THE DECISIVE MOMENT
Quarterly journal from the Documentary Group
June 2018 Edition 12 Photo: Rolf Kraehenbuehl
Meet the Documentary Group Team Chairman : Mark A Phillips ARPS I have been interested in photography since my teens and have battled to find time throughout my career. In recent years I have managed a better balance (and am still working at it), but despite being an RPS member since the late 1980s, I only got around to applying for my Licentiateship in 2012 and my Associateship in 2014. My photography is focussed almost exclusively on longer term documentary projects. I am a member of Amersham Photographic Society and the PIC Group. I also regularly attend other contemporary and documentary events, such as PhotoForum and PhotoScratch in and around London. Secretary: David Barnes LRPS I have been interested in photography since childhood and have been actively taking and making images for many years with a few lapses caused by work and the onset of family responsibilities. I retired in 2005 after a career in the IT industry. I have since combined sport spectating with photography – I spend most Saturday afternoons in winter kneeling in the mud, camera in hand, at my local rugby club. I feel at home in towns and cities and spend time in London where there is always something happening that seems to me to be worth recording.
Committee Member and Group Webmaster: Steven Powell I have enjoyed a turbulent relationship with photography over most of my adult life with my technical ability often letting down my vision! Nevertheless I’m always ready for that one-ina-million shot which makes every thing worthwhile. I joined the Documentary Group in 2016 to see more examples of the style I love so much. As well as looking after our website and bimonthly competition, I’m occasionally called on to document interesting events at work to help promote the efforts of other teams. I’m aiming to achieve the LRPS accreditation (and catch up with the rest of the team). Sub Group Organisers: East Midlands: H oward Fisher - docem@rps.org
Southern: Mo Connelly LRPS - docSouthern@rps.org
South East: J aney Devine FRPS - docse@rps.org
Thames Valley: Philip Joyce - philip_joyce@btinternet.com
Northern: Gordon Bates LRPS - docnorthern@rps.org
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Treasurer : Justin Cliffe LRPS I have been interested in photography since my late teens however family and work commitments took then priority and I’ve really only got back to it over the past 5 years since retiring from a life in the City. I joined the RPS, and the Documentary group, about 4 years ago and was awarded my LRPS in 2013. I am also a member of Woking Photographic Society and the Street Photography London collective. My particular interest is ‘street photography’, something that I’m able to combine with my part time work for a charity in London.
Committee Member and Decisive Moment Editor: Jhy Turley ARPS Photography has been part of my life ever since I was at art college. After a trip to Nepal in 2006 my passion was ignited and I’ve been developing my photographic abilities ever since. Having experimented in a variety of photographic genres I now focus on longer term documentary projects. I’ve worked closely with commercial photography throughout my career in advertising but enjoy all forms of documentary and travel for my personal work. I joined the DG to be part of a like minded community of peers and by happy chance have ended up editing our groups digital magazine.
DM Editorial team:
And the rest of the team:
Sub Editor:
Belinda Bamford
Sub Editor:
Dr Graham Wilson
Bi-monthly competition manager: Steven Powell Social Media: Flickr:
Steven Powell Chris Barbara ARPS 3
Contents 6
New and Dates for the diary
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A Word From Our (new) Chair
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Interview with Hans Eijkelboom
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Documentary Group Flickr Projets
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I am not a Street Photographer [Am I?] - Chris Jennings ARPS
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Word on the street - References and Resources
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Not hiding the camera - Ryan Hardman
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Winner of the April 2018 Bi Monthly Competition Winner
Member Images
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David Gleave - Street Portraits
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50 62 70 78 82 84 92
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Winner of the June 2018 Bi Monthly Competition Winner
Justin Cliffe LRPS - The Square Mile Ryan Hardman - Fixed Wing Project
Rolf Kraehenbuehl - Street Photography Tim Lawson
Derek Riley - A Cat Named Bob
Graham Wilson - May Day, Oxford Review - The Magnum Street Photography Course, Paris Review - Visa pour l’image
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News
Dates for the diary
The Documentary Group is very sad to hear of the death in South Africa on 25 June 2018 of David Goldblatt HonFRPS.
16 June - 4 August
A great photographer and a wonderful man who has left us a lasting legacy of a pictorial history of everyday life in South Africa in the last 50 years. You will remember that he was our featured photographer in the June edition of Decisive Moment.
Documentary Group South - An Exhibition of Photography: Coast http://www.rps.org/events/2018/june/16/ documentary-group-south---an-exhibition-ofphotography-coast 18 August East Anglia Documentary Group Meeting http://www.rps.org/events/2018/august/18/ east-anglia-documentary-group-meeting 23 Sept South East Documentary Group Meeting http://www.rps.org/events/2018/september/23/ south-east-documentary-group-meeting 28 - 30 September
https://issuu.com/ documentarygrouproyalphotographicso/docs/ rps_the_decisive_moment_june_2017
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Photography Workshop - Focus on the Next Level September 28-30th 2018 - Middleport Pottery, Stoke-on-Trent http://www.rps.org/events/2018/september/28/ photography-workshop---focus-on-the-next-level-september-28-30th-2018---middleport-potterystoke-on
A Word From Our (new) Chair As the newly elected Chair of the Documentary group, I’d like to start by offering my sincere thanks to Mo for the outstanding work she and the committee have done in the past few years. The Documentary group has continued to grow and strengthen with a diversity of activities around the UK. I’d also like to thank Gordon Bates who has been instrumental in helping set up the regional sub-groups. It is my intent to continue to develop our regional sub-groups, as a way of providing activities more local to members. I am heading to Norwich to give a talk in early June and hope to get around to other regional sub-groups over the next few months. But I am also keen for us to engage and attract a younger audience, they are the future of the group and the RPS. Both of these objectives are in-line with the RPS Strategy document and we are open to ideas for events, future collaborations, or offers of support. At the AGM I provided some personal thoughts on ‘documentary’, a field that is difficult to define (so I won’t), but what is clear to me is that it is important that good images do not just ‘record’. From the early work of Atget, who influenced Walker Evans, who in turn influenced Robert Frank, through the work of Cartier-Bresson and the current Magnum photographers, it is clear that ‘documentary’ does something more; it engages, it questions, or it clarifies. I was once advised it is probably better value to buy photobooks than new camera gear. After years of collecting books I think this is probably true. I have found that reading photobooks is a great resource to help develop a visual vocabulary. Photography, probably more than any other visual art is particularly suited to photobooks, especially documentary work, where the narrative is developed over multiple images. On the subject of photobooks I have been amazed by the breadth of knowledge of great photographers, not only of their craft, but of the proceeding greats and their imagery. Stuart Franklin, Martin Parr, Alex Majoli, Alex Webb and Nikos Economopoulos are all well versed in the work of their forbears. I am sure that many are aware of Parr’s massive photobook collection, some of which has been sold to fund his Foundation. But others, like Nikos Economopoulos and Alex Webb also have photobook collections that run into the 1000s. That in part has helped them develop their own vision. So, one thing we are going to try to do over the coming months is put together a short summary of photobooks that have proved either useful resources or as examples that have inspired. Our intent is to maintain this as a resource for members. We will provide more information in an upcoming edition of Decisive Moment, as well as our own choices, we will invite contributions from others.
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This issue focuses on ‘Street’, something that on the face of it seems so simple (taking pictures on the street and in public places), but which presents a diverse range of challenges to the photographer, from the technical, to the aesthetic, to the psychological. Personally, I find a lot of contemporary street images lack ‘something’, it is hard to pinpoint precisely what, but I think that ‘something’ is a response to the question- ‘why?’. In this issue, Mo Connelly interviews Hans Eijkelboom, a Dutch photographer whose more recent practice is rooted in depicting those relationships between the individual and the masses in global society and is thus, a response to ‘why’. I’d like to finish, by asking members to offer suggestions directly to me or any committee member and to continue to engage in events, your regions and social media. A little from everyone will make a vibrant group. Thank you. Mark A Phillips, Chair, RPS Documentary Group
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Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
Hans Eijkelboo 10
om
Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
A shower of rain
Over 40 years of documenting societal changes on city streets
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Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
Hans Eijkelboom doesn’t call himself a street photographer even if all his work is done on the street. He considers himself to be an artist who records developments in society. For him there are only two types of photographer – those who are interested in society and those who are not. From this philosophy has come over 40 years of documenting society through projects, which he calls ‘Photonotes’. He photographs only in series, never in individual images. In spite of a long history of exhibitions and published books, it is only in the last few years that he has become well known. Fiercely independent, he has just accepted his first commercial contract with Diesel; the first time he has not worked for himself. While he doesn’t have his own website, a web search will find a lot of information about him, including details of over 50 solo exhibitions and a similar number jointly with other photographers. He has published over 50 books which track his long career and many fascinating street projects. See www.mutualart.com/Artist/HansEijkelboom/C6046FAC6A361361/Biography. The book ‘Hans Eijkelboom Photo Concepts 1970 ’ is a photographic compilation of his projects. (ISBN 978-3-86442-189-1). At the age of 69, he finds it strange that the gap between his age and how he feels gets bigger as time goes on. A fascinating person: thoughtful, philosophical, funny and very independently minded who, with the total support of his wife, has ploughed his own furrow for fifty years. MC: Hans, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed by Decisive Moment, the online Journal of the Documentary Group of the Royal Photographic Society.
How did your interest in photography start?
HE: I went to Art School to study architecture, where we photographed architecture and I became more interested to work with photography than architecture. Depending on the weather buildings change colour, so I decided to photograph
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myself in a series in different types of weather. At that time, I was only photographing myself as it was originally a voyage of discovery about myself. Then I started photographing different situations. For example, other people in my clothes or the portraits of four different families - each with me as the husband/father. That was the start of it. I saw that I could use photography to explore my own identity as well as society more generally. MC: And after architecture did you study photography? HE: No. In some ways it might have been better if I’d studied photography, but I’m entirely self taught. MC: Who are the photographers you most admire? HE: Walker Evans - I tried many things and then I saw that he had tried everything many years before, Garry Winogrand - the great American street photographer, and Auguste Sander have all influenced my thinking and projects. MC: Why street photography and why projects? HE: After initially wanting to explore and say something about myself and where I fitted into society, I recognised that at the heart of the society is the street, especially the shopping street in the capitalist structure. I think that is the place where culture is made and that’s why I started with street photography. Increasingly, I saw that the most important developments in society are seen on the street. Over the years, I have worked increasingly in busy shopping areas on the assumption that this is where the relationship between the individual and society is most apparent. The observation of people in places such as these forms the basis of each new photo series. I look chiefly for repetitions or similarities in clothing and body language. If something draws my attention particularly it might become the start of a photo series. I believe the street is the centre of society and currently I look at the relationship between the internet and what people do on the street.
Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
I don’t make individual photographs. I always work in a series and there’s always a relationship between the pictures. Ten years ago, in 2007, I did a big project photographing on the streets of Paris, New York and Shanghai (Aperture, ISBN 978-159711-044-0). I wanted to compare Paris the oldest society, New York - currently the biggest society, and Shanghai - which will probably become the biggest society in the future. This book highlights the similarity between us all. For another project, I asked people what groups they think make up society. For example, if they say ‘country people’, I take them onto a city street and ask them to point out country people. Then I take the photographs working with each person for an hour or half an hour. This work was broadly based on that of Auguste Sander. Initially, I started my projects as a daily diary and then, after 8 or 9 years, I did it about once a week. For example, I’m photographing in Bristol just now, and I make 8 series every month. When I started my photo notes in 1992, the internet barely played a role, and public space was still the most important place for people to meet. Now, the internet has largely taken over this function. Alongside everyday life in the analogue world, a parallel life comes into being on the web. The two environments appear to require distinct forms of presence and behaviour, which differ so widely that two variants of ourselves seem to develop: one for the analogue world, the other for the digital world. As I stand on Dam Square I believe I observe a dual human need: our digital variant seeks ways to make itself visible in the analogue world, and our analogue variant has a growing urge to emanate a unique individual made of flesh and blood. I hope that my photos reflect individual choices within the limited possibilities of a consumer society.
MC: Do you ever take individual images? HE: You see many good individual images when you take a lot of photographs, but I haven’t ever published or sold individual images, only in a series. But if a person in a photograph wants a copy, then I’ll let them have a copy of that photograph. MC: How do you go about photographing a series of street photographs? HE: Once I have decided on the concept, I go out to photograph I find somewhere to stand quietly for two hours and do a whole series. This doesn’t always work, and some days I don’t take any images. I don’t make eye contact or talk to people. I am discreet and have a remote trigger in my pocket so that people don’t see me taking the photographs. Some people do notice, but not many. When taking photos, I don’t want to be hampered by the camera, so I shoot from the chest without looking through the viewfinder. The ‘Photonotes’ that are produced can best be described as typologies of the free will. MC: Would you ever stage a photograph? For example, ask someone to sit still or stay there? HE: No, never. I don’t have any interaction with the people I’m photographing. This is a problem for my current work with Diesel, where I’m photographing people modelling clothes. They must walk naturally, in a shopping street, so I can take the photo. I don’t ask them to do anything other than to walk in a shopping street. I don’t yet know how it will work. I have to go to Milan to photograph for them. MC: Do you process all your own digital images? HE: Yes, but they come from the camera as I want them, and they are okay. I crop but I don’t use photoshop. MC: Do you miss analogue photography? HE: Not at all – I think back to the hours spent in a dark room and am really happy with digital.
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Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
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Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
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Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
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Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
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Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
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Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
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Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
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Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
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Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
MC: You’ve published a lot of books, do you have editorial control over the design? HE: Yes, I make every decision, including design and layout. Some are published by a publisher, others I do everything myself and go to a printer and self-publish. MC: So you are independent enough to say; “If you don’t do it my way I’ll do it myself?” Yes. Sometimes I publish things that I like but which no one else wants to publish. MC: How do you decide on whether or not to use text? HE: Sometimes text is necessary. ‘Photo concepts’ is a book about my whole life and some people wrote texts about my work. It’s good sometimes to have text, but I don’t like books with text at the beginning which tell you what the book is about. I prefer the photos to speak themselves, but work with text when it is necessary to explain and put it in a broader context. The book of ‘The Street and Modern Life’ seemed to flow very well, and I thought it would do well on screen so I made a film – it’s simply a scan of all the images made into a film. I find it very interesting – a different type of slide show. MC: Do you look for publishers for your books and exhibitions or are you now so well established that they will be happy to do it? HE: With the books, I’m very happy I work with Phaidon - for big publications they have an enormous network to get books out around the world. Making a book doesn’t make you money. MC: Of your exhibitions is there one that stands our more than the others? HE: I was lucky from the beginning and had lots of exhibitions. The most interesting for me was the Documenta in Kess (www. documenta.de/en/about#16_documenta_ ggmbh). For me, it’s the most important art exhibition in the world, held every five years. I was invited to participate in 2017 and it was the crown on my work.
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MC: Not your retrospective last year? HE: That was important, but the Documenta is of international importance. In 1968 I went there as a young student and was so impressed, so to be invited was wonderful. To have exhibitions is always possible, but to have exhibitions in the places you want, that is different. People ask me for exhibitions, but I’d love MOMA to ask me to do something there. MC: What are you working on just now? HE: I’m working on an exhibition at the Martin Parr Foundation on Bristol, and for an exhibition in Germany about Dusseldorf, and an exhibition in Amsterdam. All three are related to each other. There is an exhibition in Moscow – I’ve never been there. MC: Of all your projects is there one that stands out for you? HE: I’m proud that I started such a long time ago with my diary, and I’m still doing it after 26 years, and the exhibitions I made from that project are still interesting. They show the development not only in fashion, but changes in society, and the way people walk in the street. MC: How difficult has it been to be a professional photographer for all these years and remain totally independent? HE: I’ve never done anything else. I’m 69 now and when I started it was a decision that we would never have much money. I met my wife when I was 17, and she was 16, and we decided to live without much money and we’ve always been happy with that decision. Sometimes it was difficult, but never too problematic. My wife was also working, and for years we lived on her salary. MC: Do you consider your street photography to be documentary photography? HE: I don’t think in that way. In the beginning, people asked me whether I was a photographer or an artist? Sometimes I would say I’m an artist who uses photography to make my art. But now, I
Interview - Hans Eijkelboom
think photography is so accepted that it is art, and for me that is the concept that I work in. Increasingly, you see documentary photography as art photography. For me, there are photographers who are interested in society, and those who aren’t, and that’s the difference. It is not interesting to me to take pictures of beautiful flowers or to spend a lot of time in front of the computer. Do you believe that within street photography, individual images can tell a story? Yes, I think so. Look at the work of Winogrand. Parr is also one of the best examples, although not a street photographer as such. Many street photographers think junkies, homeless, drunks or football fans are the most interesting people to take photographs of. And you have Dougie Wallace who takes such good photographs of these groups. It’s a way of working, but it must be shown within a context. MC: Does there have to be a context for street photography? HE: Yes, there must be an aesthetic. MC: What are your ambitions for the next 5-10 years? What have you not done that you would like to do? HE: I would like to concentrate on one city. Once I wanted to work for a year in New York, but now that is not so interesting, so I’m thinking of working for a year in London, but I’m also thinking of staying where I am and working in Amsterdam. But, for the moment, I want to stay here and finish this project, and those in Germany and Holland.
MC: When is your exhibition in Bristol? HE: May 2019. At the Martin Parr Foundation. MC: Is it based entirely on photography in Bristol? HE: Yes, but the weather is so bad here, and it’s a bit too small a town for me. I’m already working on the first maquette for the Bristol book – looking at people and shops. A combination of people wearing clothes with text, and shops with signs on their windows. You can imagine, I need many shops with related text to make a matching series. MC: What advice would you give to a young street photographer starting today? HE: Think and look at society; decide what you want to tell; whether photography is the best medium to use; and, then, how best to use it. MC: Any final thoughts? HE: It still surprises me that despite all the uncontrollable thoughts and impulses that run through my mind each day, society still so easily manages to make plain to me how I need to conform to lead a reasonably agreeable life. ‘Conform’ is not the right word for this phenomenon, because what is so extraordinary is that I am not forced to do anything. It is rather something that happens to me without my knowing where and when. While taking photos, I am sometimes overcome by a feeling of melancholy because all the striving for individuality appears so futile. But then I also think that this futility is perhaps the beating heart of our culture, so I cheer up and carry on. Interviewed by Mo Connelly LRPS
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Group Actvities
Documentary Group Flickr Projets For anyone familiar with the work on our Flickr group, it goes without saying that we have great talent there and so we thought it would be fun to run a virtual group project. The theme chosen was “the daily grind” which members of the group could interpret as they wished. The project was just for fun and I think you’ll agree we’ve had some great entries. We’ve included a selection here for those of you who aren’t yet members of the Flickr group. If you’d like to see more or join you can find the group here: https://www.flickr.com/groups/2764974@N25/
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Group Actvities
Andy O’Farrell
Anisa Mustafa
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Group Actvities
Maxine Simmonds
Steven Powell
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Group Actvities
A. H. Evans
Lorraine Poole
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Feature - Chris Jennings - I am not a Street Photographer [Am I?]
Street Ph 28
Feature - Chris Jennings - I am not a Street Photographer [Am I?]
Chris Jennings ARPS
I am not a hotographer [Am I?] 29
Feature - Chris Jennings - I am not a Street Photographer [Am I?]
I have been called several different sorts of photographer. In general, I don’t like being categorised, but there is one thing I particularly don’t want to be called: a street photographer. Admittedly, there are many fine photographs that are referred to as street photographs, I even admit to taking plenty of such photographs myself. However, I always feel uncomfortable with street photography as a genre. This is based on what I see as three problems, and lots of doubts that go with them.
Street photography subverts other genres. Does a portrait cease to be a portrait if it is taken in the street? Image 2: Is this a portrait? If I take a photograph of a building, is it architectural or street photography? Image 3: Is this architecture? That image of a wet glove in the road: is it street or still life? Image 4: Is this a still life?
Image 2 30
Feature - Chris Jennings - I am not a Street Photographer [Am I?]
Image 3
Image 4
Can you set up a tableau and call the result a street photograph? I note that a recent competition defined what it called: “Genres of Street Photography�: Street portraits; Urban culture; Street fashion; Road trip; Street art; Travel; Architecture. These seem to me to be genres in their own right. 31
Feature - Chris Jennings - I am not a Street Photographer [Am I?]
Street photography is vague. There are plenty of books and articles written on street photography, but there is little consistency in its definition. People and cities are generally considered to be essential elements. But does a street photograph have to contain people? Image 5: Does a street photograph have to contain people? Image 6: Does it have to be in a city? Illustrations from those same articles and books indicate not. Many define street photographs as candid; is this a hard and fast rule? Image 7: Does it have to be candid? Do street photographs necessarily have to be taken in the street? I have often thought that “Paris Street; Rainy Day”, the painting by Gustave Caillebotte at the Art Institute of Chicago, shows all the attributes of a classic street photograph, as does “Night Hawks”, by Edward Hopper in the same collection. Can photographs taken of these paintings be classified as street photographs? Image 8: Is it OK if the subject is the street, but the photograph is taken elsewhere?
Image 5
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Feature - Chris Jennings - I am not a Street Photographer [Am I?]
Image 7
Image 6
Image 8
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Feature - Chris Jennings - I am not a Street Photographer [Am I?]
Street photography is schizophrenic. It seems, again scrutinising those books and articles, that street doesn’t strictly mean street. It can mean any place where there are, or might be, people. Street photographs can be taken in art galleries, or in shopping malls, on trains and metros and on the beach. Given how many of our photographers, famous or not, have headed for the beaches, I think we might have a specifically British genre: “Seaside resort photography”. Image 9: It seems street photographs can be taken in shopping malls. Image 10: or in trains or metros. Image 11: or on the beach.
Image 9
Image 10
Image 11
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Feature - Chris Jennings - I am not a Street Photographer [Am I?]
I think that street photography is a catch-all genre. It is all or nothing, and I think this leads to a lack of seriousness. I have heard otherwise serious photographers who, wanting for ideas, decide to go out and “… do a bit of street photography”. They go out with no serious intent and return with mediocre photographs. Good photographs come from vision, concentration and hard work. Many of them are taken in public places. Good photographers have always ventured out into the streets, plenty before the genre had been invented, some who deny they are street photographers. Maybe we should forget about the classification; maybe we should just talk about fine photographs and great photographers. Me? I am glad to take photographs and to be called a photographer. Image 12: A photograph
Image 12
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Feature - Word on the street, references and resources
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Feature - Word on the street, references and resources
Word on the street References and resources to inspire our time on the streets.
Valerie Mather: Ice creams. commended image from the April Bi-Monthly Competition 37
Feature - Word on the street, references and resources
In our recent members survey and on the RPS Documentary Facebook page there were requests for useful information or guidance on documentary and street photography. In response, it is our intention to provide a resource that collates such information, not just based upon our views, but inclusive of the members. The aim is to identify books and other resources that people have found useful and to provide a little background. This is not a formal RPS or documentary endorsement of the book or resource; but think of it more as a growing catalogue that might be worth exploring. The idea is that we will occasionally publish suggestions and a few reviews of photobooks and resources that people have found useful and add these to a hopefully growing catalogue which members can access. To begin with, and in -line with this edition of the Decisive Moment we start with a small collection of books and resources on street photography. Street photography, can be thought of as sitting within the broader documentary field, but with a specific context - of being ‘taken on the street’ or in ‘a public place’, and so representing a little of human life today and what it is has to offer visually. There are contested views on what constitutes ‘street’ and even more heated debate on issues like staging, street portraiture, the degree of post-processing allowed and moral issues around ‘candid’ versus ‘voyeurism’ and ‘exploitation’, but those debates are for elsewhere. Street images can, and do, span both ‘documentation’ and ‘art’. For those interested or looking to develop their skills there are a great many books and photobooks to inform and inspire. To start with, outlined below is a small list of books written largely about or for street photography and a few web-based resources.
General books on ‘street photography’
Bystander: A History of Street Photography 2017 Colin Westerbeck and Joel Meyerowitz Originally published in 1994 and hailed as a ‘landmark’. It is now recently revised and reissued, a classic street photography book, covering the history of the genre and some classic images from a wide range of photographers. ISBN: 9781786270665
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Feature - Word on the street, references and resources
Street Photography Now 2010 Sophie Howart and Stephen McLean Popular street photography book, a good selection of more recent street images. Recently re-printed. ISBN: 9780500289075
London Street Photography 1860-2010 (Pub. Dewi Lewis) 2011 M Seabond & A Spahan (eds.) 150 years of street-based photography, for those with a historical interest. London Street Photography was published in association with The Museum of London to coincide with a major exhibition. ISBN: 9781907893032 The Street Photographers Manual 2014 David Gibson Good basic guidance on street photography and approaches. Has a useful bibliography. ISBN: 2015500291306
Street Photography and the Poetic Image 2014 Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris-Webb A summary of street photography beyond the record shot, or quirky snap ISBN: 9781597112574
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Feature - Word on the street, references and resources
Monographs or extensive projects For those interested in the work of classic street photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson - The Decisive Moment An essential reference from one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century Robert Doisneau - Paris Classic early French street images Walker Evans - American Photographs A classic observer of humankind Robert Frank - The Americans A classic, one of the more important photobooks of 20th century Lee Friedlander - Street
Other resources Lens Culture (https://www.lensculture.com) Runs regular competitions and street photography awards. Has extensive galleries of members work covering a variety of photographic genres.
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Feature - Word on the street, references and resources
John Maloof (ed) - Vivien Maier Street Photographer A collection of the famous female street photographer Joel Meyerowitz - Retrospective Tony Ray Jones - American Colour 1962-1965 A UK pioneer of colour street photography Matt Stuart - All that Life Can Afford Modern street photography Alex Webb - The Suffering of Light An anthology of Webb’s work, if you can only get one ‘Webb’ book, this is probably it.
Collectives there are many out there, all tend to work in similar ways, as invited members, with the aim to promote their work and provide mutual support. Some have on-line resources that are useful, with interviews and such like. To begin with is the “grand daddy” of them all – Magnum (https://www. magnumphotos.com) formed in the 1947 formed by four photographers – Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David “Chim” Seymour. iN-PUBLiC (https://in-public.com)
Was set up in 2000 to provide a home for Street Photographers. It aims is to promote Street Photography and to continue to explore its possibilities, it is a non-commercial collective, with invited members. Burn my Eye (http://www.burnmyeye.org) Observe (http://www.observecollective.com) SPi (http://streetphotographyinternational.com)
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Feature - Not hiding the camera - Ryan Hardman
Not hiding the camera Ryan Hardman
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Feature - Not hiding the camera - Ryan Hardman
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Feature - Not hiding the camera - Ryan Hardman
When creating street photography/portraiture I like to be honest with my subjects and myself, however, I do realise that you could argue that the concept of street photography is not honest within the context of photographing without permission, I quite like this contrast of views. I have seen a style of street photography grow over the last few years, where photographers are hiding cameras to photograph their subjects in the streets, so their subjects are unaware of the image. Now, this is not a new idea, Walker Evens photographed subjects on the New York subway between 19381941, where he painted his camera black so none of the chrome was showing and hid the camera in his trench coat. His images are truly amazing, capturing the subjects unaware and unguarded, but if there was a choice between photography and subject would Evens have been able to create this body of work? Before all street photographers roll their eyes, my style has come from being intrigued and mesmerised by my photography heroes; Bruce Gilden and Dougie Wallace, photographers who have been called “bulldog” and “disgusting”, even “perverted” because of their almost paparazzi style photography. I see this as a way of engaging rather than a barrier, because in my opinion if you hide from the subject and photograph them, I find my images have less impact and are less meaningful. Early in my career, I captured my street portraits by asking the subjects for a photograph, recreating a more natural street scene. I also tried hiding the camera by using a zoom lens to get closer, but I did not like the resulting images. However, as I gained confidence I was able to photograph subjects without asking and without hiding a camera. I now bring the camera up to eye, keeping both eyes open to see the subject walk into the frame and press the shutter. As I have not hidden, l am often able to get closer to the subject and capture raw and natural style images, I have got to a point where I cannot hide because I’m using a Leica Q with an SF26 flash and polarising filter on bright days. Overall, I feel not hiding gives the photographer the time to see the situation unfold and to create powerful images. Confrontation Once I have captured the subject, I happily bring the camera down to the familiar sight of a very angry subject, and I think to myself, what now? I have often dealt with confrontation by walking away from the subjects and in to a shop or a more populated area. Not giving the subject the time of day could be seen as hiding the camera and the photographer being in a position of power over the subject, but safety comes first. I have found that often the subjects just want to shout at you because they feel powerless or have a lack of understanding of the style of photography. Other ways that I have dealt with confrontation is to have a copy of a few printed images to show that I take this seriously and not disrespecting the subject. This can help to show a professional standard. I have also used magazines that I have been published in, to show that I have also been taken seriously within the art and photography community. I have also found that creating a body of work and a theme, as well as to have background knowledge of the area you are photographing, helps 44
Feature - Not hiding the camera - Ryan Hardman
when taking photos and being confronted for taking the images in the street. I have often found that explaining the reason behind images and why I’m photographing puts the subject at ease. Be confident and do not hide your camera or shoot from the hip, and you will create some positive impactful images. The best advice I have about confrontation is to stay calm and not to shout back at the subject, have your mobile phone with you and tell someone before you hit the street so people know where you are. It is also important to remember that you are not doing anything wrong by photographing people in public areas, as long as you have a reasonable and sensible reason why. Height and being in power with the camera Over the last few years I have seen a rise in photographers, subtlety creating power over their subjects with the way the camera is angled. By this I mean photographing a subject sitting down for example, but the photographer is standing, almost looking over the subject and unknowingly creating a feeling of power from the photographer. I would start to crouch if possible or get down on to an equal level that is within the subject’s height, this way you can create powerful images where subjects become the focus and the impact of the image. In my own way I have learnt to start to avoid capturing the homeless and other subjects that can often come across disadvantaged compared to myself, this is because I want to create images that say something to the viewer about how the unique subjects are as a person, not because of the situation they are dealt with.
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Bi Monthly Competition Winner
Winner of the April 2018 Bi Monthly Competition
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Bi Monthly Competition Winner
There were 27 entries for the second 2018 bi-monthly competition. As always we recieved the diverse range of images from across the group, so please keep entering your images. The winning image was ‘ Timeless’ by Emily Renier. ‘What made me press the shutter release? The man’s overall appearance and stance. He just looked like he came from the1930s. I am completing my project on Uniforms. I was heading for the financial quarters of the city. I certainly knew what I was looking for but Ididn’t expect to get so lucky. The eye contact, the frown and the way he is generally leaning made it perfect’.
The 2018 competition asks members to also include a little backgroud to the image providing some context. Please keep an eye out for details on the group RPS page for more details. Each winner will receive a copy of The mind’s eye: writings on photography and photographers by Henri Cartier-Bresson. The next deadline is Friday August 31st for images taken during June, July and August. Please send your submissions to dgcompetitions@rps.org and visit the competition page on the RPS website for details. 47
Bi Monthly Competition Winner
Winner of the June 2018 Bi Monthly Competition
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Bi Monthly Competition Winner
There were 37 entries for the third 2018 bi-monthly competition. As always we recieved the diverse range of images from across the group, so please keep entering your images. The winning image was ‘ English Man, Irish Pub, French Town’ by Angus Stewart. ‘In Jan 2017 the Documentary Group invited people to take part in a project ’Then and Now Photogaphy of the First World War’ with Exeter University. I joined the project and started researching my Great Aunt Jeannette who had run awayfrom home to live in Paris in 1916, during her time there she met and married a Canadian army Captain, Ken Burness. Based on their diaries andletters from 1917 I have been retracing their steps and visiting the places they knew.In April 1917 Ken wrote to Jeannette on eve of the attack on Vimy Ridge. 101 years later I visited the area to see where he had been writing from.After a day, literally in the trenches, I returned to Arles for dinner, stopping for a beer in a pub first - the man in the picture was having a glass ofwine and I asked if I could take his picture. I think he was somewhat dubious about being photographed, but he fits well into the overall project’.
The 2018 competition asks members to also include a little backgroud to the image providing some context. Please keep an eye out for details on the group RPS page for more details. Each winner will receive a copy of The mind’s eye: writings on photography and photographers by Henri Cartier-Bresson. The next deadline is Friday August 31st for images taken during June, July and August. Please send your submissions to dgcompetitions@rps.org and visit the competition page on the RPS website for details. 49
Members Images - Justin Cliffe LRPS
Justin Cliffe LRPS - The Square Mile
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Members Images - Justin Cliffe LRPS
Having worked in The Square Mile (London’s financial district) for many years, I have tried to convey in this series of images, what I still feel is the essence, the character, of ‘The City’. In doing this, I try to show the range of people who work here whether in offices or supporting them, and the environment in which they spend their working day. Why focus on The City? It has a very distinctive feel about it – everyone hurrying, minding their own business, a buzz of activity, the inevitable mobile phone close to hand, among some great architecture, old interspersed with new. Take a tube ride to Bank station and come out by the Royal Exchange and you’ll see what I mean. These particular images have been taken over the past year or so as part of a project; whenever I am in London I try and make a point of getting over to the City as there’s always plenty to see and photograph. My trips there are usually during the working week – when there are lots of people around; either at lunchtime or in the evening, when they are away from their desks. It’s a totally different place at the weekend, frequented mainly by tourists, albeit with the occasional office worker putting in extra hours. That said, it’s not just the bankers and insurers that make up the City’s working population, there are many others making their living away from the financial, insurance and business markets – providing support services, selling food, acting as couriers and distributing free newspapers. All of these make an interesting mix of people to photograph – helped by the fact that they are usually far too busy to notice that they’re being photographed and, even if they do, to stop and ask what you’re doing! For an alternative view of the same subject have a look at the book by Nicholas Sack, ‘Lost in the City’ published by Hoxton Mini Press (ISBN 9781910566039). Website: www.justincliffe.com Twitter: @JustinCliffe
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Members Images - Justin Cliffe LRPS
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Members Images - Justin Cliffe LRPS
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Members Images - Justin Cliffe LRPS
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Members Images - Justin Cliffe LRPS
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Members Images - Justin Cliffe LRPS
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Members Images - Justin Cliffe LRPS
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Members Images - David Gleave
David Gleave Street Portraits My main subject matter is people. I love to photograph people in a candid, fly on the wall style but posed street portraits are also fine. I shoot people in many situations, but I always default to street photography. Just walking and observing with the camera. It’s also very therapeutic and possibly my way of meditating. I went to New York and India a couple of times for no other reason than to walk and take photos. I totally indulged myself and walked up to 10 hours per day. It’s a great way to get to know a place too. I use a Ricoh GR. It has no viewfinder, so it doesn’t spook people at close range as they’re not actually sure that they’re your target. Some of my influences and inspirations are Robert Frank, Bruce Davidson, Daido Moriyama, William Klein, Shirley Baker, Vivien Maier. www.davidgleavephoto.com
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Members Images - David Gleave
Members Images - David Gleave
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Members Images - David Gleave
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Members Images - Ryan Hardman
Ryan Hardman Fixed Wing Project Recently inspired by Martin Parr’s Chelsea flower show project, I wanted to create my own street photography project focused around an event. The Torbay Airshow on Paignton beach which happens every year, attracts 165,000 people which means a lot of unique subjects to capture through contemporary photography. The project focuses on the people attending the show. There is a class divide between people on the beach and people in the posh hotel overlooking Paignton beach. The spectators are very passionate about England and the planes represent hope with the prospect of seeing the spitfire flying over. A few subjects are wearing England flag t-shirts and others in England tops and there is a sense of Brexit within the crowd. The VIP area has people dressed to impress with expensive wine on the tables and the Red Arrows flying over creates interesting and unique subjects as the event unfolds. The project was shot over two days creating enough content for a diverse and immersive project. The show has a village with shops and a fair which people are seen buying toys and clothes and other items from the event. The project name “fixed wing” came from a term used for planes with wings that do not move. I have created a project that has the Airshow within the street portraits, while most of the other photographers focus their cameras into the sky to capture planes I’m getting up close to the subject enjoying the experience of the show and the sun. Paignton is a seaside town, which gets busiest in the summer period, but the main focus is tourism and the Torbay Airshow has become a major calendar event for photographers and visiting families on holiday.
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Members Images - Ryan Hardman
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Members Images - Ryan Hardman
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Members Images - Ryan Hardman
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Members Images - Ryan Hardman
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Members Images - Ryan Hardman
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Members Images - Ryan Hardman
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Members Images - Ryan Hardman
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Members Images - Rolf Kraehenbuehl
Rolf Kraehenbuehl Street Photography I love practicing street photography. And yet, I dread it. It certainly pushes me to the limits of my comfort zone, exposing myself, taking images of strangers in public, possibly being regarded as a prowler, invading the privacy of the subjects. That’s one of the reasons (but not the most important one) why I stick to taking candid images whenever possible. Simply to avoid having to explain myself or even endure an argument with someone who doesn’t fancy being in the frame. However, I recently began to wonder: do I really have to explain myself? Maybe these mental barriers are just that: barriers in my head. So I started working on my mindset, to figure out what are the real barriers and what are the perceived ones, and then peel the latter away from the former. It hasn’t quite worked yet, but maybe it will one day if I’m persistent enough. But the main reason for taking candid images is that I try to capture a scene as an observer only, not to interfere with what is happening in front of the camera. Besides feeling sometimes, a bit uncomfortable practicing street photography, an added complication - and impediment to develop my street photography skills - is, that I live in a rural area. The scenery is stunning, of urbanity there is none. Great for landscape and nature photography, not so great for street photography. While street photography can be done anywhere where there’s a street, a road or any public space, and while I occasionally try this in the villages and little towns in the area, I do feel more inspired in big cities. Mainly because I love to contrast the (lone) human
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element with the built environment, to set a human figure off against the sometimes harsh, rough, and often impersonal structures and surfaces of buildings and urban backgrounds. Until recently my photography focused on the western hemisphere. While I love travelling in Asia, I feel photographically a bit lost, and often uninspired. How can this be? All the hustle and bustle, all the colours, this plethora of possible subjects…! Well, I think there’s just too much going on, and I don’t know where to aim the camera. On the upside: people usually don’t mind being photographed, which eases my little problem mentioned earlier. I have the impression, that while they’re often much less concerned about privacy in public space, they have a heightened awareness of what’s going on around them. On top, my Caucasian skin type makes me stand out and it’s much more difficult to photograph candidly. So, on a recent trip to India, I pushed myself a bit, and tried something new for me: I took to the streets of Panaji and Mumbai with a fisheye body cap lens on my camera, which allows photographing at very close range and adds the, in street photography, rather unusual element of distortion. In both hemispheres, I experience street photography as tough and rewarding at the same time. Sometimes I come home with a lovely shot (at least to my standards), at other times emptyhanded. Is it worth it? Is all the trouble and the uneasiness of trying to break through my mental barriers? My answer: Yes, it is worth it. Every single time!
Members Images - Rolf Kraehenbuehl
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Members Images - Rolf Kraehenbuehl
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Members Images - Rolf Kraehenbuehl
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Members Images - Rolf Kraehenbuehl
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Members Images - Rolf Kraehenbuehl
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Members Images - Rolf Kraehenbuehl
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Members Images - Rolf Kraehenbuehl
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Members Images - Tim Lawson
Tim Lawson
I like a version of street which is more than just ‘boots in unison’. For me, there needs to be something going on which is humorous, unusual, or very apt. As well as ‘the decisive moment’ sometimes ‘the decisive minute or two’ can capture the shot. I waited for several waves before getting the one that drowned the girls. Similarly, I had to wait for the un-moustached middle of the three to show the right ‘snooty’ expression. The Bangladeshi girls were probably grinning at me, but not for long once they saw the camera. That one really was just a moment. Likewise, the little girl only fed the goat for seconds before her mother saw danger.
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Members Images - Tim Lawson
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Members Images - Tim Lawson
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Members Images - Tim Lawson
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Members Images - Derek Riley
Derek Riley A Cat Named Bob A friend and I came across James Bowen, and his cat Bob, on London’s Tottenham Court Road. There were also several people pretending to be statues. Unsurprisingly no one was paying them any attention, but many passers-by were stopping to look at the cat. One of the ‘statues’ became very angry shouting and hurling abuse, which accounts for the ‘Watch it, mate!’ expression on the face of the cat and amusement on James’. James had a chaotic childhood in Surrey, Australia, and then, when his parent’s marriage broke up, back to the UK, with several moves in between. He eked out a living as a busker and Big Issue seller with a serious heroin problem. Living rough, and later in sheltered accommodation, one night he found the injured cat on his doorstep, took it to a vet for treatment, and then nursed it back to health. It seemed that having something to care for had a therapeutic effect on James who managed to kick the drug habit. He wrote a book telling the story which was picked up by a publisher and became a huge international success. In Germany, it is a primary school book for teaching English to young children. The story of James’ life was told in the film, ‘A Street Cat Named Bob’, with Luke Treadway playing the part of James, and Bob playing himself. It premiered with the Duchess of Cambridge in the audience, and ITV gave it significant coverage on the ‘This Morning programme’. 82
Members Images - Derek Riley
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Graham Wilson May Day, Oxford
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Members Images - Graham Wilson
The celebration of May Day in Oxford dates back hundreds of years. A vast crowd gathers at 6am to hear the choristers of Magdalen College choir singing Hymnus Eucharisticus from the Great Tower, which is followed by bell ringing throughout the city and many music and dance activities on streets. The students have been partying all night beforehand, which adds to the atmosphere! My approach to street photography is to try to capture people un-posed, though they often spot me; and, whether before or after, to find a theme in what I have observed that day. To me, it is this theme that makes something documentary rather than the nature of an isolated individual. I really don’t see anything informative in random pictures of strangers looking shocked or oblivious. In 2017, when these images were all taken, I became interested in the relationship of pairs within the sea of many. Oxford seems a particularly friendly city towards street photographers and a few years ago a collective emerged under the leadership of Andrew Turner. Today, three of us run this with a range of Meetups, photo-critiquing and discussion sessions, and we’re about to have our first public event. www.meetup.com/streetphotographersoxford
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Members Images - Graham Wilson
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Members Images - Graham Wilson
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Members Images - Graham Wilson
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Members Images - Graham Wilson
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Members Images - Graham Wilson
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Review - The Magnum Street Photography Course
Not for the faint hearted... The Magnum Street Photography Course, Paris Graham Wilson
Magnum have been offering educational events for some time ranging from short courses to long term programmes over several months. Their street photography course is delivered over a weekend by Richard Kalvar and Matt Stuart, both Magnum professionals with a well known and accessible bodies of work in the field. Kalvar has been widely published since the 1970s and Stuart is a more recent member of the family and a worthy successor to the agency’s list of street practitioners. One of the extra selling points of the course is that it runs from the Magnum offices in the heart of Paris, barely 5 minutes walk from the Sacre Coeur. On this particular weekend, the added bonus was the chance to pour over an exhibition in their gallery of Raymond Depardon’s earlier work.
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Review - The Magnum Street Photography Course
A profession is said to require a body of knowledge, based on core facts, specific skills, and a blend of attitudes. If you are expecting presentations (with or without PowerPoint), packs of handouts, or a polished VLE (most Further and Higher Education courses draw heavily on a virtual learning environment to supplement or ‘flip’ the teaching), then you will be disappointed. While Kalvar and Stuart were available to advise on basic skills, if an image had ‘technical issues’ students needed to perform their own diagnosis and sort it quickly. This course concentrates on attitudes. The attitudes of the street photographer to themselves, their work, and their subjects. It does so in an uncompromising way and is not for the faint hearted! To those who ‘get this’, the impact of the course could be profound. There can’t be many courses of any kind, let alone photography ones, where one of the tutors (Kalvar) finds himself surrounded by police, where one participant is similarly surrounded by pickpockets, and another has his camera torn from his wrist. In each case demanding that their photographs be deleted. To be fair, France (and Europe, generally) is in the middle of a debate about privacy law, and street photography is one of the battle lines. There have been demonstrations, and, according to Kalvar, photographers have had their equipment sprayed with blue paint. This did not deter Magnum, and it shouldn’t deter street photographers. This environment is not for the faint hearted though. There had been some confusion about the work which participants were to bring with them (“a short portfolio and 3 minutes introduction”). Some people carried a portfolio of general images, many of which were not related to street photography at all; the size of these also varied enormously. Consequently, the initial review of these portfolios scheduled for 2 hours, lasted nearly 5, which was hard to understand at the time and quite frustrating. Undoubtedly, with a little better communication, and a limit on the number of images each person should present, this could have been reduced, and probably should be. As a result, the two hours dedicated to a presentation on Richard and Matt’s work was reduced to an hour. However, the message which emerged over the next two days did relate back to the participants’ current practices, and was certainly profound. Asked about his own work, Kalvar suggested that a good street photographer might produce no more than a hundred, and probably fewer, exceptional images in their lifetime - one or two a year. This is a search for a Holy Grail - a lifelong search. The point of this course, was not really to teach street photography but to convey the need for that lifelong search and embed a practice that might achieve it. It is tempting to wonder if this is part of the ethos of Magnum, the common goal that drives all its members? It calls for an extraordinary commitment to their art. Matt observed that he had barely earned anything for more than a year. This is a journey and, again, not for the faint hearted.
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Review - The Magnum Street Photography Course
Richard, especially, was not interested in our introductions, so these were never shared, though obviously we gleaned small details from casual conversations. Both men refused to “intellectualise”, and there was little encouragement to explore theory, philosophy, or ambitions, so the “vivid group discussions about current projects, goals, and strategies for professional development” promised in the course notes didn’t really take place. As this is how some of us learn, and was certainly part of my interest in being there, this was to me a disappointment. Though they didn’t spell them out, what emerged over the two days were some straightforward guidelines for street photographs; • They should feature something of interest, something that intrigues, confuses or otherwise engages the viewer. They are never simply a record of what happened in a particular moment. • Street photography is of people, un-posed, usually candid, and usually without the subject being aware of you. • You need very good reason to waste any pixels. Extraneous information, background detail, or mildly mistimed shots are not tolerated. • If you are going to use someone else’s material, a clever juxtaposition, their artwork (such as an advertising hoarding), and so on, then... forget it. • Focus has to be sharp, directly on the main subject. Anything other than sharp is a ‘technical issue’. • You do not crop in post processing, only on the ground by using your legs. • Therefore, you have to get very close - how close depends on the image but most of their preferred ones were within a metre of the subject. Yes, you read that correctly: within one metre. • You don’t take one image. While the very occasional quick grab can work if your reflexes are sharp, Kalvar and Stuart are looking for a considered approach based on more than a few and perhaps even a dozen shots of the same scene. Richard admitted that he may not always press the shutter for some of these, however a video shot by Stuart during our session in Republique earned Richard a soubriquet Mohammed Ali would have been pleased with. In some ways, these are the criteria which Kelvar and Stuart apply in their search for the “Holy Grail’’ and it isn’t surprising that many of their own images don’t totally live up to them. These guidelines are not the result of a formal presentation, but instead emerged from the critiquing of the participants’ pictures over the two days. Twice during the workshop we were sent off individually to practice in a particular area for 3 or 4 hours. It was during these exercises that the incidents I mentioned took place. 94
Review - The Magnum Street Photography Course
After each session, there was a little private time to process the pictures, and we were then encouraged to present our best images. Selection, sequencing, and self-critiquing were all strongly encouraged and, to be fair, most of us got better over the two days. Every image presented was critiqued by Richard and Matt. Some simply got a “No”, “Bad”, and even a “You knew this was awful; why did you include it?” Undoubtedly accurate, these observations weren’t delivered in a consistently nurturing manner, and although a joke was made of it, and Matt put a lot of effort in initially to defuse it, one person was very nearly reduced to tears by the ‘robust’ feedback on her initial portfolio. Again, not something for the faint hearted! Would I recommend the course? Yes, wholeheartedly. Has it transformed my approach to my [street] photography? Without a doubt. Has it helped me understand a little about the Magnum agency and its members? I think so. Do I have the guts to put this into practice? We will see! For more information about the Magnum education programme, visit: https://www.magnumphotos.com/theory-and-practice/ magnum-education/
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Review - Visa pour l’image
Visa pour l’image Simon Maddison LRPS
In the convent Dining Hall - Simon Maddison LRPS
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Review - Visa pour l’image
This year, Perpignan will host the 30th Visa Pour l’Image - International Festival of Photojournalism. For the documentary photographer, this is the ‘must visit’ annual photo exhibition in France, and entry is free. Forget about Arles. Spread over the first two weeks in September the festival reports and reflects the world today. The work of about 25 photographers is exhibited in 6 or 7 historic venues across the city in southern France. As one might expect, dealing with contemporary issues the horrors of current wars loom large and the 2017 festival featured 3 exhibitions on the battle for Mosul. Disruption, migration and refugees increasingly feature, and 2018 will feature Kevin Frayer’s Desperate Journey documenting the Rohingya Exodus. However social themes and photo essays on “gentler” subjects are always represented; the 2015 programme which featured Nancy Borowick’s Cancer Family, Stephanie Sinclair’s Nepal Living Goddesses and Gerd Ludwig’s quirky Nuclear Tourism looking at visitors to Chernobyl. 2015 also showcased the 1990 work of Juan Manuel Castro Prieto using a large format camera to photograph the people of the Andes in the footsteps of Martin Chambi. Retrospectives are a frequent feature and 2015 was the turn of Eli Reed of Magnum with his A Long Walk Home featuring a collective portrait of the American experience. 2016 saw Marc Riboud’s 1963 images of Castro and Cuba which were as fresh as when they were taken and particularly poignant as Riboud (93) died during their exhibition. Tragically, retrospectives are often held of photographers killed at work. 2014 featured the work of Chris Hondros killed in Lybia and Anja Niedringhaus murdered in Afghanistan. The same year saw a large exhibition The Photographers of North Vietnam a rare opportunity to see how the war was photographed on the “other side” by largely unknown photographers. Visa includes many evening events. This is when the prestigious annual awards are presented. Visitors can hear photographers talk about their
work, as Don McCullin did in 2013 when he was the subject of a major retrospective, The Impossible Peace. If you are fortunate, you can catch a photographer being interviewed in front of their work on the first weekend. For example, in 2016, Marie Dorigny spoke about her exhibition Displaced - Women in Exile and Peter Bauza discussed his images of homeless families Copacabana Palace - Brazil. In 2013, the New York Times photographer, Joao Silva (who lost both legs on assignment in Afghanistan) was talking about an exhibition drawn from his archives. The historic buildings used for the exhibitions add an extra dimension to the Festival experience. Viewing them in the old kitchens and dormitories of the Couvent des Minimes people are often hushed - but then the floorboards dramatically creek under you. The high vaulted ceilings of the Eglise des Dominicans give a cool atmosphere for the exhibitions shown there. All the venues are within easy walking distance of each other. The one venue slightly apart is the Arsenal des Carmes which houses the excellent Daily Press exhibition where international daily newspapers compete with their best images of the year. Walking to the Arsenal gives you the opportunity to pass through Perpignan’s old quarter where street photographers snatch images of the gitanes who live here and with a bit of luck even get a smile. The icing on the cake is that Visa also hosts the World Press Photo exhibition for that year so you can see these tremendous images several months before they get to London.
The Official website: www.visapourlimage.com Simon’s Visa and Perpignan images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/simonmaddison/collections/72157632266181823/
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The Documentary Group focuses on photography which chronicles everyday life in the broadest possible way, as well as topical events and photography which preserves the present for the future, through both individual images and documentary ‘stories’. It is typically found in professional photojournalism, real life reportage, but importantly for us it is an amateur, artistic, or academic pursuit. The photographer attempts to produce truthful, objective, and usually candid photography of a particular subject, often of people.
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Flickr
Members form a dynamic and diverse group of photographers globally who share a common interest in documentary and street photography. We welcome photographers of all skill levels and offer members a diverse programme of workshops, photoshoots, longerterm projects, a prestigious Documentary Photographer of the Year (DPoTY) competition, exhibitions, and a quarterly online journal “Decisive Moment’. In addition to our AGM and members gettogether we have an autumn prize-giving for the DPoTY incorporating a members social day. Some longer-term collaborative projects are in the pipeline for the future. Additionally, we have an active Flickr group and Facebook page. Overseas members pay £5 per annum for Group membership rather than the £15 paid by UK based members. The Documentary Group is always keen to expand its activities and relies on ideas and volunteer input from its members. If you’re not a member come and join us see: http://www.rps.org/special-interest-groups/ documentary/about/dvj-membership Find us on the RPS website at: http://www.rps.org/special-interest-groups/documentary
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The orphans - Christopher Osborne
www.rps.org/special-interest-groups/documentary Designed, Edited & Published by Jhy Turley ARPS www.jhyturley.com