Photography News 13

Competitions

INTERVIEW

An exhibition anomaly Breaking away from the norm, the London Salon of Photography’s annual print exhibition embraces and celebrates all that is different. Who better to tell us more than the salon’s chairman, David Lowe?

Interview by Megan Croft

How did you become a member of the salon? I have been submitting prints to the London Salon exhibition for over 30 years and have been fortunate enough to gain three medals along the way. As a Friend of the Salon I had been helping with the exhibition, which led to an invitation to become a member. My predecessor, Dave Yates, facilitated the introduction of an online entry system that streamlined our procedures and allowed us to produce a high-quality catalogue and CD with a commentary on selected images. I helped him with this work and as a result was elected as chairman. The chairman’s role is to protect the heritage of the London Salon and ensure a successful exhibition is produced. The London Salon has a long history of tradition but if it is to survive it must look to its future as well as its past. A great number of members, Friends and volunteers are involved in producing an exhibition of this size and type without whose help it would be impossible to contemplate.

may have contributed to its demise. For example in 1908, American member Eduard Steichen had 39 acceptances. As a result Link [as they called each other] FJ Mortimer, then editor o f Amateur Photographer magazine, organised an exhibition of rejected work. Clear divisions of opinion led to a split. One group, led by FJ Mortimer, held its first exhibition in 1910 and the London Salon was born. At that time it had 39 members, 12 of whom had been Links. In those early days until the 1960s there were very few exhibitions in the London area and the London Salon and the RPS exhibitions were the largest and most prestigious. The London Salon today still includes members who are invited based on the quality of their work, their long-term commitment to entering the salon and also their willingness to play an active role in the running of the salon and its exhibition. There are 41 members currently and one honorary member.

The London Salon has a rich history; indulge us with the tale of its origins… In 1892, a number of leading pictorial photographers who were not in sympathy with the Royal Photographic Society’s exhibition procedures (they considered the RPS selection process to be too lax) got together in a restaurant where they formed The Linked Ring. It was agreed that there would be no officers nor rules or regulations but some customs and observances. The Linked Ring organised its first photographic salon in 1893. It was an open exhibition and all the attending members served as selectors. The informality of the organisation The chairman’s role is to protect the heritage of the Salon and ensure a successful exhibition

TOP LEFT From Russia With Love by Les Forrester. ABOVE LEFT Soft Touch by Dinah Jayes. ABOVE Perfecting the art of chair hurdling by Richard Spurdens.

Photography News | Issue 13