Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-07-26)

14 20 July 2019

[email protected],AmateurPhotographer,

TI Media Limited, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hants GU14 7BF

I HAVErecentlybeencatchingupon

Masterof Photography,onSkyArts.

It’sinspiringandthought-provoking

towatchthecontestants’differing

approachestothetasksset,and

enjoyabletoseetheresults.It’sbeen

greattoseetopphotographerssuch

asMartinParr,SteveMcCurryand

BruceGilden,whohavecomein

toadvisethecontestants.I was

particularlyimpressedbySebastião

Salgado,whowassoinspirational

anda realgentleman.

Thisis in starkcontrasttothe

ratherdisdainfulcriticismat times

offeredbysomeontheshow– andin

particular,oneof thejudges.If you’ve

watchedit, you’llknowwhoI mean!

Havingbeenthroughmusiccollege

someyearsago,I amveryfamiliar

withthisstyleof criticism.Theidea

thatit’shelpfultotearyourstudentsto

piecesis outdated.Subjectiveopinions

aredeliveredwithunrestrained

passion,andcontestantscan

appearvisiblyupset.

I alsowonderabouttheirconcept

of ‘goodphotography’.Onefavourite

complaint is that ‘the picture has no

story.’Welikea story,andsome

genressuchasreportageabsolutely

demandit, butmustwebealways

enslavedbynarrative?Notallgreatart

is programmatic.A Brahmssymphony

doesn’ttella story,butspeakstoour

emotionsin waysthatyousimplycan’t

achievewithwords.

Photographyhasalwaysbeena fairly

commercialartform,successoften

establishedthroughtheopinionsof

editors.Tobefair,thejudgingonthe

showis oftenspoton,butit does

seemtobehowI imagineaneditorial

meetingmightbeat a magazine.I

havefeltthatsomewonderfulimages

havebeenratherdismissed,and

somevisuallyblandworkpraised

foradherencetoa concept.

Whenwelookat a picture,it can

connectwithusin manywaysif we

remainopenminded.I can’thelp

butwonderwhetherinsistenceon

narrativescansometimesinfect

styleandsubstance,givingriseto

pretentioustrends.Greatartcuts

throughthenonsenseand goes

straighttotheheart.

Richard Waldock

Inbox

Great art goes to the heart

Pentaxissues

TheletterinInbox(AP

6 July)questioningthe

reliabilityof certainPentax

productsreflectsmy

experiencewitha DA*

50-135f/2.8lens.The

opticalqualityis superb

butI experienceda focus

lock-upwhichcostin

excessof £100torepair

throughanauthorised

agent.Within 12 months,

I experienced the same

DavidJonesis not

happyaboutissues

with his Pentax lens

LETTER

OF

THE

WEEK

WNS

ASAMSUNG

EVO

PLUS

MCROSD

CARD

NOTE:

PR

ZEAPPL

ESTO

UK

AND

EURES

DENTS

ONLY

LETTER OF THE WEEK

problemanda billfor

£150+.I wasastoundedto

readin a USreviewthatit

wasa knownfault!One

wouldexpectit tobemore

widelyreportedin the

press.Asa result,I

abandonedmylife-long

allegiancetoPentaxandI

willtreatcamerareviews

withcaution.DavidJones

Tobefair,David,

long-term problems such

asthisoneareunlikely

toshowupin a camera

review– Nigel

Atherton, editor

Consumerrights

AfterreadingMike

Gosling’sletter(titled

‘PentaxReliability’)in

AP6 Julyandtheadvice

givenI amsomewhat

concernedaboutthe

lackof knowledgeabout

consumerlawsin theUK.

UndertheselawsMikecan

insistthatthecamerais

repairedorreplaced(if it

cannotberepaired)within

sixyearsof thedateof

purchase.Thereis a great

dealof informationonthis

topicontheinterneton

websitessuchasWhich?

andCitizensAdvice.

Indeed,a goodindicatorof

theserightscanbefound

ontheApplewebsite

at http://www.apple.com/uk /

legal/statutory-

warranty/andI canassure

youfrompersonal

experiencethatApple

honoura six-yearwarranty

undertheConsumer

RightsAct2015.

HowardG Tate,

President-

PhotographicAlliance

ofGreatBritain

Resistanceis futile

Iwritein responsetothe

Inboxlettersin the 29

Juneedition,someof

whichwerecriticalof what

wasregardedasexcess

coverageof mirrorless

cameras.Whileadmitting

tobeinga mirrorless

cameradevoteeI donot

wishtoaddtothisdebate.

I would,however,liketo

maketwoobservations.

I fullyagreewiththe

editorialcommentsthat

weremade.Thereason

thatI havereadAPover

manyyears,andcontinue

todoso,is thatI appreciate

the quality of journalism

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