Photography News Issue 44

Photography News | Issue 44 | absolutephoto.com

Profile

Before the judge Brian SwinyardARPS Join us for our monthly chat with an experienced photographic judge. This time, it is the turn of Brian Swinyard, a judge and lecturer of the Midland Counties Photographic Federation

With 40 plus years of photographic experienceintheUKandoverseas,I’ve progressed from club photographer to international exhibitionist with over 2500 acceptances and many awards. I have been honoured to be asked to judge international and national photographic salons. In 2004, Jack Farley FRPS, president ofGloucesterCameraClub and my photographic mentor, took me aside and said “You’re interested in creative photography; perhaps you’d like to become a judge and give talks to camera clubs.” I attended a judges’ seminar in Smethwick and the advice I received that day has stood me in good stead ever since, influencing my judging style. The strapline was to look beyond the technical aspects of an image and to ask whether the image speaks to you. Does it stop you in your tracks? Does it visually engage? Does it tell a story? I decided early on that I needed an image to grab me, hold my attention and visually engage with me. I like to think that this comes across in my judging. When I am asked to judge locally, nationally or internationally, I use the following criteria. Firstly, I look for technical competence; exposure, sharpness, tonal range and colour saturation. Secondly, I look for artistic merit; composition, use of depth-of-field. Thirdly, and for me most importantly, I look to see whether I can see something of the photographer in the picture through the visual story. For those of you who don’t know my style of photography, I don’t do sharp and I don’t do sky but I do do filter effects. This was predicated by the fact that I suffer from hand tremor which is not an endearing quality for a photographer. Making the most of this adversity (or perhaps it is just an excuse), I have actively promoted the idea of soft-focus, abstract images where feeling, emotion, mood and movement are more important than a mere record. It matters not that others may not like this style of photography but it is my style and

Biography

Howmany years in photography? Over 40 years. Home club Cheltenham Camera Club,

Gloucester Camera Club, member RPS Creative and Digital Groups. What is your favourite camera? Canon EOS 50D and Canon EOS 40D converted to IR. What is your favourite lens? Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8. What is your favourite photo accessory? Canon angle finder and Canon battery charger. Who is your favourite photographer? There are many but Irene Froy would feature strongly. What is your own favourite photographic subject or technique? Using in-camera/computer creative techniques to enhance emotional content. What awards/distinctions/ medals have you earnt/won? MA in photography, 2500 acceptances and some medal/ award winners in international salons.

my project work to camera club competitions. My rationale was that I wanted to give the judges a challenge and put themoutside their comfort zone to see if they could cope. Alas, they could not! The first offering was a panel of monochrome prints of my naked body and the second submission was a panel of five printed negatives, both of which were from my dissertation, ‘Personal Identity: Transition from Camera Club to Master of Arts Photographer’. On both occasions, the judges commented “I’m sorry, I don’t understand this... next”. On another occasion, I entered a monochrome triptych separately into a local camera club aggregate competition, another camera club’s annual exhibition and a national salon. Three different judges marked the images respectively in the mid-teens, highly commended and a gold medal. This begs the question: “What do judges know?” However, there are some very good judges who can engage with an audience, think outside the camera club box and assess pictures in a non-photographic, artistic way. As a judge, I am happy to offer advice to anyone who is prepared to listen. Firstly, never apologise for your photography. Your photography today is better than it was yesterday and tomorrow it is likely to even better than today. Secondly, don’t get bent out of shape if a judge doesn’t like your images; remember that they are just the views of one person. Thirdly, produce images for yourself and not for judges, otherwise your photography will never improve. After all, what do judges know?

what I do best. However, I try not to bring any bias to the judging process and I make every effort to judge against the standard I set myself with my three criteria. As a judge, I am drawn to images where I don’t know what I am looking at. I find audiences warm to a judge who can bring an artistic perspective to their comments and offer constructive suggestions without being condescending. You know whether an image is good or bad and it is incumbent on any judge to highlight the positives and to mention the negatives in passing. How often have we seen prints where the quality is lacking and PDIs that are over sharpened? The most important aspect for me is composition and the left-to-right visual flow in pictures. I often flip images or rotate them to try to improve the visual story, much to the amusement of the audience. When I started judging a colleague said that wemust not lose sight of the fact that our performance as a judge should be educational and entertaining. Humour and engagement with an audience plays a big part in that. When judging competitions, particularly at camera clubs, I use a relative versus absolute scoring system. Presented with two images, one of which is much better, it makes no sense for the better image to be given a very highmark and the other image a very low mark. It seems a better strategy for the two images to be differentiated by two or three marks. In this way, the separation is still delineated but the author of the lower image will go home much happier. I make it a practice to score all images between 15 and 20marks, and I’m not adverse to awarding top marks to several images.

The judging process can be very rewarding particularly when club members congratulate you at the end of the evening with comments like, “That was the best eveningwe’ve had for a very long time” or “It’s a pity there are not more judges like you”. The quality of images I see as I tour clubs gives me a warm feeling that amateur photography is in a good place. I’ve seen a steady improvement which has been encouraged by improvements in and affordabilityof newtechnologies. It’s interesting that the quality of some beginners’ work is sometimes better than their advanced colleagues. Salons are a different matter. When selecting judges, organisers cast the net far and wide to choose those who not only meet the criteria of the patronage organisations but also provide a wide spectrum of skill base, experience and interest. I seem to have built a reputation as an ‘aspirational’ photographer with special interest in creative photography. Judges seem to be chosen for their ability and the distinctions they have accrued. Great weight is given to holders of FRPS, and credence is also given to holders of academic qualifications. I completed a Master of Arts degree in Photography at De Montfort University and this has stood me in very good stead. Having completed the course, I smile wryly to myself when others assume that because you have an MA(Photography), you must know what you are talking about! That could not be further from the truth! When I did my MA I became aware of the differences between the camera club ethos and academic study of photography. I decided to enter some images I used in

What do you think?

Have you seen a photographic judge at work who you’d like to see profiled in Photography News ? If so please drop us a line to opinion@photography-news. co.uk with the judge’s name and, if possible, their contact details.

brianswinyardphotography.com