Sally Soames 1937-2019

Sally Soames and other members of the Press Photographers Association at their exhibition at The Barbican Centre in London. ©Brian Harris

Sally Soames and fellow members of The Press Photographers Association (which became The BPPA) at their first London exhibition at The Barbican. Photo ©Brian Harris.

Sally Soames who worked as a photographer for The Sunday Times for more than three decades died aged 82 at her home in north London on the 5th of October 2019.

Sally, like many of her generation had no formal training as a photographer, starting out by winning a photography competition run by a London evening paper. She was noticed by the Observer where she contributed work during the 1960’s before being taken onto the Sunday Times before the decade was out. She stayed on her beloved paper for more than 32 years working for esteemed editor Harry Evans and design maestro Edwin Taylor, reluctantly retiring due to problems with her knees and as black and white analogue film photography gave way to colour and subsequently digital image making.

Sally told me in the early 90’s that she was scouring London and buying up all the Nikon FM2 film cameras that she could find once she had been told that her favourite camera wasn’t going to be made anymore. I don’t think Sally and modern digital technology would have got on together, so a good time to call it a day.

Sally was a pure image maker, the eyes were everything, get the eyes sharp and you will have your reader, she said to me once. She would talk her subject into submission if he or she proved to be reluctant to have their photograph taken. She charmed and cajoled, often writing to her subject in advance of the photography session as well as reading their work if an author, or watching their films or plays if an actor. She saw herself and her work as the equal of the writer and the written word when covering an interview, not for Sally the three minute photo-op session dictated by a hovering PR, which is now seen to be the norm, Sally demanded and got as much time as she needed to produce her work.

Although Sally did specialise in portrait work for the paper, producing some of the most eye catching imagery to grace the pages of any newspaper in the land she was also a dab hand on the political scene. I personally worked alongside her on many occasions, Sally on the ST and myself on The Times at many a political conference during the 70’s through the 80’s. I was always surprised to see her visual summation of the week in her paper, normally a quiet reflective moment caught without fuss, just a fine quality image that would make you think a while.

I also worked alongside Sally in Israel whilst covering a general election in June 1981 featuring Menachem Begin and Moshe Dyan, both of whom she had entré to with one phone call. Her portrait of General Dyan on the Golan Heights ranks, IMHO, as one of her finest images. She introduced me around to those that mattered and arranged passes and some access to this then relative green horn, but that was just so typical of Sally, she would help just about anyone but especially new guys and gals on the block…there is a long line of news photographers working now who all owe Sally a great debt of personal gratitude, myself included.

 She had a heart felt affinity with Israel, being born Jewish (born Winkleman), and when based there during the Yom Kippur War between Israel and a coalition of Arab States led by Egypt and Syria in October 1973 she was recalled by Kelvin Brodie her Sunday Times picture editor (and a former top flight news photographer) as it was deemed by the ST management as being too dangerous for Sally to stay after the death of ST correspondent Nick Tomalin. The group of Arab commandos who stormed the beach outside her Tel Aviv beach front hotel made the point more emphatically. She returned to Israel a week later to cover the km101 peace talks.

Sally may have been slight of frame and stature but she was strong and a fighter…Sally never ever gave up, she always found a way to achieve what she wanted, with a gushing smile, a hand hold, a squeeze and it must be said a fair bit of feminine schmoozing…Sally really was one of those unique individuals who was a friend to many, a mentor to many more and a bloody good photographer…oh, and a really nice woman. RIP Sally.

Brian Harris © 2019

Keith Morris 1958-2019

HAY-ON-WYE, WALES - JUNE 1: during the 2019 Hay Festival on June 1, 2019 in Hay-on-Wye, Wales. (Photo by David Levenson/Getty Images)

Photographer Keith Morris during the 2019 Hay Festival on June 1, 2019 in Hay-on-Wye, Wales. Photo © David Levenson/Getty Images.

Tragic news. The day after Keith was reported missing, a body was found in the sea, near Aberystwyth.

Many would know his byline, but fewer would have met the man. I saw him a couple of times a year, and my memory is of not just a very talented photographer, but a mate who was always laughing. He really did have that joie de vivre that some people are gifted with. Rarely travelling outside of Aberystwyth, he nevertheless had pictures published in the national papers nearly every week via Alamy and LNP. His ‘murmurations of starlings over the pier in the sunset’ were a staple of most papers. 

Based for nearly his whole career on the west coast of Wales in Aberystwyth, Keith made a living photographing the local community and all of it’s activities. What made him special though, was his ability to see a picture that was of local interest, and transcend it into an image that the national press would want to use. He was an incredibly hard working freelance, but was happy to share his knowledge with others, who wanted to learn the secrets of successful stock photography.

Almost uniquely he made a great success of his career without ever feeling the need to travel far from his home town. His enthusiasm knew no bounds, night after night he would return to the same locations, to capture variants on his famous sunset over the pier pictures. A prolific operator, he has over 25,000 pictures on Alamy.

After his death, dozens of tributes have appeared on social media from those he had photographed in the town. It seems everybody in Aber’ knew him.

I first got to know his work well during the great storms of 2013, when his weather pictures made the front pages day after day. Ironically, it seems that the great waves that he captured in all their glory, were what claimed him in the end.

Keith leaves a wife Gilly, two daughters, and a grandson.

DAVID LEVENSON, 9th October 2019

Assignments 2017 – IT’S OPEN!!

The British Press Photographers’ Association is pleased to announce that ASSIGNMENTS 2017 is now accepting entries.
There are a few things different from last year so please do read the new rules and how to enter – we are realists though – we know you will probably skip to the “how do I enter” bit without going through the rest of it.
So here is a very brief rundown..
1, You have to be a member of the BPPA – if you aren’t you can join now.
2, It will cost £2 per picture to submit images, up to a maximum of 5 images. Those selected will be asked to pay a fee of £50 per picture towards the cost of framing (capped at £100 max). A Paypal request for payment will be sent to the email address you submit your pictures from once we have received the files (Sorry – we have to do this to pay for the exhibition – we aren’t making a profit or being paid to do this.)
3, The curators can’t enter so there is no risk of fixing.
4, No trying to nobble the curators – they are independent.
5, No doctoring pictures
6, Its your copyright – but we need to be able to use the images for the exhibition to work.
7, If you don’t want us to use your pictures on social media thats cool – just say so when you enter.
8, Read the tech specs and entry procedure bit
9, Deadline is midnight on 31th of August 2017

Click here for the rules and entry procedures

Why is the DACS vote important?

 
By now all in the DACS Payback scheme should have received their email prompting, expecting you to vote Yes for the CLA’s ECL.
For What? CLA = Copyright Licensing Agency, ECL = Extended Collective Licensing.
So, again, What? Today the CLA issues collective licences for ( amongst other things ) photocopying, DACS gets a cut from them, we then get our cut from DACS.
But what does this new “Extended” mean? Answer – that the CLA would then be able to exercise the rights of all photographers, for evermore, even if they have not agreed to give the CLA these powers.
This would be a dramatic, permanent and in effect irrevocable change to our sole right to license our own pictures.
So, exactly what rights would the CLA and DACS remove from our control?
They are not telling. Nowhere in this email or even in their FAQ’s do they give a straight answer to this question.
All you get before scrolling down to the point where you are expected to vote Yes is this thoroughly disingenuous, bald, don’t you bother your little heads about this statement:
“ The CLA operating an ECL will not have any direct impact on how DACS currently operates Payback”.
Currently? What about the future? This is not the annual deal you sign with DACS. This is forever. So, what exactly is this deal?
You’d better read it carefully before you sign a blank cheque. They’ve buried the small print very deep, but it can be found, and here it is. You grant them ‘secondary’ uses as follows:
“ Secondary uses include the uses currently licensed by the CLA for the photocopying, scanning, printing and digital re-use and communication of works that are part of composite works, like books and magazines, and also licences governing document delivery services; the uses made under the educational recording licences currently operated by ERA and uses made under cable retransmission; but also international uses of works remunerated through levy systems etc.”
What kind of contract is this? ‘Include’ ? What else do they/will they have in mind? These are not unintelligent people. They are capable of writing a clear English sentence. This vagueness is quite deliberate. Of course we all understand and accept, welcome, collective licensing of photocopying. For most of us that is what DACS is for, has always done, because it is quite impractical for us to deal with this directly, or at all. But look what’s next…
“digital re-use and communication of works that are part of composite works, like books and magazines”
Let me paraphrase. Digital re-use and communication of pictures in books and magazines. I hope that has woken you up. This is frightening.
We are now clearly talking about Primary, not just Secondary rights here.
The principle should be clear. They should only collect collectively what we cannot collect individually. That is what this deal should say. But it doesn’t. So I’m voting NO.
Which reminds me of an extraordinary statement at a British Library conference on Mass Digitisation I attended in July last year. DACS representatives let slip they had been discussing with libraries/museums about the possibility of issuing them blanket licences to put all their pictures online!
I have already had discussions with institutions about putting some of my pictures online. Identifiable pictures, identifiable and contactable author – these were not discussions about secondary licensing. These were discussions about my primary rights.
If this deal goes through they may not even need to pick up the phone.
We are not supposed to worry because if the CLA gets their ECL we have the right to opt out.
Really? How? Again, nowhere are we told. Do we just give our names? Are we expected to notify the CLA individually about hundreds of thousands of pictures? Topped up every week? And how would the CLA tell those to whom they issue licences that our pictures are excluded?
If they have answers to these questions they should have been there on the page before the prompt to vote. And if they don’t – this scheme should not go ahead at all, and we should not be voting on it.
As I said, I will be voting No. A clear majority is all they need, so if you feel the same, please do not abstain but vote too. And do check if your agency is voting/ has already voted on your behalf.

DACS – It's your money – Act Now

A stack of new 12 sided one pound coins released today.

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

The AGM 2017

The date for the BPPA AGM is fast approaching – May 4th 2017 – PLEASE COME ALONG!!
It has been a good year for the BPPA – The highlight was definitely the “Assignments” exhibition – with lots of other good stuff going on behind the scenes! It would be great to see as many of you as possible on the evening for a pint and a chat about what the association has been up to – and what we hope to achieve in the coming year. You don’t even have to be a member to come along and take part in the discussion. In particular it would be great to see as many younger members and women photographers as possible – to move away from the “old geezers” image.
We are hoping to make it a little more streamlined this year by producing an “annual report” for members to read beforehand – hopefully cutting down on the boring stuff and leaving more time for a beer and general discussion of things photographic. A copy will be made available on the members facebook page in the next day or two, and the agenda at the end of this week.

PLEASE GET INVOLVED!!

If you would like to get more involved with making things happen we would love to have you! Just email chris.eades@thebppa.com with a short message outlining why you want to be on the board and what you hope to achieve in the next year and we’ll get back to you with more details.
Likewise if anyone wishes to stand for the “officer” roles then they should declare their candidacy now.
The officers are currently;
Chair – Chris Eades
Chief Executive – Neil Turner
Deputy – Andrew Baker
Deputy – Kelvin Bruce
Web – Jamie Lorriman
Treasurer – Tim Bishop
Officer – Spencer Griffiths
Officer – Joanne Davidson
If anyone wishes to stand for these roles they need to give notice by Friday midnight – in order to give us time to organise an election. Likewise if there are any resolutions for the AGM that you wish to table please could you let Chris have them by Friday 28th.
Finally thank you to everyone who has put in so much effort in the last year both in the spotlight and behind the scenes to make this such a good year for the BPPA. Hopefully next year will be even better – and we hope to see you all for a pint on May 4th to discuss how to make this happen.
Where and When?
The AGM will be held at The Hoop and Grapes pub, Farringdon Street, London from 7.30pm on the 4th of May 2017.
If you have never been, you can find it at:
80 Farringdon St, London EC4A 4BL
Parking nearby is limited but there’s plenty of public transport in the area.
 

FREE MONEY!!!!

Cash, £20 notes

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!!!

Mike King

Mike King

 


The devastating news of the death of our friend and colleague Mike King was greeted last week with a mixture of disbelief and enormous sadness. He was not only one of the best sports photographers of his (or any) generation but he was also generous, witty and great company. There have already been several obituaries and memories including one from the Sports Journalists Association and a slide show by Philip Brown posted on the web and featured in national newspapers. This short but heartfelt tribute from Peter Tarry is posted here in the hope that others will add their comments about Mike and his professional life.

I first met Mike back in 1989 when I was a lowly junior photographer at a small sports agency and Mike was a staff photographer on the Observer.

At that time I feel that Mike was really enjoying life – a great flat, a Saab 9000 and a great job that involved traveling the world and getting to take fantastic pictures. But success never went to his head and he made time for everyone. He helped and encouraged me getting work at The Observer and was always pleased to offer advice. He would also ring up and ask if you wanted to go and take pictures for fun – events like lawnmower racing or early tough guy races, or if you just wanted to pop over to his house and play around with some new lights.

Mike was without doubt one of the finest sports photographers this country has produced. I remember looking through his contact sheets in the Observer darkroom – every frame was usable. The pictures were all pin sharp and beautifully composed. Just give him a couple of Nikon F3s, a manual 300mm 2.8 and a 180mm and Mike would produce magic – he was a craftsman – autofocus was of no benefit to him at all.

In recent times Mike loved covering London 2012 – he was in his element – it was the ultimate sporting event and it was being held in his city. After the closing ceremony we walked back to the Media Centre together – the party was over and we both felt it. But next morning Mike was back shooting the now deserted venue and getting the pictures published!

Mike was a prolific photographer – he loved taking pictures and never stopped – but beyond all of his skills as a photographer – Mike was a wonderful person whom I am proud to have called a friend.

Please feel free to add any comments that you wish to.

The Darkroom Boy – 40 years on Fleet Street

Roger Allen

 
A peek into life in the glory days of Press Photography from the perspective of Fleet Street legend Roger Allen. An auto-biography illustrated with fantastic photographs from around the world by the former Daily Mirror staffer, with tales to make you cry with laughter including the infamous John Major ‘mooning incident’ and stories from the war zones of The Balkans to really scary battles of wits with showbiz celebrities. NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
Find a comfy chair and crack open a bottle of Rioja.

“The Darkroom Boy is the story of a lad from a poor council estate whose working life was destined to be spent on a building site slapping glazed tiles on the walls of bathrooms and toilets. A chance meeting with his old art teacher in the early 70’s sent him on a different path… jetting round the world covering some of the biggest news stories of the late twentieth century as a newspaper photographer.

In the process, learnt a great deal about life, death, celebrity and how to behave at the awards ceremonies where he was twice crowned British Photographer of the Year.

He drank with Ollie Reed (copiously) tracked George Michael in the Hollywood hills, hunted showbiz fat cats like Michael Barrymore in America and real life lions on Woking high street. He travelled with John Major (exposing the parts that should never be mentioned let alone seen).

He also dodged bullets in war and peace, from Bosnia to Belfast and from Kosovo to Cape Town.In spite of this he still kept a sense of humour and an innate sense of right and wrong. This is the story of Roger Allen and his journey from a news agency run by two northern hacks who punted stories and pictures to the daily papers to the heights of his trade.

Through the murky days of the darkroom- dipping and dunking prints and processing film before taking the train to London to be shouted at and abused by the great and good of Fleet Street as he delivered photos to picture desks of the nations papers. Press photographers are seen as heartless coves. But The Darkroom Boy tells a different story- one of heartbreak and love, joy and laughter, rib-tickling humour and spine-tingling fear. He shows compassion not only to humans but also bears – Just ask the one Roger saved in Bosnia.”

The 2015 General Election

The BPPA

 
It has been a while since we ran a major project. At a recent meeting of The Association’s Board we decided that the upcoming UK General Election would be the perfect opportunity to right that wrong. We are inviting all members of The BPPA to get ready to submit photographs for this project which will start off as a web gallery and then, all being well, become something more.
Back in 2005 we ran a very succesful project which ended up with the arresting title “Never Mind The Ballots”. It started out as a web gallery but then became an exhibition which showed at the Palace of Westminster and on board the SS Robin which was moored at Canary Wharf. The summary of that show said this:

“The images collected in ‘Never Mind The Ballots’ express the sheer banality of the May 2005 general election. But more than this, they demonstrate the skill and determination of BPPA members who were able to produce excellent photographs under such tedious and stultifying conditions.

This was one of the most stage-managed, spin-driven and least visually interesting British elections of modern times. An event during which the nation’s press photographers faced months of ten-minute photo-calls and frustratingly regular delays in their quest to find interesting and significant images. This exhibition is both a celebration of the achievements under such conditions and a critique of those monstrous circumstances themselves; proof that vital and arresting shots are there despite the adverse efforts of political parties to regulate and normalize content.”

We have the strong suspicion that nothing will have changed apart from even greater pressure on news photographers to supply pictures in greater quantities, to tighter rolling deadlines and against even greater efforts from the political party machines to control what we do.
Railing against that control is something that press photographers do well and this project is a great opportunity to show off those pictures – especially those that may never be seen elsewhere.
Watch out for some interesting and creative work.