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The fifth Historic Photographer of the Year Awards launches for entries on 14th July 2021 and is open to amateur and professional photographers around the world.

Following the great success of last year’s awards, Historic Photographer of the Year celebrates the very best historic places and cultural sites across the globe, from the most famous national treasures to the most obscure hidden gems. With varying restrictions in place across the globe, rather than asking entrants to head out and explore, Award organisers are instead seeking entries already captured and are keen to discover the very best images that reside in photographers’ archives.

Judging all entries will be a panel of experts including broadcaster and historian Dan Snow of History Hit TV, CEO of Niantic Inc and co-founder of Google Earth John Hanke, Director of Regions for Historic England Claudia Kenyatta, VP of Programming at Sky HISTORY Dan Korn, award winning heritage photographer Matt Emmett, author and leading historic digital colourist Marina Amaral, and Chair of The Association for Historical and Fine Art Photography Kira Zumkley.

This year’s Awards include several specialist categories focusing on crucial periods and regions of history, including the Historic England category and the Where History Happened category in association with Sky HISTORY.

Matt Emmett, crowned overall winner of the 2017 awards and who has since collaborated with Heritage Open Days as an official photographer said: “With photographers combing through their archives, last year saw a fantastic array of entries covering everything from ancient Roman cities to Victorian piers and picturesque medieval churches. We’re now laying down the gauntlet for this year’s Awards to challenge entrants to match and even better those astonishing images. Historic Photographer of the Year shines a light on the history that exists all around us, opening our eyes to the wonders that sit on our doorstep and we want people to tell the story of the these fascinating landmarks through their sensational photography.”

Entries will be judged on originality, composition and technical proficiency alongside the story behind the submission and its historical impact. By taking part, entrants will get the chance to win an array of prizes including a special behind-the-scenes heritage experience from Historic England.

Official partners for 2021 include History Hit TV, a multi-channel history network led by historian and broadcaster Dan Snow – dedicated to bringing you the most extraordinary, dramatic, important and fascinating stories of our shared past; leading broadcaster Sky HISTORY; the Association For Historical And Fine Art Photography; and Historic England, the public body that helps people care for, enjoy and celebrate England’s spectacular historic environment, from beaches to battlefields to parks and pie shops.

For full details and to enter visit: www.historicphotographeroftheyear.com

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

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