Getting to grips with the ARPS distinction.

11/08/10

I guess my most concentrated project at the moment, although this has only recently found any real sense of focus, is the making and panelling of images for my Royal Photographic Society Associateship distinction. Finding a good theme or focus for my ARPS has proven quite difficult in some respects, but on the other hand the process of doing this has really helped me to slow down and think about my photography. I’ve received invaluable criticism and advice from Leigh Preston who has really helped me to hone my thinking. Leigh ‘cuts the crap’ most effectively with his guidance and doesn’t indulge whatever protective or defensive emotions you may have about your work. Although this was a bit of a shock to my ego at first, in retrospect I can see that Leigh’s ‘directness’ has been a massive help in rescuing me from wallowing around in un productive indulgences and actually finding my feet more quickly at this next level of photography.

In my heart of hearts I’d have loved to produce a nice travel panel or perhaps a series of stunning landscapes. However the realities of on the one hand my personality (with the best will in the world I’m just not one of those people who can walk up to a complete stranger in the street and solicit a portrait) and on the other my lifestyle (frequent sojourns to exotic and awe inspiring locations just aren’t on the cards) would have made either of these impractical, at least in the short term. What, with Mr Preston’s advice, I eventually worked my way around to is making images with a strong emphasis on design, something he’d spotted in a couple of my pictures that I’m actually rather good at. Following this revelation I began to set about making pictures in a variety of locations and with a variety of subjects that embodied strong shapes and forms, linear elements, boldly contrasting colours and so on, with some success.

From this I narrowed myself down even further and started to concentrate on images very much based upon receding parallel lines and repeated shapes. One of the key images in moving me to this decision is that of the recently harvested Normandy Field, which I actually made about a year ago and which can be seen elsewhere on this blog. Oddly enough I’m now no longer sure if this image will be used in my final ARPS panel or not. I now feel that I have a strong focus for my A panel and that I have also gathered a strong set of images that work fairly well together, though doubtless I’ll be replacing some of these as time moves on. What’s most interesting is that I know how much this process of honing down my field of vision has improved my photographic seeing. It would seem that once you know exactly what you’re looking for the better you become at noticing when it’s there – common sense I suppose but something I’d clearly forgotten.
So while I won’t be submitting that dreamed of panel travel or dramatic landscape images, I will be submitting a visual art panel of images that perhaps have far more of me in them than would otherwise have been the case. Although I wouldn’t wish to get ahead of myself, I now feel like I have far more of the tools necessary to start considering my next step: a Fellowship, but that’s another story. My A assessment is due in March, I missed the boat for this autumn, so I’ve got a bit of a wait, but not to worry.