News

Photo by Ariadne van de Ven

It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that LIP member Ariadne van de Ven died on 14 March after a short illness. She was 56. She was a very talented and thoughtful photographer, as well as a valued member of LIP and a great personal friend to many, including me.

Ariadne’s best-known work is her extensive range of portraits from Kolkata, a city she loved very much. She believed strongly that her photographs were a collaboration between herself and the person she was photographing, and her portraits are full of life revealed in the shared moment of interaction. Working with film cameras, she would print photographs when she was back in Richmond and then take them with her to give to the participants on her next trip. Her black and white prints are full of life, dignity and with touches of shared humour. Not all are portraits: her observations of the city are equally nuanced, with an understanding that things are never quite as they seem.

She spoke and wrote fascinatingly on photography, and especially about her work in Kolkata. I hope we will be able to find a way to publish her absorbing long essay, The Eyes of the Street, written for her MA on Place, Environment and Writing in 2015.

Ariadne was an active member of the LIP committee as well as being a pivotal contributor to meetings of the Central satellite group. She was very much a driving force in getting the Central group to where it is now: during our meetings her comments were always insightful and supportive, especially to people new to photography and finding their own vision and voice. That didn’t stop her being honest, but she was able to communicate reservations and criticisms in a way that enabled us to understand them and appreciate the significance of what she was saying.

Some of us were able to spend time with her in hospital and the hospice. She was surrounded by family and friends and was completely without self-pity or regret. She said how much she had enjoyed her life and accepted what was happening to her with dignity and her usual calm thoughtfulness about others.

She told me she wanted to be remembered and not missed; it’s hard not to miss her, but it’s very easy to remember her and all that she brought to photography, to LIP and to her friends.

There will be a longer appreciation of Ariadne and her work, with more of her photography, in a future issue of fLIP.

– Hugh Look, Central London Satellite Group

The contemporary group of the Royal Photographic Society presents Tales of Two Rivers on Saturday 8 April in Birmingham.

RPS members and non-members are welcome – for booking click here

In the day-long event, these speakers will present their work:

Yan Wang Preston created Mother River by photographing, in large format, the entire 6211km length of the River Yangtze at precise intervals of 100km.

Polly Braden and David Campany photographed images for their recently published book Adventures in the Lea Valley starting in 2004 when they first met.

For full details visit the RPS website

London Independent Photography is excited to welcome Gill Golding as our new Chair. She takes over the position from Hugh Look, who served from 2013.

We are grateful to Hugh for his time commitment in overseeing LIP’s activity development, and for his support of our inclusive founding values. Hugh graciously offered calm and steady guidance during our committee meetings, and great enthusiasm in his interactions with members. His contribution over the past three years is deeply appreciated.

A letter from Hugh:

I’m delighted to be able to hand over the role of Chair of LIP to Gill Golding with immediate effect. Gill has been a member of LIP since 2012 and regularly attends the Crossing Lines satellite group, where she plays an active role. She is an urban photographer, and has completed an MA in Photography and Urban Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Gill is already heavily involved in photography, and brings a strong record of success in her work with UrbanPhotoFest, both as a member of the Steering Group and also as the Competition Organiser; she initiated and launched the new, annual UrbanPhotoFest Open photography competition which was hugely successful. Gill participated in judging the 2016 UPF Open with Paul Halliday from Goldsmiths and Rut Blees Luxemburg. She recently co-founded Urban Photographers Brighton, formed to become a hub of the Urban Photographers Association.

Gill is a former teacher and head teacher, and continues as an educationist.

She believes that one of her main responsibilities will be to help LIP increase its revenue and membership. She will be looking at links with other organisations to form partnerships that encourage people to participate, learn and get involved.

LIP’s Committtee has co-opted Gill to act as Chair until the end of the year, when (like all the Committee) she will stand for election at the AGM.

I wish Gill every success as LIP’s new Chair. I’ve very much enjoyed my own time as Chair, and especially the chance it has given me to meet many of our members: I would like to thank all of them for the different contributions they make to LIP’s success, and especially the Committee and the volunteers who support different aspects of the Committee’s work. Without their tireless work we wouldn’t have a magazine, an exhibition, workshops, talks and lectures, a website, or indeed any of the activities that LIP’s members value and enjoy. We all owe them not only our thanks but also any help and support that we can give to them and our new Chair.

Hugh Look

LIP member Celine Marchbank‘s Tulip – a heart-rending photographic portrayal of a daughter’s last weeks with her mother – has been published by Dewi Lewis after a successful crowdfunding campaign. Dewi Lewis Publishing is recognised as one of the leading photographic publishers in the world, and Celine is delighted that Tulip is now available to order.

In September 2009 Celine’s mother, Sue Miles, was diagnosed with lung cancer and a brain tumour. While trying to come to terms with the fact she was dying, Celine decided to document the time her mother had left by photographing during her last few months in her Camden home. She looked at the things that made Sue uniquely her; the details of the house she knew so well and the things she realised would also be gone when her mother was.

Her mother’s love of flowers was a beautiful part of her personality; the house was always full of them, and as she photographed them she realised they were symbolic of what was happening – they represented happiness, love, kindness and generosity, but also isolation, decay, and finally death.

The final project, Tulip, is named after her mother’s favourite flower, and has been exhibited around the UK and internationally. The work has been nominated for awards including the prestigious European Publishers Award and the Deutsche Bank Awards in 2011. It has featured in a range of magazines, including fLIP, and The Telegraph Magazine.

Alixandra Fazzina’s ‘Visualising Migration’ lecture on 25th November was a very successful night that had the audience wanting to hear more. Also on the evening all the books her publisher brought along sold out with not everyone able to get a copy.

Trolley Books is offering LIP members a signed copy of A Million Shillings by Alixandra Fazzine for £30 plus p&p – until 10th December!

About A Million Shillings
Across the Horn of Africa, war, abuse and poverty make millions miserable and drive thousands to attempt to flee. With land borders cut off or closed, and surrounded by conflict on all sides, one of the only means of escape is by sea. ‘A Million Shillings’ follows the journey of desperate emigrants, or ‘tahrib’, to their embarkation points with smugglers on the coast of Somalia, on a perilous voyage across the Gulf of Aden, and onward in the search for a better life. The cost is just $50, or one million Somali shillings. With a one in twenty chance of not making it to the other side alive, it is a price they must risk their lives for. Even then, it is a journey which for many will remain unfinished.

TO ORDER, contact Trolley Books on info@trolleybooks.com and mention LIP. They will then arrange payment (card or Paypal) and shipping.

LIP member Alina Kisina is offering a workshop, Portfolio Clinic: Preparing for a portfolio review. From her extensive experience of both receiving and giving portfolio reviews, Alina will offer feedback and guidance to photographers to identify what can be gained from a portfolio review and how to best prepare for them, including editing and presenting your work. 20-minute slots are available throughout the day, on a first-come basis. Advance booking is required. This event is part of East London Photomonth 2015.

31 October, 9am-5pm
Cost: £20
Booking: info@alinakisina.co.uk

Chisenhale Arts Place
64-84 Chisenhale Rd
London E3 5QZ
Transport: Bethnal Green/Mile End/Bow stations