News

---

My tenure as president of this association has only six months more to run and I feel I should revise, in the light of altered circumstances, what I wrote when I took up the post. For the benefit of the curious I retain the biographical details below, but some reflection is needed on our activities over the last eighteen months.

I had hoped to introduce a programme of educational exchange between members and our potential recruits: students at art schools and photographic colleges, and in branches of the cultural heritage sector.

This would have been prudent investment in the future of our profession by the only organisation in a position to offer it. Disappointingly, its development was prevented, almost from the outset, by the effects of something whose name does not need further repetition. Let us hope this ambition can be realised in the future and that it will become a permanent feature of the association’s calendar.

Whatever else we may or may not have done recently, we have all had the opportunity to examine critically what we do. It is worth considering from time to time the aims and principles we espouse, so I noted down on the back of an envelope:

What is the value of AHFAP?

The primary and probably most overlooked feature is that we exist at all, and pretty much uniquely at that. Many people have said to me privately, and it may as well be publicly, how grateful they are to have a club, or forum, in which to discuss and compare professional concerns. Many of us work in isolation and a sense of community is desirable to the point of necessity.

Our gradually increasing membership and its lowering age range is evidence of this, as is the willingness of people, once their arms are twisted, to contribute conference material.

The next most obviously useful feature is the correspondence on JISCmail, which inexplicably drops into my InBox just after midnight. Questions are asked, problems raised and, often enough, answered, solved. There is a free exchange of knowledge. Information is given periodically about conferences, webinars and the like. Jobs are advertised regularly. Equipment is offered for sale and free.

A lot of the above has flourished in the digital age. The website has been developed successfully, thanks originally to former chair Tony Harris, and to Claire Collins and Simon Barnes and now to Claire again and Dave Green too, becoming more lively and friendly. It is certainly a website to be proud of.

The annual conference, in whatever form it may be, is, of course, the association’s mainstay, its apparent raison d’être. Its social function is incalculable but, alas, we are barred from that for the time being. However, I don’t believe any members feel short-changed by what we did last year and it will inform what we do in the future, for the better, I am sure. We are evolving as opposed to ossifying.

A bit about myself

Unlike my predecessors, I have no photographic qualifications but I have survived, even prospered, in this profession. If I were starting out now, I would, quite rightly, get nowhere. I quake when I look at the jobs advertised on the website.

I was trained with some basic instructions (on a half-plate Cambo) by a photographer at Sotheby’s and from books and on projects with colleagues and friends. It is thanks to one of those friends that I joined the association. I became a member in 1995 and was elected to the committee in 1998.

Having retired from that role after twenty years, I was invited to return as president. Given the strictures within which we have all laboured during this period, I hope to have served, and still hope to serve, the association to the best of my ability.

Colin Maitland - May 2021

The Association of Photographers (AOP) has published some guidelines for Photographers and creatives when shooting during this pandemic. The guidelines are primarily aimed at Editorial and Advertising Photography shoots where they may be a large crew but it's worth checking out as there are some useful tips. There is also a lot of other information on their website about mental health and help with financial concerns. They are also currently offering free Access Membership. See https://www.the-aop.org/

Please feel free to let us know if you come across anything that you feel would be of interest to our membership. Just drop the webteam a line here

Museums and Heritage Advisor - Could hand sanitiser damage museum collections? https://advisor.museumsandheritage.com/news/could-using-hand-sanitiser-jeopardise-museum-collections/