An exclusive (sit down) talk at the Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery for the sixth form Art students at the Ken Stimpson Community School about my exhibition ‘New Town Youth 1985’. The brief was talk about career and how I got started, my inspirations and artistic influences, composition, light and technical skills. But the hardest question was ‘what did I hope to achieve from the exhibition?

For sure I'm on the wrong side of the camera but great that ITV News Anglia featured my exhibition 'New Town Youth 1985' broadcast the day before the opening. Video journalist Stuart Leithes taking the time to hunt out the exact places I took pictures back in 1985 to create a couple of terrific ' before and afters' for his piece. Click on the picture to see the article.
A triple whammy from the BBC as I was interviewed for breakfast, afternoon and evening shows to discuss my exhibition 'New Town Youth 1985'. Click on the different pictures to listen to the three different shows.
Picked up by both national media and the BBC a fun then and now visual story. In 1983 I documented the lunchtime drinkers in the Star and Garter pub, known locally in Hull as Rayners. My pictures had just been published by Café Royal Books so I decided to shoot a follow up series of pictures by holding prints from 1983 in the exact place in the pub today, nearly 40 years later. The characters come alive once more, albeit slightly ghostly, for a chat, a pint and a laugh in their old haunt. Click on the cuttings below to see the online publications.
 
 
It’s more than pleasing that the BBC picked up the Rag Bone George Norris family story and broadcast it. It was fun doing the interview, George is a natural, while I am much more comfortable being on the other end of the camera! They used a great combination of my stills from 1983 and 2022, my filmed interviews of George and his dad, George Snr and lots of B Roll. Also, nice to see that Keith Wade’s pictures of George Snr in the 1960s got a run. Click on the picture below to see the BBC item that was broadcast September 2022.

Nice to be invited by BSix assignment leader Natasha Cheek to talk to the University of Arts London Diploma in Creative Media Production and Technology as part of their study of Documentary photography. We discussed story structure, ethics of when to shoot and when maybe not to, copyright, pace, composition, the impact that words have when included in an image and presentation platform of work both in progress and completed. What was even more rewarding is that this college is situated at the end of Lea Bridge Road where I am shooting my latest story. This served to demonstrate that stories can be shot on your doorstep so you don't need to travel to the ends of the Earth to find great subject matter for a visual story.

Dubai Press Club (DPC), hosted a session on Thursday 17 October with Reuters, the world’s largest multimedia news provider, discussing the fundamentals of storytelling through photography, including ways to master visual storytelling elements to create a compelling photograph. The presentation was led by Russell Boyce, Middle East & Africa Editor, Reuters Pictures, and touched on the importance of speed when capturing images while also maintaining accuracy and ethical practices. During the session held at DPC headquarters, Boyce spoke about Reuters’ ‘The Wider Image’ project, an award-winning interactive experience showcasing visual insights by Reuters photographers.  Sharing his experience with an audience of UAE-based photo editors, Boyce said:  “Photographers need to think about telling the story visually while bearing in mind these six elements. The ‘Long form narrative’ storytelling elements include paying great attention to the general view, portrait, action, impact, detail and wow factor.” “There are many stories photographers can shoot,” Boyce added. “All they have to do is open their eyes to the things they can see every day, and what I’ve seen so far is that the region is very interested in this aspect of photography.” Boyce, who also manages and trains photographers, said photojournalists can work in teams and come up with ideas that are important to them and the world. During the session, Boyce also addressed how social media platforms and hand-held device technology has altered the way people consume news and information. He said that consumers today expect free and instant content, which makes social media a major competitor for news agencies. Salem Belyouha, Acting Director of Dubai Press Club, expressed his appreciation to Boyce for sharing his professional experience with participants. Belyouha also highlighted the close relationship between Dubai Press Club and Reuters and said: “Dubai Press Club is keen on working with leading media organisations like Reuters to support the development of the media sector locally and regionally. Through organising various training programmes and workshops, we hope to develop and enhance the skillsets of media professionals in the region and enable them to keep abreast of developments in the region and across the world.” DPC organises a number of workshops and interactive sessions throughout the year in partnership with leading international media organisations to equip journalists with the skills required to cover various events and write in-depth news stories and analysis while maintaining high journalistic standards. Targeting mainly media professionals and youth, including people interested in the media field, the programmes aim to strengthen Dubai’s position as a leading global destination for the media industry.

I was invited by Jessica Crombie, Lecturer at the London College of Communication to speak about ethics and photojournalism to the BA and MA Documentary Photography and Photojournalism courses in May 2019. Subjects addressed were what behavior is acceptable when taking pictures in difficult situations in terms of cultural reference. Where are the boundaries of situational manipulation and when does Photoshop cross the line from being creative interpretation to image manipulation and who has the right to say so. We also touched on the complexities of copyright law. The talk started with a picture of a raw carrot on white plate - hence the puzzled looks.  
In January 2019 I was invited back to speak to the Brighton and Hove camera club. A lot of fun with a large group with many questions ranging from fake news, the state and future of the news picture business, cropping, building narrative picture stories and copyright. What we didn't talk about was cameras.

On June 2nd 2018 I talked about my 30-year visual journey from Bob Carvers Fish and Chip Restaurant and Hessle Road in Hull to my role as the Editor for Middle East and Africa, Pictures, Reuters. The talk took place at the Creative & Cultural Space 2 of the HiP gallery during an exhibition of my pictures taken in 1983/4. Picture stories from the Star and Garter, George Norris on his horse and cart, people of Hull living with blindness, drag act Kandy de Barry (now called Bobby Mandrell) at the St Georges and more. It was great to see characters or family members from my stories show up. Many thanks to George Norris and Alan Raw from the HiP gallery who made this all happen. I was more than a little moved. You can see many of these pictures in the archive section of my site.

Initially I was more than a little intimidated at the prospect of speaking at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution that was founded in 1824. But quickly after arriving in Bath, Dick Bateman, Chair of Membership and Co-Convenor for Geography and Adventure Group, made me feel at home. The title of the talk was
"Positive images and stories from The Middle East and Africa". The Synopsis: 'Having the job title Middle East and Africa Editor, Reuters Pictures you might believe that all I see are pictures of destruction. But this is far from the truth; even in the darkest days there are images beauty, hope and aspiration, you just need to know where to look.' Below is a poster from the talk. A great picture by Mike Hutchings to promote it.

A lot of fun going to Monocle radio to talk about the best of year pictures with Tom Edwards (R) this December. Interesting describing the pictures for a radio audience but once we starting chatting about how the pictures were taken, ethics, quality and the process of getting the pictures from the field to the clients it all made lots of sense. You can here the whole exchange here - scroll on to the point at about 33 minutes
It was quite a privilege to speak at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities on the importance of authentic visual news. Part of Cambridge University CRASSH describe themselves as ‘CRASSH was established at the University of Cambridge in 2001 and is now one of the world’s largest interdisciplinary research institutions.’ Speaking with me was Eliot Higgins from Bellingcat and that was very interesting.

I was invited to address the photographic students at the South Bank University about the news picture business. It was the second time I had been asked to talk here. The students came from all years and the lecture was wide ranging. I explained about the state of the business now and its possible future, ethics, the technology Reuters use to move pictures quickly and the structure of building a narrative picture story. After this address I invited a group of eight students to visit Reuters for a day to have their portfolio reviewed and meet senior editors. One of the students, with the best pictures, will spend a week with us on work experience.

A rewarding experience for me addressing all three year groups at Falmouth University on the news picture business, how it works and how to work in it and the challenges it faces. Proud to have been sent this by the course director Gretchen Viehmann 'We’ve all told you that we have never seen students ask so many informed questions after a lecture before and we’re not making that up. Your talk managed to hit a nerve with them and to make them think about what they were doing.'

I am always happy to talk about news photography, the impact it has on the world, the ethics around it and the news picture business in general. Some of the most rewarding addresses for me personally have been at universities and colleges where young people are starting their careers in the picture industry. Below are a few of the places I have been lucky enough to address.

An ambition achieved as I spoke at the Royal Geographical Society in October as part of the Digital Doughnut Inspiration conference, the celebration of creativity, ideas and innovation. Subjects touched on were curation, the impact of social media and inspiring photographers to develop their story telling ideas through narrative and visual experimentation.

Through Reuters picture partners in Oslo, NTV I was asked to speak at the Hostseminaret. This was shortly after the publication of the pictures of the drowned refugee boy Aylan Kurdi on a beach in Turkey. The question posed; The war, the humanitarian disaster and distress in Syria has lasted for nearly five years. With images of three year old Aylan who ended his life in flight on a beach in Greece woke Europe in earnest. The suffering and the desperate flight had a face and a scene that touched people worldwide. Since the photo was published have the commitment and the desire to help has increased in many European countries. In Norway, as in many other countries, changed the picture the public debate about what has become the largest influx of refugees since World War II on the European continent. At this year's autumn seminar will meet Russell Boyce, global editor of "News Projects Pictures" in Reuters in London that talks about narrative power of good press photo. How designs can touch us, influencing international events and change the world. You can see the address here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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