in the field, it is clear Bourne mastered these conditions.

Bourne spent his last years in India in collaboration with Charles Shepherd on landscape and architectural projects, plus some studio work, before leaving in 1870.

In England he abandoned commercial photography, although continuing his membership of the Nottingham Photographic Society, and became a watercolour painter.

His contribution to photography is immense, and a major collection of his work was donated to the Society.

JOHN BICKERDIKE ARPS

ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY COLLECTION

‘WATER QUALITY FOR PROCESSING WAS POOR, AND OBTAINING SUPPLIES DIFFICULT’

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