My ARPS Panel |
The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain seeks to promote and maintain high standards in photography, and one of the ways it sets out to achieve this is to award distinctions to individuals who can demonstrate that they have reached the required standard. There are three grades of distinction - LRPS, ARPS & FRPS (Licentiate, Associate and Fellow). |
|
I gained the Licentiateship in 1969 and the Associateship in 1990, both in the 'Pictorial' category. Much to my amazement I gained both distinctions at the first attempt, but I haven't yet tried for the Fellowship - one day...... Gaining the Associateship in the Pictorial section involved submitting a panel of 12 prints or 18 slides, which should show "variety of subject matter" and "evidence of a distinct photographic style". I chose 12 monochrome prints, all of which were printed on 20x16 inch Ilford Multigrade paper and mounted on 24x20 inch black exhibition mounts. Between the print and the card I mounted a sheet of plain white paper, slightly larger than the print, to form a thin border. As you will gather from the reproductions on these pages, my prints tend to be dark and high in contrast, and I think this style is well suited to a black mount. To view the larger images, click on a thumbnail image below. With each main image I've included a few brief details of exposure and printing, which I hope might be useful - especially to anyone planning to apply for the distinction. Note - the criteria for distinction panels has changed since 1990; full details are enclosed with the application form. |