The RPS Journal November 2014

BEYOND THE DECISIVE MOMENT THE ARTISTS WHO ARE CHANGING OUR VIEW OF PHOTOGRAPHY

NOVEMBER 2014 / VOLUME 154 / NUMBER 10 / WWW.RPS.ORG

SPORT

PHOTOBOOKS

HOW MARC ASPLAND SCORES HIS PERFECT SHOT

SEE THE SOCIETY’S BEST WORK ON A PAGE

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| NOVEMBER 2014 | 657

OPENING SHOT WHEN ART MEETS SPORT

R COMING UP

IN FUTURE ISSUES As a major exhibition of the The Royal Photographic Society Collection opens, the Journal’s Andrew Cattanach is treated to a look through the vaults at the National Media Museum in Bradford

emember, remember… yes it’s November.

If, like me, you can’t quite believe the year is nearly at a close I hope you’ll appreciate the chance to stop the clock for a moment and enjoy some food for thought in this issue of The RPS Journal.

We’ve published images from a fascinating new book, Post-Photography: The Artist with a Camera, in which Robert Shore looks at how photographs are being taken to the limits of creativity and becoming building blocks in the formation of fascinating works of art. Read more on page 686.

For this issue’s ‘Best Shots’, I had a wonderful chat with Honorary Fellow Marc Aspland about the images in his first monograph (which we reviewed last issue) and about how he has slowly begun his recovery after a horrendous cycling accident earlier in the year (page 700).

After we chatted, the sports photographer was off to the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles – his first outing since he sustained his injuries. We wish him all the best as he continues to recuperate.

Speaking of great chats, the team at Think Publishing was pleased to attend the Society’s

Advisory Board meeting in Birmingham, where we updated board members on the progress of the Journal and discussed plans for the future.

It was lovely to meet the representatives of Special Interest and Regional Groups – some fascinating ideas were shared. We also enjoyed an update on the exciting Bleeding London street photography project – see our In Focus section (page 663) to find out how you can help the project reach its finishing line.

Also in the In Focus section, we’re publishing a few of your views on the Journal and on photography in general. We’d like to start printing your letters so do write or email about any of the features in this issue or, indeed, on what’s on your photographic mind right now.

We’d love to hear from you.

CLARE HARRIS Editor

MIKE WILKINSON

PATRON AND SPONSORS

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 657

IN THIS ISSUE

BEYOND THE DECISIVE MOMENT THE ARTISTS WHO ARE CHANGING OUR VIEW OF PHOTOGRAPHY

SPORT

PHOTOBOOKS

HOW MARC ASPLAND SCORES HIS PERFECT SHOT

SEE THE SOCIETY’S BEST WORK ON A PAGE

NOVEMBER 2014 / VOLUME 154 / NUMBER 10 / WWW.RPS.ORG

The Royal Photographic Society Fenton House, 122 Wells Road Bath BA2 3AH, UK www.rps.org reception@rps.org +44 (0)1225 325733 Incorporated by Royal Charter Patron Her Majesty the Queen President Derek Birch ASIS HonFRPS Vice-President Walter Benzie ARPS Treasurer Geoff Blackwell ARPS Director-General Dr Michael Pritchard FRPS Published on behalf of The Royal Photographic Society by Think Suite 2.3, Red Tree Business Suites, 33 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow G40 4LA thinkpublishing.co.uk EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES Editor Clare Harris rpsjournal@thinkpublishing.co.uk 0141 375 0504 Deputy editor Andrew Cattanach andrew@thinkpublishing.co.uk Contributing editors Gavin Stoker, Geoff Harris LRPS Design Matthew Ball, Alistair McGown, Katherine Pentney

Advertising Sales Adam Lloyds adam.lloyds@thinkpublishing.co.uk 020 8962 1253 Publisher John Innes john.innes@thinkpublishing.co.uk

700

A sporting highlight from Marc Aspland HonFRPS EVERY MONTH

© 2014 The Royal Photographic Society.

All rights reserved.

Every reasonable endeavour has been made to find and contact the copyright owners of the works included in this newspaper.

However, if you believe a copyright work has been included without your permission, please contact the publishers. Views of contributors and advertisers do not necessarily reflect the policy of The RPS or those of the publishers. All material correct at time of going to press.

ISSN: 1468-8670

Cover Abnormal Growth of Gluttony, by Rune Guneriussen

663 Bleeding London

658 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

660 | BIG PICTURE Julie Fletcher's otherworldly photograph, Lost Souls

674 | DISTINCTIONS Paul Mitchell FRPS Visual Art and Paul Childs LRPS

663 | IN FOCUS News, exhibitions, awards, talks, and the (anti) war image which inspired Tom Stoddart HonFRPS

727 | MEMBER GUIDE It's all go: workshops, events, visits, Advisory Days and more from all around the country

673 | BOOKS The World Atlas of Street Photography, and other reviews

736 | TIMES PAST How Terry O’Neill HonFRPS shot his Frank Sinatra contact sheet

ANDREAS BUSCH, CHARTERHOUSE STREET; MARC ASPLAND

Sub-editor Sam Bartlett

| NOVEMBER 2014 | 659

692

Grahame Soden ARPS documents the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall

706

Brought to book: a Royal Photographic Society first

684

Faye Yerbury FRPS to talk at Scotland's Celebration of Distinctions event

GRAHAME SODEN ARPS; DEREK TRILLO ARPS, IDENTIFYING ENGLAND; FAYE YERBURY FRPS, WIND THROUGH MY WINGS

FEATURES

THE CRAFT

686 | POST(PHOTOGRAPHY The new wave of image creation

great Marc Aspland HonFRPS talks to Journal editor Clare Harris

692 | BERLIN WALL A Cold War icon deconstructed

706 | MEMBER SHOWCASE The best entries in the Society's first photobook competition, which are also on show at Fenton House

696 | THE JOURNEY TO LRPS An insight into the steps to success for Licentiate hopefuls 700 | BEST SHOTS On his way back to health, sporting

713 | FESTIVE FOLIOS The 12 books of Christmas our guide to some of the year's top photography tomes

715 | MUST TRY , LATEST KIT Focus on Samsung's flagship NX1 and six other recent releases 718 | MASTERCLASS Creative composite images 720 | IN DEPTH Two views of using fisheye lenses 716 The Nikon D750

725 | MY FAVOURITE CAMERA Simon Roberts HonFRPS VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 659

660 | BIG PICTURE | Lost Souls

By Julie Fletcher

THE ASSIGNMENT This was part of an ongoing project at Lake Eyre, South Australia. I get bored just shooting landscapes and a few girls working for my partner were keen to get out to this area. I thought it would be great to use them in a few shots.

EQUIPMENT I used a Nikon D800 with my 14-24mm lens, a tripod, Photoshop for post-processing and StarSpikes software that was used to spike Venus.

TECHNIQUE It took a couple of tries. I had three of the girls standing still and the rest walking forward slowly towards the planet Venus to create the ghosting effect over a 20-second exposure. Due to the planet being so bright it created great backlighting and strong silhouettes.

TIPS Visit an area in daylight to plan your shots. Revisit at different times of the year. Have strong foreground interest, separate subjects from the dark background but don’t overuse lighting.

The most important thing is just have fun.

TRAINING I did a diploma of commercial photography at Ultimo College, Sydney TAFE, finishing in 2004.

RECOGNITION Julie’s image was the runner-up for the Special Prize (People and Space) in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2014 awards, on show at the Royal Observatory Greenwich until February 22 2015. See rmg.co.uk/ astrophoto.

MORE INFORMATION

juliefletcherphotography. com.au or facebook.com/ JulieFletcherPhotography 660 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 661

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663

KERTÉSZ ANNIVERSARY SALE Hungarian great goes to auction 664

DEPICT! WINNER ANNOUNCED We talk to filmmaker Adam Laity 666

THE SHOT I WISH I’D TAKEN Tom Stoddart on Larry Burrows 671

INFOCUS NE W S, V IE W S, E X HIBITIONS A ND MEMBER INSIGHT

Fitzalan Street, SE11, by Antonio Caballero Reyes

‘HELP US TO GET THE BLEEDING PROJECT FINISHED’

ANTONIO CABALLERO REYES

Ambitious capital project seeks images of last few streets Bleeding London, the Society’s London Region’s project to photograph every street in the capital is drawing to a close – and organisers are putting out a final bid to get the last few streets documented.

Based on the novel of the

TAKE MORE!

same title by Geoff Nicholson, the Bleeding London project challenges photographers to follow in the footsteps of protagonist Stuart London and cover the capital’s entire A to Z. ‘The main shooting finished at the end of October,’ explains Del Barrett ARPS, the Society’s London Regional Organiser.

JOIN LONDON MEMBERS

‘We are allowing two months to fill in the gaps, to give people time to upload their images. All sorts of people who live and work in London have been involved, as well as visitors and day trippers. Our youngest participant is eight years old, but we have all ages.

‘We have professional photographers, and some

who have picked up a camera for the first time just to participate in the project. A lot of the images have been taken on phones, others on top-ofthe-range equipment.’

There are still some gaps, so email london@rps.org if you can help. bleedinglondon.co.uk

THE LONDON REGIONAL GROUP IS ORGANISING A STREET PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP ON SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER. TURN TO PAGE 728 FOR DETAILS VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 663

664 | IN FOCUS |

KERTÉSZ EXHIBITION AND AUCTION IN PARIS More than 100 iconic works by Hungarian master go under the hammer for Paris Photo To mark the 120th anniversary year of influential Hungarian photographer André Kertész, French auction house Artcurial is holding a major auction of 125 of his works on November 14, as part of Paris Photo month.

The images have been assembled by a close acquaintance of Kertész and were held exclusively in

private collections until now.

Before the sale, the works will be on show at Artcurial’s HQ on Champs-Elysées from 12–14 November. They are from three significant periods in Kertész’s career – his time in Budapest (1894-1925), Paris (1925-1936) and New York (1936-1985). artcurial.com, parisphoto.com

‘YOU HAVE TO FEEL’

CHAPTER FOCUS SARAH SHAW, PARIS ; CAFÉ DU DÔME, KERTESZ © ARTCURIAL; CORBIS; CHRISTIAN NILSON; ALISON MCCAULEY

Switzerland WE SPEAK TO CHAPTER CHAIR RICHARD TUCKER ARPS

First established Following a meeting in September 2012 the Chapter received approval in October 2012.

Number of members We now have 29 members, 24 actually living in Switzerland, four living in France and one corresponding member from Salerno (in Italy).

Greatest achievement Having such an active group, good attendances at meetings and punching well above our weight in Society competitions.

Best place to see photography in Switzerland In the German-speaking area there is the National Museum of Photography, and the National Photography Archives are in Winterthur. In Zurich there are frequent exhibitions at the Museum of Applied Art and until recently Roland Zerbini ran an astonishing multi-exhibition centre in an empty office block.

In Biel/Bienne, on the German/ French language boundary there is a large gallery called photoFORUM. In the Frenchspeaking part of the country there are regular exhibitions in the national museum at Prangins, and the Museum of the Swiss Abroad (in Geneva) often honours major Swiss photographers.

Notable members Recently The Journal featured Alison McCauley ARPS, whose

664 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

Café du Dôme by Kertész

Images by Alison McCauley (above) and Christian Nilson, who are both members of the Switzerland Chapter

socially penetrating essays in Cuba, Mumbai and Switzerland have received considerable press exposure. John Norris ARPS has won prizes and has been on the cover of The Journal, and is soon to appear in a feature.

One member who has been attracting attention recently is Christian Nilson. A Swede living in Zurich, he has been developing a personal style using off-centre flash.

TANYA AHMED, FROM ‘WALKING THE GAMUT’; GEOFF HARRIS LRPS

Paris (120film) by Sarah Shaw

Kertész’s influence continues, as Society member Sarah Shaw explains: ‘I see a sweet, childlike poetry to his work, and it is this simplicity that draws me to his photography. Kertész said it is not enough to click the shutter at the right time. Seeing is not enough, you have to feel the photography.’

NOVEMBER 2014

| IN FOCUS | 665

FROM THE VICE!PRESIDENT

PHOTOGRAPHERS OF DISTINCTION

The journey of self-improvement starts here

J WISE WORDS

I don’t think there’s any such thing as teaching people photography.

People have to be their own learners.

IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM

ust over half of our members are to be congratulated for having earned themselves a Royal Photographic Society Distinction.

Interest in Distinctions is at an all-time high and the proof is the continuing pressure put on the Distinctions department to organise more Advisory and Assessment Days than ever before. Thanks must go to the many dedicated volunteers who help to make this activity the success that it is – especially the panel members who give up so much of their time.

We owe special gratitude to the panel chairs whose extra burdens include leading the feedback for unsuccessful candidates.

You can read more about this in our special LRPS feature on page 696; everybody likes to congratulate a success but one of the most difficult tasks is how to deal with the unsuccessful. This aspect of the job should not be underestimated and is certainly not for the faint hearted. None of us likes to receive criticism.

Often we listen to what we want to hear, not what we need to hear. Getting the right balance of

informed and fair feedback to help the unsuccessful candidate appreciate where there is room for improvement requires a very special skill. It is noticeable that those candidates who attend an Advisory Day beforehand are far more likely to succeed than those who don’t.

With the advent of modern equipment, standards of technical competence are rising.

Poor exposure, out-offocus images and burnt-out highlights are less likely than in the past. What has not changed is the need to create a distinctive and interesting panel that hangs well together. Consider your composition, the variety of images and remember that repetition of images is one of the most common causes for failure. Remember too that the assessors are there to pass you, provided you have reached the appropriate standard.

None of the levels of Distinctions can be taken for granted and neither should they be seen as an end in themselves but just a part of the journey of self-improvement. I urge those of you that have not considered upping your photographic skills by going for a Distinction to look into the process a little more deeply. Even the longest journey has to start with the first step.

WALTER BENZIE ARPS Vice-President of The Royal Photographic Society

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 665

666 | IN FOCUS |

DELIGHTED DEPICT! FILM AWARD WINNER NAMED PhD student triumphs in Society-sponsored competition The Peace of Wild Things by Adam DJ Laity has won this year’s DepicT!, a super-short filmmaking competition organised by the Watershed in Bristol and sponsored by the Society. The judges included cinematographer Robbie Ryan HonFRPS, who in September received the Society’s Lumière Award.

‘The competition is the perfect challenge for a short filmmaker – to create a stand-alone film that lasts for 90 seconds, but the impact of which should be much longer lasting,’ said Adam. ‘To have such a respected body as The Royal Photographic Society, along with an incredible talent like Robbie Ryan, to even look at my film was a thrill, but then to get such

warm and encouraging feedback from both of them was incredible.’

‘The timing of the award was amazing,’ Adam added.

‘I’m about to start a PhD on landscape in cinematography, so I’m carrying the energy of the award with me into this exciting time in my career.’

Robert Albright FRPS, chair of the Society’s Multimedia Distinctions Panel, said: ‘These films show what can be achieved with an enterprising approach to concept, technique and editing. With all good films, the idea is the thing, and this is emphasised in very short productions. The Multimedia Distinctions Panel welcomes work from all moving-image categories, including animation and stop motion.’

See the film at bit.ly/depictwinner

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CALENDAR SHOWS WORK FROM HOMELESS ARTISTS ‘Street photography’ has been given new meaning in a contest sponsored by the Society.

In July, the Society again supported the Cafe Art Photography Contest for people in London affected by homelessness, and a calendar based on the winning images has now been unveiled.

‘The artists are homeless or have recently been homeless,’ says spokesperson Paul Ryan.

‘We give them single-use disposable cameras and

extra training is provided by volunteers from the London Region of the Society.’

An exhibition of 20 images was chosen by an experienced panel of judges, from which the public chose their favourite images for the calendar. Some 5,000 copies of the 2015 calendar are being published, and all participants in the contests can sell them for £9.99.

To get a copy of the calendar, visit cafeart.org.uk/shop

QUANZHOU CHAPTER ORGANISER PAYS A VISIT Mr Qicui Wu, the Chapter organiser for Quanzhou, China, visited Fenton House in September. He met the Director-General and staff, and was presented with his Fellowship certificate by Past President Dr Barry Senior HonFRPS and his wife Fiona.

Mr Wu heads a college running a

photography programme in Quanzhou with which the Society has a partnership.

The Society’s DirectorGeneral showed Mr Wu around Lacock Abbey, where William Henry Fox Talbot invented negativepositive photography and made many of his photographs.

Mr Wu also met Roger Watson, the curator of the Fox Talbot Museum.

ADAM DJ LAITY; DR MICHAEL PRITCHARD FRPS

A still from The Peace of Wild Things

NOVEMBER 2014

| IN FOCUS | 667

365 WINNERS

IMAGES FOR THE MEMBERSHIP CARD August’s online competition winners

WINNER

STROLLING Mike Mills LRPS Two friends and I drove down from Ashford in Kent to Beachy Head, The

RUNNER!UP

CONFETTI Ana Rocha ARPS This is part of a photo shoot where I focused on the relationship between siblings – a brother and

Seven Sisters and the Birling Gap in East Sussex for a day’s shooting. There was low light and it was chilly and windy. Several shots

sister who share moments that go from love to hate. We finished with a pillow fight, with confetti inside the pillowcases. The breeze carried the confetti along

were taken of people passing until the ideal couple came along. I decided that a split tone would be most dynamic, maybe making it

the beach and the children were fascinated by the colours. As the confetti started flying, the children stopped the fight to concentrate on the magic of the confetti up in the air.

somewhat sinister.

I wanted to convey a feeling of the tree reaching out and threatening the couple.

A vignette was applied

and further adjustment was made in tone curves.

Finally the image has been recropped more tightly to fit the membership card format.

RUNNER!UP

Britain offers a lot of scope in this direction, with its abstract wall decorations. The staircase complements the walls with a network of diagonals. The camera was a Nikon D610 with a 28-200mm lens.

TATE BRITAIN, STAIRCASE GEOMETRY David Smith As a painter, as well as a photographer, I am drawn to geometric abstraction.

The revamped Tate

ENTER NOW

SUBMIT PHOTOS FOR THE NEXT COMPETITION AT RPS(365.ORG

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 667

668 | IN FOCUS | WHAT NOT TO MISS THE TAYLOR WESSING PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT PRIZE National Portrait Gallery, London 13 NOVEMBER 2014 ( 22 FEBRUARY 2015

Selected anonymously from entrants to the prestigious Taylor Wessing prize, this exhibition showcases some of the most exciting portrait photographers from around the world, including

emerging talent, established professionals, students and gifted amateurs. The diversity of styles reflects the international mix of entrants as well as the range of approaches. npg.org.uk

NOMADS OF INDIA THROUGH THE LENS The Link Gallery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford UNTIL 15 DECEMBER

The largest exhibition so far

by Bharat Patel ARPS portrays the lives of marginalised groups and the problems they face. Bharat regularly spends time in India with NGOs, and all profits from images on sale at the exhibition will go to charity. bharatpatelphotography.co.uk

A GAME IN HELL: THE GREAT WAR IN RUSSIA GRAD Gallery, London UNTIL 27 NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER ONWARDS

ALSO SHOWING

MARK NEVILLE: LONDON/PITTSBURGH Alan Cristea Gallery, London

HUNTERS BY DAVID CHANCELLOR Impressions Gallery, Bradford

SHOT AT DAWN Stills, Edinburgh

21 NOVEMBER 2014 (

UNTIL 6 DECEMBER

25 JANUARY 2015

24 JANUARY 2015

Documenting the gamehunting industry in Sub-Saharan Africa, Chancellor explores the relationship between humans and animals examined over six years in the pseudowilderness reserved for ‘hunt tourism’. This is his most comprehensive UK show to date. impressions-gallery.com

Chloe Dewe Mathews exhibits her two yearproject that saw her photograph the sites where British, French and Belgian troops were executed for cowardice and desertion during the First World War, taking the picture as close to the precise time of day that they died as possible. stills.org

Mark Neville, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, presents a series of portraits depicting the diverse communities living in London and Pittsburgh, which contrasts British and American society, revealing shared characteristics regardless of economics, culture or location. alancristea.com

668 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

8 NOVEMBER 2014 (

Edward Steichen The Photographers’ Gallery, London.

Until 18 January 2015 The Modern Lens Tate St Ives, Cornwall.

Until 10 May 2015 Snowdon: A Life in View National Portrait Gallery, London. Until 21 June 2015 100 Stories of Migration University of Leicester.

Until 13 February 2015 Horst: Photographer of Style Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Until 4 January 2015

BIRGIT PÜVE, BRAIAN AND RYAN; BHARAT PATEL ARPS, GADALIYA WOMAN IN VEIL; THE TZAR NICHOLAS II INSPECTING THE TROOPS, COURTESY GRAD AND SERGEY SHESTAKOV; CHLOE DEWE MATHEWS; HUNTRESS WITH BUCK © DAVID CHANCELLOR; SOMERFORD GROVE ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND IN TOTTENHAM © MARK NEVILLE, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND ALAN CRISTEA GALLERY

Major exhibition examining the artistic and historical significance of the First World War in Russia. Of particular note is the photo album of the 7th Air Division, with examples of pictorial and aerial photography which inspired many artists of the Russian avant-garde. grad-london.com

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670 | IN FOCUS | JON TONKS EXHIBITION Jon Tonks, winner of this year’s Vic Odden Award, is holding his first solo exhibition at mac birmingham. It showcases his six-year project, Empire, in which he explored four remote UK overseas territories and examined their sense of British identity. The exhibition runs until 4 January.

See macbirmingham.co.uk

Swiss Magnum photographer René Burri HonFRPS died on 20 October.

Martin Parr HonFRPS said of Burri: ‘Not only was he one of the great post-war photographers, he was also one of the most generous people.’

2015 AWARDS Nominations are now open for the Society’s 2015 Awards. These awards are made annually to individuals who have made significant contributions to the art and science of photography, and across all areas of imaging.

See more online at rps.org/2015awards

LETTERS

COMBINED ROYAL COLLEGES LECTURE Professor Anders Persson, a pioneer in medical imaging from Linköping University in Sweden, will address how hidden mysteries can be made visible with new technology. The lecture is at London’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on Thursday 20 November. See page 734

NEW-LOOK JOURNAL Just thought I had better send you a note regarding the new-look Journal.

In the past I had hardly read the Journal but since its update I now read it from cover to cover.

Congratulations on a magazine that contains interesting articles laid out in a modern style.

Alan Thompson FRPS

BRIAN MAY LECTURE Photohistorians Dr Brian May CBE and Denis Pellerin gave a lecture at RIBA in London in October to accompany the publication of their book The Poor Man’s Picture Gallery and a display at Tate Britain, London. The exhibition runs until April 2015. See tate.org.uk

I am just dropping you a line as I am currently reading The RPS Journal.

I just wanted to let you know it is a pleasure to read it now, with the

TERRY O’NEILL AWARDS The deadline for The Royal Photographic Societysponsored Terry O’Neill Awards 2014 is this month, 30 November. Find out more at oneillaward.com and read more about the inspiring portraiture of Terry O’Neill HonFRPS on page 736 of this issue.

670 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

WRITE TO: The RPS Journal, Think, Suite 2.3, Red Tree Business Suites, 33 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow G40 4LA or email rpsjournal@thinkpublishing.co.uk

new presentation and variety of subjects. I really look forward to receiving it – seeing, learning and exploring.

Sandrine Aim LRPS MORE ON THE AUDIO VISUAL GROUP, PLEASE I wonder why the activities of the Audio Visual Group are never mentioned. I have sent my shows twice to the international AV competitions, and they were always accepted.

As I had no idea what their standards are, I decided to fly to

DISTINCTION SUCCESSES

Well done to the Members who achieved Distinctions in recent months LRPS EXEMPTION 09/14 Paul Beale, Birmingham Graham Bell,

Midlothian Paul Duckhouse, West Midlands Carol Isobel Eveleigh, Hampshire

England [from America] and attend their recent three-day event in Cirencester.

The idea of viewing about 73 shows made me wonder if I have the stamina. [But] never was there a moment when one felt the urge to escape. I am just amazed that we have never heard about this Group.

Ines Labunski Roberts FRPS Editor’s response: Our September issue carried a short piece on AV. It’s a Group we will certainly come back to.

Laura Jayne Hudson Mackay, Kirkcudbrightshire Kathryn Polley, Dunbartonshire Sean Smith, Manchester Keith Thain, Hampshire John White, Kent ARPS EXEMPTION 09/14 Tony Bramley, Essex

Adam Catling, Hampshire ARPS TRAVEL 09/14 Christine Giles, Northumberland Alexandra Louise McOrist, Nottinghamshire ARPS NATURAL HISTORY 09/14 Penny Dixie, London Charles Farnell,

JAVIER ARCENILLAS; ANDERS PERSSON; JON TONKS; RENE BURRI © MAGNUM COLLECTION/MAGNUM PHOTOS;

SOCIETY NEWS

NOVEMBER 2014

OPERATION PRAIRIE © LARRY BURROWS COLLECTION; IAN ALCOCK ARPS;

STALWART’S STEPPING STONES SHOW

Alan Clayden FRPS is marking 55 years as a member of the Society, and shows no signs of hanging up his camera. The octogenarian is photographer in residence at the D H Lawrence Heritage Centre in Nottinghamshire, and has an exhibition called Stepping Stones (his seventh at the centre). ‘I joined the Society as I was interested in architectural photography and becoming an Associate,’ Alan says. ‘Although I eventually got my FRPS on a visual art project, I’m passionate about travel, as I love meeting people.

Stepping Stones has images from all over the world.’

Stepping Stones runs from 7 November to 21 December at the Rainbow Gallery, D H Lawrence Heritage Centre, Eastwood, Notts bit.ly/dhlcentre

| IN FOCUS | 671

I WISH I’D TAKEN

TOM STODDART HonFRPS ON REACHING OUT,

BY LARRY BURROWS

PROFILE TOM STODDART HonFRPS One of the world’s most respected photojournalists, Stoddart is represented by, and works closely with Getty Images

Can you set the scene?

Marine Gunnery Sgt Jeremiah Purdie tries to help his stricken comrade, lying wounded in the mud following a battle in the Vietnam War in October 1966.

Larry Burrows captured the madness and horror of war intertwined with the courage, fellowship and compassion of young American soldiers in a scene from hell. It’s a moment of humanity in a landscape of inhumanity.

What’s your relationship with it?

It’s been an inspiration to me for as long as I can remember, and is thought by many to be the greatest war, or anti-war, image ever made. It reminds me of the incredible power of

photography but also the level of commitment needed to succeed as a photojournalist. In 2003 my photo-essay of British Royal Marines in combat in Iraq was given the Larry Burrows Award for Exceptional Photography.

Tell us more about Burrows ...

Burrows was a British photographer working for LIFE magazine. It’s extraordinary that LIFE didn’t even publish this image until February 1971, after Burrows was killed when a helicopter he was in got shot down over neighbouring Laos.

In a moving tribute to Burrows Ralph Graves, LIFE’s managing editor, called him ‘the single bravest and most dedicated war photographer I know of’.

£2.25m

COPYRIGHT JOEL MEYEROWITZ, COURESY HOWARD GREENBERG GALLERY

IN NUMBERS

Merseyside Mary Averil Pipkin, Dyfed Nigel Spencer, Leicestershire ARPS CONTEMPORARY 09/14 Juliet Evans, Dorset Eion Johnston, Midlothian Adrian Theze, Cornwall

ARPS PROFESSIONAL + APPLIED 09/14 Ian Alcock, Dorset Paul Davies,

Wiltshire Shu-Kua Ho, Taiwan Carmel Morris, North Yorkshire Wak Chuan Ng,

Malaysia Kevin Pascoe, Gloucestershire Thomas Phoon Ngai Voon, Malaysia Peter Smith, Suffolk Stewart Wall, Lincolnshire LRPS 07/14 Toni Coombs, Dorset Anne Ringland, Essex Image by Ian Alcock ARPS

The amount the Bodleian Library in Oxford raised over a two-year period to acquire the Fox Talbot archive, which includes some of the first photographs of Oxford, as well as an image by his wife Constance VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 671

BOOK REVIEWS

Mumbai, India: an image taken by Maciej Dakowicz, a Polish photographer who is currently based in the city

PAVED WITH GOLD

To take great photographs it really pays to know your place THE WORLD ATLAS OF STREET PHOTOGRAPHY Jackie Higgins Thames and Hudson (£24.95) Writing a book that declares itself The World Atlas of Street Photography would be a daunting task for anyone. Or at least for anyone that isn’t the talented writer, journalist and filmmaker Jackie Higgins.

Readers may already be familiar with Higgins’ last photographic treatise, Why It Does Not Have To Be In Focus, which went some way towards explaining why photographs that many of us might consider rejects have been elevated to the status of art.

Here Higgins turns to street photography, back in vogue after a brief hiatus following its peak in the last century. The book, including a foreword by art historian, critic and photographer Max Kozloff, matches photographers with major locations around the world, using the relationship between artist and city to open up discussions about the different styles of street photography and the overall development of the genre.

The book is divided into sections on six of the seven continents (there are not many streets in Antarctica), and then subdivided according to the major cities of each, including New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg and Beijing.

With an introductory essay to each city, the chapters explore how place can contribute to a photographer’s output, and how there is always a dialogue between location and artist.

Although, according to Higgins, ‘place’ lays claim to being the primary inspiration in the development of street photography, I find the style and approach of the photographers the more intriguing aspect. The individual biographies are engagingly written, making it a good reference book to dip in and out of.

Ultimately, it is a book about the image – as it should be, with more than 600 images, including some fine examples of the genre.

Pleasingly, there are not too many pictures reproduced across the fold of the spine – a pet hate of mine. It’s a worthy addition to anyone’s street photography library.

NORMAN SMITH LRPS

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THE VIOLENCE OF THE IMAGE: PHOTOGRAPHY AND INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT Edited by Liam Kennedy and Caitlin Patrick I.B. Tauris (£15.99) This collection of essays by contemporary historians and critics looks at the role of photography in the representation of international relations and conflicts. Largely speaking, The Violence of the Image is aimed at an academic audience and will not necessarily appeal to general readers. However, there are some decent examples of photography spattered throughout that might help the less informed navigate the dense text.

ALP: ALPINE LANDSCAPE PICTURES Olaf Unverzart Prestel (£40) On his website, Olaf Unverzart declares that making photobooks is one of his passions – a passion evident in his most recent publication, ALP: Alpine Landscape Pictures. Less of a journey through the Alps, the book is more a systematic study of both natural formations and man-made constructions.

We see sublime cliffs next to steep dams. We compare the complex strata of mountain faces with the grey underside of an Alpine motorway.

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY Tobias Friedrich Rocky Nook (£25.99) Award-winning underwater photographer Tobias Friedrich has compiled this guide to capturing life beneath the surface. It starts off as a beginner’s guide that helps you pick the right equipment before getting into the specifics of wide-angle and macro photography, and image editing. The book also includes a 22-page guest gallery with images by some of the field’s biggest names.

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674 | NOVEMBER WHAT ARE DISTINCTIONS?

Distinctions set recognised standards of achievement throughout the world

LRPS Applicants must show variety in approach and techniques but not necessarily in subject matter

Clockwise, from near right: Incoming, Southwold and Stranded

Paul Mitchell Visual Art FRPS

‘A very strong interpretation of the landscape’ produced using pinhole techniques MY PORTFOLIO CONSISTS OF

20 pinhole images and is my personal response to the beauty of our coastline and its margins. The inspiration came from myriad sources but in particular Derek Reay and Steve Gosling for showing me the possibilities of lensless photography.

When I started my journey into pinhole photography it was because I enjoyed the making of such images and never had any preconception that it could become anything more. Over time, I began to realise that this could very well be the basis of my Fellowship.

My biggest leap in progressing my pinhole technique was learning how to previsualise and compose an image – there is no viewfinder on my pinhole camera.

Calculating the exposure and instinctively knowing when to release the shutter is also something that has to be 674 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

ARPS Evidence of a creative ability and personal style, plus complete control of the technical aspects of photography

FRPS Images must be of an outstanding photographic and creative standard, and accompanied by a statement of intent

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MITCHELL 676 | DISTINCTIONS | PAUL VISUAL ART FRPS

mastered. My Fellowship panel was created from images made over a seven-year period, starting in 2007. The variety of images that can be made with a pinhole camera is enormous. They all have one thing in common, however – a beautifully soft, ethereal look that can be dark and foreboding.

All my Fellowship images were made using a Zero Image 2000 pinhole camera, with various films – Ilford 676 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

Pan F, Delta 100 and Fuji Acros – the majority of which I have developed myself using Prescysol EF or Ilford DD-X developer. I use a Nikon Coolscan 9000 dedicated film scanner and process the image using the Photoshop filter ‘Colorneg’.

All my pinhole images are then printed using an Epson Stylus Pro 3800 on PermaJet Portrait Classic 300 paper using the advanced black and white mode and toned to my own bespoke settings.

Above: Concord Beach Right: Worbarrow

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ASSESSOR’S VIEW

RAY SPENCE FRPS Visual Art panel PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY HAS often courted controversy. From

its inception in the middle of the 19th century, photography’s ability to record nature accurately was seen as its strength.

However, towards the end of that century, photographers such as George Davison were creating more impressionistic images by a variety of means. In 1890, George Davison famously exhibited his image The Onion Field at The Royal Photographic Society, which was produced using a pinhole camera. The lack of sharpness and the pictorial nature caused great debate, ultimately leading to Davison leaving the Society and forming The Linked Ring brotherhood.

It is interesting that with the advent of digital manipulation, the nature of pictorial photography has once more been on the agenda at the Society and is being recognised in a new Pictorial panel.

Paul Mitchell has used the same pinhole techniques to produce a very strong interpretation of the landscape.

The images, which use slow shutter speeds, show a passage of time, and simplify the contrast between the sea and features of the landscape. The vignetting of the images forces the viewer into the image and leaves no room for distraction. The square format and strong use of monochrome adds to the simplicity of design.

The wide-angle nature of the camera also adds a sense of dynamism to the landscape.

Along with the cohesive and simple presentation on white mounts, this successful Fellowship panel showed personal vision and a great feeling for the landscape.

Clockwise, from far right: Portland Bill, Low Light and Backwash 678 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

FACTFILE

Born in East Yorkshire, Paul Mitchell’s interest in photography began at school. He studied graphic design and now runs his own design consultancy in Buckinghamshire. He tries to devote most of his free time to photographing the landscape.

FEATURE SPONSORED BY

HANGING PLAN

‘The inspiration came from myriad sources, but in particular Derek Reay and Steve Gosling …’

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Paul Childs

LRPS

‘I actually left out two or three of my favourite shots as I did not think they would work within the set as a whole’ I CHOSE TO GO FOR MY

FACTFILE

A former Royal Marine commando based in Thailand, Japan and Dubai, Paul has developed his other interests, including photography, and recently began to work on shoots professionally.

STAGE ACTRESS HINA IZUMI, TOKYO I lit her using two 42-inch Phottix travel softboxes, one in front and one to the side with the grid attached. I also had an assistant hold a reflector underneath to bounce some more light in.

Canon 5D MkIII, 24-70mm 2.8L. 1/125 sec, f2.8, ISO 100, 54mm wide.

SANJO BRIDGE, KYOTO, JAPAN I put on a circular polariser filter. I did not shoot completely wide – I always turn the barrel back in slightly for focal length, and in this case 26mm. I took about 25 images and settled on this one as I loved the red contrast of her boots.

Canon 5D MkIII, Canon 24-70mm 2.8L. 1/640 sec at f/3.5. ISO 400.

1 x large silver reflector.

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LRPS because The Royal Photographic Society is recognised as a serious and respected photography institution, something that is important to me and my potential clients. It was difficult to choose which images to submit to the LRPS panel for no other reason than I had a huge catalogue.

Fortunately, I was able to attend a pre-panel advisory day in Nottingham. In the end, I chose 10 images from five different countries, taken over a period of two years.

I enjoy photographing people, and my primary concern is the interaction with the subject. The images I submitted were a balanced mixture of studio, location, internal and external shots, all using different lighting techniques and light sources such as studio lights, my offcamera travel speedlites and reflectors, and some with just available light. All my photos are post-edited in Lightroom, with any additional editing in Photoshop.

The set pieces in my portfolio took a day or so as I was working with other people to get the look I wanted. Some were thought out and discussed in depth with the subject; others were spur of the moment, such as the Kyoto bridge shot, a recovery from a turn in circumstances that affected our plan yet still made me determined to capture an image of significance so the day would not be wasted.

To get this final set took a few weeks of consideration.

I actually left out two or three of my favourite shots as I did not think they would work within the set as a whole.

I went for leading-in photos for the ends of both rows with centre-focused subject shots in the middle of each.

PAUL CHILDS LRPS

| DISTINCTIONS | 681 FE ATURE SPONSORED BY

MONIKA TRZPIL, ENGLAND I used two Elinchrom studio lights with 1m softboxes. One was directed at 45 per cent to the white floor and one 45 per cent to the white ceiling. The light simply bounced back in.

Canon 5D MkII, 70-200mm 2.8L, 1/160 sec, f/9, ISO 100.

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CHILDS 682 | DISTINCTIONS | PAUL LRPS

LUDOVIC GARREAU, MONTMARTRE, PARIS I recognised the military guys as French marines and engaged them in conversation and coffee.

On the spur of the moment, I asked if they would allow the mime artist to interact with them, and they happily agreed.

Canon 5D MkIII, Canon 24-70L. 1/100 sec at f/5.6, ISO 800.

RUSSIAN MODEL, DUBAI My lighting was two Profoto D1 Airs, one with a 90cm softbox to light her face and a 1.5m rectangle-grid softbox angled above her from a C-stand.

Canon 5D MkII, Canon 70-200L 2.8. 1/160 sec at f/3.5, ISO 100, focal length 85mm.

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PAUL CHILDS LRPS

| DISTINCTIONS | 683 FE ATURE SPONSORED BY

ASSESSOR’S VIEW

ROBERT GATES ARPS THE DISTINCTIONS GUIDELINES are essential reading for any applicant and, for the Licentiateship, the word ‘variety’ is often mentioned. Portfolios must show variety in approach and technique but not necessarily in subject matter.

A themed panel is a good idea if you have skills in a particular branch of photography.

Paul’s set of pictures shows he is at ease taking pictures of people

JEEP PATCHARIN, KOH SAMUI, THAILAND Jeep is a Korean/Thai musician and singer.

I used four Canon 580EX TTL speedlites with FlexTT5 PocketWizards triggered by a MiniTT1 on camera; one main light with softbox and diffuser; one low side light with softbox and grid for the leg shadow effect; one hair light with grid; and a back light with a small soft Velcro softbox behind Jeep in a pillow with a CTO filter to warm the wall and the picture behind her.

Canon 5D MkII, f24-105L, 1/160 sec at f/4, ISO 100, focal length 35mm.

both formally and informally. It’s not just a set of studio portraits with the same lighting, but pictures of people in a variety of situations and lighting conditions.

The image of the two musicians shows evidence of creativity and personal input by choosing a low viewpoint and a wide-angle lens to include the instrument. The two studio portraits are classic poses but they have been done competently. The portrait of the

actress, Hina Izumi, shows only half the face but the resulting image shows good composition.

In the top row of Paul’s panel each image contained a hint of red and was carefully constructed and presented. He has chosen images that are not repetitive in style, lighting or model. This is the way to succeed with a themed panel and this one shows enough variety of approach and technique to satisfy the assessors.

SLINKY TIPS BAND, KYOTO, JAPAN Yaname and Coco wanted some shots for posters and possibly an album cover. I like the 15mm fisheye effect and we did a series of funky shots that suited the musicians, who are part of a modern fusion blues-funk band.

Canon 5D MkIII, Canon EF15mm 2.8mm fisheye.

1/200 sec at f/9.

HANGING PLAN:

‘He has chosen images that are not repetitive in style, lighting or model’

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684 | DISTINCTIONS |

Saturday 29th November 2014 Stratford-upon-Avon Visit PermaJet’s annual Open Day for some industry professional advice and hot offers from leading photographic brands.

Black Grouse by Hazel Marr FRPS

Time to celebrate

With four Fellowships already this year, the Scotland region’s Celebrations of Distinctions will be a great one EVERY YEAR, SELECTED

Regional Groups of The Royal Photographic Society stage ‘Celebrations of Distinctions’; days to mark the success of photographers who have seen their work achieve a coveted Society Distinction.

On 30 November it will be the turn of the Scotland region. Regional organiser James Frost FRPS says: ‘The Celebration of Distinctions is an opportunity for successful panels to be seen in all three categories - Licentiate, Associate and Fellowship – from the past year.

‘A selection of recent panels are shown, starting with Licentiate, then Associate, in the morning with Fellowship after lunch to demonstrate the progression in the expected quality of work through the

Distinctions. Hopefully the successful photographers can be present with their work, and a member of the Distinctions Advisory Board comments on the panels.’

Members in Scotland have achieved four Fellowships in 2014 to date (Hazel Marr FRPS, Edmund Fellowes FRPS, Faye Yerbury FRPS and Trevor Yerbury FRPS).

Faye and Trevor will also be giving a short presentation about their work at the Edinburgh event.

Celebration of Distinctions, Scotland Region, takes place on 30 November at 68 Great King Street, Edinburgh. For details see our Member Guide.

• Free entry!

• Not to be missed show-only offers.

• FREE prize draw of incredible photo prizes.

• Complimentary mulled wine & mince pie.

• Live fashion shoots.

Can’t make it?

15% OFF! If you can’t make it to the day, pick up an exclusive RPS Journal readers 15% discount on items purchased online throughout November!* To claim, go to: www.permajet.com/rpsjournal

Exhibitors Include: PermaJet, Adobe, NEC Monitors, X-Rite, Aaduki, and SnapShut Folio!

Interested in the journey towards a Distinction? Turn to page 696 to read more from assessor Monica Weller FRPS

ATTEND A DISTINCTIONS ASSESSMENT DAY For the latest dates for Distinctions Assessment Days, please visit rps.org/events or distinctions@rps.org or 01225 325733 EXPERT ADVICE Turn to our member guide on page 727 to find dates for Advisory Days, where you can gain expert advice on your portfolio

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WWW.PERMAJET.COM/OPENDAY *PermaJet branded products only. Full t&c’s at: www.permajet.com/rpsjournal

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@TheFlashCentre

The Flash Centre Blog

AS ART 686 | BEST SHOTS | PHOTOGRAPHY

NEW DIRECTION

In his new book, Post-Photography, Robert Shore explores the move beyond the ‘decisive moment’. Here he gives us a glimpse into the world of photography as art

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PHOTOGRAPHY 688 | ART WORKS | CREATIVE

BERNDNAUT SMILDE One of the principal roles of photography has always been to capture impermanent states of being and eternalise the ephemeral. Dutch artist Berndnaut Smilde’s remarkable collection of indoor-weather pictures began with an unusual desire: ‘I wanted to see if it could be done – exhibiting a raincloud’. To realise his surreal dream, Smilde visited a series of historically interesting emptiedout interiors armed with a smoke machine, moisture and the means to generate dramatic lighting effects.

‘I use a fog machine to spray moisture through the air,’ he explains. ‘It helps if the space is really cold so the cloud stays in shape for much longer. I find

that the best images are captured when the cloud is compact and heavy-looking.

Naturally, it would be easier to just use Photoshop, but I think it’s paramount that my work is physically present.

My work would be quite empty and pointless if I just took the easy way out, methodologically speaking.’

But is the artwork really the photograph or is the photograph merely documentation of that performancecum-installation that brought the cloud into being? Smilde is adamant. ‘The work is really about the idea of a cloud inside a space and what people project on to it,’ he says. ‘This is best represented by an image. In the past I have invited audiences to view the clouds in person, but I found that it’s not the best way to present the work.’

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T

he mythical excesses of the 20th-century analogue masters – W Eugene Smith going overboard in Pittsburgh, Garry Winogrand shooting himself silly in LA – seem positively modest compared to the snap-and-show behaviour of the average 21st-century amateur armed with a smartphone, a Tumblr or Instagram account, and a desire to make a photographic record of his or her every second on Earth.

We have moved on from ‘I think therefore I am’ to ‘I document therefore I exist’. Being in the moment now involves documenting being in it – although without any commitment to reviewing the photographic evidence: after all, who has the time to look at old photos when there are yet more new ones to be taken?

A cursory look at the photographybased work hanging on the walls of the leading art galleries suggests that this ubiquity is having a decisive effect on the work of professional practitioners.

Their work goes beyond photography as we have known it by creating their own highly improbable or surreal tableaux, or producing work that lays stress on the physical properties of the finished piece, which is as much object as image.

THESE ARTISTS GO BEYOND PHOTOGRAPHY BY CREATING HIGHLY IMPROBABLE TABLEAUX

RUNE GUNERIUSSEN Telephones flocking lemming-like to the sea, bedside lamps gathering to take part in a curious midnight ritual, books flowing through the landscape like water or standing stacked in a stream – Rune Guneriussen’s dreamily surreal inspirations merge brute, beautiful nature with the manmade universe of objects.

The Norwegian artist describes his work as situated at the meeting point between installation and photography. ‘All my work is done in a three-dimensional manner,’ he says, ‘and my effort goes into making the installation, which is a huge undertaking and involves days of work. So when I go to

set up the camera – a large 8x10 film camera, which alone takes two or more hours to be set up – it still does not feel like the major part of the job.

‘Usually each work demands a few years of maturation. When it has been around for that time it has proved its significance – then it is worth putting into existence. The work on the specific installation demands a week or two, and then it takes another week or two to finish.

A very long process, which is why I only finish 10 to 12 works a year.

‘I don’t feel much like a photographer any more. A friend of mine described my works with [the comment] “you don’t take pictures, you make pictures”.’

One of the richest and most important strands of 20th-century photography is encapsulated in the phrase ‘the decisive moment’. This philosophy of image making – in keeping with an ideal of photography as providing plain, unvarnished transcriptions of reality and popularised via the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson – is interested in the way the world seems magically to assemble itself for the camera. In recent decades, however, there has been a reaction to this decisive-moment approach in the emergence of the so-called ‘directorial’ mode. No doubt the pressure created by the teeming omnipresence of amateur image makers’ work in the digital realm has further encouraged the growth of this approach in contemporary art photography. Rune Guneriussen, for example, moves far beyond the decisive moment to painstakingly construct his own hybrid landscapes, while Berndnaut Smilde makes his own weather and John Chervinsky creates elaborate images in an effort to stretch time.

CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY

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Similar effects might be achievable with Photoshop, but in each of these cases the finished works depict scenarios from the ‘real world’, however they may have been arrived at.

‘Whatever it grants to vision and whatever its manner, a photograph is always invisible: it is not it that we see.’

So said Roland Barthes. The ‘materiality’ tendency in contemporary photographic practice – which stresses the work’s physical, even sculptural presence in space – is a direct challenge to the great French theorist, not to mention to the increasingly busy ubiquity of the immaterial image in the digital era. Chen Nong’s carefully staged images are built upon by hand-painting his prints, and Brendan Fowler’s compressed ‘crash pieces’ are, he says, ‘sculptures that involve photography’. There are no boundaries, it seems. Welcome to a brave new world.

Robert Shore’s Post-Photography, The Artist with a Camera, is out now (Laurence King)

JOHN CHERVINSKY ‘I am fascinated by the concept of time,’ says John Chervinsky, photographer and scientist. ‘I can measure it, account for it in an experiment in the lab, and live my life in it; but I still don’t know what it is exactly.’

In his Studio Physics series, Chervinsky, who spent 18 years running a particle accelerator at Harvard University, creates playful, trompe-l’oeil-style variations on the pioneering visual time-and-motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge and Harold Edgerton.

‘The idea is to extend the imagecapture interval from a fraction of a second to a period lasting for weeks,’ Chervinsky explains

‘All of the Studio Physics images start with an ordinarily composed still life.

‘An empty picture frame is placed within the field of view of the camera and photographed.

‘The image is cropped to within that frame, digitised and sent via email to a painting factory in China. They produce an exactsized reproduction with oil paint and ship it back to me.

That part of the process takes several weeks, but meanwhile the objects in my table-top set-up are changing: the fruit starts to rot, the hands of the clock move forward …

‘Eventually, I receive the painting, place it within the frame and take another photograph.’

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LARGE!FORMAT FILM HAS A SPECTACULAR QUALITY THAT DIGITAL CANNOT COMPARE WITH

CHEN NONG Few contemporary artists combine the epic and the hand-crafted in quite the way that Chen Nong does. To create his ambitious scenes, the Beijing-based artist assembles a team of assistants and helpers to create costumes and props.

The final works are realised without recourse to digital intervention. Rather, their distinctive look is achieved using a large-format camera and shooting on black-and-white film.

The images are then hand-coloured, giving

them the quality of a watercolour paintings.

‘It’s quite a journey to make the projects happen,’ Chen Nong says. ‘I normally work with good friends.

‘Medium and large-format film has a spectacular quality that digital images cannot compare with.

I enjoy working in the darkroom and I used to like painting. So that’s partly why I chose this process. I mainly use traditional watercolour paper, covered and painted with light-sensitive materials. This is the best way to achieve what I want.’

CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY

BRENDAN FOWLER US artist Brendan Fowler’s ‘crash pieces’ – threedimensional works consisting of framed snapshots of friends, flower arrangements and a variety of other scenarios ‘crashed’ together in complex autobiographical narratives – were among the most striking inclusions in the 2013 New

Photography show at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. ‘They are super-, super-, super-fake.

They look like a fight but are made more like a surgery; they take a very long time,’ says Fowler, who was a performer before turning to image making. ‘They are sculptures that involve photographs.

The photographs are

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metabolised into these objects. The physical frames are just as important to me as the images or files that I printed and put into them.’

For Fowler, the images were the logical progression from his performance work, as he started to become curious about making objects that could function in his absence. ‘In my

mind the “crash pieces” come from the same personal narrative [as my earlier song and performance work]. I realised that pictures could do something that me standing there couldn’t.

‘In truth, though, these tend to be a little bit more open, which is something that I think the object viewing is good for.’

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TO BERLIN 692 | DISCOVERY | RETURN

Beyond the wall Twenty five years ago this month, the Berlin Wall fell. Grahame Soden ARPS documents the path of the boundary, before and after Germany was reunited

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I SERVED WITH THE RAF IN

Germany at the height of the Cold War when Berlin was a divided island in the grey sea of East Germany. Social travel to Berlin was discouraged then, but in 2007 I returned to Germany and spent some time living in Berlin.

It’s a quarter of a century since the Berlin Wall fell, on 9 November, 1989. After the wall came down, authorities found in the former Stasi (secret police) files some 1,500 photographs of it, taken in 1966 from the East German side.

These were exhibited in 2011 (Aus anderer Sicht) and the organisers were happy for me to take photographs of these fascinating images, now in the public domain.

The wall had been continuously strengthened and improved. Its purpose was not to stop an invasion, but to prevent the mass exodus of a much-needed workforce. Many of the early photos I saw show the wall as a simple barbed-wire fence – before the ‘death zone’, a no-man’s land on the east side of the wall, was established, along with cement barriers and watchtowers. Over the course of the wall’s existence, 192 people were killed attempting to escape to the West. The exhibition photographs each had a map reference so it was relatively easy to visit the exact spot and retake the photograph.

See more at photograhame.zenfolio.com

RETURN TO BERLIN BERNAUER STRASSE/ BRUNNENSTRASSE JUNCTION, BERLIN%MITTE Today, this is a busy junction in a mixed commercial and residential area. A short walk along Bernauer Straße brings you to The Mauerpark, where there is a thriving open-air market that attracts thousands of bargain hunters

every Sunday, in a triumph of capitalism over communism. The walk takes you along the museum strip of exhibitions and memorials. Bernauer Straße was the wall, and when it was built residents awoke one morning to find that they could no longer cross the road to get to work, or to visit friends and relatives.

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CHECKPOINT CHARLIE, FRIEDRICHSTRASSE, BERLIN%MITTE This is one of Berlin’s most famous and most frequented tourist destinations.

It marks the spot where inhabitants left the American sector and entered the Russian one. If the Cold War had ever boiled over into World War III then it would have done so

here, where tensions were high, and sabre rattling commonplace. There are many memorials and exhibitions here, interspersed with pavement stalls selling tacky ‘genuine’ Red Army souvenirs.

LIESENSTRASSE CEMETERY, BERLIN%MITTE Cemeteries make good killing fields – the dead don’t complain. The Berlin Wall ran through a number of cemeteries and, as the wall was refined, the gravestones were flattened to remove any cover and create a no man’s land. Some of the gravestones at Liesenstraße Cemetery were used to build patrol paths

for the guards. The bridge to the far right of both photographs is derelict now, but the small cemetery admin building has been preserved and is still in use.

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TO BERLIN 694 | DISCOVERY | RETURN

AUTHOR PROFILE GRAHAME SODEN ARPS

has spent time living in Germany and Scandinavia, and takes photographs on his travels

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STRESEMANN STRASSE, BERLIN% KREUZBERG If Berlin has a centre then it’s Potsdamer Platz, built from the flattened and rubble-strewn no man’s land that it was.

Stresemannstraße lies just to the south, and the advert on the gable end is for Buderus, a foundry that traded from 1731 to 2003.

During World War II Buderus made hand grenades for the war effort. It’s strange to think of the Russians looking at an advert for a firm whose products had been used against them.

NASSES DREIECK, BERLIN%PANKOW Nasses Dreieck translates as ‘The Wet Triangle’ and even today the ground is too wet to build on. The mud and standing water would have made a perfect no man’s land and slowed down those attempting to escape towards the houses pictured here, which were in the west.

In this photo, the skyline and the buildings are the same now as they were 25 years ago – the East German guard’s photo could have been taken on the same day as mine.

RETURN TO BERLIN

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PANKOW CEMETERY, BERLIN%PANKOW I lived in BerlinPankow which is in the former east. An elderly neighbour, who had lived in Pankow all her days, had vivid memories of the Red Army advancing to take Berlin, and torching the buildings that housed resistance.

There are still some unrestored buildings, with bullet marks in their stonework.

The cemetery is still there, behind the camera viewpoint; it is bounded by a natural park where families take their picnics and children feed the ducks.

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PANELS 696 | ASSESSMENT | LRPS

TALES OF THE LICENTIATES Monica Weller FRPS advises on and assesses the work of would-be Licentiates. She reveals the ups and downs of the journey towards LRPS

‘THE DRIVE TO THE HEADQUARTERS of The Royal Photographic Society in Bath was uneventful. But my nerves were getting worse,’ Alan Roderick LRPS says. ‘Finally, driving up the hill, there was Fenton House on the right. With 20 minutes to spare I arrived in the foyer – too many people all being terribly British, avoiding conversations. Eventually we went upstairs… to a truly packed house, no standing room. Mouth dry. Hands perspiring. How does that happen?’

The feelings described by Alan cemented my idea for writing an article about the passion surrounding the Society’s Licentiate Distinction, or LRPS. As a panel member, I’ve learned to give one-to-one advice to would-be Licentiates. It’s a special experience, and by compiling this snapshot perhaps I will encourage more photographers to go for a Distinction.

Routes to ‘L’

Alan Roderick was determined that 2013 would be the year he’d achieve his LRPS. The process of narrowing down 10 images from his initial selection of 75 was relatively pain free, but it meant discarding his favourite image (one that had previously made it into Landscape Photographer of the Year) because it didn’t fit. He then sought advice on his final ten images from a panel member.

‘Two of my original ten were dismissed quickly. A week later a second and final review of the new selection was over in minutes. The panel was ready.’

For Cheryl Meek, the ‘Road to L’ was all-consuming. She posted a photo each day on the photoblog site Blipfoto that captured some of the highlights of her Licentiateship process, with titles such as Advisory Day, Pre-Nerves and The Day. 696 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

AUTHOR PROFILE MONICA WELLER FRPS

Monica is a member of the RPS Licentiate, Associate and Fellowship Panels

LRPS PANELS

She blogged about anything, from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to a nerve-racking morning at an Advisory Day at The Cave, the Society’s meeting place in Greenwich, where changes were made to her panel.

Cheryl was on a mission.

Advisers and advice MAIN IMAGE Friday Rush Hour by Cheryl Meek ARPS, who was on a mission ABOVE A selection of portfolio images

by Bulent Acar LRPS LEFT Contrails at Dawn by Alan Roderick LRPS. This is Alan’s favourite image, selected for Landscape Photographer of the Year, but he left it out of his LRPS panel as it did not fit with the rest of the images

Cheryl’s enthusiasm is not unfamiliar to the seasoned photographers who assess the work of Licentiate hopefuls. Richard Walton is a Fellow of the Society – the highest of the three levels of Distinctions, and a badge of someone who’s at the top of their photographic game. He’s a member of the LRPS panel, and part of his role is to provide constructive commentary on prospective portfolios at the Society’s regular Advisory Days. ‘To help someone make the first assault on their

| ASSESSMENT | 697

journey leading to the coveted LRPS is a great feeling,’ he says. ‘Nothing could be more beneficial for an applicant than seeing potential panels, and hearing suggestions from experts.’

LRPS panel member Paul Reynolds ARPS recalls the first time he was asked by the Society to help a photographer whittle down his portfolio to a final set of images. ‘I find it a tricky thing to get right,’ he admits. ‘As any panel member will tell you, opinions differ. I’m always looking at images, trying to work out what other panel members would make of them. The pictures this photographer sent weren’t up to standard. I looked at his website which was packed full of images clearly ‘L’ standard and demonstrated his ability to capture good quality photographs. I learned quickly that many photographers find it difficult VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 697

PANELS 698 | ASSESSMENT | LRPS

‘IMAGINE YOUR FINEST WORK BEING VIEWED BY A TEAM OF FORENSIC OFFICERS’ ‘I attended a Licentiate Assessment at the Photography Show in Birmingham. It was my first time. If you do not know the procedure, imagine your finest work being viewed by a team of forensic officers, while you sit among a crowd of strangers.

‘The panel of five photographic experts scrutinise your work, then have their chat. Prior to my work being displayed, four candidates did not meet the requirements.

I couldn’t have been more nervous – two years of photography were under the microscope.

‘When my prints were hung on the rack I could hear the audience talking among themselves. Some giggled. I guessed this was due to the art nude photos within my panel. It did seem to ease the tension.

‘After some whispered discussion by the display stand, a lady panel member stood up.

What she said wasn’t sinking in. Then she said “Good attention to detail, probably from a female photographer”. My daughter prodded me: “Dad, they think you’re a girl.” I smiled. The Chair then stood up and said: “Is Matthew Mason in the audience?” As I raised my hand he said: “I would like to congratulate you on passing the panel assessment.” My daughter was delighted.

‘Without meeting a Fellow of the RPS I wouldn’t have started the LRPS process.

Her expertise helped me choose the right images. So, thank you.

Anyone thinking about undertaking the LRPS should do so.’

to judge their own photographs. Often just a little help with selection is all it takes to put a successful panel together.’

One would-be Licentiate to whom I gave help was Bulent Acar. He decided to go for his LRPS to gauge his photographic development and was put in touch with me via his photography club. ‘You surprised me Monica at our first meeting with your candour in the way you dismissed some of my prints,’ he told me later. ‘I appreciate directness.’

Bulent’s journey to ‘L’ started when he joined his local photography club where he met members with Distinctions.

Then, he says, ‘I went to an Advisory Day in Bath, saw what everyone was 698 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

LEFT AND RIGHT: MATT MASON LRPS

The story of Matt Mason LRPS

Chelsea Pensioner

MATT MASON’S HANGING PLAN

doing and was impressed with how professionally the advisers handled the day. I came away encouraged by the response to my panel.’

Assessment Day

For Cheryl and Alan, the work on their portfolios continued. On 5 May 2013 Cheryl blogged: ‘After many weeks of advice, selection, printing and mounting, the panel is ready. Next Sunday is “L Day”. It’s been worse than learning to drive, but I’ve learned so much.’

Panel member Paul Reynolds always senses the tension when walking through the front door at Fenton House on Assessment Day: ‘The nervous

applicants wait patiently to be called up, some happily chatting away, others motionless and silent. I must admit it’s not an unpleasant feeling to walk past them thinking to myself, I’m glad I’m not going through that!’

Alan continues his Assessment Day story. ‘Once a few panels had been assessed, rejected or recommended, I got a feel for what would be acceptable.

Lunchtime came. The local restaurant stopped serving. They couldn’t cope with the volume of orders. The assessors must have had a bad lunch too … many panels were being rejected. I felt myself sinking into my seat, all confidence gone, wondering how I

LRPS PANELS

| ASSESSMENT | 699

Silhouette

LRPS panel lead chair, Leo Palmer FRPS

TRY AGAIN: WHY FEEDBACK MATTERS

could sneak out of the room. Finally, my panel was under the lights. The assessors seemed to leap from their seats, pouncing on images. Then it was time for feedback. The chairman singled out the fact that the pictures had room to breathe in the mounts (remember the “print it small” advice). My panel was recommended for a LRPS. I sat there drained of emotion.

‘I crept out and asked if I could take my panel, but the judges had requested it be kept as an example for future candidates. Still numb, I took a different way home, without sat-nav or map and must have driven through most of southern England.’

On 10 May 2013 Cheryl blogged about her Assessment Day: ‘Couldn’t wait to get out of work and home. Off to York tomorrow, Sunday is “L” Day.’ Two days later she wrote on Blipfoto: ‘After months of agony, effort and stress, I went to the “L” Assessment Day and was recommended for LRPS.’ The first response to her post was ‘Congratulations Cheryl. Great blip.’

As Cheryl says, it’s been a journey worth doing. In October 2014, she went on to achieve her “A”.

To find out more go to rps.org/distinctions.

Turn to our Member Guide on page 727 for details of LRPS Advisory Days near you

Like all the assessors on the LRPS panel, lead chair Leo Palmer FRPS never likes to fail a photographer’s submission. But there are, inevitably, times that he must do so – often an applicant will learn from feedback and come back to pass the second time around.

One submission, for example, showed good vision and design and would have been recommended for LRPS if it weren’t for a colour cast on the images. The candidate thanked Leo for the feedback. He was colour-blind.

On his second attempt a friend, also a photographer/printer, checked the prints and advised him on the colour casts which he then corrected. This time he was successful.

‘When I give feedback such as “a number of prints display oversharpening” and receive the response of “Yes, but …”, I pay attention,’ explains Leo. ‘”Yes but …”, really means “No because …”. I’m then told that no sharpening was applied although the prints look as if you could cut yourself on them.

When the situation is analysed we find that the images have been overprocessed by brightness and contrast increases resulting in an oversharpened appearance.’

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 699

ASPLAND HonFRPS 700 | BEST SHOTS | MARC

View from the bench This year the sporting world was missing one crucial component, with Marc Aspland HonFRPS seriously injured in a cycling accident. Clare Harris finds a world-leading photographer on the road to recovery

700 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

MARC ASPLAND HonFRPS

| BEST SHOTS | 701

ENGLAND VS KAZAKHSTAN, 10 DECEMBER 2008 I wanted to break away from being behind the goal, where all the photographers normally sit.

So I applied to Wembley Stadium to go up into a television stand and do a picture using a Canon tilt-and-shift lens. I shot the whole game like that. At the bottom left of the frame, well out of focus, is Stephen Gerrard, who took the free kick, and Emile Heskey is heading the ball. He went on to score.

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 701

ASPLAND HonFRPS 702 | BEST SHOTS | MARC

BRADLEY WIGGINS, TOUR DE FRANCE 22 JULY 2012 I work very hard at composition. With any opportunity I get I just take a step back, look, and stop clicking away. In this shot Wiggins had already won the event and

this was a showcase.

The light was good and I stood well away from the rest of the photographers on this corner, and just waited for the peloton to come around.

Lady luck was shining on me that he was on the inside.

702 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

IT’S BEEN AN EVENTFUL YEAR IN THE

world of sport. From Sochi to Brazil, from Glasgow to Gleneagles, we’ve been treated to month upon month of eye-popping images of top athletes.

Marc Aspland HonFRPS should have been at the heart of it. As chief sports photographer for The Times, awarded the Society’s Honorary Fellowship in September, he’s covered most of the sporting events in recent memory.

Earlier this year, however, Marc was

found unconscious by the side of a road after a cycling accident. With serious brain injuries, he was out of the game.

The resulting Twitter campaign, showing ‘get well soon’ messages from high-profile sportspeople, was widely reported – but at the time it was all rather overwhelming, says Marc. Now on the road to recovery he is still touched by the messages of support, but there’s a long way yet until he is fully well. ‘My neurologist plots my

MARC ASPLAND HonFRPS

recovery from one meeting to the next, and he said it will take at least two years,’ says Marc, on the telephone from his home in Harpenden. ‘He calls my job, my lifestyle and the 100 milean-hour of never switching off from The Times, “thin air”. Very, very few people do what I do, I’m constantly, constantly working my brain.’ He watched the World Cup from his living room, with his 17-year-old son. Did he envy the photographers capturing what

he could have? ‘I never, ever thought “I wish I was there”,’ he says. ‘I had this enormous detachment from it all.’

From the Commonwealth Games, there is an image by Alex Livesey which shows runners casting shadows across the athletics track. ‘That was one of those pictures I looked at and thought “I wish I’d taken that”,’ Marc admits, ‘but I had no feelings of sadness or regret.’

One of the things keeping him occupied during this time has been the

| BEST SHOTS | 703

MY NEUROLOGIST CALLS MY JOB, MY LIFESTYLE AND THE 100 MILE#AN#HOUR OF NEVER SWITCHING OFF FROM THE TIMES, ‘THIN AIR’

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 703

ASPLAND HonFRPS 704 | BEST SHOTS | MARC

ALASTAIR COOK TAKES A CATCH FOR ENGLAND, ASHES TEST, BRISBANE, NOVEMBER 2010 My career has been spent missing the ‘money shots’, because my eye has been trying to sum up the whole event.

The Gabba stadium was a cacophony of vociferous noise, a theatre of sport. In this shot I was trying to sum up the first day of the first test, and what it’s like for England to play against Australia.

704 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

USAIN BOLT WINS THE 100m, LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS The 100m was nine seconds, and The Times received 2,000 pictures from agency photographers of a man running across with his arms open, and his signature victory move, but all the time I thought I want to capture that man’s beautiful smile.

When people put their cameras down he had the flag on his head and you can’t really see him … that’s my picture, my money shot.

MARC ASPLAND HonFRPS

| BEST SHOTS | 705

JEAN VAN DE VELDE THROWS AWAY THE LEAD AT THE OPEN, CARNOUSTIE, 1999 This is one of my favourite pictures, as it shows the utter despair of sport.

It was the 1999 Open and Jean Van de Velde needed a par to win a major. His whole career changed after this moment.

As soon as that ball went into the water the media broke ranks and started running back up the fairway, there were photographers falling into the burn, sliding down its banks, it was unheard of.

When he got into the water I moved around the back of all the photographers until I found the ball in his shadow. I wanted to see the reason why this man’s life was unravelling. release of his first monograph, The Art of Sports Photography. Published in September, it collates images from across his career.

‘The idea came about three years ago, before the London 2012 Olympics. After a particular feature for The Times my editor just put his hands on my shoulders and said “Marc, you really do need to put this collection into a book”.’

Mixing portraits of great sportspeople with the action shots that have made Marc’s name, the book merits close examination for the viewpoint he takes when approaching every shot. ‘I don’t just sit in the corner like an obedient photographer, I try and get involved,’ he says. Let’s hope it’s not too long before Marc can fully get involved again.

The Art of Sports Photography, by Marc Aspland HonFRPS, is out now (Prestel)

SPORTS PERSONALITY How Marc Aspland made friends with top-level athletes

As the ‘Get Well Soon Marc’ Twitter campaign showed, Marc Aspland is as well-liked by the sporting glitterati as he is by his fellow photographers.

What is it that makes the sport world such a close one?

‘You tend to find that players are a lot more comfortable around press

photographers than journalists,’ explains Marc, who counts rugby player Jonny Wilkinson among his friends.

‘With photographs, nothing is on the

record. You’re a group of lads and there’s a bit of banter. If you meet them socially you’ll have a drink.’

The presentation of sportspeople as

‘brands’, or role models, gives a lot of weight to how their images are received. ‘Football players, certainly, are aware of how they are photographed,’ says Marc. ‘At The Times, we always do interviews the sportsperson is going to read, and they will remember the photos I took of them.’

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 705

706 | SHOWCASE |

WORDS AND PICTURES

This month at Fenton House, the Society showcases the shortlisted entries to its first photobook competition. Here’s a look at the leading entries THIS EXHIBITION IS A NEW VENTURE

for The Royal Photographic Society and, as such, a step into uncharted territory. It has been set up by joint organisers Rod Fry ARPS and Brian Steptoe FRPS on behalf of the Society, and all the members who sent in photobooks are due our many thanks for all their support.

The selectors, which included the author and photobook specialist Gerry Badger, Ray Spence FRPS, and Brian himself, were looking for books that approached the standards set by international photobook exhibitions, with criteria that include: book !NEXT PAGE"

FIRST RUNNER!UP

IDENTIFYING ENGLAND Derek Trillo ARPS This shows the many ways in which English and British flags are seen in the countryside. Pencilled captions tell the reader their locations.

The series began with a newspaper article about two taxi drivers flying St George’s flags in their cabs, in defiance of the local council.

21.5x13.5cm, 22 photographs and texts pasted on to pages of the 1934 book The Flags of Britain 706 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

PHOTOBOOK COMPETITION

| SHOWCASE | 707

WINNER

Be = f !P,E" Karen Rangeley The work in this book is based on 20th-century psychologist Kurt Lewin’s formula which states that behaviour is a function of personality and environment. The author followed employees at a company in West Yorkshire

SECOND RUNNER!UP

TO GO TO THE WINDOW Kate Wentworth LRPS

The window faces west, looking out over the Yorkshire Dales. The light from it fills the room and the author captures

the light, the view and the features in the room, scenes both beautiful and unsettling; a succession of stilled

moments. The book is divided into three sections, documenting the window at different periods of the day:

specialising in dyeing and finishing cotton and linen cloth, looking closely at how their space has been adapted to their roles and how they mark their personal spaces. The inserts are photos taken by employees on disposable cameras.

22x29cm hardback with inserts, 32 photographs, 32 pages and 12 photographs on six inserts

morning, afternoon and evening.

20.5x20.5cm hardback, 20 photographs, 42 pages

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 707

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PHOTOBOOK COMPETITION

| SHOWCASE | 709 HONOURABLE MENTION

LITTLE POLAND Ken Holland ARPS Little Poland is the name given to Ilford Park Polish Home near Newton Abbot. It is a story of migration which aims to show the life of the individuals who lived there but have now moved on.

The images in the book show what was left of the place and the belongings that were discarded before it was demolished.

It also shows the demolition and the new home in which the remaining inhabitants are now housed.

20.5x23.5cm softback, 90 photographs, 92 pages

!PREVIOUS PAGE" topics of substance; photography of suitable strength; and book design and sequencing that support the purpose of the book and the book’s overall characteristics as an object. In summary, it is about treating the photobook as an entity in its own right, rather than a means of showing a set of photographs.

From the range and quality of the submissions it is clear that the entrants have carefully considered the criteria.

The selection of the 21 shortlisted titles was largely determined by the strength and value of the chosen book topic, with subsequent considerations about the photographs, book design and production values stemming from this.

All the shortlisted entries are on show at Fenton House this month and all, apart from a few delicate ones in a glass display case, are available for browsing. What is more, prints of the book covers and a selection from the winning entries are also on display.

SPONSORS We owe appreciative thanks to our sponsors for the winner and two runner-up awards: Dewi Lewis Publishing and Aperture Books VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 709

710 | SHOWCASE |

HONOURABLE MENTION

ENGLISH MEDIEVAL CATHEDRALS John Eaton ARPS

This book conveys the excitement the author experiences as he enters any of the great English medieval cathedrals.

Twenty three of these are included in this book, each with a detailed plan, historic text and several captioned

photographs in black and white.

30.5x30.5cm hardback, 248 photographs, plus floor plans, 264 pages

SELECTOR REMARKS

Gerry Badger

HONOURABLE MENTION

SLEEPER Tamsin Green ARPS Sleeper is a series of photographs taken on a train journey from London to Mumbai, illustrating the experience of getting somewhere slowly, feeling the landscape change and being in no hurry. The author travelled across eastern Europe and Russia, through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and on through India.

20.5x21cm hardback, photo pasted on cover, 86 photographs, 92 pages 710 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

These were an interesting and imaginative selection of books. The standard of picture making was high, so congratulations to all. Most people were making books on subjects about which they were passionate. Having said that, too many books were let down by their design, and in particular their typography.

Turning to the winners, my first choice, Be = f (P,E), and Identifying England were examples of what has become an interesting trend in current photobook strategy, the ‘layered’ narrative, where two strands of narrative are combined and set off against each other to make for a more complex and challenging result. To Go to the Window was simple and heartfelt, let down slightly by its design and the rosy glow of some images.

Call for entries. European B&W Analogue Photographer of the Year Competition 2015

European Black & White Classics Award

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PHOTOBOOK COMPETITION

| SHOWCASE | 713

CHRISTMAS WISHLIST

Our recommendations of some of the best photography books out this year

BLACK COUNTRY STORIES Martin Parr DEWI LEWIS PUBLISHING

Parr brings together the fruits of a four-year project about everyday life in the postindustrial Black Country.

Traditional ways of life are shown alongside burgeoning immigrant communities in this everchanging part of the UK.

CAPTAIN LINNAEUS TRIPE: PHOTOGRAPHER OF INDIA AND BURMA, 1852'1860 Roger Taylor, Crispin Branfoot

SCOTLAND’S FINEST LANDSCAPES: THE COLLECTOR’S EDITION Colin Prior CONSTABLE

Prior presents his finest Scottish landscapes from the last 25 years. This is a large-format collector’s edition, in a large, landscape-format, cloth-covered hardback in a slipcase.

THE ART OF THE PHOTOGRAPH: ESSENTIAL HABITS FOR STRONGER COMPOSITIONS Art Wolfe

THE OPEN ROAD AND THE AMERICAN ROAD TRIP David Campany

An exploration of that celebrated phenomenon, the open road.

Looking at the rise of the ‘road trip’ after the Second World War, this is a tour of the USA, with the likes of Robert Frank, Ed Ruscha and Inge Morath for company.

SHOOTING SPACE Elias Redstone

MAGNUM CONTACT SHEETS Kristen Lubben

PHAIDON

THAMES * HUDSON

Read about how some of the world’s most iconic photographs were made with this collaboration between photography agency Magnum and art book publisher Thames and Hudson – an insight into the creative processes of photography’s greats.

THE ART OF FASHION PHOTO Patrick Remy

PRESTEL

AMPHOTO

A sumptuous collection of works by 19th-century photographer Linnaeus Tripe, taken when living in India and Burma (now Myanmar) while working as a lieutenant for the East India Company.

Drawing on a 40-year career, award-winning photographer Art Wolfe gives a masterclass in image making based on his popular lecture series, featuring some 300 images from his extensive oeuvre.

THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN 50 CAMERAS Michael Pritchard

STEPHEN SHORE: SURVEY Stephen Shore

LARRY FINK ON COMPOSITION AND IMPROVISATION Larry Fink

APERTURE

APERTURE

Published in conjunction with Shore’s first ever retrospective, this comprehensive monograph, spanning a career of more than 40 years, includes work from his best-known series, Uncommon Places.

From Aperture’s The Photography Workshop Series, Larry Fink offers a primer to his area of expertise – composition and improvisation – offering insight into how he took some of his most famous images.

BLOOMSBURY

PHAIDON PRESS

Perhaps the most anticipated survey of the year, this comprehensive tome looks at how some of the biggest names in the world of photography have, since the 1960s, come to push the medium in new directions.

APERTURE

A survey of contemporary artists’ photography of architecture, this looks at how the photographic image has played an important role in our understanding of the built environment. Includes works

by Andreas Gursky, Wolfgang Tillmans, Catherine Opie, Thomas Ruff and Hiroshi Sugimoto.

The Society’s Director-General gives a potted history of photography through 50 of the most important cameras, such as the daguerreotype, Polaroid SX-70, Brownie, and Canon EOS 5D Mk III.

PHOTOGRAPHY TODAY Mark Durden

PRESTEL

A collection of cutting-edge fashion photography that considers how artists can balance commercial concerns with their own creative vision, including a selection of photographers who represent the diversity of the industry.

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 713

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THE MUST TRY

CRAFT NOVEMBER 2014

THE L ATE S T TECHNOL OGY, TECHNIQUE S A ND SK ILL S

Samsung NX1

This flagship compact system camera features 4K video to tempt newcomers, says Gavin Stoker

Splash and dust-resistant magnesium alloy body, 28.2 effective megapixels resolution, with a top-plate status display window in addition to the eye-level viewfinder and tilting AMOLED touch screen on the back for deeper blacks and better contrast… the only attributes the range-topping Samsung NX1 misses, to put it up there with the best DSLRs on the market, are an internal mirror mechanism and a full-frame sensor (the NX1 has a back-illuminated APS-C sensor).

One of the chunkiest compact system cameras in its class, it goes up against the likes of the Panasonic GH4 in introducing 4K video shooting, from which, as with its rival, 8-megapixel stills can be extracted. It’s fast too, offering up to 70 continuous shots at 15fps and an AF system with 205 phase-detection points. Adaptive noise reduction enables crisp results at higher ISOs, including maximum expandable ISO51,200 setting.

For framing stills or videos we have the choice of a back screen

PRICE: £1,299 body only (pre-orders include a 16-50mm power zoom) SENSOR: 30.7 megapixel BSI APS-C CMOS (28.2MP effective) LENS: Optional (Samsung NX mount) SCREEN: 3-inch angleadjustable AMOLED display WEIGHT: 550g body only MORE: samsung.co.uk IN BRIEF: Samsung takes aim at Panasonic and Olympus in the top-end CSC arena, and aims to snare those who would previously have chosen Canon or Nikon

which can be angled 90° upwards or swung 45° downwards, plus a smaller 2.36 million-dot OLED EVF just above. With some 16 currently compatible lenses, Samsung launched more at Photokina, including a 50-150mm premium lens which offers a f/2.8 fixed aperture, four ED elements and hypershield coating, plus a sixaxis gyro sensor detects camera shake and minimises its effect by the equivalent of 4.5 stops.

The sense is of Samsung upping its semi-pro photography game.

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 715

716 | THE CRAFT |

2

LATEST KIT

1

3

Nikon D750 From £1,799.99 body only

Canon EOS 7D Mark II From £1,599.99

Fujifilm X100T £999.99

High-end enthusiast DSLR has a full-frame chip and top-line video-capture capabilities nikon.co.uk

Upgrade of the five-year-old 7D offers itself up as an APS-C sensor workhorse canon.co.uk

Revamped high-end fixed-lens portable semi-pro APS-C-chipped powerhouse fujifilm.co.uk

This pre-Photokina launched ‘monocoque’ construction camera is aiming for enthusiast-pleasing ruggedness and agility. It offers a relatively lightweight 750g build, yet pro-spec full-frame 24.3-megapixel CMOS sensor giving like-for-like focal lengths with any lens attached. In terms of burst shooting we get a relatively zippy 6.5fps, plus full HD video at a cinematic 60P with built-in stereo microphones and noise reduction.

The tilting LCD is a first for Nikon’s FX series, and there are two SD-compatible card slots – allowing, should we desire, Raw files to be committed to one, JPEGs to the other. It also has built-in wi-fi and a class-leading battery life of 1,230 shots per charge or 55 minutes of video.

mark II version comes as a bodyonly deal. At its core is a newly designed 20.2-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor – offering a 65-point AF system, full HD video capture at 60P, and a microphone input and headphone jack provided.

With a 100 per cent field of view optical viewfinder and weather-sealed construction, further improvements include dual-pixel AF, built-in GPS and compatibility with a wi-fi unit. The new LP6N battery provided allows for 610 shots from a full charge. The camera is compatible with SD and CompactFlash and enables video to be written to one card and stills to the other. If it’s a backup to a DSLR rather than a DSLR you want, however, check out Canon’s G7 X.

Fuji’s fixed-lens ‘X’ series features an optical viewfinder with electronic live view option, something that Fujifilm has called a ‘hybrid’ solution. This update also features a silent electronic shutter option up to 1/32,000 sec and is compatible with existing X-series accessories plus new ones, including a metal handgrip. It also has a ‘Classic Chrome’ digital filter, delivering muted tones reminiscent of the look of a matt print – an addition apparently requested by reportage and documentary photographers, who will appreciate the X100T’s compact size. This camera has seven customisable function buttons, while the 3-inch LCD resolution has been boosted to 1.04 million dots.

IN BRIEF Nikon is pitching this full-frame DSLR as the ultimate enthusiast’s option, due to a value-added feature set and price – and who are we to argue?

THREE MORE TO TRY Sony A99, Canon EOS 6D, Pentax K-3

IN BRIEF Canon has taken an ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ approach to the second-generation iteration of the ever popular EOS 7D, delivering another APS-C workhorse THREE MORE TO TRY Sony A77 Mark II, Nikon D7100, Pentax K-3

IN BRIEF Fuji continues its winning retro-styled run of premium-build compacts, but the real draw will be the APS-C sensor and optical/electronic viewfinder combo THREE MORE TO TRY Sony RX100 Mark III, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100, Canon PowerShot G7 X

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716 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

2 Five years after the original 7D, the

3 The third-generation flagship of

4

5

6

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100 Sony ILCE-QX1 £799.99 £250

Lytro Illum From £1,109.99

Premium-end compact harks back to classic L1 camera – and adds a Four Thirds sensor panasonic.co.uk

Second-generation ‘camera in a lens’, with E-mount that allows lenses to be swapped sony.co.uk

Achieve the seemingly impossible in-camera with this second-generation unit lytro.com

4 This premium unit, rich in manual

5 The problem with smartphones

6 Lytro ‘light field’ cameras, of which

control, is an addition to the Lumix range. It has done away with a PASM dial but incorporates a Four Thirds sensor – a first for a non-interchangeable lens compact – while 4K video shooting, Venus Engine 9 processor and a bright f/1.7 maximum aperture (up to a still respectable f/2.8 at the telephoto end) should further entice enthusiasts. This is, at the time of writing, the smallest compact to offer 4K-resolution clips.

The key talking point is that large-ish Four Thirds sensor, however. Lens wise we’re looking at a 35mm equivalent focal range of 24-75mm; in practical terms suitable for everything from landscapes and street photography to intimate portraits.

used as cameras is that, mostly, both lens and sensor are physically tiny.

This ‘QX1’ iteration of the lens-style camera features a 20.1 megapixel APS-C sensor and Bionz X processor and adds a lens mount so that existing Alpha system E-mount lenses can be added and swapped on the central unit.

This device wirelessly connects to your phone via wi-fi or NFC. The ability to shoot Raw files and utilise a pop-up flash (another first for the ‘QX’ series) further ups the appeal for smartphone photographers with creative ambition.

The QX1 is bundled with a ‘free angel shooting kit’ with tilt adapter and grip, enabling low or high-angle shooting as well as easier ‘selfies’.

keen observers will already be aware, allow photographers to alter their focal point and change depth of field after a picture has been taken. This new iteration is a chunky 940g, focal length is the equivalent of 30-250mm in 35mm terms, focus is down to 0mm from the front of the lens, and lens aperture stays a consistently bright f/2. Sensor wise, we’re talking a 10.82x7.52mm CMOS chip, with an ISO range from 80 to 3,200. The real wow, however, is tapping the 4-inch backplate LCD with a finger and watching as it refocuses the captured image on the area that we’ve just indicated. This is ‘future proofing’ your photographs in real time and extending creative options no end.

IN BRIEF You might not be able to swap the lens on the front, but this retro-styled camera punches above its size and weight due to integral Four Thirds chip THREE MORE TO TRY Fujifilm X100T, Sony RX100 Mark III, Canon PowerShot G7 X

IN BRIEF Sony takes its lens-style camera concept a step further by now allowing you to swap the accessory lens you use with your smartphones THREE MORE TO TRY Kodak SL10 Smart Lens, Panasonic Lumix DMC-CM1, Sony DSC-QX30

IN BRIEF Is the Lytro Illum with its ‘living pictures’ a revolutionary device that tears up photography’s rulebook, or a quirky curio in search of an audience?

Time will tell THREE MORE TO TRY Sigma DP1, DP2, DP3 VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 717

MASTERCLASS 718 | THE CRAFT | TECHNIQUE

Create a composite

Tony Worobiec FRPS shows how to construct an image that’s more than the sum of its parts

P

roducing an image from superimposed photographs is a creative solution to making eye-catching compositions – and it doesn’t need to give you a headache.

People often assume that in order to make a composite image they have to create demanding and precise selections. However, AUTHOR PROFILE TONY WOROBIEC studied fine art at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and spent 18 years as head of a large design faculty in Dorset.

He has won awards for photography in the UK and internationally, and has had work exhibited in London’s Barbican Gallery, Bradford’s National Museum of Photography, and The Fox Talbot Museum.

He is a founder member and, until recently, chairman of the Arena Photography Group, and the author of 14 books.

montages can be made by simply using the blending mode in Photoshop, instead of more time-consuming alternatives, such as the magnetic lasso and magic wand tools. This is particularly the case when the two files you aim to put together share similar qualities in terms of colour, tone and content.

ORIGINAL IMAGES

End result Adding the horse rider to a seascape scene lacking a focal point makes for a far more arresting image than either one individually.

This simple composite, using just two source images, has been created by using the blending mode – and a judicious use of the eraser tool – without the need to make any selections whatsoever.

By using a very simple technique, interest has been added to an otherwise empty seascape. This technique will not work with all composites, but only where you have a good contrast between the subject and the immediate background. For more demanding montages, careful selections will need to be made.

TOP TIP

Just as it helps to build up a ‘sky-bank’ (photographs of skies that can be used with other images to produce composites), it is worth keeping a ‘composite bank’.

We frequently encounter small, seemingly inconsequential elements of detail which would assume importance if located in a more visually exciting background. Filing such images will pay off.

Get the light right

1 When photographing the original picture of the empty beach, I used a graduated neutral-density filter. This meant there was a good balance between the detail in the sky and the detail in the sand.

However, there is an unevenness across the image, with the left side appearing darker than the right. This was easily remedied by making a gradient selection, creating an adjustment layer, selecting curves and gently pulling the curve upwards so that the entire landscape appears evenly illuminated.

718 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

Create a layer

2 The original picture of the horse rider on

the beach was tightly cropped to include the horseman and his reflection. Both images (of beach and horse rider) were set side by side on the screen. Using the move tool the horse rider image was dragged over the beach. Then the beach image became the background layer, while the man and horse image became layer 1.

TECHNIQUE MASTERCLASS

Blending mode

3 In this example I used darken in the blending mode, although you may need to experiment to find the best blending mode for the situation in hand. With layer 1 still active, I used curves to slightly lighten the horse rider, which also helped to remove elements of the ‘ghosting’ that appears around him.

SIGN UP!

Position precision

4 Aesthetically, the horse rider is in the ideal place on the right. However, he is riding out of the picture. To correct this, and with layer 1 still active, I went to edit > transform > flip horizontal.

Using the move tool, I repositioned the rider, between two reflected clouds, and slightly increased the size using edit > transform > scale.

WORKSHOP: CREATIVE TECHNIQUES IN PHOTOSHOP

| THE CRAFT | 719

Goodbye to ghosting

5 The blending mode has not got rid

of all of the ‘ghosting’ from the top of layer 1. With layer 1 still active, I made a layer mask and then used the brush tool set to black to carefully clean up any evidence of the ghosting, taking care, of course, not to erase the horse rider.

TONY WOROBIEC HOSTS REGULAR WORKSHOPS ON COMPOSITION AT FENTON HOUSE. THE NEXT PHOTOSHOP WORKSHOP IS ON 11 NOVEMBER, SEE PAGE 731 VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 719

DEPTH: LENSES 720 | THE CRAFT | INFISHEYE

Image impact turned up to 11 From stadia full of screaming fans to the dangers of flying drumsticks – there’s lots to look out for when you’re in the thick of the rock action AUTHOR PROFILE JOHN McMURTRIE is official tour photographer for the rock band Iron Maiden

A scene from Farnborough air show is given extra impact with a Digital King AF Ultra Super Wide conversion lens

Fun with a fisheye

Two photographers, with very different approaches, extol the creative virtues of working with a fascinating type of lens

A

AUTHOR PROFILE MARY B LYONS is a photographer, writer and broadcaster and member of The Royal Photographic Society.

She has attended the biennial Farnborough International Airshow many times over the years

s a fan of the Farnborough International Airshow, I had long wrestled with the problems posed by capturing large aircraft in the static displays without lopping off their wings or tails.

Moving away was no help because, due to the constraints of close aircraft parking, safety barriers and people, something always got in the way.

In 2010 I invested £100 in a “nearly-fisheye” lens. Real fisheyes were prohibitively expensive for me at the time, although prices have come down somewhat since. Mine was a Japanese Digital King AF Ultra Super Wide (USW) conversion lens, 0.25 x W/ macro. It screwed easily on to the Canon 18–55mm lens of my Canon EOS 350D SLR, producing most interesting effects, including capturing a complete Boeing 787 Dreamliner at close range.

I purchased an extra converter ring for the USW to attach it to the Tamron 18–270mm lens on my Canon 450D, but felt it worked better on the 350D. I didn’t want to tie

720 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

up my main camera anyway, or to keep changing lenses. I regularly carry both cameras, switching between them, and always use UV filters. I also have experience with an Opteka semi-fisheye 0.35x AF converter lens on a Sigma 18–50mm 1:3.5–5.6mm lens on a Nikon D7000. I find the configuration a trifle heavy on the hand, and my Canon 350D plus USW seems to give me a wider angle, which I prefer.

One of the intrinsic problems with a fisheye lens is that anybody or anything next to the photographer is also captured, so it’s important to make sure all is clear before pressing the shutter, and that includes people’s shadows. As a fellow photographer wittily observed: ‘You have to be careful that you don’t get your own ears in the picture.’

I am constantly thrilled by the possibilities of quirky images manifested as the surreal. There’s something extremely satisfying in bending the rules, of taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary, or changing the mundane into the

KEEP THE FRONT ELEMENT CLEAN $BELOW%

Because this lens has such short depth of field, and there is no way you can fit a lens hood, any dust, dirt or grease will be noticeable on the final image. Any lens flare which you will get, due to the extreme wide angle, will reveal any foreign objects on the front optic. I use a small chamois leather which removes any grease from the lens before use.

| THE CRAFT | 721

GET THE HORIZON RIGHT $ABOVE%

Only shoot landscapes from below the horizon line unless there is interest above it. The horizon when centred in the frame gives an almost distortion-free straight horizon, and shooting from above the horizon line exaggerates the size of any landscape or scene.

LET AN INTERESTING FOREGROUND DETAIL LEAD YOUR EYE INTO THE FRAME $LEFT%

Without a middle interest when shooting crowds of over 70,000 people I found images a little overwhelming – unless I had a central character leading your eye into the frame.

A fisheye lens used judiciously can capture the electric atmosphere of a stadium band in action

STICK WITH AUTOFOCUS

This may seem irrelevant, especially as the focus is so short on this lens, but when focusing manually it is extremely easy for your own fingers to appear in frame at the edges.

FLASH CAN BE TRICKY

On-camera flash is extremely difficult to work with unless your subjects are close. This lens has a coverage of 180° so the on-camera flash will only be able to cover around half of that. Subjects up close always work well but be aware that your background will be dark unless there is another source of light. I usually use offcamera lighting, but I do have to watch out for my own shadow.

DON’T OVERUSE THIS LENS

I know one picture editor who has banned the use of the fisheye lens on all commissions. Only use it when appropriate.

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 721

DEPTH: LENSES 722 | THE CRAFT | INFISHEYE

Get close, but not too close AND FINALLY... WATCH OUT FOR MOVING OBJECTS $RIGHT%

Be aware of your surroundings outside the viewfinder. It is very easy to get into trouble with this lens if you get too close to moving objects. I have nearly been injured by guitar fretboards and stray drumsticks on many occasions.

John McMurtrie’s book Iron Maiden: On Board Flight 666 is out in soft-back on 20 November (Orion).

See more at picturedesk.co.uk These images, left, by Mary B Lyons show how getting closer with a fisheye lens can make for creative effects

magnificent. I started to experiment further with my USW lens, bending the verticals, rounding the squares, coming in really closely from various angles and distorting reality.

By zooming out and pointing the camera up or down I found I could bend horizons in the horizontal axis, giving the Earth an exaggerated curvature either way. By physically coming in close, a detail of cracked, wooden breakwater became an item of beautiful, modern art.

Once the eye becomes tuned into searching for possible objects ripe for distortion, the world around becomes a hunting ground for a plethora of suitable items. Cars, engines,

THERE’S SOMETHING EXTREMELY SATISFYING IN BENDING THE RULES

mechanical equipment, boats and aircraft all offer scope for creativity. Building site scaffolding is a joy to play around with as are greenhouses, banks of stadium seats, railway lines and roads.

Special effects can be produced in the various computer programs but there’s so much more control when setting up the shots in the field. I have watched the technological evolution move from eight images on a roll of film to digital formats and pixels in the tens of millions, and a very limited choice of settings expand to a positive basketful of options.

I never cease to be excited by the creative possibilities my beloved USW offers me.

Mary B Lyons’ book Fabulous Farnborough Airshow Photographs is out on 1 December.

See www.wordpower.u-net.com

722 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

Three lenses worth a try

1

1. Digital King Ultra Super Wide Conversion Lens 52mm, approx £99 2. Sigma 10mm F2.8 EX DC HSM Fisheye, approx £400 3. Samyang 8mm F3.5 Fisheye Manual Focus Lens, approx £275

3

2

HUNTING CHEETAHS BY ENG SIONG YEO ARPS (RPS SILVER MEDAL WINNER, INTERNATIONAL IMAGES FOR SCREEN 2014) AVAILABLE ON CD FROM THE RPS SHOP

HUNT DOWN STUNNING GIFTS AT THE RPS SHOP Society exhibition catalogues, CDs, DVDs, gift vouchers, clothing and merchandise available to buy online

RPS.ORG/SHOP

Keep an eye out for brand new products coming in the new year

| THE CRAFT | 725 M Y FAV O U R I T E C A M E R A

Ebony 45S

©SIMON ROBERTS, THE HAXEY HOOD, HAXEY, NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE, 5TH JANUARY 2008 ; JOHN ROBERTS

Simon Roberts HonFRPS escapes the world’s gaze with his large-format friend I’ve never really been a cameragear fiend, having learnt a very early lesson in keeping things simple. On my first assignment with the Sunday Times magazine in 1998 I returned from Arizona with 85 rolls of film shot using a plethora of lenses.

The then picture editor, Aidan Sullivan, patiently pored over the pile of transparencies on his desk, pushed them to one side and claimed that I’d produced a better set of photographs in the three rolls of black and white film that I’d shot on a Bronica 645 with a standard lens. I went back to Arizona and completed the story with only the Bronica.

For several years after that I worked almost exclusively with a Mamiya 7. However, my favourite camera is undoubtedly the Ebony 45S. It’s non-folding design makes for a quick set-up and ease of storage, and my 150mm Schneider lens can be left mounted when the camera is not in use. When collapsed it can be dropped straight into my camera bag. But there’s more to it than that.

There is something much more personal about my relationship with this camera than with others. I enter a private universe under the red blanket that I fling, with some relish, over my shoulders. I am hidden from the world, an anonymous onlooker, while the landscape before me yields itself up. And the best thing about this camera? You can smell the ebony.

Roberts used the Ebony 45S to create the images for his We English project

AUTHOR PROFILE SIMON ROBERTS HonFRPS Born in 1974, Simon Roberts uses large-format photography to explore landscapes and how they form our sense of identity. He has published several books including Motherland (Chris Boot, 2007), We English (Chris Boot, 2009) and Pierdom (Dewi Lewis, 2013)

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 725

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MEMBER International Images for Screen 2014

| GUIDE | 727

GUIDE

YOUR RPS EVENTS ! COURSES PROGRAMME

NOV!DEC!JAN GO TO RPS.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES

Above: Lioness and Cub Walking, winner, RPS Gold (Nature) Image: Willem Kruger

Below: Awakening, RPS Ribbon winner (Traditional) Image: Yulia Artmeyeva

Members across the world can witness winning entries at first hand

O

ne of the beauties of The Royal Photographic Society’s International Images for Screen exhibition is in its title.

Because the exhibition, including the award winning images, is encapsulated on a CD, it can be viewed by members anywhere.

After the inaugural screening last month, the exhibition’s next scheduled screening dates are

in the Northern and South West Regions (see pages 728 and 729), but if you would like to stage a showing of the exhibition in your region, contact exhibitions@rps.org.

CDs can also be purchased from the Society’s online shop.

Find out more about screenings and how to get the CD at rps.org/shop or email exhibitions@rps.org VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 727

GROUPS 728 | GUIDE | REGIONAL

REGIONS

Meet photographers and view work in your area CENTRAL

GO TO RPS.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES

MIKE SHARPLES ARPS, 07884 657535 MIKES.SHARPLES(VIRGIN.NET

Second meeting of our informal micro-group. Open to members and non-members Crusting Pipe, 27 Covent Garden, London WC2E 8RD Del Barrett ARPS, as above

LONDON, STREET NOVEMBER WORKSHOP

PHOTOSHOP PRESENTATION AND WORKSHOP SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER / 10:30&16:30

£15/£10 members Booking essential (see website) Hough End Centre, Mauldeth Road West, Manchester M21 7SX Dr Afzal Ansary, ASIS FRPS, as above

SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER / 10:00&13:00

DISTINCTIONS ADVISORY WORKSHOP !LRPS ARPS"

Continuing season of workshops Del Barrett ARPS, as above

TUESDAY 4 NOVEMBER / 19:30 &22:00

LET’S PARTY!

£8 Bring your work along for assessment by Roger Parry ARPS and Anne Sutcliffe FRPS Smethwick Photographic Society, Churchbridge, Oldbury, West Midlands B69 2AS Mike Sharples ARPS, as above

SAT 1/ SUN 2 NOVEMBER / 20.30&00:30

Wrap party for Bleeding London Cash bar. Open to members and non-members The Marquis, 51-52 Chandos Place, Covent Garden, London WC2 4HS Del Barrett ARPS, as above

THE COMBINED ROYAL COLLEGES LECTURE 2014

PETER PATTERSON JOINT LECTURE WITH SMETHWICK PS

THURSDAY 20 NOVEMBER / 18:30&21:00

The Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, 27 Sussex Place, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4RG Jo Macdonald, 01225 325721, jo@rps.org For details see Medical Group

THURSDAY 13 NOVEMBER / 19:30&22:00

£2.50 Smethwick PS, Churchbridge, Oldbury, West Midlands B69 2AS Mike Sharples ARPS, as above EAST ANGLIA IAN WILSON ARPS, 07767 473594 IAN(GREENMEN.ORG.UK

A DAY OF CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY £12/£10/£8 group/regional members A joint event by the Creative Group with the East Anglia Region Foxton Village Hall, Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambs CB22 6RN Dave Jordan, 01603 866475, daveandjoanjordan@yahoo.co.uk

SUNDAY 14 DECEMBER / 10:30&16:00

A three-course lunch, guest speaker Keith Moss and a quiz Hough End Centre, Mauldeth Road West, Manchester, M21 7SX Dr Afzal Ansary, ASIS FRPS, as above NORTHERN JANE BLACK ARPS, 0191 252 2870 J.BLACK70(BTINTERNET.COM

RPS INTERNATIONAL IMAGES FOR SCREEN EXHIBITION 2014 For details on all venues see online or contact Jane Black ARPS, as above MONDAY 1 DECEMBER / 19:30 & 21:30

Methodist Church Hall, Brompton.

TUESDAY 2 DECEMBER / 17:30&22:00

The Millstone, South Gosforth

LOW LIGHT CHRISTMAS IN LONDON

WEDNESDAY 3 DECEMBER / 19:30&22:00

SATURDAY 13 DECEMBER / 15:00&20:00

THURSDAY 4 DECEMBER / 09:00&17:00

£99 We’ve teamed up with the Nikon School to bring London Region members a significant discount for selected training courses, the third being Low Light Christmas London W1, The Nikon School, 63-64 Margaret Street, London, W1W 8SW Del Barrett ARPS, as above

SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER / 10:30(16:30

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Quaker Meeting House, Penrith St Oswald’s Institute, Durham FRIDAY 5 DECEMBER / 19:30&22:00

Shiney Row Community Association MONDAY 8 DECEMBER / 17:30& 21:30

Lightfoot centre, Bishop Auckland TUESDAY 9 DECEMBER / 09:00&17:00

Methodist Church, Morpeth THURSDAY 11 DECEMBER / 09:00& 17:00

St Oswald’s CC, Sunderland THURSDAY 11 DECEMBER / 19:30 &22:00

St Aidan’s Parish Hall, Ashington NORTH WALES

EAST MIDLANDS

DON LANGFORD LRPS, 01758 713572 DONCHRISLANGFORD(BTINTERNET.COM

RALPH BENNETT ARPS, 01636 651277

NORTHERN IRELAND DAMIAN MCDONALD ARPS, 07902 481691 DAMIANMCDONALD(OUTLOOK.COM

RALPH.EMRPS(GMAIL.COM NORTH$WEST

BOOK MAKING AND 65 YEARS OF NHS

DR AFZAL ANSARY ASIS FRPS, 07970 403672

ADVISORY DAY

AFZALANSARY(AOL.COM

SUNDAY 30 NOVEMBER / 10:00& 17:00

SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER / 10:30&16:00

CONTEMPORARY NORTH WEST WORKSHOP MEETING

£10 spectator Radisson Park Inn Nottingham, Mansfield Road, Nottingham NG5 2BT Ralph Bennett ARPS, as above For details see Contemporary Group

SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER / 10:00 & 16:00

£12 Days Inn Charnock Richard, Junction 27-28 M6 Services Northbound, Mill Lane, Chorley, Lancs PR7 5LR Ian Maxwell, 01524 770278, mail@ihmaxwell.com For details see Contemporary Group

EIRE DES CLINTON FRPS, 0035 341 983 7824 DESCLINTON(EIRCOM.NET

DEL BARRETT ARPS

MEDICAL GROUP AGM

LONDONEVENTS(RPS.ORG

16 JANUARY 2015

SATURDAY 1 NOVEMBER / 18:30 & 21:00

SCOTLAND JAMES FROST FRPS, 01578 730466 JAMES.FROST11(BTINTERNET.COM

EDINBURGH PHOTOFORUM SUNDAY 2 NOVEMBER / 11:00 &16:00

LONDON

LONDON, URBAN II

£20/£15/£10 spectator Licentiateship and Associateship advisory day. All attendance must be booked Newforge Country Club, 18b Newforge Lane, Belfast BT9 5NW Simon Vercoe, si@rps.org

Hear Adrian Langdon (p730) Image: European Brown Bear

728 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

Moorfields Eye Hospital, London We will also have a speaker Dr Afzal Ansary, ASIS FRPS, as above

£10/£8 members An opportunity for constructive feedback on images from a panel member Edinburgh Photographic Society,

| GUIDE | 729 68 Great King Street, Edinburgh EH3 6QU James Frost FRPS, as above

DI GROUP SCOTLAND: RIKKI O’NEILL ) VISUAL ALCHEMY SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER / 13:30&16:30

£8/£5/£5 group Bridge of Allan Parish Church, Keir Street, Bridge of Allan FK9 4NW Bill Hogg ARPS, digscotland@rps.org For details see Digital Imaging Group

CELEBRATION OF DISTINCTIONS, EDINBURGH SUNDAY 30 NOVEMBER / 10:30& 16:00

£10 View successful Distinction portfolios Edinburgh, 68 Great King Street, Edinburgh EH3 6QU James Frost FRPS, as above

DISTINCTIONS ADVISORY DAY SATURDAY 17 JANUARY / 11:00 &16:00

£20/£15/£10 spectator A day set aside for those working towards one of a Distinction in Professional and Applied and Visual Art Bridge of Allan Church Hall, Keir Street, Bridge of Allan FK9 4NW James Frost FRPS, as above SOUTH$EAST TERRY MCGHIE ARPS, 01323 492584 SOUTHEAST(RPS.ORG

INTRODUCTION TO DISTINCTIONS ) BRIGHTON, EAST SUSSEX SUNDAY 2 NOVEMBER / 10:30 & 16:30

£15/£10 members Roy Robertson Hon FRPS, Past President, will lead the proceedings. Attendees should register and pay through the Society’s website The Theatre, Roedean School, Roedean Way, Brighton BN2 5RQ Terry McGhie ARPS, as above SOUTH WALES

Hear Rikki O’Neill talk about his techniques in the Scotland Region Image: Lady Love by Rikki O’Neill FRPS

Edgar Gibbs FRPS, as above For details see Audio Visual Group

01326 221939, vivien939@btinternet.com

SOUTH WALES AUDIO VISUAL GROUP ) LINDA GIBBS AND EDGAR GIBBS FRPS

LICENTIATESHIP * ASSOCIATESHIP DISTINCTIONS ADVISORY DAY SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER / 10:30 ( 16:30

MONDAY 12 JANUARY / 19:00&21:30

£3.50/£3 members Heath Citizens Community Centre, Cardiff CF14 4EP Edgar Gibbs FRPS, as above For details see Audio Visual Group

INTERNATIONAL IMAGES FOR SCREEN EXHIBITION ) TRURO CAMERA CLUB SCREENING

SOUTH WEST

CONTACT RPS HEADQUARTERS

MARTIN HOWSE ARPS, 01326 221939

01225 325720, RECEPTION(RPS.ORG

MGHVKH(BTINTERNET.COM

SELECTION OF ENTRY SEQUENCES

A DAY WITH THE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

MONDAY 10 NOVEMBER / 19:00 & 21:30

SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER / 10:30 &16:00

£3.50/£3 members Heath Citizens Community Centre, Cardiff CF14 4EP Edgar Gibbs FRPS, 029 20 564850, Edgar.gibbs@ntlworld.com For details see Audio Visual Group

£8/£5 members Presentations from four of the groups The Dolphin Hotel, Station Road, Bovey Tracey TQ13 9AL Martin Howse ARPS, as above

SOUTH WALES AUDIO VISUAL GROUP: CHRISTMAS PARTY

WEST CORNWALL GROUP MEETING

£20/£15/£10 spectator Licentiateship and Associateship Visual Art & Travel Bovey Tracey Golf Club, Monks Way, Bovey Tracey, TQ13 9NG Martin Howse ARPS, as above

MONDAY 24 NOVEMBER / 19:30&22:00

MONDAY 8 DECEMBER / 19:00&21:30

£3.50/£3 members Heath Citizens Community Centre, Cardiff CF14 4EP

£2 Come and spend an evening viewing the new International Images for Screen Exhibition Truro Camera Club, Carnon Downs Village Hall, Truro TR3 6GH Martin Howse ARPS, as above

AFTER CHRISTMAS BLOWS THE COBWEBS AWAY SATURDAY 3 JANUARY / 10:30 ( 16:00

TUESDAY 18 NOVEMBER / 19:30&21:30

£2.50 Chacewater Village Hall, Church Hill, Chacewater, Truro TR4 8PZ Vivien Howse ARPS,

Free Start the new year with an exploration of Hayle and its surroundings Graham & Carol’s chalet, Philack, Hayle TR27 5AE

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GROUPS 730 | GUIDE | REGIONAL Greyfriars Community Centre, 44 Christchurch Road, Ringwood, Hants BH24 1DW Barry Senior HonFRPS, 01425 471489, digsouthern@rps.org For details see Digital Imaging Group

TAKING CONTROL SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER / 10:00&16:00

PRESENTING THE IMAGE SUNDAY 30 NOVEMBER / 10:00&16:00

MEMBERS’ MEETING IN ILTON SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER / 10:00&13:00

THAMES VALLEY MARK BUCKLEY,SHARP ARPS, 020 8907 5874 MARK.BUCKLEY,SHARP(TISCALI.CO.UK

DI GROUP THAMES VALLEY: MEMBER PRESENTATIONS PLUS MILLENNIUM CUP COMPETITION FOR PRINTS

£5 Charlie Bishop ARPS on photographing British wildlife Ilton Village Hall, Merryfield Hall, Copse Lane, Ilton near Ilminster TA19 9HG Mick Humphreys LRPS, 01823 443 955, mick@somersite.co.uk

SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER / 10:00& 15:30

£10/£10/£6 group Woosehill Community Hall, Emmview Close, Wokingham RG41 3DA Laurie Pate, digthamesvalley@rps.org For details see Digital Imaging Group

ADVISORY DAY SUNDAY 18 JANUARY / 10:00 ( 16:00

£20/£15/£10 This will cover LRPS and ARPS Amersham Community Centre, Chiltern Avenue, Amersham HP6 5AH Mark Buckley-Sharp ARPS, as above WESTERN

MEMBERS’ MEETING IN HIGHNAM SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER / 10:00&13:00

£5 Members can present their finished prints or discuss and ask advice about work in progress Parish Rooms, Highnam Community Centre, Newent Road, Highnam GL2 8DG Bob Train, 01452 521 424, bobtrain@tiscali.co.uk

DI GROUP WESTERN ) GAVIN HOEY LIVE DEMONSTRATION

TONY COOPER ARPS, 01225 421097

SUNDAY 14 DECEMBER / 10:30&16:00

TONY(PHOTOSCOOP.CO.UK

£10/£8/£6 member Clyst St Mary Village Hall, Nr Exeter, EX5 1BG Janet Haines ARPS, janet.haines@btopenworld.com For details see Digital Imaging Group

DISTINCTIONS ADVISORY DAY SUNDAY 2 NOVEMBER / 10:30 &16:00

£20/£15/£10 spectator LRPS, ARPS Contemporary/Visual Art Bath HQ Tony Cooper ARPS, as above

CHRISTMAS PARTY SUNDAY 14 DECEMBER / 10:00 ( 12:30

Graham Hodgson, graham.hodgson@artslive.org.uk

WEST CORNWALL GROUP MEETING TUESDAY 20 JANUARY/ 19:30&21:30

£2.50 Chacewater Village Hall, Church Hill, Chacewater, Truro TR4 8PZ Vivien Howse ARPS, 01326 221939, vivien939@btinternet.com

A DAY WITH ADRIAN LANGDON ARPS SUNDAY 25 JANUARY / 10:30 ( 16:00

£12/£8 RPS member Two talks by Adrian Langdon; ‘Wild Cornwall’ and ‘Scandinavia’ The Dolphin Hotel, Station Road, Bovey Tracey TQ13 9AL Martin Howse ARPS, as above SOUTHERN PETER HARTLAND ARPS, 07774 184120 SOUTHERN(RPS.ORG

DI GROUP SOUTHERN: ADOBE PHOTOSHOP WORKSHOP WITH DAVID MALLOWS SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER / 10:00&16:00

After Christmas Blows the Cobwebs Away … take a trip to Hayle with the South West group (see previous page) Image: Graham Hodgson

YOUR EVENTS To ensure inclusion of your events in The RPS Journal please post them on the RPS website six weeks prior to publication. For a list of deadlines, cancellations or lastminute 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

£10/£10/£6 group 730 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

WESTERN REGION MEMBERS OWN SUCCESSFUL LRPS AND ARPS PANELS SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER / 10:00 &12:30

£2 Western Region members’ own successful LRPS and ARPS panels 10am-12.30pm Claverton Down Community Hall, Claverton Down Nr Bath BA2 6DT Tony Cooper ARPS, as above

DI GROUP WESTERN: PRINT WORKSHOP WITH FOTOSPEED SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER / 10:30&15:30

£8/£7/£5 group Ilton, Merryfield Village Hall, Nr Taunton, Ilton, Nr Taunton TA19 9HG Janet Haines ARPS, janet.haines@btopenworld.com For details see Digital Imaging Group

£2 Members can present their finished prints or discuss and ask advice about their print work in progress Claverton Down Community Hall, Claverton Down Road, Bath, BA2 6DT Tony Cooper ARPS, as above

MEMBERS’ MEETING IN ILTON SUNDAY 18 JANUARY / 10:00&13.00

£5 Charlotte Nadin LRPS on Adobe Photoshop techniques Ilton Village Hall, Merryfield Hall, Copse Lane, Ilton near Ilminster TA19 9HG Mick Humphreys LRPS, 01823 443 955, mick@somersite.co.uk YORKSHIRE MARY CROWTHER LRPS, 07921 237962 PHOTOBOX50(GMAIL.COM

FROM REALITY TO REALISATION £15 per workshop Workshops to help those aspiring to LRPS develop their photography Fenton House, Bath Tony Cooper ARPS, as above MASTERING THE MACHINE SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER / 10:00&16:00

DISTINCTIONS HELP SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER / 10:30&16:30

£20/£15/£10 spectator With Robert Gates FRPS. Booking essential, for details see website Starlight Theatre, National Railway Museum, York YO26 4XJ Mary Crowther LRPS, as above

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WORKSHOPS

Hear from the experts and hone your skills

Workshops take place at The Royal Photographic Society’s headquarters and other venues around the country The Royal Photographic Society, Fenton House, 122 Wells Road, Bath BA2 3AH For further information, go to rps.org/events and search under ‘Workshops’ or call 01225 325733 or email reception@rps.org

EXMOOR IN AUTUMN PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP SATURDAY 1 NOVEMBER / 10:00&17:00

£95/£71 members Coastal, moorland and woodland landscapes, with Nigel Hicks Devon, Valley of the Rocks Car Park, Lynton

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP WITH AWARD) WINNING PHOTOGRAPHER STUART WOOD

ONE DAY INTRODUCTION TO YOUR DIGITAL SLR WORKSHOP

WEDNESDAY 5 NOVEMBER / 10:00 & 17:00

SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER / 10:00 & 17:00

£135/£110 members Elements that would appeal to both experienced pros and beginners Thrumpton Hall, Nottingham

INTRODUCTION TO THE CREATIVE EYE WORKSHOP SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER / 10:00& 16:30

£95/£71 members Learn how to see the photographic potential of the world around you

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER / 10:00&16:30

£45/£33 members An insight into how to photograph birds and mammals

SHOOTING FOR STOCK WORKSHOP MONDAY 10 NOVEMBER / 10:30&16:30

£65/£48 members Get the most from your images with the potential to license and sell

CREATIVE TECHNIQUES IN PHOTOSHOP WORKSHOP TUESDAY 11 NOVEMBER / 10:00&16:30

£95/£71 members A practical workshop

Developing your compositional and critiquing skills Image: Tony Worobiec FRPS

ONE DAY INTRODUCTION TO YOUR DIGITAL SLR

£85/£63 members Get more creative with your camera

SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER / 10:00&17:00

FROM REALITY TO REALISATION ) MODULE 2 ) MASTERING THE MACHINE

£85/£63 members

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH CHILDREN AND BABIES

SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER / 10:00&16:30

£15 Second of four workshops for those with good photographic competence

SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER / 10:00&17:00

£95/£71 members Lacock, Wiltshire

PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS WORKSHOP

RUNNING YOUR OWN PHOTOGRAPHIC BUSINESS WORKSHOP

SUNDAY 7 DECEMBER / 10:00&17:00

£95/£71 members

MONDAY 17 NOVEMBER / 10:30 &16:30

ONE)DAY INTRODUCTION TO YOUR DIGITAL SLR WORKSHOP

£30/£22 members What is involved in running a successful commercial operation The Engine Room, Bridgwater

SATURDAY 17 JANUARY / 10:00&17:00

£85/£63 members

ART NUDE PHOTOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOSHOP WORKSHOP

SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER / 10:00& 16:30

£115/£90 members Lighting a nude and producing high-quality photographs Lacock, Wiltshire

SUNDAY 18 JANUARY / 10:00&17:00

£95/£71 members

STUDIO PORTRAITURE WORKSHOP

DEVELOPING COMPOSITIONAL AND CRITIQUING SKILLS

SAT 24 JANUARY 10:00 / SUN 25 JANUARY 16:30

£160/£135 members A beginners’ workshop for taking great images in a studio Lacock, Wiltshire

SATURDAY 29 NOVEMBER / 10:00 & 16:30

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER / 10:00& 16:30

£160/£135 How to take great wedding images and the basics of starting a business Lacock, Wiltshire

Explore the wonders of creative night-time photography Bath Abbey, Bath

£45/£33 members This course will give you a fresh way of looking at your work

NIGHT SHOOT SATURDAY 29 NOVEMBER / 18:00& 22:00

£35/£26 members

GO TO RPS.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES

INTRODUCTION TO THE CREATIVE EYE WORKSHOP SATURDAY 24 JANUARY / 10:00 & 16:30

£95/£71 members

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 731

· · · · · · ·

| GUIDE | 733

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

CONTEMPORARY PETER ELLIS LRPS, 07770 837977

GO TO RPS.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE LATEST UPDATES

Explore more about aspects of photography and imaging 3D IMAGING ) HOLOGRAPHY PETER FREEMAN LRPS, 01462 893633

WORDSNPICSLTD(GMAIL.COM

CONTEMPORARY NORTH WEST WORKSHOP MEETING SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER / 10:00&16:00

£12 One Day Workshop with Dave West Days Inn Charnock Richard, Jct 27-28 M6 Services Northbound, Mill Lane, Chorley Lancs PR7 5LR Ian Maxwell, 01524 770278, mail@ihmaxwell.com

EAST MIDLANDS REGION BOOK MAKING AND 65 YEARS OF NHS

SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER/ 14:00&17.00

SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER / 10:30&16:00

Free A joint practical workshop run by the Quekett Microscopical Club The Demonstration Room at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington (Exhibition Road entrance) Peter Freeman, as above, or Alan Cooper, alanc@ouastro.co.uk

£10 spectator/£6.95 concession A day on book making and the first 65 years of the National Health Service Radisson Park Inn Nottingham, Mansfield Road, Nottingham NG5 2BT Ralph Bennett, 01636651277, ralph.emrps@gmail.com CREATIVE

ARCHAEOLOGY AND HERITAGE

BARRY COLLIN LRPS

SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER / 10:00& 15:30

DI GROUP WESTERN ) GAVIN HOEY LIVE DEMONSTRATION SUNDAY 14 DECEMBER / 10:30&16:00

£10/£8/£6 member Gavin Hoey gives an all-day demonstration. Doors open at 10am Clyst St Mary Village Hall, Nr Exeter, EX5 1BG Janet Haines ARPS, as above

CREATIVECHAIR(RPS.ORG

RODNEY BERNARD THRING LRPS, 01276 20725

DOCUMENTARY AND VISUAL JOURNALISM

RODNEY.THRING(NTLWORLD.COM

A DAY OF CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY

AUDIO VISUAL

MO CONNELLY LRPS, 01590 641849 DVJ(RPS.ORG

EDGAR GIBBS FRPS, 02920 564850

SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER / 10:30(16:30

EDGAR.GIBBS(NTLWORLD.COM

£12/£10/£8 group/regional members Speakers are Peter R Gennard and Don Byatt ARPS. Doors open 9.30am Foxton Village Hall, Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambs. CB22 6RN Dave Jordan, 01603 866475, daveandjoanjordan@yahoo.co.uk

SELECTION OF ENTRY SEQUENCES MONDAY 10 NOVEMBER / 19:00 & 21:30

£3.50/£3 members Selection of entry sequences for the group’s annual three-way AV Battle with Wantage Camera Club AV Group (UK) and Melbourne AV Group (Australia) Heath Citizens Community Centre, located opposite 183 King George V Drive East, Heath, Cardiff CF14 4EP Edgar Gibbs FRPS, as above

HISTORICAL JENNIFER FORD ARPS, 01234 881459 JENNYFORD2000(YAHOO.CO.UK

JANET.HAINES(BTOPENWORLD.COM

WED 12 NOVEMBER &FRI 14 NOVEMBER

SUNDAY 9 NOVEMBER / 10:30&15:30

£8/£7/£5 group Preparing your image for print, calibration, print demonstration Ilton, Merryfield Village Hall, Nr Taunton, Ilton, Nr Taunton TA19 9HG Janet Haines ARPS, as above

£3.50/£3 members Please bring a sequence and food to share. Non-RPS members welcome Heath Citizens Community Centre, located opposite 183 King George V Drive East, Heath, Cardiff CF14 4EP Edgar Gibbs FRPS, as above

INFO(TARBY.TV

HISTORICAL GROUP VISIT TO PARIS

DI GROUP WESTERN: PRINT WORKSHOP WITH FOTOSPEED

MONDAY 8 DECEMBER / 19:00&21:30

FILM AND VIDEO JOHN TARBY FRPS, 020 7702 2205

JANET HAINES ARPS, 01308 428219

DIGITAL IMAGING

SOUTH WALES AV GROUP: CHRISTMAS PARTY

The Historical Group has arranged a programme of visits to photography collections, archives and exhibitions in Paris. See the Society’s website for further details Paris Donald Stewart, donaldstewart42@aol.com IMAGING SCIENCE DR TONY KAYE ASIS FRPS, 020 8420 6557

DI GROUP SCOTLAND: RIKKI O’NEILL + VISUAL ALCHEMY SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER / 13:30&16:30

£8/£5/£5 group Rikki’s talk will describe his reasons and inspirations from the beginning, with images from the early days through to his latest work Bridge of Allan Parish Church, Keir Street, Bridge of Allan FK9 4NW Bill Hogg ARPS, digscotland@rps.org

SOUTH WALES AV GROUP ) LINDA GIBBS AND EDGAR GIBBS FRPS MONDAY 12 JANUARY / 19:00&21:30

£3.50/£3 members A presentation of the speakers’ ‘Digital Magic Lantern Show’ - a miscellany of digital stories, images and sounds Heath Citizens Community Centre, located opposite 183 King George V Drive East, Heath, Cardiff CF14 4EP Edgar Gibbs FRPS, as above

DI GROUP THAMES VALLEY: MEMBER PRESENTATIONS PLUS MILLENNIUM CUP COMPETITION FOR PRINTS £10/£10/£6 group Booking essential Woosehill Community Hall, Emmview Close, Wokingham RG41 3DA Laurie Pate, digthamesvalley@rps.org

3D(RPS.ORG

STEREO PHOTOGRAPHY THROUGH THE MICROSCOPE

£10/£10/£6 group Aimed at intermediate to advanced users Greyfriars Community Centre, 44 Christchurch Road, Ringwood, Hants BH24 1DW Barry Senior HonFRPS, 01425 471489, digsouthern@rps.org

Historical Group visit to Paris Image: Dr Janet Lowe

DI GROUP SOUTHERN: ADOBE PHOTOSHOP WORKSHOP WITH DAVID MALLOWS SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER / 10:00&16:00

TONYKAYE(HOTMAIL.CO.UK

GOOD PICTURE 2014: IMAGING FEATURES SATURDAY 13 DECEMBER / 09:30 & 17:00

£70/£70/£39 concession Tutorial seminars on selected technical aspects of digital imaging, open to all University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW Mike Christianson, 01753 890 480, pandm@christianson.freeserve.co.uk MEDICAL DR AFZAL ANSARY ASIS FRPS, 07970 403672 AFZALANSARY(AOL.COM

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INTEREST GROUPS 734 | GUIDE | SPECIAL THE COMBINED ROYAL COLLEGES LECTURE 2014

rural and fishing life, and to contribute to the Book Bus literary project Liz Rhodes, lizrh@tiscali.co.uk

THU 20 NOVEMBER / 18:30&21:00

This year’s lecture will be given by the 2013 recipient of The Royal Photographic Society’s Combined Royal Colleges Medal, Professor Anders Persson MD PhD Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, 27 Sussex Place, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4RG Jo Macdonald, 01225 325721, jo@rps.org

WESTERN CANADA + 2015 SAT 29 AUGUST ( SAT 12 SEPTEMBER

£2,169 From Calgary to Vancouver, through some of the west’s remarkable scenery Aline Hopkins, 07774 680981, alinehopkins@btinternet.com VISUAL ART

NATURE

VIVECA KOH FRPS, 07956 517524 VIVECA.KOH(GMAIL.COM

MARGARET JOHNSON LRPS, 01159 265893 M.JOS(BTINTERNET.COM

CHAIRMAN’S DAY SUN 9 NOVEMBER / 10:30& 16:00

The speakers are Trevor Davenport ARPS, Geoff Trinder ARPS and Tony Bond FRPS £16; for tickets send a cheque, payable to RPS Nature Group, plus a stamped self-addressed envelope to: Nature Group Chairman, Tony Bond FRPS, 9 Beech Drive, Leigh, Lancashire WN7 3LJ Smethwick PS, The Old Schoolhouse, Churchbridge, Oldbury B69 2AS Tony Bond FRPS TRAVEL KEITH POINTON LRPS, 01588 640592

the Northern Lights.

Tromso, Norway, Thon Hotel, Gronnegata 50, 9008 Tromso Aline Hopkins, 07774 680981, alinehopkins@btinternet.com

Nature group, Chairman’s Day, 9 November Image: Tony Bond FRPS

PILGRIMAGE TO JEREZ

40TH SMETHWICK INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHY Closing date: 10 November spsinternationalexhibition.com

TUESDAY 31 MARCH & MONDAY 6 APRIL 2015

£1,795 The Travel Group is organising a visit to southern Spain during Holy Week 2015 to photograph the Easter week processions and associated events Jerez de la Frontera, Hotel Casa Grande, Plaza las Angustias, 3, Jerez de la Frontera Colin Howard, colin.howard@me.com

GLOBAL ARCTIC AWARDS Closing date: 20 November arcticawards.ru PSA CHINA SPECIAL THEME Closing Date: 30 November salon.psachina.org

BAGPOINT(AOL.COM

IMAGES OF MYANMAR ) 2014 THU 27 NOVEMBER & WED 10 DECEMBER

An escorted Photo visit to Myanmar Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Keith Pointon , as above

IMAGES OF MYANMAR TUESDAY 26 MAY & THURSDAY 4 JUNE 2015

TRIP TO ZAMBIA AND MALAWI

WEDNESDAY 14 & SATURDAY 17 JANUARY

FRIDAY 3 & SUNDAY 19 JULY 2015

£3,479 Opportunity to photograph wildlife,

OVERSEAS CHAPTERS

AUSTRALIA Elaine Herbert ARPS, eherbert@ alphalink.com.au EXHIBITION: FLESH + GOLD COAST IN THE 60s, 70s AND 80s

UNTIL SUNDAY 2 NOVEMBER

Powerhouse Brisbane, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm, QLD 4005 BENELUX Stephen Johns, Steve_johns@me.com CANADA John Bradford, jb.rps@cogeco.ca

2ND CORK INTERNATIONAL SALON OF PHOTOGRAPHY Closing Date: 1 December corkcameragroup.net

£1,750 An escorted Photo visit to Myanmar Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan Keith Pointon, as above

IN SEARCH OF THE AURORA BOREALIS £550 A trip to Tromso, Norway, in search of

PATRONAGE

Society patronage has been granted to the following exhibitions and salons

CHINA BEIJING Yan Li, yanli88@yahoo.com CHINA SHANGTUF Guo Jing, shangtuf@yahoo. com.cn CHINA QUANZHOU Xiaoling Wang, hgudsh@163.com GERMANY Tony Cutler LRPS, aec.flynn@t-online.de EXHIBITION: WEISS UNTIL TUESDAY 2 DECEMBER / 10.00&16.00

734 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

Western Canada 2015 – a Travel Group trip from Calgary to Vancouver Image: Robert Akester LRPS

2ND PHOTOVIVO SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD 2014 Closing Date: 5 December pipa.sg

Royal Photographic Society members around the world Rathausgalerie der Stadt Fröndenberg, Bahnhofstrasse 2, Fröndenberg/Ruhr, Germany, 58730 Siegfried Rubbert LRPS, Siegfried@Rubbert.de MITGLIEDER VERSAMMLUNG SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER / 11:00& 16:00

Dortmund, Dortmunder U, Leonie-ReygersTerrasse, Dortmund 44137 Siegfried Rubbert (see above)

HONG KONG Shan Sang Wan FRPS, shansangwan@ yahoo.com.hk INDIA Rajen Nandwana, rajennandwana@ gmail.com INDONESIA Agatha Bunanta ARPS, agathabunanta@ gmail.com ITALY Olivio Argenti FRPS, info@rps-italy.org JAPAN TOKYO Yoshio Miyake, yoshio-raps@nifty.com MALAYSIA

Nick Ng, nickng6208@ gmail.com MALTA Ruben Buhagiar, info@rubenbuhagiar. com NEW ZEALAND Mark Berger rps@moothall.co.nz SINGAPORE Steven Yee Pui Chung FRPS, peacock@ sandvengroup.com SOUTHERN SPAIN Mike Naylor, mike@mikenaylor.es

SWISS CHAPTER Richard Tucker ARPS, tucker42@bluewin.ch TAIWAN Joanie Fan Hui Ling ARPS, djpassionfoto@ gmail.com USA ATLANTIC CHAPTER Carl Lindgren, lindgren.carl@ gmail.com USA PACIFIC CHAPTER Jeff Barton, rps@vadis.net

| GUIDE | 735

EXHIBITIONS

INTERNATIONAL PRINT EXHIBITION 157

region. For details see Regional Groups

LESLEY GOODE, EXHIBITIONS MANAGER

INTERNATIONAL IMAGES FOR SCIENCE EXHIBITION 2013

01225 325720, LESLEY(RPS.ORG

THU 6 NOVEMBER & FRI 12 DECEMBER

INTERNATIONAL IMAGES FOR SCREEN 2014 Venues in Northern and South West

Michael Heseltine Gallery, Chenderit School, Archery Road, Middleton Cheney, Banbury OX17 2QR

SAT 22 NOVEMBER ( SAT 10 JANUARY

Banbury Museum and Art Gallery, Spiceball Park Road, Banbury OX16 2PQ FRI 16 JANUARY & SUN 15 FEBRUARY

Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP

COUNCIL REPORT AUGUST 2014 SOCIETY FINANCE Geoff Blackwell reported membership income in July was ahead of budget although this may reflect timing issues. The Society had received the first part of a significant legacy and a final instalment was expected later in the year after which details of the legacy would be announced in The Journal.

SOCIETY FINANCE The Society’s audit certificate had been received. The auditors Moore Stephens had expressed two minor concerns which would be addressed with Barclays Bank and the Groups and Regions. Council expressed its thanks to Nick Rogers for his work on completing the half-year accounts so efficiently.

MEMBERSHIP Membership stood at 11,110.

GROUPS/REGIONS/ OVERSEAS CHAPTERS Vanessa Slawson talked through the actions document arising from the Regional Organisers Day held on 5 July. Four immediate points were agreed and work would continue on the other items. An update would be given at the Advisory Board.

The Director-General was asked to remind Groups to share their publications, mostly in PDF form, with Council, Regional Organisers and other Group Chairs.

Council agreed to and supported the establishment of a southern Spain Chapter.

A potential regional organiser had been found for Eire and Council agreed to the appointment.

A potential organiser had been found for South Wales. He wanted to survey members in the Region to determine their needs. Vanessa Slawson would follow up on this.

SCIENCE Tony Kaye, Chair of the Science Committee, reviewed The Society’s science activities and highlighted a number of key points from it. He emphasised that the three science groups, Imaging Science, Medical and 3D & Holography, were increasingly working together although there

was no plan to merge. The umbrella title of ‘Imaging and Science’ was being used.

He asked Council to fund the initiatives arising from the Science Committee’s working party.

Council agreed to match fund the proposal for a combined marketing brochure highlighting The Society’s role within imaging science and scientific imaging and the ISQs. STAFF AND MANAGEMENT MATTERS The Director-General advised that some general maintenance had been undertaken.

There had been a number of approaches recently to replace The Society’s telephone system. The current Toshiba system although dating back to 2001 was reliable and there was no new functionality that would provide significant benefit to The Society.

John Bradford, the Canadian Chapter Organiser, visited Fenton House on 6 August and Janet Haines, the Digital Imaging Group Chair, had met staff on 5 August.

DISTINCTIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS Andy Moore, Distinctions Manager, joined the meeting. David Cooke raised the matter of exemptions following feedback from the Distinctions department. Council agreed that the new regulations agreed last meeting applied to all applications from 19 August 2014.

Rod Wheelans noted the progress on the new Distinctions Handbook. Council agreed that no applicant for Fellowship would be told if they had been successful or not until the end of the process i.e. after the Fellowship Board had met and applicants had been confirmed by the DAB and Council. All applicants would be advised at the same time. This would be effective from January 2015.

Andy Moore confirmed the new handbook was almost ready.

He would inform the DAB of Council’s decision.

EXHIBITIONS Lesley Goode, exhibitions manager, joined the

meeting. She provided an update on the status of The Society’s exhibitions. The IPE157 opening had been well attended and the exhibition positively received. The Exhibitions Committee had decided to replace the Images for Screen exhibition by introducing a themed competition as an alternative.

There had been no progress with securing sponsorship for the IPE and/or a London opening venue for 2015.

EDUCATION, WORKSHOPS AND TRADE SHOWS David Cooke reported that the Environmental, Joan Wakelin and postgraduate bursaries had all been awarded. The schools’ photography certificate was in hand. The Society’s online courses were being planned and were ready for their production and hosting to be costed. A meeting with interested universities over affiliation was being arranged for October.

RPS JOURNAL The DirectorGeneral reported that editor Clare Harris had visited Fenton House on 30 July and met the Distinctions department and Roger Reynolds, and other staff. Robert Albright noted that the reports of Council meetings were brief and did not give a full account of Council discussion. Derek Birch commented that he reviewed all the reports prepared by the Director-General before publication and they would see if more could be included without compromising confidentiality or anything that was time sensitive.

WEBSITE Emily Mathisen, web content manager and Tony Mant, database manager, joined the meeting. Emily reviewed her report on website traffic. The Groups tended to be stronger than the Regions, with the exception of London which was active in adding new content. There was a strong correlation between activity, content and page views. Rod Wheelans asked whether there was a need to bring webmasters together for a training day. She

emphasised that events must be on the website as an Event or they would not be included in The Journal.

She stated that reported issues with the site had largely been dealt with and those remaining were expected to have been resolved by mid-September. There would be a period of stability and a focus on content before requests on a longer wish-list were reviewed and prioritised. All issues were prioritised and assessed regarding their impact, benefit and cost.

Vanessa Slawson raised the website issues highlighted at the ROs’ Day. The subject of the tagging of events to other Groups and Regions was an ongoing issue. She said that the ROs had expressed appreciation for Emily’s work.

Tony Mant reviewed the online forum. Most of the issues raised had been dealt with. Three key ones remained and were with the developers for resolution. Tony noted that he was working with the DI Group regarding its move to the new forum. He noted that there were 1,179 forum users.

NATIONAL MEDIA MUSEUM The Society had met the museum on 14 August. Plans were in hand for the Drawn by Light exhibition that would open on 2 December at Media Space and The Society had been asked for a list of invitees.

The RPS/NMeM partnership agreement had been renewed for another five years. Robert Gates reported that the digitisation programme was progressing.

ADVISORY BOARD Council discussed the programme for the Advisory Board. The morning would consist of a number of reports and updates from Council members and opportunity to talk with visiting Journal staff. There would be a discussion of the purpose of the Advisory Board and a proposal for the future organisation of meetings.

The afternoon would include feedback to the ROs and updates on the DVJ World War One project and London’s “Bleeding London” project.

VOL 154 / NOVEMBER 2014 / THE RPS JOURNAL / 735

THE RPS COLLECTION 736 | TIMES PAST | FROM

A Day in the Life of Frank Sinatra

T

he contact sheet still has a role in photography. Digital photographers continue to use software to create a single sheet of images for editing purposes and the historic term still exists in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Changes in photography since the early 2000s have also enhanced the status of the contact sheet, elevating vintage sheets to works of art to be discussed and deconstructed in books such as Magnum Contact Sheets (Thames & Hudson, 2014), exhibited as artworks in galleries and bought and sold at auction.

Across 35 frames of Kodak Tri-X Pan 35mm film, Terry O’Neill’s 1970 contact sheet, titled A Day in the Life of Frank Sinatra, shows his subject stepping off an aeroplane, rehearsing and finally performing on stage. O’Neill photographed Sinatra for more than 20 years, forming a

Terry O’Neill HonFRPS (1938 -)

736 / THE RPS JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2014 / VOL 154

friendship, despite a reticence to become involved with his subject. He said: ‘I didn’t want to become his buddy and have someone else end up taking the pictures.’ Despite, or perhaps because of, this O’Neill captured some of the best images of Sinatra on film.

Vintage contact sheets often tell us a great deal about the photographer and the thought processes that take place when

interacting with the subject and exposing the film. The sequences, wax-pencil crop marks, crosses deleting a frame, and annotations illuminate the editing process.

O’Neill’s sheet was produced as a photograph and artwork in its own right. It has become something that’s cinematic, telling us more about that one day and the photographer than a single frame will ever do.

DR MICHAEL PRITCHARD FRPS

© TERRY O’NEILL/ICONIC IMAGES/ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY COLLECTION/NATIONAL MEDIA MUSEUM/SSPL

This contact sheet from 1970 was created in spite of the friendship between subject and image taker

Bob Books

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