Amateur Photographer – 16 August 2019

10 10 August 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Doyouhavesomethingyou’dliketogetoffyourchest?Sendusyourthoughtsinaround

500 wordstotheaddressonpage 12 andwina year’sdigitalsubscriptiontoAP,worth£79.

I

wasrecentlyona presstripto a

prestigioushorse-racingeventon

a minibuswith 22 others.I wasthe

secondoldest.Twoof theyounger

vibrantattendeeswhirledover.‘Whoare

youworkingfor?’theyasked.I’mgladthey

askedasI wasworkingforTheSunday

TimesMagazine. I toldthemproudly.They

bothtiltedtheirheads.‘Aah.In print.’They

saidit withsympatheticlooks.‘Andwhoare

you?’I asked.‘I’mLeatherLobsterandof

course,this,is StyleBiscuit.’Ofcourseit

was.‘Wearejournalistsandinfluencers

andvloggers,’saidoneastheywaftedaway.

Afterthehorseshadrunthelastrace,

I checkedontheeffortsof Lobsterand

StyleBiscuit.Theyseemtohavespent

mostof thedayin thehospitalitybox

makingsaccharinesocialmediaposts

of thesponsor’sproducts.It wasn’t

journalism.It wasn’twhatI observeddown

amongtherace-goingpublic,thesniffer

dogs,discardedcondoms,life,love,

laughter,foodandtheoddfight.

AsI wasleavinganotherseasonal

sportingevent,thePRaskedtosee

thephotographsI’dtakenin theVIP

marquee.‘I can’tdothat,’I said.‘I haven’t

seenthemyetandafterI’veseenthem,

theclientwillbethenexttoseethem,

thenI canletyouhavea look,’I added

politely.ThePRexplainedthata

photographerfromthepreviousyearhad

takena less-than-flatteringphotograph

of a minorroyalandwasnowexcluded

fromallof theirevents.

In 2015,Aintreetriedtobanpictures

topreservetheirvisitors’dignity.

Photographersat theworld’sgreatest

steeplechasemeetingwerewarnedthey

wouldhavetheiraccreditationrevoked

if theytookpicturesof badlydressed

punters.Thisyear,theLiverpoolEcho

publishedanopenletterslatingtheDaily

MailandMailOnline’s‘sneering’headlines

and‘unflattering’photosof racegoers.

Eventorganisersareincreasingly

advisingwhatkindof photographsshould

betaken.Photographersarehavingto

providepreviouslypublishedtear-sheets

for review. News outlets are under

pressurenottopublishunfavourable

photographs.Somephotoagencieshave

stoppedcommissioningphotographers

tocoverthesocialaspectat events.The

worldof opportunitiesis wideningforthe

likesof LobsterandBiscuit.

Oneof thebestphotographybookson

myshelfisCardiffAfterDarkbyMaciej

Dakowicz.Thereportagewasscreenedat

theprestigiousVisapourl’imagefestival

of photojournalismin Perpignan,France

Thecrowdapplaudedtherawandh

documentaryphotography.A British

tabloidreportedthattheFrenchwh

in derisionat theimagesof thebooz

Britsandrequestedtopublisha sele

of images.Maciejaskedmyadvice.

advisedtheimagesweregreatand

remainsofora longtime.Publishth

andletthepublicdecide.

Thewindowontheworldis narrow

Photographersshouldn’tstoptaking

truthfulphotographsof whattheyw

Theymaynotbeseenimmediately

butoneday,I hope,theywillform

animportantarchiveof ourtime.

PeterDenchis a photographer,videographe

presenter,writer,authorandcurator.Heis the

recepientof a WorldPressPhotoawardandhas

publishedseveralbooks.Tosee his work, visit

http://www.peterdench.com.

Intoday’s worldofcensoredjournalism,

avoidingunflatteringphotographshas

a chilling eff ect on photojournalism

‘Photographers

shouldn’tstoptaking

truthful photographs’

View point

Peter Dench

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE OR TI MEDIA LIMITED

Photoscantellthehonesttruth.Here,a man

with his pint rests on the grass at Royal Ascot

© MATTHEW CATTELL

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