The Royal Photographic Society latest updates May 2020

For anyone with an interest in photography please check out the Charity dedicated to education and promotion of the highest standards please look at The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) 

The RPS which has a community of 11,000 members worldwide is like many other charities coping with the effects of the COVID19 Coronavirus pandemic and has a number of interesting online talks, workshops coming up and many of these are free with the option to make a voluntary donation. All the RPS events are open to any members of the public. 

I have been a member of the RPS since 2003 and am now regional organiser for the South Wales Region. You can find out more about our region here

The next free online interview organised by the RPS Distinctions Team is between Peter Hayes FRPS, Chair of the RPS Distinctions Committee and Professional Travel Photographer David Noton FRPS. More details and to register a place can be made here This is the fourth talk in a series. The previous talks are now available on the Royal Photographic Society YouTube Channel. Go here to access the RPS YouTube site. 

If anyone wants to become a member please visit the RPS Membership Page to find out more.

Upcoming interviews with Creative Professionals

Look out for my upcoming interview series with arts professionals in the field of performing arts, design, photography.

How are people coping in these fields in the current COVID 10 Coronavirus Pandemic when many venues, galleries are closed and gatherings of people are either limited in attendance or closed completely.

My first post coming soon will be with Sabrina Karlsson a music teacher and performing musician and songwriter based in Karlskrona, Sweden and her daughter Nessi who lives in South Wales.

Nessi is a creative in the world of modelling, fashion abstract and surrealist art. Nessi works on projects with other creative professionals including photographers.

Both Sabrina and Nessi are originally from Germany so we discussed language learning writing and creativity in different cultures in our conversation. We also discussed how the Coronavirus pandemic is impacting family contact across countries since a lot of frontiers are currently closed and everyone is taking up with online contact using online Apps.

South Wales Region Royal Photographic Society

In November 2017, I was elected as Secretary of the South Wales Region of the Royal Photographic Society. The Royal Photographic Society exists to educate members of the public by increasing their knowledge and understanding of Photography and in doing so to promote tge highest standards of achievement of Photography in order to encourage public appreciation of Photography. The Royal Photographic Society exists to promote photography and image-making and to support photographers in realising their potential, irrespective of tgeir level of knowledge, equipment or skills. It has an international membership. The Society also acts as a public advocate for photography and photographers. The Royal Photographic Society is an educational charity promoting both the art and science of photography. It is a membership organisation but, as a charity, undertakes a significant number of activities for the public benefit. Membership is open to all, irrespective of experience or knowledge. No qualifications are required to join, simply a passion and love for photography or images, its technologies and applications. Find out more here If you wish to become a member you can do so here If you are interested to educate yourself further and pursue one of tge Internationally recognised distinctions then you can find out more here In South Wales we have a number of events coming up in 2018 - check out our regional page by clicking the Regions and Chapters link on the website.

20/20 Vision Publishing

As many of you will know, I am registered self employed as a small business. One of my activities is to publish books. I have ISBNs available to publish books under the banner 20/20 Vision Publishing. If you are interested in having your work published - poetry, prose, art, photography - please get in touch by email rhysjones@ntlworld.com to discuss.

On The Road in Wales 2015

Two Swedish musician friends, Lolita Ray and Jan Albert Carlsson are heading to Wales between September 23 and September 29 2015. I recorded and filmed them on June 4 in Stockholm. You can check out the recordings on the attached links.

https://youtu.be/T8qRuTZ18gE
https://youtu.be/K3SHN2Bbv64
https://youtu.be/cp_7qbPs7JM

They will be playing concerts in Swansea, Uplands and in Laugharne. Watch this space for more details.

On the Road in Wales

I haven't posted for a while as I have been otherwise occupied and sometimes a break is what is needed . I thought it was a good opportunity to start in 2014 by mentioning that I have produced a photobook of a tour of Wales made by Izzy Young and Maria Lindstrom. The link below allows previews in full screen and gives some background on Izzy and Maria. If you want to know more let me know after you have viewed...

Izzy Young and Maria Lindstrom - On the Road in Wales by Rhys Jones | Make Your Own Book

Crossing the Bar : The Photographer and the Poet : a collaboration

I've just returned from the Isle of Wight. Whilst there, I visited Dimbola Lodge at Freshwater, the former home of Julia Margaret Cameron (1815 - 1879) , the Victorian photographer. It is now a photography museum and stages exhibitions and events. Julia Margaret Cameron took on the challenges of handling large cameras and dangerous chemicals at a time when photography was known as 'The Black Art'. Ignoring conventions, she experimented with composition and focus. Today she is credited with creating the first photographic close-up portraits. Amongst the many portraits she took was of a neighbour in Freshwater, the poet Alfred Tennyson. One of his most famous poems was written on the ferry between Lymington and Yarmouth called 'Crossing the Bar'. The ferry service still runs and is one of three in operation - the others being Southampton to East Cowes : the route we used this time and Portsmouth to Fishbourne.

A past collaboration between a photographer and a poet and a whole community of visitors to the studio to visit a photographer who is seen now as one of the most pioneering of her time, ignoring established conventions socially in her life and pushing the boundaries in technology available.

Crossing the Bar by Alfred Tennyson  (1809 – 1892)

Sunset and evening star,
  And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
  When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
    Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
    Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
    When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
    The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
    When I have crost the bar.