Introducing the New Chairman

Hello, I’m Lindsey and I’m your elected Chair. 
I’m celebrating my thirtieth year in press photography this year. WOW. That number hadn’t crossed my mind until writing this.  
I was seventeen years old and at sixth form college when I walked through the door at my parents’ house who I lived with, and announced I was leaving college and going to work for the local paper as a freelance press photographer. -You can imagine their response. Well, add expletives, bells and flashing lights, and you wouldn’t be far wrong. They did eventually cool-down, supported me in my endeavours and my dad helped me build a darkroom in the loft and my mum even kept scrapbooks of my cuttings I still have today.
Eventually, I wanted more and enrolled onto the (legendary) NCTJ Press Photography course at Norton College in Sheffield under the honourable Paul Delmar. It’s sad to see the course gone today, they set the bar very high for industry standards and ethics, and in turn, many of the best of the best have been through that course and some continue to work in the industry.
From Sheffield college then on to Manchester for me and regional agency work, before heading south to London and freelancing for national, then international newswire services for over a decade. 
Today, me and the family are back in the north east and I’m shooting many varied assignments for the newswires, covering a large patch including the north east, north west and midlands with a good mix of news, sports and features, including some PR work for commercial clients thrown-in for good measure. 
Three years into being on the board of the BPPA, and I find myself elected to the Chair and to be honest, I couldn’t wish for a better job. Working with a dedicated bunch of like-minded professionals sharing our ideas and coming up with ways to better our profession, help our members and educate the public to our trade. We have a multi-skilled, dedicated, fantastic team on the board, all working together for you and this year, we have a bumper year in membership benefits, from our ever-increasing list of members’ discounts, to new photographic projects, a regular monthly newsletter including topical and member’s features, more varied speakers at our popular Assignments Live nights and then finally, the jewel in our crown: Assignments. Nothing shows our craft better than this exhibition and this year, we plan to make it a big one for the ever-popular exhibition. 
The list goes on though, but I hope you see where we’re going with this, we’re full steam ahead at the BPPA and thanks for being a part of such a rewarding journey.
Lindsey
Chair.