Changing Face of Photography and Society.

Looking at the older images at the London Street Photography reminded me that I have some scans of old family photographs dating back to the early 1900's. My family were not well off so I am amazed that we have as many as we do. My Mum's cousin allowed me to borrow and scan her album. Sadly my scanner has seen better days.When I get around to it and finances allow I shall invest in a new one. Some of the images at the Museum of London struck a chord with the photographs I have stored so I thought I'd look at them again in a different light. After writing this post I received an email from findmypast.co.uk about dating and understanding our old family photographs which was interesting to read so am adding it here too...Family photos | findmypast blog

Studying them chronologically you can see how technological advances allowed for the staid "sit still and don't move" poses to the freedom to be out of the studio and eventually walking around quite freely. Snaps came into being, informal grab shots of days out not just formal occasions. I love these images for the historical value as well as the personal. Family shots can inform and inspire as much as formal, professional exhibitions.From the streets of London | Photography | Agenda | Phaidon



Great Aunt Kate Brown


This is the oldest photo I have. It was taken in Camberwell in the very early 1900's maybe about 1903. The young girl at the gate is my Great Aunt Kate born in 1897 and I'm guessing she is about 5? The ladies in the doorway are my great grandmother and great great grandmother. My Great great grandfather, known as Farby, is standing with Kate. Aunt Kate featured heavily in my childhood and died in 1991. The first mass-marketed camera , the Brownie was produced in 1900. For me this image has many similarities to the photographs taken by John Galt of the poorer areas of London and Paul Martin's shots around London streets.
 

Photograph by John Galt Assembling Match Boxes at Home.

Egbert Brown  holding Dolly

 

Great Uncle Egbert and Dolly



No idea when these two images of Egbert were taken. My Great Uncle Egbert was a cartman who delivered coal. The cart and horse (who I know was called Dolly) were decorated  for a festival of some kind. Egbert was born in 1905 and died fairly young in 1941. Again I noted the similarities with John Galt's Cat's Meat Man and the images of Paul Martin.






John Galt Cat's Meat Man c1901

 

Going forward in time slightly the next two images are of a family wedding. Albert Ponder (the groom) was my great grandmother's half brother, although we believe that she had no idea that she was illegitimate...skeletons appear when you trace your family tree! Albert Ponder married in 1918 and this is a formal studio shot complete with faux backdrop. From roughly 1860 to 1920 painted photography backdrops were a standard feature of early photography studios. Generally of rustic or quasi-classical design, but sometimes presenting a bourgeoise trompe-l'œil  they eventually fell out of fashion with the advent of the Brownie and Kodak cameras which brought photography to the masses.

Albert Ponder and Louise Ponder nee Willis September 1918

The family group taken in a back garden. The gentleman in the huge flat cap is my great grandfather also an Egbert Brown. The fashions of the day are amazing and the soldiers uniform helps date the image. Wedding dresses didn't fall to the ground completely and these images have a value in fashion history as well as photographic.



Ponder/Brown family and friends 1918

I found it difficult to find any 1918 professional "famous" photographers to compare these images with, but came across many other personal images that had been uploaded, however interestingly found a Kodak advert from 1918 with just as fetching head gear! Those poor children.....

This website made for interesting viewing Vintage Photography/ Camera Ads of the 1920s (Page 8)



My other Great Great Grandparents Attley and Florence Ponder

Attley and Florence Ponder emigrated to Canada and this was one of the images they "sent home". Though some things don't alter and recently my daughter did a photoshoot at DoubleTake studios in Manchester, complete with flock wallpaper and piano ;o)





Close up of Great grandfather Egbert Brown in 1918 am so loving the cap....

The hat, the suit, the 'tash.....the image below was on display at the exhibition, would seem that male fashion didn't alter that much in 10 years...

Anonymous, Passer-by walking along Sutton High Street (c1930) London,UK
Observing the Street 1930-1945

Another back garden shot. This one before a working mans day out. My great great grandfather was a coal man so this probably was the only suit he owned which came out for "best". Presumably the same goes for the others in this photograph.

 

Working Mans Club Day Trip

The Gentleman on the very end of the back row on the righthand side is Egbert Brown Senior (yes there were generations of them) would hazard a guess at c1920's or very early 30's as Egbert died in 1937. Below, artist unknown, is an image of a working mans day out from Durham c1920. http://ww2.durham.gov.uk/

Durham Working Man's Club c1920

Another studio shot, this of my great great grandparents was probably taken mid 1920's as Augusta died in 1928. Note the pretend sea-side backdrop to match the deckchairs. Unfortunately I have no idea who the other 2 in the image are. Portraits are still very formal as the next set of images will show.

Egbert and Augusta Brown



Frances Brown with Albert Brown c1920

Am guessing c1920 as Albert was born in 1917 and he looks about 3 years of age. Oh dear what DID they dress young boys in to be photographed? I take it he looks unhappy as he had to wear that outfit and then stand still for a long period ;o)

The Ponders in 1921



My Grandparents George and Augusta's wedding in 1925. George (known as Tom) and Ernie Hunt,were brothers and married sisters Augusta and Annie Brown although 10 years apart; Annie was 7 years younger.



George Hunt and Augusta Hunt nee Brown 1925



Formal Brown family group c1925



Ann Brown

Kate Brown - My Great Aunt Kate.


Although studio portraiture remained formal, family snaps started to be taken as this snapshot of my Great Aunt Ann and Great Uncle Albert show. Albert as I say, was born in 1917. Guessing he is about 10ish here puts this to be about 1927. Fully clothed on the beach......


Popular in the 1910s and 1920s was the postcard-format photograph, distinguishable from the private snapshot by an order number; good examples of this for comparison, are the three images below. The first of my Great Uncle Fred and then girlfriend Flossie (who later became his wife) and Great Aunt Ann with Ernie.The second, an informal shot taken about the same time if not on the same day and the third, of my Great Aunt Ann with Great Uncle Ernie walking along the seafront with a friend. I think this final image maybe toward the 1930's though I maybe wrong. However Ann looks older than the first shot and her clothes reflect this. These images show how camera technology had moved on as people could be captured walking with no motion blur. The depth of field shows there is also a certain degree of aperture control. I find myself more and more drawn to looking at the backgrounds of these pictures, due to the positioning and attitude of the onlookers in the background I am led to believe that is is more a set up shot.

Flossie,Fred,Ann,Ernie

Ernie, Fred and Albert

What I noticed with this one is the suntan line on Albert's thighs indicating he always wore shorts.

unknown,Ann,Ernie

Below another postcard shot in the early 1930's. This time of my grandmother (Augusta Brown) and her son (my Uncle Tom born in 1926) with Great Aunt Kate . Once again you can see the order number which indicates this was taken by a beach photographer. You don't find too many of those about now :o) It is also interesting to note the tones of black and white and sepia in these older images.



Nanny, Aunt Kate and Uncle Tom



Cyril Arapoff was taking photographs of London during the 1930's and I can see the cheeky faces and fashions of the time in his images echoed in my family album.



Cyril Arapoff Children in a London Street.



Fred and Flossie's wedding 1933



Looking at my Aunt Ann's outfit you could have plonked her down in the 1970's and she wouldn't have looked out of place!


Ann and Ernie's wedding 1935

They were so cruel to bridesmaids! Another family group taken in the garden. Looking back and comparing wedding photo the format has remained the same for a very long time, only recently has the photobook and more a informal, contemporary style started to creep in. I wonder what William and Kate's informal album will be like (I doubt if we will get to see that one) And call me old-fashioned but I don't like the boudoir packages that some photographers offer. I chose this site at random....sure has moved on from my ancestors day. Denise Winter Wedding Photographer Surrey

Gradually colour photography started to be introduced but prior to this some images were hand-tinted. Hand-tinting wasn't new and Daguerreotype's were coloured pre 1900. Hand tinting was most popular from the 1900's to the 1940's. In the 1950's colour film became more readily available. This picture is of my granddad's half sister Lilian which I estimate to be about 1943.



Lilian Lowe

Obviously my parent's photo album's and later my own then reflect what was being taken during the 1950's, 60's and to date. The sizes, shapes and colours vary so much.



Grandmother Lou Firmin holding Aunty Pat c1941



Roger Mayne's images of London Teddy Boy's c1956 reminded me of my Dad and uncles when they were younger.



Ernie Firmin (on the left) 1950's with a friend

 The slicked back hair of my Dad, Uncle's and their friends showing the teddy boy influence of the late 50's and my Dad's uniform is indicative that conscription still existed; he served during the Korean War.



Uncle Albie Firmin and my Dad in uniform in the centre of the group 1950's



Uncles Jim and Dave c1956



Grandmother Lou Firmin in Greenwich Park 1950's

Ordinary everyday trips could be captured with candid and informal shots.



As a child I used my mum's old box camera complete with wind up film and upside down viewer. I was the laughing stock of the kids at school with their small compact Instamatic's, but I loved it. I owned a disc camera, a Pentax, a Pentax SLR (until divorce and it went with him) a small Olympus digital camera before going the Canon DSLR route. 

I've seen styles come and go, attitudes towards photography change, as a hobby as well as the public attitude towards being photographed, and have always found it fascinating. Maybe that is why I am here doing this today :o) Some people complain about the sloppiness of camera phones and the ease of which images can be uploaded online to flickr and facebook. Personally I love it. It means I can see what my kids get up to (in an interested way) With my daughter being away at Uni I get to see her friends, the fun she has. Her generation's memories will be catalogued in a way that no other has been. Tagging will help you get over the problem of asking "now who WAS that!" As long as facebook still exists or the images are backed up somehow for future viewing, along with all notes relating to them. Even the rubbish, blurry, random things that get posted show a way of life, how students work rest and play and the accessibility of the medium. Not sure how it will continue to evolve but it shall, and I am glad to be part of that evolution even if my images will amount to nothing more than generations ahead saying "OMG they wore THOSE?".

Looking at these older prints I am even more convinced that there is no other way to appreciate photographs other than their printed physical form, seeing the parallels of my own personal collection to those on display has reminded me that sometimes you don't need to look so far or so hard for ideas, inspirations and historical references. I refuse to consider my childhood photos as "historical" though no doubt they are...I just don't want to think I'm that old!

Physical Learning Log

At the beginning of this course I also decided to keep a physical learning log seeing that some things that I had looked at or random thoughts might not translate directly into my Blog. I also hoped to gather images and visit exhibitions which although I intended to comment on in full on-line would be a suitable way of filing all the "paperwork". Also an excellent place to keep the correspondence between myself and my tutor.

I started it not quite knowing how it would turn out or if I was headed in a direction that would work both for me and also at assessment level. It was great when a video of Rob's log was shown on WeAreOCA because it made me feel confident I was along the right lines.

Having spoken to some fellow students on the study day I promised I would upload some images of what my log looks like...the kind of things I had included and how, so here it is a rather fat A5 spiral note book with random jottings and scribbles....

In the beginning was an A5 spiral notepad....

Which gradually got filled with "stuff" and became fatter...

Notes of useful websites or things I found amusing that were relevant, some were printed out and I commented on why I liked them...

Extracts from books with highlights and things I wanted to take on board...

Linking to exercise 1 and portraits, some shots I had previously taken of people unaware in Convent Garden trying to capture character...

More observations on the different styles of capturing portraits taken from local and national papers...

Comments on Project 2 and the lighting set up I used indoors....

Observations on exhibitions visitied either last year or previously which connected with the Paul Graham video on the OCA website...

Using extracts from Posing Techniques for Photographing Model Portfolios I compared their ideas to a recent shoot my daughter had had done at one of these makeover places...they have a lot to learn ;o) It showed me some useful pointers too..

Research on magazine covers for Project 4

Research on "posing" shoes for my final project..

More research on shoes and a print out of images by Joy Gregory who I used as an influence/reference.

Exhibition visited...











Another Exhibition visited....

Printed out images for sharpening exercise which the results can't really be seen when images uploaded to blog...











The rest is more or less the same, observations on exercises, exhibitions seen comments on photographs or philosophy and what I have learnt or hope to learn all rolled into one. My online blog is more organised, methodical and completed in full sentences. Items were stapled in, glued in or masking taped in depending on what seemed most appropriate. My notes are more scribbled and random but hopefully together show my progression with learning from beginning to end, how I got where I am now and where I hope to go next :o) Hope this post is useful to others.

Light Relief from study :o)

Slowed down a bit due to completion of DPP and waiting for next lot of materials to arrive. Instead of walking around capturing images for coursework and exercises I have been taking some for fun and enjoying the lovely weather we have been experiencing for April! Has been good to take shots "just because" rather than having an ulterior motive. The following set of flowers were taken at Wakehurst Place, too bright for landscape, and the venue closed before the light was ok :o( But meant I could break out my macro lens for some fun. Still it meant I could put into practice things I had learnt about light and dynamic range and different processing techniques.

More fun stuff then went on when Gareth posted an OCA mini competition titled "Roll With It" no other rules other than it had to contain a toilet roll. I wondered did it have to be complete so completed 2 entries, one had complete rolls and the other I got creative, both with toilet roll and effects..........

Was really chuffed when my Vostok 1 image was considered to be one of the runners up :o) The main point of taking part was having fun and thinking outside the box. It is also good to be part of a student community, remote learning has the downside of not having people about to bounce ideas off in real time and a fun activity like this can only help pull us together more.

Reading some posts of the OCA Flickr forum there is an interesting question raised about framing and mounting. For my "proper" shots I don't use Keylines or fake borders but when playing I do...is this because I subconsciously don't think they are "proper" shots? Don't think so :o) I wouldn't PRINT them the way I present them on Flickr, it seems mainly that people don't always look beyond the photostream and some of the images don't sit so well against "flickr white" then sometimes it is for sheer experimentation <shrugs>

Study Day :o) Deutsche Borse and London Street Photography

I've sat back for a while to let both exhibitions sink in and to formulate my opinions on both. I wish I had written a bit neater though...as scribbled notes which made sense then don't seem to be quite so clear now! Firstly I'd like to thank the OCA for organising such a great day and the free lunch. It was just as interesting to talk to people about their experiences as students, with the course material, their tutors (were there any ears burning?) how to write up your blogs etc as much as take in two diverse exhibitions.

I had already done the Street Photography exhibition at the London Museum on my own back in February but had not yet written it up so was great to go back and look at things more in depth and discuss how the genre has changed in some ways yet remained the same in others. To quote the Museum of London's web page "It includes work by both professional and amateur photographers and covers most aspects of London life. It contains some topographical and architectural images but the main emphasis is on social documentary."
Museum of London - London Street Photography

The images dated from the mid 1800's from Roger Fenton's topographical views of London, to the current "Street Photography Now" photographs; the audience can see how changes in technology altered the face of "street" photography. The main problem at the outset being long exposures. Technical advances with cameras and publications meant photographs started to appear in newspapers and magazines and the press photographer was born. John Thomson was a photographer of this period who travelled extensively, eventually settling in Brixton, photographing London life as well as the rich and famous of high society. Collaborating with Adolphe Smith the world's first social documentary series "Street Life in London" was published in 1876/7. It was interesting to read this person's blog on their opinion of the image "Hookey Alf" and the magazine article which accompanied the original publication. Valentine Blanchard's delicate stereoscopic images were the forerunner of the modern day 3D images. London Stereoscopic Company - Official Web Site *nod to Jose for the interesting link.

John Galt was another featured photographer, a missionary commited to the London City Mission which compelled him to produce photographs of the East End. Galt's family in Canada have 67 photographs that survive as lantern slides. Identical sets of copy prints were given to the London City Mission and the Museum of London. Images on display also show the every day such as recruiting sergeants.

As well as taking in the familiar landscapes, having worked in London for many years, it was great to jot down the names photographers I have never heard of before, or look at work from those I had. I was surprised to discover that female photographers were making a name for themselves from quite an early point; Christina Broom 1862-1939 is credited with being "the UK's first female press photographer" covering the women's suffrage movement. She also undertook some street photography in and around Kings Road Chelsea

The photographs were arranged in chronological order as you walked around the rectangular room. Each era given it's own introduction as to what was happening socially or technically to influence the images we were about to view with a little information about the photographs or photographers accompaning the images. I spent quite a bit of time reading the information and closely studying the images that caught my eye. One in particular (maybe for the wrong reasons) was by Humphrey Spender of  A nanny and her charge at the Round Pond, Kensington Gardens  the dodge and burn was so noticeable even on the online image you can see how "worked" it is...to all those who criticises over photoshopping...it isn't a new crime ;o)

There was so many names and too many images to name them all but to give you a brief idea (thanks to the Museum web page again) the highlights for me were: -

• Early topographical views of London by Roger Fenton, c.1857
• London street life by John Thomson, c.1876
• Poverty in the East End by John Galt, early 1900s
• Christina Broom, early 1900s
• East End homes by Humphrey Spender, early 1930s
• London street life in the 1930s by Margaret Monck, Wolfgang Suschitzky and Cyril Arapoff
• Underground shelters during the Blitz by Bill Brandt, 1940 
• London street life in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, including work  by Nigel Henderson, Roger Mayne, Paul Styles, B J Green, Cory Bevington, Jerome Liebling, Lutz Dill, Jim Rice and Paul Trevor
• Contemporary work by many photographers including Yoke Matze, Anna Fox, Alan Delaney, Paul Barkshire, Tim Daly, Chris Dorley-Brown, Tom Evans, John R. J. Taylor, Ed Barber, Magda Segal, Paul Baldesare, Dave Trainer, Paulo Catrica, Ronen Numa, Angus Boulton, Janet Hall, Dave Young, Michael Donald, Jason Wilde, John Davies, David Turner Tom Hunter  and Mike Seaborne

The images were interesting both for technical/historical and social reasons. I found myself drawn to them all because I empathised with aspects in most due to my own family albums and will write a longer post later as to how.The video interview's with Matt Stuart, Paul Trevor, Polly Braden  and Wolfgang Suschitzky were both enlightening and reassuring that pro’s suffer the same as us! They spoke of the difficulties of photographing children, the gradual distrust of people having pictures taken, discussed the fact that if street photography/social documentary is strangled we will have no photographic history in years to come. Matt Stuart and Paul Trevor spoke of the benefits and downsides of using digital cameras, Trevor using film and Stuart film for pleasure, digital for work. Polly Braden talked about the techniques she uses to get the shots she wants, very handy hints and tips.

Listening to Wolf Suschitzky talk about how and why he took images once again illustrated how we, as photographers, view other countries from a different viewpoint. What I loved about his images were the creative uses of light and weather conditions to create atmosphere.

Charing Cross Road 1937

  

Charing Cross Road 1937

The above image reminded me of the iconic image by Henri Cartier Bresson, Suschizky explained that he was merely concentrating on the puddle and it's reflection when serendipitously the young girl jumped across.

I left with a plethora of names to investigate, thoughts on how I should/could approach Social Documentary when I come to it, the impression of how contemporary street photography has become obviously whimsical rather than subtly so, for example comparing Lutz Dille and Jerome Leibling

to contemporary photographers such as Nils Jorgensen and David Gibson.



Not a bad thing just an observation. I would recommend this exhibition whole heartedly :o)

So onto the next stop....The Photographers' Gallery | Exhibitions The Deutsche Borse Prize has made me raise my eyebrows on each occasion I have been, and preferred Tod Papageorge to Paul Graham the year he won,although I can see that he had a more novel approach to his images. Will be interesting to see who will win our coffee table betting session for this year ;o) I chose Elad Lassry when pushed but I expect I'll be wrong again.

Demand, with his paper organ had only one image so was difficult to assess his body of work, and like Jose although I liked the photograph it didn’t hold my attention for long. I would question the "blurb" that "these works subtly reveal the mechanisms of their making, and challenge the viewer's perception of reality by examining memory and photographic truth." The one image was large and impressive, it was tack sharp and was a very clever reconstruction of an organ (the history was explained but for me did not impact upon the physical photograph) I didn't find them unsettling, I thought the construction was brilliant, the idea that no-one would be able to reproduce that shot ever again due to the models being dismantled after, an interesting concept but apart from that there was no other meaning for me. Excellent depth of field and technical delivery but no emotional pull or reaction.

Roe Etheridge has bright pin sharp photographs that were harking back to advertising or were actual outtakes of his commercial work again left me feeling non plussed, ( oh I didn't have much to say on him did I?) Elad Lassry hmm I’m probably the student that was commented on in another blog about the dodgy green tomatoes ;o) He had pretty frames which colour co-ordinated his images and backgrounds…he pushed the boundaries of is it art or photography but I couldn’t help asking “why?” even after watching his video about making photography democratic I was left feeling I missed the point? Apart from the obvious link of colour and shapes his images were totally random, some manipulated, others not, some of people/animals others still life. Oh and lets throw some videos in for good measure with unconnected images, Zebra and Woman springs to mind...Once more the phrase Emperor's new clothes came to mind...

I saved Goldberg until last because he seems to be a hot favourite. He is the first on display and the quantity of his work is overwhelming compared to Demand. Less is more? He again mixes videos and photographs and even his photographs are varied, Polaroids vie with large format and differing ways to showcase. Goldberg’s exhibit starts off by stating it is highlighting problems no-one knows are there…that made me think oh really? Everywhere you go there are posters telling of poverty/abuse/people trafficking/ turn on the TV there is yet another appeal for human rights etc. Take in any modern exhibition and there will be photographers highlighting wars/ earthquakes/human right interventions. I can think of the Taylor Wessing exhibition for the last two years for a start plus Mark Condren Defending Life with Life.... but I digress. What he does, I suppose, with some is make them more personal and highlights the individual as they contribute to his final pieces.

He does this by allowing them to write comments on the Polaroids, some are tippexed over, their bodies outlined by black marker, arrowed route "maps" drawn around them with untranslated text describing the journey. More thoughts of is this more art that photography? I felt in some ways he was exploiting them for his own gain rather than to assist them? We debated as to whether the fact there was no explanation with some of the images meant you had to look for the meaning or couldn't be bothered to look for the meaning. As ever there were arguments for and against, I finally decided that some would have been enhanced by an explanation as after watching the video I returned and studied some a little more. I like text as long as it isn't gushing, superficial twaddle about how the photographer felt enlightened, (I think I used the phrase some think along the lines of 'if I take rubbish then talk rubbish I've made it" although not with regards to the images by Goldberg) and am training myself to look at an image first, take away from it what I think is there THEN read the text. I am either correct or incorrect in my assumptions. Occasionally my opinion is altered but always I find I have learnt something.With unusual images or presentation (thinking back to Lassry) this maybe as simple as realising non-conformity is allowed to exist as long as it can be justified.

Returning to Goldberg, once he has clicked his shutter does he contribute to altering their lives? Campaign for change? His images cover so many places and so many issues to do with migration, his framing of the images was inconsistent, the method of display awkward and uncomfortable. Maybe to highlight the awkward and uncomfortable issues he was dealing with. My opinion on that is let the images speak for themselves he seemed to be trying to hard to impress to say "look what I have done" rather than "look at their plight". Due to everything I was carrying plus having an aching back I didn't bother to stoop to look at the small frame a few inches off the ground. If I went again, looked harder maybe I'd change my mind? Possibly.

On leaving this exhibition I didn't have the feel good factor of the Street Photography, not because of the subject matters but because it opened up so many questions, which has to be a good thing. Why had they chosen to take those photographs, what was their purpose? Was it just to exhibit? Raise questions? Push boundaries? Change lives? Why those methods of display? I can imagine "photo club" members/judges becoming apoplectic with the breaking of so many "rules" ;o) Ultimately whatever my opinion, it boils down to that, it's my opinion. We all have different experience, ideas and opinions. Just as Clive and Jose said when I was discussing my own work, the feedback your tutors give you is just their opinion, as long as you take on board what they say, have an open mind and either alter your work, or keep it the same, as long as you can justify the end result you will be on the right track.

All the entrants obviously feel justified in producing what they do and how they do it. If I missed the point of some of the imagery there will no doubt be many out there that didn't. Do I think any of the entrants have made a significant contribution to photography in Europe between 2009 and 2010? Goldberg certainly had a very experimental approach with his, Lassry visually stimulating, each photographer broke conventional thinking behind photography and exhibiting but to pick a worthy winner.....erm.....can I pass? ;o)

*UPDATE* The winner was Jim Goldberg

Brett Rogers said, on behalf of the Jury: ‘Due to the breadth of the Award criteria, the Jury felt that any one of the four nominees could have been the winner. They however awarded the Prize to Jim Goldberg for Open See, acclaiming its timely and inventive approach to documentary practice, at the heart of which lies for him co-authorship, a form of creative collaboration allowing these individuals to tell their own stories.’

Julia Taeschner, Head of Corporate Responsibility for Deutsche Börse, stated: ‘The Deutsche Börse Photography Prize has once again succeeded in bringing together the most important and interesting representatives of the European photographic scene. We are exceptionally pleased to announce Jim Goldberg as this year’s winner of this prestigious prize. Our congratulations and thanks to all those who have contributed – The Photographers’ Gallery staff, the Academy, the Jury and the artists – for their engagement and contribution.’
Which goes to show I know nothing ;o) But shows that the contraversial can be good. Next time I do some portraits I'll say "have a pen and some scissors, be creative" the creative idea would be "mine" but the final result surely would be collaborative?