RPS International Photography Exhibition 161

This was my first trip to the RPS International Photography Exhibition as well as my first visit to the RPS’s new home in Bristol and my first reaction to both was wow!

The new venue in the Paintworks, Bristol, right opposite the Martin Parr Foundation, has been a long time coming. When I first heard that the RPS was moving to Bristol, probably 18 months ago, I had thought it would be this time last year, however they are in now and what a lovely, bright, welcoming place it is. The gallery on the first floor, newly fitted out as a dedicated exhibition space is well-lit and spacious and this, the first exhibition to be held here is a fitting inaugural event.   I’m not quite sure what I expected of an RPS International Photography exhibition, possibly upmarket camera club type photographs, but certainly not this. It is as good an exhibition as I have seen in a long time. 54 exhibitors from 13 different countries, world-class exhibits, well worth the £7 entrance fee for anyone who is not a member.

I had decided in advance to focus on landscape exhibits, this being my current interest and the focus of my current studies and I was really pleasantly surprised because without exception the artists had brought a new dimension to the genre.  It is probably fair to say that most of the exhibits loosely fell into either landscape or portrait and there seems to be a ‘style’ of documentary/portrait photography popular at the moment that for me is a bit samey but that might just be me.

The landscape exhibits were anything but samey though and in fact the gold medal winner, Catherine Hyland had two sets of images exhibited, one in the documentary/portrait style, Wait-and-see Prudence with Patience Sauce, which won the award and the other, two photographs from a landscape series called ‘Universal Experience’ and this was my overall favourite.

From Universal Experience ©Catherine Hyland

I really love the vast landscape and the tiny people taking selfies against the backdrop. The thinking behind this work seemed very relevant our landscape course too, according to the artist’s statement accompanying the work:

Another artist whose work I enjoyed was Robin Friend, whose work, Bastard Countryside, draws on Victor Hugo’s writing describing the ‘ugly and bizarre effect that humans have had on the countryside. According to the artist’s statement accompanying the work ‘Industrialisation and accelerated human modification have created hybrid landscapes that feel both aggressive and seductive in nature’  (Friend, 2018) and some of the images certainly are bizarre but beautiful all the same.

Natalie Paetzold attracted my attention for a number of reasons.  Firstly her work, Finding the Void, is inspired by personal experience, memory and freeing her mind through the action of walking, so a photographic journey in more ways than one.  Secondly Natalie has creates digitally constructed images which I am currently exploring and I found myself wondering if I could replicate what she had done with some of my assignment 3 images

From the series ‘Finding the Void ©Natalie Paetzold

I was also interested in the fact that Natalie graduated with a Masters in photography from UCA in 2018, so practically one of us!

I said at the start that I found some of the documentary/portrait exhibits rather samey but Lauren Forster’s work, God has not Favourites, is anything but.  This is an ongoing project documenting Forster’s family’s response to her mother’s terminal diagnosis of a secondary brain cancer which finally took her life in August 18.  It is a very personal and intimate project which Forster describes as a therapeutic collaboration about love, loss, family, strength and the fragility of it all.  I found the photographs exhibited in the exhibition really moving but nothing compared to the rest of the project on Lauren Forster’s website.   And although very personal and recent, this is not the first time Forster has taken on a tricky subject.  Breast cancer and stroke are subject of earlier subjects covered by her.

I said at the start of this reflection that this was one of the best photography exhibitions I had seen in a long time and now that I reflect back on it I know that to be true. I came away from the new RPS House with 4 new photographers whose work excited and resonated with me and whom I will follow in the future.

RPS International Photography Exhibition 161 can be seen until 24th March 2019 at

RPS House, 337 Paintworks
Arnos Vale
Bristol

Sources:

http://www.catherinehyland.co.uk/work/universal-experience/ [Accessed 13 March 2019]

https://www.robinfriend.co.uk/ [Accessed 13 March 2019]

https://www.nataliepae.com/finding [Accessed 13 March 2019]

http://www.laurenforster.com/god-has-no-favourites-on-going [Accessed 13 march 2019]