In conversation with the Royal Photographic Society

The Royal Photography Society
This week Marcus is doing the show solo, without Sam, and talking to Dr Michael Pritchard from the Royal Photography Society(RPS).  
Michael’s story

Photography has been something Michael has been involved in since he was 11  years old.  He started working as a Saturday boy in a professional studio in the late 70s. The studio did a wide range of different work from weddings, studio and commercial work. He also got to work in the black and white darkroom. This really sparked Michael’s passion for photography. They allowed him to do his own work there, using the professional dark room.

Michael went to university, but would always come back in the holidays and do more work and use the dark room. He started to develop a love of the history of photography and joined the RPS as a junior member as he wanted access to the historical group within the society. He used to go to the RPS’s London location in London and meet with the historical group.
Michael got a job at Christie’s as they knew of his historical knowledge of cameras and photographs. He was organising auctions at Christie’s. Michael learnt a huge amount about the history of photography through this work.  Michael still now has a small amount of historical cameras which he still uses from time to time. He worked in Christie’s for about 20 years. He then moved to do a Phd in the history of photography. While there he still did some work from Christie’s and for the British Library who had gained the Kodak library and needed help organising it.

Michael also did some teaching at DeMontford university on a module on the history of photography. Then in 2011 as he was finishing his Phd he was approached about applying for a role of the RPS as director general. Since then the role has been split in two and he then moved to the programs and education side of the role.

 

What does the RPS do for photographers?

The RPS is a registered charity and a membership organisation. There ultimate goal is member education, helping them become better photographers. Most members of the RPS are amateur, although some are professional. Some photographers get letters after their name showing their work has been recognised by the RPS. The RPS has a journal the has been going for over 150 years. The RPS do a lot of work with the local universities. The RPS has moved from Bath to Bristol. The Bristol location gives them a large exhibition space and an auditorium. Their exhibition changes every year, but some of the work can date back to the start of the RPS. The RPS is a community of people, about ten thousand members. Part of the RPS’s work is building that community. Michael also reminds us that photography should be fun and sometimes we can forget this.

 

Artificial intelligence

Marcus asked Michael about AI. The RPS has issued a statement about AI.
Generative AI is something the RPS is wrestling with. The RPS doesn’t see AI generated images as photography. There is also the use of AI in software. So the software in your smartphone, the software in photoshop all uses AI. The RPS is comfortable about most of that, be it autofocus, setting enhancement etc. But then this software is starting to go forward doing things like replacing the sky. That is then an issue as it is no longer really a photograph. The RPS is actively wrestling with these issues. A lot of photographers are already using AI in their practice and Michael thinks it is better to work with AI than fight against it, but within certain parameters. He sees no reason why photographers can’t embrace it into their practice, as they did with digital when that came out.