New Photography Seminars at Calumet

 

Our next set of photography seminars with Calumet are just starting both in Birmingham and Drummond St in London. Full details can either be found in this month's issue of Calumet Focus (along with an article about Emphasis Photography) or on the Calumet Seminar web site.

If you need more details, please don't hesitate to contact either myself or Peter at Calumet Birmingham.

Richard

www.emphasis.biz

www.richardsouthall.co.uk

Birmingham Photography Courses - 'End of Year Shows 2011'

This is a difficult piece for me to write as I had set out this year with high hopes for the photographic education sector in the Birmingham area. Over the last couple of years, I have seen a slow, but marked improvement in the creative output from the region and thus hoped this trend could be continued.

In total, I visited 6 shows and have opted, after much discussion with several of my peers, not to the name these establishments. I was unable to visit the Coventry and Stafford Uni shows due to work commitments but quite enjoyed several of the submissions on their online galleries.

The work exhibited this year falls into 3 main categories - the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately the majority falls into the latter.

So here goes, my thoughts on the shows viewed (these are not in the order viewed or ranked):

1. University/College
Creativity
None of the submissions showed any creative spark or initiative to think out of the box. The same tired projects were wheeled out  again - burlesque, death, zombies, band photography. The students had obviously not been encouraged to widen their repertoire of imaging or consider industry trends. Little or no observation of light in the images produced.
Technical
Little evidence of advanced camera/lighting skills. The majority of students appeared to be working at L1 with regards to key camera skills with at least a dozen images on show unintentionally out of focus. No evidence of workflow/raw file colour/management being taught.
Presentation
For the most part adequate but greater care could have been taken in the framing and mounting of work.

2. University/College
With this show, I was truly lost for words. Even after several days of reflection I can not adequately described how bad this show was. A fellow peer described it as the worst camera club show he had ever seen. I feel this is truly unfair to keen amateurs as I have seen their passion and pride they take in their photography. This show failed on virtually ever level. There was no evidence from the work on display of camera control, basic understanding of compositional values, no lighting skills or presentation techniques. Some of the work was mounted onto Kapa board with 3/4 strips of double sided tape (sticking out the edges ) causing a wave effect across the surface of the prints.
Other prints were curling at the corners, peeling off or had started to drop out of their window mounts. I am at a loss why the lecturers/course leader allowed this to go up unless they are seeking early retirement or a sizeable redundancy payment.

3. University/College
By far the best on show.
Creativity
A good range of visual styles and specialities had been explored. The students had been obviously encouraged to broaden their creative thinking and this was reflected in the responses on show. There was for the most, a lack of observation of light and the images appeared flat/lifeless.
Technical
For the most part good L2. I would liked to have seen greater control of exposure, depth of field control and basic lighting techniques. Quite a few of the images were let down by silly mistakes - considering the time of day the image should have been taken for optimum lighting, marks on backgrounds, obtrusive/distracting items in the foreground/background. These should have been picked up in crits by the lecturers and students.
Presentation
For the most - consistently good standard. A couple of very weak items were noticeable. 

4. University/College
Creativity
Unfortunately not as good as  their  last couple of years' submissions. This could simply down to poor student year group but the work on display lacked originality and creative spark. The same old student projects came out to haunt me - zombies, death, bad band shots (I was half expecting to see pics of ducks by the end).
Technical
Good evidence of key camera skills and use of B&W/film media. No evidence of digital work flow or basic digital image control (re-sized pictures pix-elated and group/batch pictures showing marked density and colour balance differences)
Presentation
This appeared rushed and done on a severe budget. At least the presentation was consistent and uniform. A lot of the prints hadn't been properly spray mounted and had started to peel.

5. University/College
Creativity I thought overall this was the most interesting set of ideas I saw throughout my journeys. However, the students were hampered by poor execution of their images through lack of technical skills. This could have been an exciting submission but their trade craft was unable to support their enthusiasm and excitement for the medium.

6. University/College
Yet again I am lost for words. This show is almost at the same level as institution no.2. The only thing that saves it from the wooden spoon was the level of presentation (which is only mildly better). There was no evidence amongst any of the images on display that the students had any awareness of basic camera, composition, lighting or printing skills. It was though they had all endured a creative lobotomy upon entering entering the department. From the evidence of the work on display, a major rethink of the aims and objectives and quality management of the department needs to be undertaken if photography education is to remain viable there.

 Overall, I was very disappointed with the work I viewed. There seems to be little evidence of any trade craft being taught at the majority of the establishments viewed and this is reflected in the work produced. Also, the lecturers seem to be becoming complaisant about the projects being set and the lack of encouragement/criticism they are prepared to give to students. A lot of the poorer images could be easily dealt with by regular (weekly) crits which help students identify poor imaging through robust but constructive feedback from peers, tutors and visiting professionals. At present, I gather from talking to ex-students who are still in education, this is not happening.

From the student prospective, I felt a lot if the work was rushed or given insufficient time to be completed adequately. Some submissions felt like they had been taken/produced over 2 hours on a wet Tuesday afternoon so I must ask the question, what were these students doing for the rest of the academic year. It is as almost as though that the students have failed to grasp the importance of this time to produce a coherent and professional set of 12-16 images which will enable them to continue in this industry they profess to love.

What truly worries me, is that the vast majority of the students whose work I viewed could not even undertake the simplest pack shot. Their basic camera control skills are woefully inadequate and thus even the simplest commercial brief would be beyond their ability. I feel that educators need to take a long hard look at the content/structure of their courses in light of this years submissions and decide the raison d'etre for their scheme of work because if you trying to prepare these young people for the harsh world of industry, your failing them miserably.

On a brighter note, I would like to congratulate the following students on their work including the excellent fashion images by Mihaela Calin,
Michaela Calin
Aleksandra Zagozda
Lukasz Gajdek

Richard Southall
www.emphasis.biz
www.richardsouthall.co.uk

A busy couple of weeks......

White Stuff - Wilmslow

Cancer Research - Oxford

Shabab - Birmingham

Just a few images from the shoots from the last couple of weeks...

Copyright all images - Richard Southall


Richard

www.emphasis.biz
www.richardsouthall.co.uk

What constitutes a Professional Photographer?

In the early part of my career, there seemed to be a very tight definition as what constituted a professional photographer. Most of the trade associations asserted that a photographer must generate at least 80-85% of their annual income from photography. But things have changed rapidly over the last couple of years, and the majority of the photographers I have spoken to regularly, openly admit they have had to seek alternative income streams so as to survive.

Usually this has been in the form of lecturing and teaching and I, for one, have been exited and challenged by this new career opportunity. Others have looked slightly further a field than this and now enjoy such activities as furniture restoration, gardening and decorating. I certainly don't take a negative view of this and realise that with hard economic times we need to protect our fragile existence and this can only be done by relying on additional income streams.

However the one thing all these photographers have in common is their attitude towards their trade craft and their creativity. They are not prepared to comprise the process by which they creatively produce their images or the way in which they serve their customers. So what constitutes the service of a professional photographer and why are we older practitioners so reluctant to compromise it:

- someone who is willing to invest time to understand a client's product and service and then interpret it to maximum effect through a carefully devised creative solution.

- to work in a courtesy, polite and professional manner and to make sure that all deadlines around the brief are met to an exacting standard.

- to work under pressure and react calmly and efficiently when things don't go to plan.

- making sure all the appropriate insurances are in place (public liability, indemnity and goods in trust) and that they comply and work within the health and safety guidelines of the industries they are employed by.
 
-willingness to invest in the latest technology and equipment so that he keeps abreast of the changes to industry and provide the creative solutions in the most appropriate format for the client. Also investing time through education and training to make the most of these advancements.

- customer after-care, storing the images securely which we have been produced for the client and making sure that they have  ready access to them over many years. Also to act to protect the rights of the images so that client knows that his company images are not being 'used and abused' by others.

As you can see, these are not unreasonable things to aspire to but unfortunately these also have a heavy financial implication on the individuals that wish to meet these standards. Over the last few years, the 'dayrate' of photographers has inexorably been driven downwards and clients have sought to maximise their returns from their advertising spend. I totally sympathise with this and have implemented many changes in the way we now now market our business. However, there is a line that I now feel we are crossing where creativity and service is being sacrificed for short term gain.

 Many of the new entrants to the photography industry, are ill-prepared for the requirements that are place upon them by clients (poor or no training). I am always staggered by the response when I ask at seminars how many of the individuals there, who are undertaking paid work, are insured. Very rarely do I encounter  a respondent who says yes and the majority of the time I am asked by the delegates why insurance is required at all (we just taking some pics). On other occasions, I am confronted by prospective clients who are facing a major dilemma, they existing photographer who they had been paying £100-150 a day for the last year or so has 'gone bust' or disappeared and they no longer had access to their images or the photographer had sold them to a 'rights free' picture library in one last desperate attempt to raise money.

 So I would suggest it's the attitude and approach which governs whether an individual can be classified as a 'professional' but this can only be met with the support and understanding of the client.

Richard

www.emphasis.biz
www.richardsouthall.co.uk

Mint Casino - Southampton

Images from last weeks shoot at Mint Casino, Southampton.

All images copyright - Richard Southall

Richard
www.emphasis.biz
www.richardsouthall.co.uk

Photography education - another brick in the wall

'Education, education, education' is the battle cry I am constantly confronted with these days, whether it is the local councillor canvassing for votes or by the dean of art at a college I am visiting. To be honest, this word now only makes me angry and belligerent. Fours years ago, I started my journey into the world of education (which I sometimes now think of as the journey into the 'heart of darkness) with much hope and optimism. In my early career, I had been taught by Dave Lloyd and John Hodgett (who I am very lucky to count as a friend today) and they installed a set of skills and knowledge in me which I still value today.

In hindsight, I naively thought education and in particular photography education still encouraged and espoused the same views and principles which it had for me 25 years ago. And in some small way, I hope to add my own experiences and wisdom to the knowledge base of the new breed of aspiring photographers. What initially shocked me was the anger and dispirited nature of the students I initially encountered. Their passion for photography had all but drained away within the 6 months since joining their respective courses.

I soon was confronted with the reality of the situation which seems to be consistent across most student's experiences. During my photographic education, I can barely remember a day when weren't expected to use our cameras or respond to a short 1 hour brief where we would be expected to shoot, process and produce a contact for a crit. These days, students seem to be bogged down in endless and repetitive workbooks and journals, where they must repeatedly justify their views and actions. In some cases, I was encountering students who hadn't taken a picture for over six weeks but had been confined to workroom to slavishly produce a workbook that would represent 80% of their final mark.

This was highlighted to me early this week, when a former student rang me to complain about a situation at her current university. She was in furious state after discovering a fellow peer had been awarded a distinction for failing to hand in any practical work (images) but had instead written a 2000 word essay justifying her idea and what she would have done if they had had time to complete the assignment.

Frankly, I didn't know how to respond, I know I should have been incredulous or angry, but my short time in academia has taught me that all things are possible. The lack of practical workshops and hands-on-camera experience has particularly concerned me, especially given that we live in a digital age. I could understand the reduction in workshops if we were still reliant on film and paper (most courses' materials and resources are woefully low) but there seems to be now a greater emphasis on the ideas young students develop rather than how they implement them correctly. There seems to be no understanding of light, camera control or composition in the majority of the images I have seen from students recently.

Two years ago, I was confronted by a HND student (at the end of his first year) after a digital manipulation class, who was quite nervous and agitated. I asked him what the matter was and he stated he had over heard other students talking about an effect called 'depth of field' and wondered where he could buy the Photoshop filter from. At this point I realised something must be done but how and what?

In the days when I was at college, there was only 12 photographic courses in the UK but today, there at least 270 photography degree courses, let alone HND and ND courses. Also then, our group sizes were between 20-24 pupils per year, our contact time with tutors per week was between 20 -24 hours with unlimited use of the studios and darkrooms. Today, an average year group at a University is between 30 -60 students, contact time (based on a rough study I held early this year) was between 6-12 hours in the first year before going down to as low 1 hour in the 3rd year. Access to resources for most students was extremely limited with some students having to book studio space up to 6 weeks in advance.

You must also realise the pressures the lecturers are under to comply, for their courses to survive. In most cases, funding for a course will be withdrawn automatically if a benchmark figure of 58% pass rate is not achieved. Many more unscrupulous colleges claim to arts course pass rates of 100%. How do they achieve this? What happens if you have inept/substandard set of students in a year group (it happens periodically)? This is bit I leave to your imagination but all I can say is that lecturers are put in an intolerable position where many are forced to choose between their ethics or their career.

However, this must be contrasted against a common compliant that most professionals and ex-students have voiced to me. That is the quality of the course content that the majority of the students encounter. In particular  there is little emphasis on the business element of the majority of courses so students have little or no idea how to market themselves when they leave college, let alone prepare a realistic business plan. Another area which is rarely covered is the basics of lighting and other essentials (pack shots/ fill-in lighting etc.) so that they have at least the key skills to survive in a competitive environment.

This situation may seem depressing now, but with the additional rise in tuition fees coming in the next academic year and also the quiet reduction in contact hours (some courses have reduced this by half this year), the prospective student could be facing a pretty raw deal- hourly tuition in the 1st year costing £75 per hour, rising to by the 3rd year, £300 per hour.

So as a profession, what do we do to help prospective new entrants bearing in mind that just under 5000 photography graduates enter the job market every year. Do we seek to reduce the amount of courses available so as to better match supply to demand or do we try to educate prospective students as to the realistic outcomes of their expensive education and that in reality (even though they are now in £45,000 of debt) this will only be hobby for them with the occasional paying job.

In the end, we do owe these students the truth even if education is failing to tell them the realistic outcome of their investment and I for one cannot sit idly by.

Richard Southall
www.emphasis.biz
www.richardsouthall.co.uk

Calumet Seminars - Introduction to Portraiture

Last Saturday, was the last of the introduction to portraiture seminars which I ran at Calumet, Birmingham. The last 4 weeks has been a lot of fun with this current course cohort. During the 4 week course, I covered the basics of studio lighting with an emphasis on high key and low key lighting setups. We also as a group, covered the basics of digital workflow at the point of image capture with the appropriate selection of colour spaces and use of macbeth/grey cards.

Many thanks to the support from Peter and the rest of his staff with the courses and I am looking forward to the next batch which I am due to deliver there soon.

Richard
www.emphasis.biz
www.richardsouthall.co.uk
www.emphasisphotography.co.uk

Images - copyright Richard Southall