The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, more commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), was founded in 1853 and is one of the world’s oldest photographic societies. It is supported in its efforts by its patron, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge.
It is a membership-based community of thousands of people who engage in photography and “believe in its importance as an artistic, scientific, and expressive medium.” The funding from membership goes towards its regular Journal, website, education resources, and various competitions. The organization also receives gifted funds which allow it to provide bursaries and support for specific projects.
The RPS believes that “photography, and the imaging science that underpins the medium, can advance our social, cultural, and economic well-being, and our health,” which is why it has created a five-year strategic plan to allow more people to become involved, using a tagline of “inspire, create, and connect.” The 21 planned programs are also structured under these three pillars.
All of these three pillars have five common aims — inclusion, environmental and social responsibility, member participation, financial sustainability, and profile-raising — to deliver the organization’s future vision for photographers, which is “a world where everyone is inspired, empowered, and educated in the art and science of photography.”
Throughout our 168-year history, the Royal Photographic Society has grown and evolved alongside the practice of photography. This evolution has been driven by the ambitions of our members, by leaps in technology, and by changes in society.
Today, we recognize there are many new challenges and opportunities, and that photography is as important now as it has ever been.
The “inspire” initiative plans to help people access and understand photographic work and share information on subjects of importance, as well as changes in this industry. This will be achieved through exhibitions, the RPS Awards and Journal, a new RPS historic collection, various campaigns, publication and print sales, and also through the new Photographer Laureate, which will award a suitable candidate every two years to take on the role of an ambassador for photography in the UK.
“Create” sets out to provide leadership and resources for photographic education to support the process of creating and understanding. This part of the initiative will be achieved through education programs, awards, a Chartered Photographer scheme, and various activities that encourage people to take part in recording the world around them.
Lastly, “connect” is focused on the promotion of belonging, mentorship, and inclusivity. The RPS already promotes engagement with others through its regional hubs and groups but has also added a “Young photographers” support network for both children and teachers, as well as mentorship opportunities, and multi-media content to educate and engage.
This initiative has been developed as a result of months of research and consultations with people across various organizations, including volunteers, and has been created to give the organization a clear direction for the next five years and beyond.
If you are interested in the initiative, you can read the full 2021 – 2026 RPS strategy guide which outlines each section in detail.
Image credits: Image by Rebecca Faith and used courtesy of the Royal Photographic Society
Photographer Michael Shainblum is has shared multiple videos and tutorials about landscape photography and in two recent uploads, he juxtaposes what can be done with two different perspectives — wide-angle versus telephoto — in a very familiar environment.
In the first video above, Shainblum wanted to first and foremost encourage photographers to explore their local environments and be creative instead of worrying about going to dramatic places. The series of images below he captured entirely within Golden Gate Park, an easily accessible area in San Francisco that, before the pandemic, plays host to 24 million visitors a year.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time scouting around here because there is such a great variety of different trees,” he says. “There are a lot of opportunities not only wide-angle scenes but also some pretty cool macro opportunities with different textures.”
Clearly, this location is not exotic, would not normally be seen as exciting, and is certainly not unexplored. But that’s the point, according to Shainblum. You can see some of the results from his shoot below:
In a second video, Shainblum shows the kinds of images he captured when he switched to a 70-200mm lens.
Looking at the photos below, it is clear that even in a very familiar environment, with the right kind of creative eye, you can make compelling images in places that would normally not be seen as particularly high on adventurers’ lists.
The contrast of these two sets of images is impressive given his shooting location.
“I think sometimes in landscape photography there is such a heavy emphasis put onto location,” Shainblum says. “And while don’t get me wrong, I love visiting the craggy mountains of the Dolomites or the sea cliffs of the Faroe Islands, I don’t think it’s necessary to travel to these places to create interesting photographs. Maybe dramatic photography, but even in a place like this, you can find some really interesting stuff. I guess I would encourage you to do that locally.”
In an effort to encourage more people to adopt black, dark-coated animals, photographer Chantal Levesque has been working on a long-term photo project designed to highlight their happiness and push aside stigmas associated with their color and boost adoption rates.
Levesque tells PetaPixel that anecdotal personal experience, as well as experiences from volunteers at shelters that she has spoken to, indicates that black animals, namely black cats and dogs, stay longer in shelters than those of other colors.
“I had a big black dog called Ruth as a kid and shared 16 years of my adult life with a super handsome black cat, Diablo,” Levesque says. “I’ve always loved black animals so I was quite surprised to learn when working with shelters that they were often overlooked and the last to get adopted.”
Black cats in particular carry with them a stigma of bad luck. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says that black cats are two-thirds less likely to get adopted than white cats and only half as likely to be adopted as tabby cats. Still, there have been studies that state the link between that history and modern adoption rates has been largely debunked.
Still, the experiences of shelter volunteers should not be wholly ignored. As one volunteer Levesque spoke to put it, dark-colored animals are often considered scary or are not as photogenic as other color configurations which leads to them falling in overall popularity.
“What happens is that big black dogs are still considered scary by some people who are less aware or educated on the subject,” the volunteer, named Laurie, says. “This is a reality that I have witnessed as much in shelters as in my personal life. People would rather stop and pet Yuki (a tan coat) who wears the muzzle than Mowgli (black coat) who is, without a doubt, the most sociable of my three dogs.”
Kindness for Cats specifically notes that black cats have the lowest adoption rate and the highest euthanasia rate because of the challenges with photographing them.
“According to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home as well as Dogs Trust, black animals are also more difficult to photograph. Therefore, they are not favored by lovers of photography or Instagram,” Laurie adds.
The Los Angeles Times wrote in 2008 that there is a pervasive idea that dark-coated animals will be passed over for adoption in favor of their lighter counterparts, and while skeptics say the syndrome is an urban legend, shelter volunteers like Laurie and rescue leaders insist the phenomenon is real.
While specific data is either inconclusive or not specifically logged, the experiences of people who work with the animals and in shelters should not be ignored. In the spirit of that belief, Levesque’s photography project called Chasing Shadows aims at creating images that show off what “magnificent, goofy, sweet, funny, adventurous creatures” black dogs and cats really are.
“Through portraits, action shots, and moody environmental photography, like stills from a movie, their stories will be told and adventures will be lived,” she says.
Levesque’s images embrace the animals’ dark coats and place them in desaturated, black and white environments to highlight the contrast of their fur. While the photos may at first glance look to be taken in black and white, the images are actually in full color but framed in such a way as to highlight the monochrome nature of the dark-coated creatures.
“Photographed in many shades of grey, the animal’s personality, spunk, liveliness, and of course their badassery can be displayed without any distractions. The only color being the flicker in their eye that lets us gaze into their kind, loving souls.”
Below are several animals accompanied by the stories from their newly adopted families.
Balzac | “Balzac is a thief: he likes to steal stuffed animals or cushions and he comes and waves them under our noses. He is a big cuddle bug, a dog with a tender heart … he loves everyone and all the dogs he meets. He loves to come and put his head on our knees to beg for love and scratches.”Ruby | “She loves her routine. Around 8:30 in the evening she comes to sit in front of me and she stares at me. The first few times it took me a while to understand, I wondered what she wanted. I finally understood that she wants to go and get tucked in my bed. One evening we were in on holiday around the camp fire and around 8:30 she did her same routine. She wanted to be tucked in! I had to improvise a bed on a camping chair with covers. She slept there, happy by my side!”Bruce | “He loves to take long hikes and is probably better than me at it. He is a pretty good guard dog for his tiny size. Although he has autoimmune hemolytic anemia he is a hyper and happy little guy who loves taking his medication and will come get me when it’s time to take them.”Clochette | “She has thumbs on all fours! And she can sense when someone is not feeling well and she comes to cuddle (contrary to her independent usual self).”Leila | “She is a finicky dog on food. She doesn’t eat fruits or vegetables, she doesn’t even like peanut butter, but she LOVES tofu and cilantro. She might look like a big mean dog with her pointed ears and black fur, and she might scare people. But what people don’t know is that deep down she is the big coward! She is afraid of everything: people, bikes, even the electric toothbrush!”Leyla | “Leyla sleeps with me and she decided since she was a baby that the second place in the bed was for her! I’d always dreamed of having an affectionate dog, can say I got what I wanted!”Loko | “Everyone says border collies are crazy, and after five minutes with him at the shelter, we knew that Max (his old name) was not for him. We thought Loko suited him much better. He does this thing where he turns onto his back and swings his tail from side to side, like a happy dance lying on his back. ”Louky | “ Every night she lies down with all fours in the air and snores like a tractor! I’ve never heard a dog snore that loud!”Mowgli | “Despite his badass appearance, Mowgli is a real man’s boy. He’s the sweetest of my pack! He purrs, has an uncontrollable passion for bananas (if a stranger eats bananas nearby, Mowgli will keep his eyes soft until he gets his desire!). And gives hugs.”Oochie | “Quite timid by nature, she loves to chatter, hence her nickname oochie-nini (because of my aunt who chatters and also the one who fed and survived oochie and her brothers and sisters in 2015). As soon as she comes in from the outside she lets us know that she is there. In winter in the morning when she gets up, she makes herself heard and she likes to come to be petted, so she comes to knead on me and presses her face against mine while I pet her, she is so happy that she sticks out her little tongue and drools.”Shadow | “He’s 13 and still fit! It always impresses people. When we hike up big mountains people often stop us to ask us how old he is and they are always surprised that he is also in such good shape. They always tell me that he has a ‘nice muscular build.'”Yoko | “She brings back whatever she finds on the floor that seems out of place. She is extremely delicate and does not damage anything with her teeth. It can be very useful when we drop something on the ground! We put that to good use and she now brings us beer on demand! I also taught her to pick up her toys and bring them back to her storage basket. Yoko loves to work. It does mean, however, that she brings back the beer at inconvenient times!”
Levesque hopes that this project will continue to grow and encourages anyone to submit their dark-coated animal for consideration for inclusion into this project here.
“Black animals rock, let’s show the world!”
Image credits: Photos by Chantal Levesque and used with permission.
The Photo Is Light World Photography Contest has announced its 2020 winners in six categories and, among them, the “Illuminated Photographer,” who received the highest score throughout the competition.
Warning: Some images below may not be suitable for all audiences or environments. Viewer discretion is advised.
The competition, based in Brazil, judged a large number of photographic submissions across six categories — Architecture, Fine Art, Nature, Landscape, People, and Photojournalism — and received entries from 66 different countries.
Ten entries with the highest score within each category received recognition with a digital certificate and are published online on the Photo is Light website, with the top three winners included in the count. The first-place winners also received a cash prize of $500, while the nominated “Illuminated Photographer” winner, who had the overall highest score awarded by the jury, received a total of $1000.
Below are each of the categories as well as the winners.
Architecture
The winning image above, titled The Colorful Doors, was shot by Gerdie Hutomo, an Indonesia based photographer who likes to travel and captured these colorful doors on an office building in Tokyo, Japan.
Second place: Judith KuhnThird place: Anna Wacker
Fine Art
The first place image in this category, above, was awarded to Oksana Moroziuk for her entry titled Arrived, which embodies the photographer’s fantasies and explains that she gives “viewers an opportunity to fantasize and interpret what they see on their own.” The photographer has received numerous competition awards around the world and two of her works are stored in The State Russian Museum.
Second place: Jozed DanyiThird place: Jack Savage
Nature
Thomas Vijayan’s image above, titled Peek a boo, won first place in the “Nature” category. The photographer captured this Pallas’ cat hiding in the snow while out photographing wild horses. At first, he didn’t even notice the animal, but the bright eyes gave its location away. Vijayan was intrigued and spent several hours observing and photographing this beautiful wild cat.
Second place: Tracey LundThird place: Xiangli Zhang
Landscape
With the image above, titled The landscape of fear, photographer Francisco Negroni not only won first place in the “Landscape” category but was also awarded the “Illuminated Photographer” title as the overall winner of the competition.
The image was shot in the lake region in Chile, which has several active volcanoes, such as Chaiten and Calbuco. In 2015, the latter started a new eruption that terrified the locals; this phenomenon was visible from hundreds of kilometers and gave an opportunity for this apocalyptic moment captured in the photograph.
Second place: Ivan PedrettiThird place: Xavier Mas
People
Titled The young breeder, the image above was shot by Roberto Pazzi and was awarded first place in this category. This portrait of a Mundari child and a herd of bulls was photographed in South Sudan. The photographer explains, “the Mundari are cattle herders of South Sudan who dedicated their lives to the care of their cattle,” and young children do a lot of the hard work looking after the animals. Pazzi has received awards in several competitions and has a permanent exposition in Singapore.
Second place: Pietro di GiambattistaThird place: Sebastiano Bellomo
Photojournalism
Zachary Birdson won the “Photojournalism” category with his powerful entry, titled Not solved, above. Birdsong is an award-winning newspaper photographer and photographed the 5-year-old Jade Battle holding up her protest sign during a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest march in Winchester, Tenessee, on June 6, 2020.
Second place: Simon Moricz SabjanThird place: Sebastiano Bellomo
The judging panel consisted of an international jury: editor Benjamin Leterrier (France), architect and artist Vera Odyn (Russia), and photographers Darcie Sternenberg (USA), Felipe Foncueva (Spain), Miquel Angel Artús Illana (Spain), Marcio Cabral (Brazil), Najla Angawi (Saudi Arabia), Pierluigi Rizzato (Italy), and Srinivas Kuruganti (India) who all evaluated and checked each finalist image.
All top 10 entries of each category as well as each winner’s individual stories can be viewed on Photo is Light website here.
Image credits: All photos individually credited and provided courtesy of the Photo is Light competition.
