Our Associate Member scheme is now open

At the association’s AGM in 2019 we started the ball rolling towards the creation of a new category of membership of The BPPA.

As part of our role of “inspiring” we chose to do this by helping to guide and mentor the next generation of photographers wanting to join the profession. This is now becoming a reality and we are delighted to announce that the doors are open to anyone fulfilling the criteria:

“Any person who is not yet working full-time as a press photographer but who is striving to achieve that goal either through working part-time in the industry or by studying on a course specialising in news photography, photojournalism or related editorial photography.“

Starting with a mentoring group based on Facebook the association will be inviting anyone who would like to apply for Associate Membership to do so by contacting us.

We have been working with relevant courses at Falmouth University and the University of Gloucestershire to develop the concept and hope to expand to other institutions as well as anyone who has chosen to make their way into the industry through other routes. The team of mentors has been put together and consists of a broad range of experience and specialisms. It includes agency and newspaper staff photographers as well as experienced freelancers.

Associate Membership is open to any person who is not yet working full-time as a press photographer but who is striving to achieve that goal either through working part-time in the industry or by studying on a course specialising in news photography, photojournalism or related editorial photography. Accordingly there are two routes into Associate Membership of the Association:

RULES OF THE SCHEME

Independent photographers working part-time in the industry and anyone studying on a non-approved course

  • Portfolio review by two or more members of the sub-committee
  • Interview in person or via tele-conference to include questions about copyright, metadata, ethics etc
  • Agreeing to sign up to the The BPPA’s Code
  • The length of the Associate Membership offered should be agreed after their interview and be part of the offer of Associate Membership but not less than twelve months

Those Currently studying on, or who have recently graduated from, an approved course

  • Students on an approved course just have to sign up, agree to abide by the The BPPA’s Code and they will be eligible for associate membership.
  • Courses will be approved by a sub-committee of The Board based on whether they are specialising in news photography, photojournalism and related editorial photography and teaching a list of topics such as copyright, metadata, ethics etc
  • The length of the Associate Membership offered should be not less than the duration of their course for students on approved courses plus six months and in extensions of a year thereafter.
  • The BPPA will offer an on-line based mentoring scheme where all Associate Members will have access to a panel of experienced press photographers. From time-to-time we will extend offers to Associate Members and try, wherever possible, to include them in the activities of the association

Notes:

  • There will be no option of a UK Press Card being issued to Associate Members. The press card is only open to full members.
  • Associate Members would not be offered their own galleries on our site and would not be eligible for the Find-a-Freelance system.

Announcing the Curators for ‘Women’

We would like to introduce the seven fantastic curators we have lined up to select their favourite images from those submitted to ‘Women’: a photographic celebration by BPPA members of women across the globe for International Women’s Day 2021 on 8th March.

In the launch year of what promises to be a fabulous new exhibition, the BPPA are looking for images telling the stories and achievements of women and girls for an online exhibition, which remains open for entries until midnight on Sunday 14th February

www.women.thebppa.com

Fiona Shields – The Guardian Head of Photography

Fiona has over twenty years’ picture editing experience across a range of newspaper titles. She was picture editor of the Guardian for ten years before taking up the role of Head of Photography for the Guardian News and Media Group. 

Throughout her career, Fiona has been involved in the coverage of some of the most historic news stories of our time from the current global pandemic to the events surrounding 9/11 and the subsequent terror attacks in London and across Europe, conflicts around the world from Bosnia to Iraq and Afghanistan, the revolution of the Arab spring, large scale natural disasters such as the earthquakes in Haiti, tsunamis in southern Asia, famine in Sub-Saharan Africa and the humanitarian crises resulting from the growing refugee numbers across the globe.

Fiona also delivers talks at photo festivals, mentors students of photojournalism and has enjoyed judging The World Press Awards, the Sony World Photography Awards, The Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize and the Renaissance Photography Awards to name a few, has joined the panel for the Carmignac Photojournalism Award and is a regular nominator for the prestigious Prix Pictet Prize.

Gao Rongguo

Born in 1984 in Binzhou,in China’s Shandong province, Gao Rongguo graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2012, majoring in photography.


Gao is now an artist based in Beijing and his work has been exhibited internationally, with venues including National Portrait Gallery, Quai Branly Museum, CAFA Art Museum, Chongqing Art Museum, Today Art Museum, Dong Gang Museum of Photography, Sotheby’s gallery, Changjiang Museum of contemporary Art and Beijing Mingsheng Art Museum.


Gao Rongguo’s work has been featured in numerous publications including TIME, The Huffington Post, Daily Mail, VANITY FAIR, La Repubblica, Esquire, Feature Shoot and Rheinische Post Online.

Jakki Moores

Whilst studying Photography at Richmond College Jakki Moores worked for Nikon UK and on graduating became the Head of Nikon Professional Service and worked with some of the UK’s best photographers, supporting them at global events where she became became passionate about imaging and technology. First the transition from film to digital and then the requirement to send images around the world in seconds got Jakki hooked, who then moved into account management and corporate sales.

Now at Canon UK Jakki still specialises in News and Sport, working as part of the pro-business team where her customers range from Global Agencies, Media groups, freelancers and the next generation.

“It’s such an exciting and evolving industry to be involved in – with outstanding images at the core. The pictures we see every day still always amaze me!”, says Jakki.

Jane Sherwood

Jane Sherwood is the News Editor, EMEA, at Getty Images and is part of a team that handles Getty Images editorial news output on their subscription wire service. She says ” I am proud to work at a wire agency that is held in such high esteem among photographers and clients alike. The team has a collective integrity in news gathering and the talent of our photographers sets us apart”.

Jane began her career nearly 30 years ago as a receptionist at Rex Features and progressed, through a series of moves around the industry including the picture desks of the Daily Mail, News of the World and Daily Express, to becoming the Picture Editor of the Sunday Express newspaper.  Jane left in 2015 for Getty Images saying, ” I wanted to work where pictures were still being created and invested in – where photography was paramount”.

“I am thrilled to be part of the curating team for the BPPA photography exhibition celebrating International Women’s Day” says Jane. “Until women achieve true equality, highlighting work by and for women in all professions is necessary and essential”.

Milica Lamb

An industry veteran, Milicia Lamb has worked in press photography for many years.

Milicia started her career in image sales before graduating to the editorial side where she was able to work more closely with photographers. After working for News Team International as Head of London Bureau, commissioning photographers and managing assignments,  Milicia went on to work at EPA where she ran the UK and Irish service before joining the Press Association (PA).

Milicia was appointed Picture Editor for the PA in 2012 and in 2015 became Head of International and Entertainment at PA Images where amongst her responsibilities she managed the entertainment photography for the PA Wire alongside the Empics Entertainment service.

Milicia left PA Images in 2020.

Rebecca Naden

Now based back in her homeland of Pembrokeshire, Rebecca Naden covers major news, sport and features for the global agency Thomson Reuters, where she also loves to photograph wildlife – a pull Rebecca says she can’t resist, despite the sometimes extreme weather conditions.


Thirty odd years ago, Rebecca was told “It’s a man’s profession Rebecca, think on because it’s not for a girl”. But thankfully she had supportive English and History teachers who promoted and encouraged Rebecca to apply to The National Council for the Training of Journalists for the ‘pre- entry course’ – she was accepted and her hugely successful career in press photography began.


Rebecca was the first female photographer to join the Birmingham Post and Mail Group in 1977 and the first female photographer to join The Press Association in 1987, where she spent 25 years as a staff photographer before moving to Reuters in 2012 – winning the 1993 Royal Photographer of the Year and 2007 Picture Editors’ Award – Sports Picture of the Year along the way.


Highlights of Rebecca’s career to date are numerous and include being the only British photographer on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s plane for her tour to Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain; flying to the White House to photograph President Clinton; photographer on the Royal Tour to Malta by HM the Queen and Prince Philip. Rebecca has regularly covered the major sporting events, including the Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA and Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League finals including the historic Liverpool v AC Milan match in Istanbul.


“I’m grateful to all those who helped me get started and to the many generations of photographers and journalists who have supported my professional career”, says Rebecca. “Thankfully the glass ceiling has largely gone and now there are exciting career opportunities in professional photography available to all, irrespective of gender”.

Rob Pinney

Rob Pinney is a photographer and the editor of Point.51, a print magazine for long-form journalism and original photography from across Europe. 

As a photographer, Rob’s work is divided between press work and longer-term personal projects.

After going freelance in 2015, Rob worked extensively in Calais documenting the “Jungle” camp and the asylum seekers who lived there, as well as the town itself. His photographs from Calais have since been shown in London, New York and St Petersburg, and culminated in a long-form feature – Calais Belle Ma Ville – about the town’s long relationship with migration, which was published in the first issue of Point.51.

Get your entries sent in!

If you want to take part you’d better hurry as you only have until midnight on Friday 12th February to submit your entry : women.thebppa.com

Women in Photojournalism

Protesters clash with police at the Barton Moss fracking site, Manchester. Photo: Lynne Cameron/PA.

When the association was mentioned in an open letter talking about Gender in Photojournalism The BPPA’s Vice Chair Lynne Cameron said in her response that “The Board of The BPPA welcomes constructive input from anyone who wants to help to promote and inspire great photography. If you have ideas on what more can be done on the issues raised then please get in contact with me or any of the other members of our Board.”

We are very happy to report that we have received notification of two things that are happening that will make a positive contribution to women in particular and diversity in general in photojournalism.

• FotoDocument.org have announced the launch of their 2019 Women’s FotoReportage Award in honour of Marilyn Stafford. This year’s award will be supported for the first time by Nikon. You can read the press release below or you can visit their website here.

• Photo Forum are hosting a panel discussion on the subject of diversity in photography chaired by Helen Healy, Head of Pictures at the Financial Times with photographers Anna Gordon, Suzanne Plunkett and Chin We. The venue is theprintspace, 74 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8DL on Tuesday 8th October 2019 and the start time is 7:00pm. You can read more here on the Photo Forum website

The FotoReportage Award press release says:

£2000 will be granted to a professional woman photographer towards the completion of a compelling and cohesive documentary photo essay which addresses an important social, environmental, economic or cultural issue, whether local or global.

The work should, in part, showcase positive solutions to any issues it raises in order to contribute to constructive photojournalism, in line with the wishes of Marilyn Stafford and the aims of FotoDocument. The Award is reserved solely for documentary photographers working on projects which are intended to make the world a better place and which may be unreported/under-reported.

Women from any stage of their careers are welcome to apply, whether emerging, mid-career or established. They must already have started the photo essay for which they are seeking funding and be able to show work in progress. In addition, they must have already completed at least one other documentary photo essay to demonstrate track record prior to applying for funding. Entrants must be over 18, they may be any nationality and based anywhere in the world. It is free to submit.

Submissions will be reviewed by panel including: Rebecca Conway – 2017 FotoAward winner, Nina Emett – Director of FotoDocument, Rebecca Newton – PR & Social Media Manager Nikon and Marilyn Stafford herself among others.

One overall winner will receive The Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award of £2000 towards the completion of their project.

The final work will feature on the FotoDocument and Nikon websites and will be publicised via social media.

Partners will collectively endeavour to gain coverage for the final work in the international media, without any guarantee of this outcome.

Short-listed applicants will have at least one of their images profiled on the FotoDocument and Nikon websites and publicised via social media.

There will be a screening of the 2019 FotoAward winner’s work at the launch of the Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award 2020 to celebrate International Women’s Day on 10 March 2020 at the Nikon School in central London.

Submissions close at 5pm on 15 November 2019.


Quis custodiet IPSOs custodes?

That’s the Mail Online brush-off, saying after publishing Rebecca Reid’s profile picture without either permission or payment, that by making her picture ‘public and discoverable’ she has posted it ‘into the public domain’. This is arrant nonsense. The public domain has a very specific meaning in copyright law, indicating that copyright has either been forfeited or expired, and in UK law it does not expire until seventy years after the creator’s death. Until then publication requires permission and payment. As any editor knows. Including the character who ran an ( erroneous, © Twitter ) copyright notice under the published picture! Which, incidentally, has now been taken down ( we have the screengrab ), replaced with a grab of her twitter feed.

The charitable explanation for this misleading and misinformed policy painting an inaccurate picture of the law is that the writer genuinely believes it, in which case she really should not be holding any senior editorial position on a national newspaper, let alone responsibility for ‘compliance’. And she also seems unaware of the Mail Online’s own House Rules for comments

“You must not insert links to websites (URLs) or submit content which would be an infringement of copyright” (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/article-1388145/House-Rules.html )

The alternative is that the Mail Online, guilty of copyright infringement ( yet again ), instead of owning up and paying up is trying to avoid the consequences with pseudo legal twaddle. If so not a bright idea to try that on with the Digital Editor of Grazia.

But there’s more. It get’s worse. This is what the  Independent Press Standards Organisation, IPSO, which regulates most nationals including the Daily  Mail ( though not the Mail Online ) tells the public, most of whom will not be as clued up as Rebecca Reid:

“Journalists are normally allowed to publish photos, comments and information from social media profiles, forums or blogs if there are no privacy settings protecting them and they do not show anything private” (https://www.ipso.co.uk/media/1510/social-media-public.pdf ).

This is quite simply not true. Publishing without permission photos “from social media profiles, forums or blogs if there are no privacy settings”   is in flagrant breach of the law. The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. And also in defiance of their very own Editors’ Code,  Point 1, Accuracy: “ The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information….”

Piracy with the blessing of IPSO!  Quis custodiet IPSOs custodes?
The answer to which is the law of the land. Which is also the last resort of creators. Photographers can and do extract payment for copyright infringement from the Mail Online. But, why, why, why do we have to deal with the lawlessness of national papers, and IPSO advice as baseless as that Mail Online reply to Rebecca Reid?

IPTC Metadata Conference

Last month Andrew Wiard attended the annual IPTC Metadata Conference in Paris on behalf of the BPPA ( IPTC – International Press and Telecommunications Council ). There he proposed drafting ‘quick guides’ to get the IPTC basic essentials across to as many photographers as possible. Starting with the Four Cs, the four IPTC metadata categories that every photographer should complete in every picture – Creator, Caption, Copyright Notice and Contact details.

Continue reading

Location lighting workshop with Neil Turner

Photo: Neil Turner. 

For anyone who remembers that far back, Neil Turner’s www.dg28.com website started out as a vehicle for him to post updates about the work that he was doing along with some technique examples that he called “photographer education”.
Well, that was in 1999 and a couple of years later he started doing occasional workshops and lectures about his use of portable flash on location. He has done a lot of talks over the years including a couple on behalf of The BPPA to coincide with exhibitions that were held on the old SS Robin at Canary Wharf.
SS Robin attendee Steven Frischling said “He’s good folks… totally worth the price of admisssion, got off the plane and went right to work with what I learned from you within hours”.
(Steven had flown from Pennsylvania and was en route to Germany!)

Where and when?

The workshop will take place at 1:30pm on Thursday 23rd May at Cherryduck Studios in London.
Cherryduck Studios
12-18 Sampson Street
London
E1W 1NA

What is going to happen?

Neil is going to be running a lecture/workshop for members of The BPPA and other interested professionals.
It will be a half day, classroom based session where we will explore some theory, go through some of the basic techniques and generally talk the talk about how to get interesting results quickly and cost-effectively.
Of course no two sessions are alike and the exact content on the day can be fine-tuned to the audience but it is aimed squarely at working news, feature, sports and PR professionals wanting to develop their skills and narrow down the thought process when approaching this kind of work.

How much and how do I book?

To book please follow this link: BOOK THE WORKSHOP

Marketing Essentials for Professional Photographers

You are a photographer, you know how to take photos, you have a vision but have you ever asked yourself the following questions..

  • “How do I find clients?”
  • “I got undercut by a photographer offering to do the job for £100”
  • You probably all think “LinkedIn is useless; I have been on it for six months and haven’t had a single enquiry”.

If so these series of seminars may be useful to you… Experienced photographer Pete Jenkins has got together with ‘Cath Preston’, a successful Networker/Marketeer based in Sheffield to run a series of one-day seminars on Marketing Essentials’ and ‘LinkedIn Essentials’, aimed at photographers, (although basically useful for any solo-preneurs/creatives/self-employed professionals who are struggling with basic marketing and with using LinkedIn effectively).
Lots of 1:1 help, those difficult questions answered, and ongoing support after the seminar has long gone.
Members of the BPPA can get £50 discount, see the offers page for details.

  • Marketing Essentials Ramsdale Golf Club Nottingham 20th March (all day) £133
  • LinkedIn Essentials Ramsdale Golf Club, Nottingham 30th January (all day) £133
  • Marketing Essentials NUJ, Kings Cross, London 6th February (all day) £199

You can see more details and book here…

DACS – It's your money – Act Now

Every year The Design and Artists’ Copyright Society (DACS) distributes the fees paid by libraries and schools and so forth for copying copyright work – including photographs.
Basically that means they licence secondary uses of your work that you couldn’t possibly deal with on a day to day basis – and you are entitled to a share of the income! There have been changes to the scheme this year that are too tortuous to explain here – but the crux is that the usual deadline of 30th September has been moved to Monday May 1st.

THATS NEXT MONDAY!!

The new system wants you to file a complete list of every book or magazine publication you have ever had – which is confusing lots of people. IGNORE THAT.
You can still enter details of just three publications from magazines and qualify for around £700! That’s not three publications this year – that is three publications in your whole career. The same applies to uses in books.

BUT YOU HAVE TO DO IT NOW!!

If you’ve done it before, it takes about five or ten minutes to re-do. If you’re new to it, it’ll probably take about fifteen or twenty. Thats maybe around £700 for half an hours work – the best job you will get this year!!

DO IT NOW!!!

www.dacs.org.uk

FREE MONEY!!!!

Ok – now we have your attention.
Every year DACS ( The Design and Artists Copyright Society) collects millions of pounds worth of royalties due for use of our photographs from libraries, universities and other organisations. It is payment for lending books, photocopying and things like that.
They then redistribute this money to us through the “Payback Scheme” – and it usually comes to several hundred pounds each.
THIS MONEY BELONGS TO YOU – IT IS OWED TO YOU – BUT YOU HAVE TO CLAIM IT!!
You only have until September 30th this year to make your claim – but it only takes about half an hour to do – and you will get a decent payout just in time for Christmas.
We realise that many photographers are daunted by the prospect of making a claim – but it really is very simple – and can all be done online.
To help you with this – here is a beginners run through of what you will need to do…
REMEMBER DO NOT ALLOW AN AGENT TO PERSUADE YOU TO ALLOW THEM TO DO IT FOR YOU – IT’S YOUR MONEY – DON’T GIVE AWAY SEVERAL HUNDRED POUNDS FOR NOTHING!
So – here’s what to do.
Firstly you have to get together some info.
(Yeah – I know this sounds like a drag – but look at it this way – Its a couple of days wages for half an hours work)
1. Get together the title and date of three (thats all!!) books that have used your pictures in the whole of your career – it doesn’t matter what they are or when they were published , just so long as they have an ISBN number.  You can look up this info via Google or maybe find it on Amazon.
2. Now find the same info for three magazines that have used your pictures. Not in the last year – but in your whole career.  I’ll say it again – thats three pictures used in magazines EVER!!  All you need if the title, date and the ISSN number of that magazine – again you can get this info with a google search.
(If you don’t have cuts or are struggling to remember dates then maybe you can work backwards – go through your picture archive and dig out some pictures you know made it into a magazine, and then check magazines shortly after this date?)
3. Finally – Have you had any pictures used on TV in the last year? Make a list of these too – although these have to have been during 2015
Thats it – you’ve done the hard part.
4. Now go to secure.dacs.org.uk and register.
Fill in your relevant details; that you are claiming for photography, how many years you have been working as a ‘visual artist’, what organisations you belong to, etc.
Now make your claims…
Firstly books.
You are claiming for all uses throughout your career up until the end of the relevant claim year, in this case ending 31st December 2015 – but you don’t have to list them all!
As we said earlier DACS cannot identify specific secondary uses of your work, so all you need to do is prove that you have had pictures published in books at some point in your career. They only ask for the ISBN number, title and year of three books included in your claim.
Then they then ask you to estimate how many times, throughout your career, your pictures have been used in books.
Finally then ask you to tick off all categories into which these uses fell – Academic, Art, etc.
And that’s it.
Next – Magazines and Journals.
Its an identical procedure – asking you to list three magazines where you have had pictures published – including their Name, issue number or cover date and
ISSN, ISBN or barcode number
Then – Television.
In this case only your claim is restricted to uses in the relevant DACS claim year, for now 2015. You are asked to enter how many uses in specified TV channels. Skip this if its not relevant or you can’t remember.
Thats all they want to know about pictures published.
Really.
It’s that simple.
After that all you have to do is read and accept the mandate authorising DACS to act on your behalf, which you sign with a tick. Then enter your bank details, tax status, and VAT detail. And finally you are asked to accept their Payback T&C’s.
(Please read the mandate and T&Cs – make sure you understand and are happy with them!!)
That’s all you have to do. Job done. Sit back and wait for a few hundred quid to drop into your bank – just in time to buy xmas presents or to pay for the xmas party!!!
But, do it now, before September 30th!
NO, REALLY – DO IT NOW – DON’T PUT IT OFF!!
Do not allow your agency to claim on your behalf – they take a big commission and in some cases even an admin fee too. Whatever they say, it’s your choice. Beware any new agency small print you may not have read authorising them to claim instead. They cannot do this without your express permission.
Do not give it – it’s your money. Not theirs.
(If they have in the past claimed in your name, and are now being a bit difficult about releasing the necessary sales info, you may well find DACS accepts the details provided in those previous claims as evidence for your claim today).
Finally, if any of the above is unclear, go to DACS FAQ’s:
DACS FAQ’s
Or ask us via the BPPA members Facebook page.
DO IT NOW – AND DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO HALF – ITS YOUR MONEY!!!