Voting Opens in The BPPA Press Photographer of the Year 2024

The time has come for our members to vote in the Press Photographer of The Year competition. After a last minute rush of entries we’re delighted to open the judging to all fully paid up members of the association.

Unlike many competitions out there where the judging takes place behind closed doors, with ours you see everything, every picture submitted is here for members to vote on. The BPPA exists to promote press photography and this competition is run by photographers for photographers, showcasing the very best out there.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ENTRIES

(we recommend looking on a computer rather than a phone)

All fully paid up members are entitled to vote for each category winner using the voting form which was been sent by email at 9am this morning (Monday 24th February 2025).

Please vote by 23:59 on Sunday 2nd March as we will not be extending the deadline this year. Please vote early to avoid missing the deadline.

Surrey Police pay out after photographer Peter Macdiarmid brings civil claim for false arrest.

Back in September 2022 The BPPA posted a short piece on our website about the arrest on the 24th of August of multi-award winning photojournalist Peter Macdiarmid whilst covering a Just Stop Oil protest at Clacket Lane Services on the M25, south of London. He was handcuffed and detained for several hours by Surrey Police despite identifying himself as the holder of a UK Press Card.

The post reminded Police Officers that journalists have a right and a duty to report the news. Peter engaged the services of the law firm Bhatt Murphy who sent a letter of claim to Surrey Police. Eventually last December Surrey Constabulary offered to settle out of court, but they are not accepting liability and are refusing to apologise for their actions. The law firm acting on behalf of Surrey Police responded to Peter’s lawyers and denied that any of the Surrey officers did anything wrong, arguing that the situation that they found when they arrived was confusing and that they had acted within the law.

Peter said after the result: “I have been a news photographer for 37 years and have covered many events where tensions were running high and police were under great pressure, this Just Stop Oil protest was not like that – it was very calm and protesters were voluntarily giving themselves up for arrest when a police officer decided to detain me on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage. I was unable to persuade the arresting officer that I was a genuine working press photographer and my press card was ignored. Whilst I am glad to finally bring closure to this after many months, I am disappointed in the actions of Surrey police in handcuffing and arresting me and then dragging out the legal process during my civil claim. Another colleague was arrested in similar circumstances in December 2022 by Hertfordshire police whilst covering a climate protest, but after legal action was started the force very quickly admitted it ‘unlawfully arrested and violated the human rights of a photographer who was held while covering climate protests on the M25’ and the Chief Constable personally rang to apologise to the arrested photographer. The stark contrast between the actions of the two police forces is telling.”

Congratulations to Peter and his solicitors for their perseverance in pursuing this case – Handcuffing and arresting a press photographer is unacceptable behaviour by Surrey Police. We believe that the Police got it wrong on this occasion and that this is far from the first time this happened and it is likely to happen again. In the end Peter has received damages and his costs, but would rather have not had to go through a lengthy and stressful legal process to clear his name.

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.

Aperture, Life Through a Fleet Street Lens by John Downing MBE

It seems so odd to be reading Aperture, Life Through A Fleet Street Lens, by one of The BPPA’s founders and its chair, John Downing, without a drink being shoved into my hand, albeit cranberry juice, without a crumbled blunt in an scruffy suit chipping in unwelcome corrections, without the occasional well-wisher, old friend, colleague resting a hand lazily on John’s shoulder as he passes smiling cheerfully in my direction with a large theatrical wink as if to say, “it’s all made up this, son, don’t believe a word”.

Except of course it isn’t made up. Nor my vivid memories streaming back of hearing these stories from John, known universally as JD when I first started shifting in Fleet Street. I see him now sporting a thin leather tie over a poorly ironed shirt, perched on a stool by the bar at the City Golf Club off Fleet Street, that was neither part of ‘The City’, nor anything to do with golf. But unusually amongst the legendary staff news photographers I came across early in my career, JD would take the time to talk to someone like me, yet another ambitious news photographer dreaming of following in his footsteps.

The City Golf Club of course, now long gone, was named to get around the laws on ‘closing time’. Fleet Street had many pubs, but badly needed a watering hole that could stay open well into the small hours. Instead of being subject to licensing laws, it was exempt as a ‘sporting club’. An idea I found JD had borrowed as a description for our Association when he asked me to become Treasurer. New to the role I had been called to meet with the Inland Revenue keen to understand whether we had taxable income. We didn’t. And cheerfully our Chair quipped to his nervous Treasurer when I asked what exact sport did we represent?  “Sport: How better could our wonderful job be described?”

Indeed for JD I’d say press photography was often a sport, a competition to get to the nastiest places on the planet and not only survive, not only manage to take pictures, but return to the office with rolls of film for the darkroom. This was at a time before Nikon neg transmitters, satellite phones, and long before digital cameras that file images from the camera to the desk ‘in real time’. It was an incredible audacious skill that JD escaped from many of his assignments not only with his life, but with delicate exposed film from places as murderous as a jail in the seventies Uganda ruled by insane dictator Idi Amin.

If you never had the privilege to meet John Downing MBE, winner of British Press Photographer of the Year seven times, hear his stories, you’ll be amazed at this wonderfully evocative read of a world now gone, the ‘Black Lubyanka’ the gleaming ‘Art Deco’ Daily Express offices in Fleet Street. There, slung above the smartest entrance which suggested you were entering a grand hotel, lay slung low ceilinged filthy noisy offices of at one time, the finest picture led newspaper in the world. Newsrooms where hard metal upright typewriters crashed out copy on near transparent thin sheets of paper, the office where you always ‘had to get back to’, that darkroom who ‘could dig you out the shit’, and budgets that were, well, irrelevant.

John died two years ago after a battle with terminal cancer, sorely missed by so many. In his last years he would often refer to ‘when I’m gone’ and casually bat away any of us that saying we were sure he’d beat the odds. Those odds he knew he could not beat but he carried that astonishingly stoic attitude to fate and chance that had served him so well in his long career.

Reading Aperture, Life Through A Fleet Street Lens makes me fondly recall that JD had a story for every occasion. Years later when he’d left the Express and although semi-retired was still keeping his hand in doing shifts on The Sunday Telegraph, I called asking if he would be a judge for our Press Photographers’ Year (PPY) competition. He’d been keeping a very much hands off approach to the newly reborn British Press Photographers Association. He had said to me that he knew only one or two of the people now running the show, wished us all well, and felt the new generation should be left to it.  Then he asked: “But how did you get not only a competition, an exhibition, but also a book off the ground?”  I told him that we’ve had some but not enough money from Canon, and that I’d managed to get the rest in sponsorship from Diageo, who owned amongst other brands, Johnnie Walker.  “Have I told you about the fake Pernod I brewed and the bottle of Black Label I got with it when I was in Afghanistan?”, he asked.

And if you haven’t heard that story, I suggest you read the book.

Aperture, Life Through a Fleet Street Lens by John Downing MBE published by Seren Books £19.99

www.serenbooks.com

Tim Bishop

Royal Parks Permits

In letters signed by The BPPA, the News Media Association, the Chartered Institute of Journalists, the British Association of Journalists and the Foreign Press Association in London and sent to the Editor of The Times and the Director of Communications, Marketing and Engagement for the Royal Parks the five organisations made it clear that restrictions placed upon news-gatherers excluding them from areas open to the public were unacceptable. The text of the letter to the Times said the following:

Sir, 

We are writing on behalf of professional photographers and journalists spanning the breadth of the UK news media industry.

This week, we have written to the Royal Parks to raise concerns about a clause in their news permits which prevents filming and photography at the back of No 10 Downing Street from Horse Guards Road or Horse Guards Parade.

This clause, which has recently been further tightened, unnecessarily restricts the legitimate activities of photographers seeking to report on hugely significant events happening right at the seat of power in this country.

The back entrance to Downing Street is an extremely important location for public interest news, particularly around a general election when a Prime Minister may change, or for reporting on activities taking place within Downing Street such as the Partygate.   We are asking therefore that the permits are updated to remove these restrictions. 

  • Owen Meredith, NMA chief executive;
  • Dominic Cooper, Chartered Institute of Journalists chief executive;
  • Matthew Myatt, British Association of Journalists general secretary;
  • Deborah Bonetti, director, The Foreign Press Association in London;
  • Paul Ellis, chair, The British Press Photographers’ Association.

The Times then followed this up with an editorial on page 9 of today’s edition (Thursday September 1st 2022). The letter to the Royal Parks made the same points.

The Royal Parks in London have (for a fee) issued permits allowing photographers to take pictures in their open spaces for many years. This always made it difficult for those wishing to cover the rear entrance to Downing Street but, in a recent revision to the rules, it became almost impossible.

The BPPA has been involved in several attempts over the years to sort out this issue and we hope that this latest effort will make the working lives of our members that little bit easier. In an ideal world the Royal Parks Permit would become a thing of the past and hope that this latest chapter in the long-running saga brings us into that world.

Assignments 2021 – The BPPA Exhibition

The British Press Photographers’ Association present their annual ‘Assignments’ exhibition celebrating the best of press photography from its members. Curated by 5 leading industry figures, this year’s exhibition covers stories from April 2019 through to the recent developments in the pandemic and will feature everything from sports and entertainment through to politics and protest with royals, celebrities and global events as seen through eyes of the association’s photographers. Founded in the mid 1980s, The BPPA has sought to promote and inspire the highest ethical, technical and creative standards from within the industry and once again is set to deliver an exhibition of photographs from the cutting edge of journalism.

  • Assignments 2021 is FREE to attend
  • Open from 11am to 6pm daily between August 27th and September 5th 2021
  • Covers 5 floors of The Bargehouse on London’s Southbank, part of Oxo Tower Wharf
  • Once again the BPPA bookshop will return during the exhibition

How to find us;

Train
Blackfriars, Waterloo or Waterloo East

Tube
Waterloo (Bakerloo, Jubilee and Northern lines) 5 minutes walk
Southwark (Jubilee line) 7 minutes walk
Blackfriars (Circle and District lines) 5 minutes walk

Car
There is secure underground car parking adjacent to the centre.

Boat
Blackfriars Millennium pier or Festival pier.

Image Credit: Samir Hussein, Andrew Baker

Assignments 2021 – NOW OPEN

The British Press Photographers’ Association is pleased to announce that ASSIGNMENTS 2021 is now open for entries. Following a break of more than 2 years we are once again seeking the best of British Press Photography from our members to be exhibited at Bargehouse London in August 2021.

  • Entries are open NOW until midnight on Friday 2nd July 2021
  • Each member can enter up to 10 photographs taken between 12th April 2019 and 2nd July 2021 (inclusive).
  • You must be a member of The BPPA to enter – if you aren’t you can join now.
  • Thanks to our generous sponsors at Canon UK and Fixation it is FREE to enter.

We are also pleased to announce the first of our 5 curators as Tom Stoddart. Tom began his photographic career on a local newspaper in his native North-East of England. In 1978 he moved to London and began working freelance for publications such as the Sunday Times and Time Magazine. During a long and varied career he has witnessed such international events as the war in Lebanon, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the election of President Nelson Mandela, the bloody siege of Sarajevo and the wars against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Read more about Tom here.

Click here for the rules and entry procedures

Image credits: Left to right anti-clockwise: Hannah McKay / Reuters, Hannah McKay / Reuters, Danny Lawson / Press Association, Peter Nicholls / Reuters, Samir Hussein, Stefan Wermuth / Reuters, Stefan Rousseau / Press Association, Damien McFadden, Dan Kitwood / Getty Images, Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images. Tom Stoddart by Daniela Sbrisny.

The BPPA 2020 Press Photographer of The Year

Photo: ©Lindsey Parnaby |

In an email message to members of the association, Chair Lindsey Parnaby wished everyone entering the competition the best of luck. He wrote:

“2020 was undoubtedly an incredible year for the press photographer. The impact of Covid19 changing the way we live our everyday lives for the foreseeable future as public events were forced to close their doors and socialisation banned under successive lockdowns. The NHS becoming the nation’s saviour at it’s darkest time. Brexit. George Floyd’s death and the global Black Lives Matter campaign. Captain Tom Moore’s epic £30m charity walk. Marcus Rashford’s campaign to end child food poverty. Sports being played behind closed doors and so many more news events in the space of just 366 days.

The Board deliberated for a long time whether now was the right time to hold an awards competition after many of our members had themselves suffered lack of work throughout 2020, but with such exceptional circumstances and as an organisation representing press photographers, we felt it would be an insult to those who were fortunate to work and to press photography if we didn’t acknowledge the exceptional images that have been achieved throughout 2020.”

The competition is being sponsored by Canon UK and Pixelrights and the awards website is now on line at https://thebppa.pixelrights.com

Women 2021 – a photographic celebration

Photo: ©Elli Birch |

NEWS RELEASE: 8th March 2021

‘Women’ is a photographic celebration of images telling the stories and achievements of women and girls launching for International Women’s Day 2021

To mark International Women’s Day 2021 The British Press Photographers’ Association has curated a new exhibition of pictures telling the stories and highlighting the achievements of women and girls as recorded through the eyes of visual storytellers.



In accordance with the aims of International Women’s Day the exhibition seeks to celebrate the strength and achievement of women throughout society – socially, culturally, economically and politically.

The exhibition is a celebration of the achievements of women and exhibition organisers Vickie Flores and Isabel Infantes took the decision to include pictures taken by any of our members rather than just focussing on the view of women:

“One of the aims of the project was to make photographers of all genders think about how we portray women and to achieve equality and gender parity, we need the support of each other.”

Chair of The BPPA Lindsey Parnaby says:

“Press photographers are very fortunate to meet many inspirational women in the course of their work; women from all walks in life who shine brightly despite, at times, facing much adversity. Launched to coincide with International Women’s Day, The BPPA ‘Women’ is a visual celebration dedicated to just some those inspiring women of the world who personify female empowerment: images of their moments of triumph and strength captured by members of The BPPA.”


WOMEN is an online exhibition of 70 images, launching on 8th March 2021 and can be viewed at: https://women.thebppa.com

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

International Women’s Day is a global day marked annually on 8th March celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women’s achievements or rally for women’s equality.

For more information visit: www.internationalwomensday.com

The BPPA was formed in 1984 by a small group of Fleet Street photographers to showcase the work that they were so passionate about. Over the next few years the association grew staging a series of hugely influential exhibitions and publishing three volumes of “Assignments” – collections of each year’s best work.


In 2003 we adopted a ‘mission statement’:

To promote and inspire the highest ethical, technical and creative standards from within the profession and raise awareness and appreciation of our industry outside it.

As of March 2021, the BPPA has 439 full members.

CURATORS OF WOMEN 2021
• Fiona Shields – The Guardian Head of Photography
• Gao Rongguo – China based Photographer and selected at Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2020
• Jakki Moores – News & Sports Press Segment Manager for Canon
• Jane Sherwood – Getty Images News Editor
• Milica Lamb – former Head of International and Entertainment at Press Association Media
• Rebecca Naden – Wales based News, Sports and Features Photographer for Thomson Reuters
• Rob Pinney – London based Photographer and founding editor of Point 5.1 Magazine

Image by: Milton Haworth

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Vickie Flores: +44(0)7771 613 991 E: [email protected]

Isabel Infantes: +44(0)7795 350 975 E: [email protected]

Lindsey Parnaby +44(0)7815 737 443 E: [email protected]

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