Those of you who are familiar with these updates will notice a change, rather than a list of officers reports, I have tried to give you a broader feel of the discussions taking place.

One of the big changes, just starting to roll out, is the opening up of the committee and the decision making process to more of our membership – still early days and a lot of work to do. Hopefully this will give a greater voice to the membership, allowing for their input on how LIP evolves. Our new Satellite Group Liaison Officer has made a good start by introducing a discussion platform for Satellite Group Leaders. Work is also underway for a members only space on our website – this should permit officer updates and minutes to be made available.

Our meeting on the 8th centered around our annual exhibition. We had hoped, after the AGM, to have an open meeting regarding the future aims and structure of the exhibition. However, do to time pressures we were not able to arrange this prior to some of the most urgent decisions needing to be made. Nevertheless, we were able to send the agenda to the Satellite Group Leaders and they, even though time was short, added some excellent feedback into our discussion.

To begin with, there was a vote on possible selectors for this years exhibition – since the introduction of our new constitution selectors have to be agreed by the committee. Therefore we have been running a selectors list, where committee members can add names and choose up to 4 people based on theirs and members recommendations and opinions. This has worked very well and we ended up with a shortlist of 6 (all agreed) – who our exhibition team can now approach.

Second up was a discussion on the selection process and whether we should continue with our present system of physical prints or move to online selection (or pre-selection). Although some benefits were put forward for going online, the overwhelming opinion was that it was still important to maintain the connection between the image at selection and the final image in the gallery. The vote reflected this and was passed in favour of remaining with our existing system.

Then we came to the issue of Series or Single Images. As you can imagine this is an area which is continually debated and I’m sure this will not be the last time. To summarise we need to give guidelines to the selectors and also members as to how the exhibition will be composed. In the past the exhibition has encouraged submissions of a series from members, the question has been raised, should the exhibition be more balanced to allow individual images. One of the key points put forward was, that the exhibition should promote excellence above all other considerations. In conclusion a vote was taken to reduce the maximum number from any submission of 6 to a final selection total of 4 and a change in the wording of the submission document to, ‘We encourage both a series of work and outstanding single images’ both motions were passed.

Lastly we looked into sponsorship and how and whether LIP should approach companies for either general sponsorship or possibly social sponsorship (food and drink). After some talk the consensus was that social sponsorship should be found for this year but only entered into with the committees approval.

So there you have it, the end of another busy meeting, a big thanks to all in attendance and for all those who put forward suggestion and opinions.

Our next meeting in May will be looking at ‘communication’ internal and external. To give you some idea of context we will be looking at editorial guidelines, guidelines for LIP involvement with external organisations and promotion. If you wish to put forward your opinions please email me.

chairman@londonphotography.org.uk

Adrian Capps
Chair

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.

Chairmans report
The focus of my report concerned my desire to open up LIP to its members; making it more assessable, transparent and hopefully even more representative of your wishes. In order to do this I’m starting with on re-writing the LIP constitution (yes for those of you that were unaware of such a thing, it does exist), I plan to produce a first draft which will then circulate around the committee, finally being opened up for members feedback – to be ratified at our next AGM. Also I have made a start on defining the committee structure and their roles, from this I hope to be in a better position to promote vacant roles and to encourage more help and support, in the long-term to create a stronger community spirt across the whole group.

Treasurer’s report
Len reported that the membership continues to grow (currently around 535), approximately a net increase of 10 members per month. Our finances remain stable, with a lot of work being done by all organisers to make sure they break even on LIP activities. Future plans: Len intends to trial new data management software shortly and will be in a postion to report on this at our next meeting in two month’s time. This is the first step in preparing for a future split of the current combined roles of Treasurer and a Membership Secretary. It is envisaged that the Treasurer would be responsible for the overall financial health of LIP, it’s financial security, and bill paying, while the Membership Secretary would oversee and maintain the membership database and the routine collection of funds.

Exhibition report
John reported that this year’s Annual Exhibition is going well, with two selectors confirmed (both non-LIP), gallery confirmed and new web pages on track. Also suggested, the idea of a ‘Blue tack’ event to be held after the main exhibition – the general feeling was to find new ways to see more of the work submitted for the exhibition.

Magazine report
Tiffany updated us on the new-format magazine (fLIP). More than 40 contributors were in the Spring issue with a total of 64 interior pages plus covers, she is hoping to continue with this size (feedback has been very positive). Stockists for the issue included Claire de Rouen Books, Eastside Books (Brick Lane), Whitechapel Gallery Bookshop, Magma Books (Covent Garden), Koenig Books (Charing X), Prospero’s Books (Crouch End) as well as Photographers Gallery. The magazine team are planning to shift print dates forward slightly for the next 2 issues with the goal for next year being to have the magazines launch last week February, June and October. These dates will coincide better with the start of summer, a break during winter holidays, and the LIP Annual Exhibition & Photomonth in Oct/Nov. Tiffany is also looking at different opportunities for the sale of past issues; one of these being the Photomonth Photofair at Spitalfields in October.

Programme report
Elizabeth reported that all workshops for this year have been full and the recently publicised Paul Hill workshop was full within a day with a waiting list of 10. St James Piccadilly is proving to be a popular event space with both the participants and the workshop leaders. Future Plans: The autumn programme will be completed to go into the next edition of Flip along with a review of the events and comments from participants. Because talks are not so well attended we discussed the possibility of moving some of them into satellite group areas and /or setting them up in advance so that their work can be written about in the magazine. Alongside this Lizzie is hoping to set-up events which will be in support the London Village Project. Importantly she does need to recruit another member to help support her team – so please if you have the time, get involved.

Website report
There isn’t much new to report here. Currently the website is functioning well and continues to be updated with new exhibitions and events on approximately a weekly basis. The Showcase interviews are now often produced by Corin Brown. The addition of details and promotion of submissions for the Annual Exhibition is in progress as info is received from John. Programme details are added as received by Lizzie. PayPal payments have been working smoothly.

LIP Project report
The LIP Villages project is progressing well with a team now in place, we look forward to hearing more detail very soon.

I hope this has given you some insight into the work going on. Any feedback or offer of time would be most welcome, and if you have viewpoints or suggestions on these topics or something new please feel free to email me at:

chairman@londonphotography.org.uk
Adrian Capps
Chair

Treasurer’s report
Len reported that he has been looking into revised quotes from insurers with the aim to improve LIPs public liability cover from £2m to £5m; this includes cover for all LIP exhibitions, satellite group meetings; courses and workshops. Membership is still growing fast, although this is lovely to hear it does raise some administrative problems because of this Len is looking into new database software to help manage it better in the future.

Exhibition report
John started his report by explaining some of the challenges experienced at last year’s exhibition, with respect to the venue. Since then he has visited two new galleries with the view to change venues for this year’s exhibition. Details of which were passed around the committee, both of these carried a higher cost to LIP than Cottons but it was agreed that this cost would be worthwhile; with a show of hands John was asked to proceed, was passed unanimously. We will keep you updated and lets all keep our fingers crossed that it goes to plan – this would be a very exciting move for LIP.

Magazine report
Another area that is going through change is our magazine, under a new editor, Tiffany. She reported that after a long process to find a new name for the magazine one was ready to be put forward; after a short discussion the committee agreed that this was a good title (I will not give it away now, some of you will already have guessed the rest will have to wait). It was also reported that there will be a new size and again this was agreed. Tim is also putting in a lot of work trying to find new outlets for our magazine for the future, plus there is talk of having a stall at Photomonth held at Spitalfields (this would also help promote our exhibition which is held at the same time).

LIP Project report
We were happy to welcome John Levett to the meeting, to update us on the LIP Project (for those who did not attend the AGM, LIP is working on a group wide project which is still in its infancy). We read through a document that outlined the sort of questions people had asked when discussing the project. This was then talked over by the committee – it was felt that a clear and concise statement was needed along with a ‘hook’ to crystalise in the photographers’ minds the raisons d’être of the project. It was agreed that our next step will be to produce an artistic statement and to form an initial team, consisting of a voice for the project, organiser, fund raiser and communications person. The committee will arrange a brainstorming meeting very soon to come up with a mission statement.

Programme report
Elizabeth reported that two more workshops were now live in the website and is looking into a possible ‘Digital Stories’ workshop as a follow up to Daniel Meadows’ talk in January. Other points raised: the need for a Portable PA System for LIP (this I am looking into but if anyone has any advice please get in-touch) and the need to attract more female speakers for talks and workshops.

I hope this has given you some insight into the work going on. Any feedback or offer of time would be most welcome, and if you have viewpoints or suggestions on these topics or something new please feel free to email me at:

chairman@londonphotography.org.uk
Adrian Capps
Chair

This is an excellent chance to share your ideas with the committee and other members, brainstorm and discuss ways to improve on our general programme of events, including workshops and talks!

If you’re a member with expertise in a particular photographic subject or have creative inspiration to share, perhaps you would like to discuss the possibility of presenting a talk or workshop, or leading a field trip, etc.

Why not become more involved in the planning of LIP’s activities to get the most out of your membership?

PLEASE JOIN US! All members are welcome, feel free to come along and be part of LIP’s exciting future!

Date: Saturday, June 27th
Time: 1pm – 4pm
Venue: The Coach Maker (upstairs room), 88 Marylebone Lane, W1U 2PZ
Closest tube: Bond Street (5-minute walk)

www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub16.html

The LIP committee met the evening of April 28th. A couple of people were absent due to work commitments, but still a good turnout as always.

Our main point of business was the Events Programme – ‘Talks and Workshops’ – the idea being to take a fresh look at how we can do the best for our members in this area. To start we had a roundtable discussion of ideas for improvement and content possibilities for the future. In brief we looked at the following situations: Financial, Manning, Selection, Administration and Delivery plus the overall vision and focus of our efforts.

So, where did all this debate lead, and what conclusions were drawn? The overwhelming opinion was to aim for a wider and more varied range of speakers and workshop topics, with a more flexible approach to planning, timing and delivery. We wish to draw further upon the expertise of photographers within our own membership. Talks and workshops are often offered within our satellite groups [where we are looking to see if we can make this easier] and we are looking at organising more frequent small workshops and talks with similar spontaneity.

Other ideas that came up – to limit smaller events to members only, to reintroduce some of the popular ideas from LIP’s past and to look into more joint ventures.

As the LIP Events Programme is run by members for members we will be having a meet and greet event soon for those interested to discuss how they could contribute their time, either planning, lecturing or teaching of workshops.

I hope this has given you some insight into the work going on. Any feedback or offer of time would be most welcome, and if you have viewpoints or suggestions on these topics or something new please feel free to email me at:

chairman@londonphotography.org.uk
Adrian Capps
Chair

We had a good turn-out again for our committee meeting Feb 10, three people were unable to attend due to work or illness.

Space was kindly donated by John Stead, thanks John.

The meeting had a very full agenda (we now also have one main point of business for each time we meet) starting with a discussion about our upcoming 21st Anniversary Celebration April 6th. All design work was reviewed, discussed and signed off as were ideas to make the night fun and interesting.

I reported on my progress in visiting all our satellite groups (I still have two left to visit). This has been a very rewarding activity, lots learned. We also had a very construction meeting in January with the Photographers’ Gallery looking at cross-promotion and how we can work better together in the future. In addition I have made a start in reviewing the committee structure, functions and planning process, part of this is to build strong teams for all of our main activities. On the back of this we are now looking for a person to fill the role of PR & Publicity, an exciting role and I hope we can find a member willing and able to take this on.

Magazine: Anita, our Designer, gave us a update on the progress she has made on the magazines new structure and we went through first draft ‘flow storyboards’ with a full breakdown of proposed content. A lot of work is going into making the magazine even better and you should progressively see changes feeding through. Our Distribution Manager Tim went over the work that he and and other members have done to increase the number of outlets and the work he’s been doing in making the financial side more robust. I hope we can bring you more news on this very soon.

Exhibitions: John updated us on the progress that his team had made, one selector is already on board for this year’s Annual Exhibition, and another very close. They also have a meeting organised with Cottons Atrium management to discuss different ideas for improving the exhibition. Everything is on target and going well.

Website: Tiffany let us know that implementing online payments via PayPal is getting closer to reality which should make most things a lot easier.

I hope this has given you some insight into the work going on. Any feedback would be most welcome – if you have viewpoints or suggestions on these topics or something new please feel free to email me at:

chairman@londonphotography.org.uk
Adrian Capps
Chair

Misery starts at 7, passes through anomie, total alienation by 9.

Meeting at Viewfinder Gallery. Here’s the map.

For further details contact John Levett 01223 521058

Treasurer’s Report
As well as providing the report, the issue of on-line payments was raised. Len (Treasurer) is investigating software to do this and more and will put forward his findings in due course.

Magazine
Britt (Editor) gave her report on the magazine and the next (anniversary) issue. Anita (Designer) is monitoring costs and getting quotes in from various printers. There was discussion about the extra pages (grey pages) – how they should be defined and their use. The decision was made to incorporate this material into the magazine and towards the back, to use these pages for satellite groups and workshop reviews. This will not be at the expense of the openness and flexibility of the magazine.

Exhibitions

John (Exhibition Organiser) filled us in on the work his new team have been doing. As well as looking at improved lighting options, they’re also investigating having a table for a comments book and take-away sheets with thumbnails and contact details. A virtual gallery with online prints and contact details to go live after the ‘take down’ was discussed. John also asked for ideas for selectors.

Web
Tiffany (Webmaster) ran through what was new with the website. The ‘showcase’ is going well, as is the ‘booklist’ promoting photo books published by members. A question was raised regarding the ‘exhibitions’ section and whether this would be better as a listing with smaller images so that more could be seen on screen at one time.

Other Business
I’d been asked to put to the committee the possibility of strengthening ties with the Viewfinder Gallery. Outside of monetary concessions, we’re looking at new ideas such as co-hosting events.

I’d welcome your feedback on this first update, and hope it’s given you some insight into the work going on. To let me know your views and suggestions on these topics or new ones, please email me at:
chairman@londonphotography.org.uk

Adrian Capps
Chair

This is a new forum to provide constructive discussion and feedback on your photographs. Please bring any current or completed work. This will also be a chance to talk about what people would like to get from the group, over a drink or two.

Time: 7-9pm
Venue: Function room (first floor), The Kings Head, 214 High Street, Acton, London W3 9NX
Cost: A £1 contribution to cover the cost of hiring the room would be appreciated.

Contact Peter Spurgeon if you would like further information at 07968 210533 or info@peterspurgeon.com