I’ve not really written before about photographic cheats, so this is a first for me.
Before I start – let’s think about the definition of cheat…..
To act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage
To avoid (something undesirable) by luck or skill
Whether we talk about misleading images, or manipulative ‘photoshopping’ – all we need to think is “does this photograph meet the criteria set down” in a competition.
One of the most famous photographic hoaxes, is a series of images known as the Cottingley Fairies – and I’m sure most of you will have heard of these, and even seen the images.
The images were taken in 1917 by Elsie Wright, and Frances Griffiths, who were, at the time, mere children.
The photographs show them with the fairies, and for decades they were accepted as being perfectly genuine. They even fooled Arthur Conan Doyle.
They were first published in 1920 in Strand Magazine, and a newspaper article at the time said the following:-
“The developed negative showed the figures in the woods, and Sir A. Conan Doyle is enthusiastic over this vindication of the spirit world”……… “The original pictures are now being studied by professional photographers to see if they could have been faked”.
The cousins were both still alive in the 1980s, and finally Elsie confessed to the hoax, probably with some relief, in 1983. What had undoubtedly started out as a cleverly stage-managed bit of fun, suggested by Frances, had got seriously out of hand. The cousins themselves were astonished at how readily people of the calibre of Conan-Doyle had accepted the images
We might think that prestigious competitions such as the Wildlife Photographer of the Year would be safe from the cheaters….. but no……. You may remember the image of the wolf leaping over a closed gate by Jose Louis Rodriguez. The photographer here did not manipulate the image (much as the Cottingley Fairies were not manipulated), it was a straight photograph. Rodriguez ‘wild’ wolf was actually a tame one, used to jumping over things, and was identified by other Spanish photographers.
You may also remember the controversy over the ‘stuffed’ anteater at a more recent Wildlife competition.
But what makes people cheat in the first place?
It may be to gain benefit, or notoriety, or just because they think they can get away with it. I’m sure in the case of the wildlife images it was for fame and fortune, but the only people they cheat are themselves.
At the other end of the scale are those who cheat because they can, and because they genuinely believe that they are doing nothing wrong. For example, on Facebook at the moment there is a group running where a topic is set once a week, for the 52 weeks of the year. Each participant must take an image that week on that theme. You are not supposed to check your archives for past work that ‘might fit’. The thing is, that who would know if you did find something that fitted and posted that – the answer is no-one. Is there any satisfaction in that though?
Cheaters have convinced themselves that their actions are acceptable, and you won’t be able to convince them otherwise…. After all ‘it was only a bit of fun’….
I can’t quite believe that it’s 2022 – the year in which I will be officially of a ‘certain age’. Definitely NOT old, not yet.
I also want to express my thanks to everyone who has supported this blog in the past year or so. Your comments, on here, and on Facebook have given me the enthusiasm to keep writing. Thank you.
The last few days have been those odd ones that happen between Christmas and New Year – you know, the time, when you actually have had no idea what day of the week it is. We’re still eating ‘Christmas’ food, and my other half is busy making the last mince pies of the season. The days are dark – and short, and for about a week, there has been virtually no sunshine, just looming clouds of grey.
Suddenly over the last week, the sun came out a bit, the sky (today) is blue and life seems somewhat ‘brighter’ again. (it’s bitter cold out today but lovely).
Over the dull days, I’ve been reading photography books. Something every aspiring photographer should do. Not just pretty picture ones either (though there’s everything good to be said about those).
Towards the end of last year, I watched a few talks on YouTube, one of which talked about a photographer I’d never heard of – an American, Harry Callahan. The talk itself cost me a fair amount of money, (not the talk), as I searched online for a book about him and his images, creatively called ‘Harry Callahan’. I managed to get hold of a second hand copy, which, when it arrived looked like it had never been opened.
Callahan had his first one person exhibition in November 1947 in Chicago. He asserted that ‘creativity can only be measured by the value of an individual’s whole photographic life from beginning to end’. He did not set out to create photographic masterpieces, nor did he think his later works were better than the earlier ones. He decided, almost from the start, that his photographs would be a record of his life, so each image was just a piece in his growth as an image maker. His ‘body of work’ was a continuous piece of his life. Callahan wanted to make images that would grow and change with him, and also preserve photographic integrity and unity.
Interestingly, when Callahan joined a camera club (The Chrysler Camera Club), he said that he learned from the members that photography was important and ‘very serious’. He was only a member for three years, and his membership defined exactly what he did NOT want to do with his photography. Later, in his membership of the Detroit photo guild, he found members made highly manipulated, and ‘pretty’ pictures, but discussed work ideas that had been popular over 40 years earlier.
This was in complete contrast to his ideas, which were innovative and carefree. He went on to say that camera club photography was laboured, analytical and rule bound. In their quest to create important work they had lost the amateurs eye and joy of discovery. Callahan thought the guild was ‘silly’ – and created nothing more than an enormous ‘block’ to his work.
He went on to say that with more experience, you can photograph more freely, and you will go back and forth with your experimentation – and you will repeat the same things, only better.
Harry Callahan 1912 – 1994
“I think…… I want to express my life, and that’s also true in my old age. All your whole life is different. So far I still look forward to going out and photographing” (Callahan 1994)
Find some of Callahan’s images by clicking the link below
The problem is thinking you know enough to think you’re right, but not knowing enough to know that you’re wrong………
What does success look like to you? Sometimes creativity is easy, and sometimes it’s not. I walk through the days trying to get past photographers block, and trying too hard just makes it worse.
Today is a good day, I’m feeling creative and inspired to get out and take some pictures, not for anyone else, but for me, and me alone. Today I’m past the block and on a roll. How long will it last? Who knows, and frankly I’m not worried, it’s about today.
Nettleton Woods
One of the things I’ve learned in the past 18 months or so of Covid, is that I can shoot what I want – not for a camera club, or exhibition, or competition – and there’s been a huge sense of freedom in that. I realised that it was OK to put down the camera, and walk away for a week or two, to change my subjects and outlook – to get off the club treadmill which I hadn’t even realised I was on. To take a good break from social media.
I found that I am not ‘required’ to be a landscape photographer, or wildlife, or portrait, or creative for that matter – I took time to explore genres, to find out where I fit in with myself, and I’ve come out somewhat surprised.
I explored, went for walks, read art and photography books, remembered that the cameras we all have today (including those on our phones) are much better than the equipment photographers were using well into the 1990’s. We are blessed with great cameras, lens, and software, and yet I still hear complaints about ‘gear’. Hey guys, this lens at F1.4 is soooo much better than the same focal length at F2…
Photography is for ‘me’ now, not someone else (I did all that when working full time), and if that sounds selfish – so be it. It’s about feeding my own soul, and I’ve stopped worrying about what other people think of my work.
Running in the Sea
Online, I see images, one in colour, and one in black and white. The photographer is asking which is better, I can’t decide, help me choose. Is this the death knell of creativity – why are they letting other people choose for them? Asking random strangers on the internet to vet your work is always going to be an issue. About half the people asked liked the colour, and all the rest the mono….. so who was right…. one, the other, both?
Stand up for yourself, be brave and experimental, don’t let the ‘rules’ get in the way of your own vision. Remember that nothing these days is original.
When I was younger I was a musician. I played in orchestra, military band, dance band, jazz band, and theatre pit. I loved it. I played other people’s work as I was learning and after, I was very good at sight reading, better at key transposition, and eventually improvisation. I learnt the way most do though, I copied others, I read the scores for opera, and symphony, I learnt by rote. I learnt scales and harmony. I learnt how to use and maintain my instrument.
As photographers we do the same thing – we copy, we learn the rules, and play scales, we learn how to use and maintain our gear, we eventually learn to deviate (or improvise) from the theme, we learn to read the light, to transpose our thoughts and eventually create our own self worth.
Don’t be scared – remember that by trying to please everyone, you ultimately please no-one, and average is born.
Stay away from internet negativity, and don’t worry about what other people think – find your own voice and stick with it……
It’s difficult isn’t it. The decision to enter a competition or not, and then when you do decide, there are all the rules and regulations to consider.
I used to be an avid competition enterer (if there’s even such a word) – I was very competitive, and spent a lot of time (and money) with the BPE (British Photographic Exhibitions) and FIAP – I probably shouldn’t even contemplate how much money really… but I’m not any more.
The ones I do enter these days are ones that I’ve either been bullied into by friends, OR because I decided it was something that actually interested me.
What I did enjoy though, was the catalogues, and CD’s that thumped through the letter box, usually a few weeks later – it’s good to see what other people are doing in the UK and around the world, but I can still look at these online.
There is a cost though, and I think what started to jade me to begin with was that I won some international award or other, and there was a certificate. The email was full of congratulations, and then said that my document was attached to the mail, and I could print it out myself. To be honest, that was a bit disappointing. I know that postage is expensive, but then so was my entry, mine and the thousands of others that had also paid. Medals of course are posted out, and I have a nice collection of them on my bookcase.
A few weeks ago FIAP changed a number of their rules for achieving distinctions – and it vastly increased the number of international acceptances you had to get to move from one award to another. There were also rule changes about how many images from a previous distinction you could carry forward from one to another – in the event, it looked like I was going to lose nearly 100 of them. I felt I couldn’t afford to lose them all, and start again almost from scratch.
It seemed at first that FIAP also felt this way, and the rules were rescinded, but only till 2022. Maybe I’ll leave well alone then…..
There’s been a lot of discussion too about what you can and can’t do in competitions organised by clubs and Federations. It can be confusing, and frustrating both for organiser and entrant. For example, a discussion about the use of brushes in Photoshop. Apparently the ones that come as standard in the programme are OK to use, but downloaded ones from elsewhere are not. The ones you make yourself are OK, but I wonder about the ones that come included in plug-ins in other software. I understand that the work produced should be that of the photographer, but even shooting in JPG from the camera has some alterations made by the manufacturer.
Software that materially changes your image – I’m not sure about – Topaz, for example does things to your images that would be difficult (impossible?) in photoshop, so should this be allowed; and what about other things like ‘Flood’ for example that makes reflections and puddles, and water. I know from watching tutorials on YouTube, that photographers entering international competitions use this, but is it really acceptable? From some of the comments I have read, I would say that ostensibly is it not.
The latest discussion is about whether to include, or exclude EXIF information in the files sent out to judges before a competition is run. There seems to be a fear that a judge will scrutinise this, and maybe somehow penalise an entrant, especially if the name of the photographer appears. Yet, in the same breath we know that some EXIF data can be changed – and from my point of view, what does it matter if I know what camera / mobile phone / tablet has been used to take the image? It’s about the end result surely, and not how, or what it was taken with.
Yes, I agree that sometimes it can be helpful to see where a mistake has been made (example shooting at 1/8000sec at ISO 12,800). Maybe it’s something that can be discussed during the feedback. On the other hand, and judges don’t know, the photographer might have chosen these settings for a particular reason, or to achieve a specific effect.
The truth is, that we don’t know by looking at a photograph and the EXIF how much experience the photographer really has.
An example might be the production of a fantastic portrait, from a studio shoot – where the photographer pushing the button has had no input at all into the lighting, posing and creating of that set up.
Conversely, the photographer may have employed the model, set up studio lighting him or her self, and worked on the image using minimal tools in photoshop, it may have even been a remote shoot…..
We just can’t tell that from one image and that EXIF.
Of course a sensible judge, on seeing the name of the entrant (if it appears in the EXIF) should ignore it – not be influenced by it. In the same way that the back of prints should not be scrutinised when judging them.
Where does this leave us?
Well, if your proclivity is to enter competitions, and you get pleasure from them, or you think you can learn something from your judge then that’s great. Remember though, there’s no feedback from BPE or FIAP, just a score.
I’m just finding these days, that I can get excellent feedback from the folks around me that I trust. Photographers who know what they’re doing, who will give you truthful feedback about your images. I get more pleasure now from an honest critique than I do getting 20 marks with no reasoning.
Finally, I’d say that I’m not competition bashing at all – I love judging, and without competitions I couldn’t do it – The enjoyment I have in seeing work from across the UK and (in the age of zoom) the world, cannot be denied.
I just wish we could be a bit more relaxed about it. It’s our hobby, and our art after all……….
Back in March 2020, I started a gallery on my website to which I periodically added images I had taken during each of the three lockdowns.
The first images were reworks of some old photographs taken as early as 2011, and 2012, and it was rewarding to see how up to date software dealt with them, which encouraged me to keep looking at what I had – not only on older hard drives, but on some CD’s too.
It was a bit disappointing to find that some of the CD’s were no longer readable, despite my best efforts, but no matter – there was still lots to look at.
As the weather improved (we did have a lovely Spring last year), and daily exercise became a thing of habit – at least I was able to get some new images made. Cycling became more regular too, till I damaged my ankle at the end of March, but by then macro images came to the fore, and the re-introduction of the moth trap.
With the end of our first full year of Covid on the horizon, I’ve decided to close down that gallery, and start anew.
I have been kept busy all year with Zoom – lots of talks, and judging in places all over the UK, Ireland and Scotland, with the occasional foray abroad. New friends have been made, and I hope we will continue to keep in contact long after Covid has passed.
An invitation down to Cheltenham next year, and proposed trips to the Isle of Wight are just two of the things we have in mind, both prompted by zoom meetings.
Although I admit to being a bit ‘zoomed out’ sometimes, it’s been great to see new people and superb images, with more scheduled in for the rest of this year, and into the Spring of 2022.
Our camera club has had fewer competitions (in fact I think only 3 in the last year), with one about to run next week – and this was something that would never have happened before. It’s a 4 way between us (Cleethorpes), Niton (Isle of Wight), Otley and Kidderminster.
I find that I really don’t miss competitions – I gave up pretty much on the BPE circuit after I achieved level 3 – and totally gave up on FIAP after I achieved my A. Recently FIAP made a number of rule changes that a lot of people disagreed with, and it did seem to become more like a money making exercise than anything else. They also stopped any print submissions. Subsequently they have retracted these changes, but it looks more like a deferral to 2022.
The images I make these days are purely personal – and I only send images out to competition if it’s something I am interested in.
In the meantime, I need to settle down and sort out what I want to achieve in the next 12 months. I want to fly the drone more now I have completed the Certificate of Competency, and certainly get the camera overheated with imagery.
So, as the anniversary of lockdown one approaches – I wish you all a happy and healthy 2021 – and once you are offered your jab – please take it – make us all safe.
The leaves will soon be back on all the trees, and I’m looking forward to a happier, healthier spring…..
I’ve been reading about photography ideas – here’s one I like the sounds of, and intend to have a go with – I’ll publish the results in due course, and if I don’t, I’m pretty sure someone will remind me.
Why don’t you have a go at this too……
Go for a walk WITHOUT your camera. Go back and make one photo of something you saw on the walk.
Use negative space with ‘wild and reckless abandonment’ – make the main subject a very small part of the composition.
Walk an area you normally drive through. Bring your camera, and make one photo of something you’ve not noticed before.
Make a scenic photograph. Eliminate one element and retake. Repeat till there’s nothing left to take – see how many steps you can spread it out for.
So that’s one shot each for the first three, and a number of shots for the last……
Remember they don’t have to be masterpieces of artwork – just thoughtful things.
Now – there’s a bit of woodland I drive past all the time………..
Sometime during March, my camera club closed down because of Covid19 – there was no big announcement, just a quiet closure, and a sudden end to the programme of events that were scheduled.
One member acquired a Zoom account for the benefit of maybe half a dozen people, so we could keep in touch. It soon expanded though to include the whole of the club, and since then has gone from strength to strength.
What this blog post is about, is the results of that closure, and what happened afterwards.
We had a couple of meetings to see how it would go, and, when it became apparent that most of the membership were keen, it fell to a group of three to work out the programme that would ensue. All the competitions had stopped, and there had been no club committee meetings, so we plodded on.
What happened was one of the best programmes of speakers I have ever had the privilege to watch – ranging from people with little experience, to solid professionals with years of speaking experience, based around the world.
The common denominator was the software called Zoom, which seemed to float to the top at the start of the Covid lockdown.
I certainly had never heard of it before, and I gather a lot more people were in exactly the same situation. At the start, there seemed to be glitches, and some security issues, but the company seemed to get on top of that pretty quickly, and ironed out the problems. Pretty soon I saw that many businesses were using it as a conferencing tool, including our own government.
There is always (for some) a fear of new technology, but under these trying circumstances, I have been pleased to see people I would have considered to be wary of this sort of meeting – happily joining in after a training session. Even some who said they were sure they wouldn’t like it, have been converted.
Of course – it’s not for everyone, and if it’s not a place you would feel comfortable, then that is fine. (But you’re missing such a lot!)
However – the results of the talks, coming as quickly as they have (and still do) has been inspirational.
Not just the club, but the Royal Photographic Society too, has put on a series of events and talks that simply could not be missed…. So what is the result so far….
Well, a cornucopia of ideas from an eclectic mix of photographers and artists.
We started with Art Nude, and nudes in the landscape, reflecting professionalism, and images you would be happy to show your aged mother. Not a genre I was planning on trying any time soon, but the photographs and the expertise was unmistakable.
From here we moved to stories, told by different images, and a whole talk and photographs based entirely on a work of fiction. Some stunning work by a master of wildlife photography, who showed us how he was able to attract birds into his garden, and gave us a tour round with excellent photography.
Based on this talk, the club ran a competition based on ‘birds’ – a fun competition with a very loose theme – images ranged from model kingfishers, to easter chicks in a nest of creme eggs.
So what have I learned?
Well, images can be produced that are interpretations, and not records of events, the subject comes first, and the images second. Planning is key, and if you are creating your own photographs from a work of fiction, then the image must be moved by the story itself.
The differences in attitude and experience of the speakers shows me that creativity is not necessarily something we can just learn. It can require a complete change of mindset, and is something that needs constant practice.
There will be many failures, but these are essential, as are the risks.
For example – Edward Weston produced a startling black and white image of a green pepper – called ‘Pepper Number 30’. What I hadn’t really thought about, was that there must have been at least 29 earlier versions, and who knows how many afterwards. The point is that Weston thought that number 30 was THE image, and the one he was probably most satisfied with.
Photographers must learn (I feel it should be compulsory) to cultivate a willingness to experiment, and think about the question ‘what if I did this?’..
I also learned that watching these excellent people present their work – that what we saw was a carefully cultivated, curated collection of images – and not just a thrown together selection of work. They all saw that there was no ‘one way’ of doing things – there was no wrong way, there was just a multitude of different ways. Some would just work better than others.
The images were not ‘scripted’ – they were born out of imagination, inspiration, and creativity. Even the loveliest landscapes that I saw of Mongolia, were thought through pieces, with the photographer even showing us one or two of his rejects, and explaining the thought process.
Each specialist image maker held true to their passions and convictions, and to a large extent didn’t worry too much about how others reacted to them. There is therefore a true correlation between creation and passion.
The other thing they do is make time for their art. It’s not created in between sandwiches on a Wednesday afternoon. They have spent time and effort looking at other people’s work, and at art. They have attended exhibitions, judged competitions, made work for sale, and importantly, made work for themselves.
So looking back at what I have seen so far – travel, people, factual, experimental, wildlife, landscape, nudes and totally different uses of camera and drones – my mind is racing with ideas.
I look at the programme to come, and see more projects, the Vikings, more wildlife, sports, astrophotography, underwater, street, work with textures, and composite photography.
Lots of things I’ve never tried, not thought about particularly either, but we all need to open our eyes and minds to different mindsets.
Lockdown has been an absolute pain in a lot of ways – there’s been a lot of agony and grief, but there has also been an abundance of creative imagery – some fantastically beautiful and poignant work, reflecting how photographers have responded to being left to their own devices.
Is there still going to be a place for the ‘traditional’ camera club after this? I’d say yes, because you can’t beat the personal interactions that you get when you meet up. Will they be different? I hope so – I hope that more photographers will be willing to experiment, and break the rules.
Is there going to be a place for Zoom, or equivalent? – again, I think yes. How else can you have a presenter from the other side of the world, or even Europe? Speakers from the deep south of the UK, or the north of Scotland.
One thing I do hope, is that clubs continue to have these brilliant speakers – so that we can see the amazing work that might be totally different to our own……
I look forward to hearing your comments, and seeing you let yourselves go….
In one of the talks that I give I discuss in a bit of detail my thoughts on how, as photographers, we can be trained to not be individual. We all need to know the rules and then know when to break them. For example the rule of thirds, and the exposure triangle.
So, when you do produce something, you would really like people to like it, but that’s not always going to happen, and then you have to grow a thick skin – because if you don’t, you are going to get upset, and, maybe, go on to produce work that hits the middle ground, where perhaps there will be nothing new or exciting. It’s safe, but boring. If we continue to produce work that everybody agrees with, then it won’t be as creative or imaginative as it could be.
I do think that photographers should produce exactly what they want to in their art work, and then they will know that what they have made is truly theirs. The world will just accept it, or it won’t.
I’ve said this before, but when I was working for clients, I had to produce work that was exactly what they wanted, and how they wanted it, in the time scale that they wanted. Since retirement, I’ve been able to contradict all those things, and I produce what I want, how I want, when I want.
If people don’t like what I (or you) do, then it has to be OK, because it’s really not necessary that they do. The artists responsibility here is to keep producing work that suits them and which allows them the freedom to breathe.
Image making should not be about winning a popularity contest, but rather it should be about being a personal creation.
Photographers love photography, which means we love the production of images, which in turn means we love art itself – and if we don’t love art, then we should. We should pursue the study of painting, sculpture, needlework and every other kind of art. Looking outwards from our specific hobby can only increase our awareness of light, shape and form.
We all have a variety of music that we love, films, and paintings, so why should photography be any different. Look for the ‘different’ and enjoy…..
We are still somewhat in lockdown – and it’s a good time to experiment with new ideas, and even genres.
As an aside, I did get the portable bird hide out again – sadly at the end of the lovely weather – and for the last few days it’s blown a gale, and poured down with rain. The benefit was that the wet earth brought out the ‘bugs’ for the starlings, and I got natural food rather than the dried mealworm I normally see them with.
So, as we work our way out of lockdown – do take care, enjoy your image-making, and stay safe……
Photographic Musings......... Or 