In 2012 LIP will celebrate 25 years since its founding in 1987! If you feel you want to get more involved in the organisation of our activities, we are always seeking support from members, whether or not you wish to join the committee.

Currently we have three committee positions open: Chairman, Publicity Officer and Webmaster. To express interest in a position or to offer support in a specific area, just contact a member of the committee with some background details about yourself and why you think you would be suitable for a certain role. Members can be co-opted onto the committee and will formally stand for election at the AGM in November 2012.

Happy New Year, and all the best to our members for 2012!

The Winter 2011 HOME issue of fLIP magazine launched on 14th November with a night of slideshows and good times! Thanks to all LIP members who joined us for a great social and for supporting all the excellent work on show by our contributors.

The issue is now available in bookshops and to purchase online, full details are on the issue home page.

We are also in the process of introducing online features on the theme of HOME, so keep checking the magazine section for more additions!

For those interested in contributing work to the first issue in 2012, the theme is INCOGNITO, deadline is 31 Jan 2012, and submission guidelines are online.

If you have been debating whether or not to participate, the time has come to decide! All LIP Members are invited to register at the LVP website, and be a part of this exciting long-term project!

A series of workshops for members, on ‘editing a body of work’ will run from Autumn 2011 and seek to help members of the LVP in selecting work that will become the final representation of their personal project. More details will follow to members.

At the July monthly meeting Carol Kenna presented an update on her project in Greenwich which displayed a number of themes such as construction in the area and neighbourhood groups. New member Francesca Hamon is looking in Bermondsey and highlighted a problem for many members of the LVP: that of the richness of a neighbourhood & how to make a singular statement from the multiplicity of options. Anita Strasser is continuing her Deptford High Street work but with a new frame of reference, now shooting in colour. Katrin Nodop began again with the working horses at The Old Southern Railway Stables in Bermondsey.

For further details about the project see londonvillagesproject.org.uk or contact organiser John Levett

Angelika Berndt gave a quick update on her work from the walkways of the Barbican. Astrid Baerndal presented work for the first time and showed images from her recently-begun work on an embryonic Buddhist community in Camberwell. Eamonn Power is working in Brixton and his starting-point has been the neighbourhood of Brixton Village. Mo Greig’s work is centred upon King’s Cross, and is a balance between portrait and the built fabric in an area that’s changing daily and attracting much attention within the LVP. Nicola Lawrence is working locally in Brick Lane and discussed how she has taken time to ‘embed’ herself within the community. Chris Ennis returned with his latest panoramic work in Ponders End.

For further details about the project see londonvillagesproject.org.uk or contact organiser John Levett

At the group project meeting in May, emphasis focused on individual photographers’ developments in defining their ideas of ‘village’, and how aspects of a project can transform the photographer as much as their photography. Five photographers presented their work for feedback at the meeting:

Angelika Berndt is developing ideas surrounding Barbican. Andrew Wilson has a local book commission for which he is focusing on his own location of Barnes. Peter Luck has been photographing in the East End, and is now considering how to link the history of the area within his work. Astrid Schulz photographed Soho pubs on the day of the royal wedding, and Andy Preston presented images from the narrow boat community of Regent’s Canal.

The next all-day focus meeting will take place in June.

For further details about the project see londonvillagesproject.org.uk or contact organiser John Levett

On the evening of March 10th we celebrated the launch of the spring issue of fLIP magazine with the theme of STREET LIFE. It was great to meet so many new people on the night, sipping drinks, watching slideshows and enjoying interesting discussion. Our combined enthusiasm to get together was exciting and a good time was had by all!

The STREET LIFE issue received the most submissions ever – about 150 – and more than 55 contributors appear in its pages.

Steve, Bardia and Christina looking at the new issue of fLIP for the first time

An image by David Solomons, slideshows ran throughout the evening

Sean McDonnell, Peter Marshall and David Solomons, who are featured in the issue

Thanks to all who came out for the celebration, and we hope to see you again next time!

Images by Mark Burton

A focus meeting is planned to take place right at the start of the Project, to see how some of our photographers have already interpreted the idea of ‘village’ in their current practice and to give ample time to questioning any aspect of the Project. It’s a day for mulling over ideas in the making.

The Focus Meeting
Saturday, March 5th at St. James church in Piccadilly
10.30 am – 5 pm

General Agenda:
- Organiser John Levett will introduce the session and provide the rationale behind the concept.
- Four LIP members will make presentations in the morning: Anita Strasser, Neville Austin, Anne-Marie Glasheen and Judith Jones
- Question periods will be moderated by Quentin Ball and John Levett
- There will be a break for lunch

Participants are invited to bring along their thoughts and ideas surrounding the London Villages Project; words, images or strategies for interpreting and working on the project throughout the next year.

Meet people you’ve never met before! Participants make up a very diverse group, but the project will bring all together in practical matters of photography, and in how we perceive our capital city and its communities. It’s a fine thing to get to meet those alongside whom we’re travelling.

Please RSVP by email to John Levett if you plan to attend, or if you want a slot to discuss some ideas.

Invitation to LIP Members

Some of you will recall that for a full year leading up to the turn of the Millennium, LIP undertook the very successful Countdown2000 project resulting in a picture representing each day of 1999.

Ten years on we are ready to embark on a new project: The London Villages Project.

There are times in our lives when the feeling arises that we are living through an important moment in history – and in London, 2011 is such an era. We have a struggling government seeking to restructure a Big Society, the remnants of a world financial crash and resulting austerity. London is preparing to host a royal wedding in the spring, and the Olympic Games upcoming in 2012. These events offer a chance for LIP to create a unique portrait of London as it is now, as one of the most multifarious and culturally diverse cities on the planet. It’s a chance to capture the mode of our times, to tell the stories of ordinary people, and the not so ordinary; an opportunity to get involved in our communities and to photograph from the inside, discovering the beating heart and spirit of London’s many villages.

If you were to spend a full year thinking about where you live or work and to photograph it, what would the result be? You may be surprised; you most certainly will be surprised. This is your chance to get under the surface, to explore.

So let’s lift our heads, turn off our iPods and take a fresh look at what’s going on in our surroundings, then make a lasting record from it.

THE CHALLENGE – If you wish to accept it

LIP invites photographers to join the London Villages Project. Throughout 2011, you can contribute your individual view towards creating a body of work that should be identifiable as a unique contribution to the visual history of London.

The project will be part of the Cultural Olympiad in 2012. Plans for exhibitions and publications are in the works, and the project website is already up at: www.londonvillagesproject.org.uk

Finally, what the project becomes will be down to each and all of you!

Don’t miss out on participating in this exciting and unique collaboration.

The London Villages Project needs YOU!

Adrian Capps
Chair of London Independent Photography

The seminar is to be held on 11th-13th March at the Riviera Hotel Bournemouth.

Saturday 12th March:
Caroline Hyman (Arena Member)
Noel Myles
Chris Steele-Perkins
Visitors’ Print Presentations

Sunday 13th March:
Colin Westgate (Arena Member)
Simon Roberts
Jonathan Critchley

For full details and booking info see the Arena Photographers website.

Just visit the London Independent Photography page and click the ‘Like’ button to receive updates via your facebook account.

On twitter we are @londonindphoto – follow us!