CAROLINE FRASER PHOTOGRAPHY
  • welcome
    • news
  • works
    • Immersion
    • Shore Life
    • rain dance
    • fire on water
    • findings
    • Conversation pieces
    • unbearable lightness
    • previous works
  • artist books
  • Workshops in Rye
  • Blog
  • online workshops
  • shop

blog - an ordinary life

The challenges of submitting for the FRPS

14/8/2023

2 Comments

 
Picture
Autumn in Abisko


I have been wanting to apply for my fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society for a long time. This is the highest level of distinction awarded by the society to its members, and requires a number of criteria to be fulfilled.

These include .....

Fellowship Criteria
  • A submission that demonstrates a distinctive body of work.
  • A Statement of Intent that defines the purpose of the work, identifying its aims and objectives.
  • A body of work that communicates an individual's vision and understanding.​
  • An appropriate and high level of understanding of craft and artistic presentation.

Over the years I have had a number of projects where I have thought

'at last...... this could be my fellowship project'........!

All I need are 20 images on this topic or that; whether it be multiple exposures of trees, long exposures of water, black and white images of seaweed, or altered images of beach litter and plastics.

The topic has to be important to me, and the quality of the images needs to be cohesive and exceptional.
Picture
Autumn birches

So I get started on a project, and collect maybe 16 or 17 good images, and then eject some because they don't fit well with the others, and then others because they are not quite perfect, and then I get tired of that project and find myself putting it aside and moving on to something new.

​
Picture
A pond


This has been going on for some 8 or so years now, and I wonder why I still want to make the grade. It is something do do with wishing to achieve the same standard as those whose photography I admire. Not necessary, but it would be a good feeling. And I do like a goal. Part of me is afraid that I will fail, and is avoiding the feelings associated with that.

Then along came 'fellowship by book', another way of presenting my work rather than as prints or digital images, and I told myself that I need to do it this way, as making books is my thing, and if I can't get FRPS by making a book, then I might as well give up now.

​
Picture
Japanese maple


Some more time went by, and I made books with 16 or 17 images to fit the words that I had chosen to accompany the photographs. Findings and Forest. And a concertina book 'Under a Cold North Sky' of snow and ice with 15 images.

Each time I didn't quite manage to meet the criteria. I made the books because I had something to say; not for the FRPS but because they were what really mattered at the time.

​
Picture
More autumn in Abisko


So now, this year, I have decided to take a different approach.

I have paid a not inconsiderable sum to submit for the FRPS this October, as a driver to make a book that does meet the criteria. A cunning plan to make me get on with it......

Except I can't decide what the book should be about. or what it should look like.

I have thought of making it about water, as that is my favourite subject.

I even wrote a poem to get me started., but I found it contrived and corny.

I don't have something important enough to say about 'I love being beside water'.
Picture
the shape of water


So I came up with a plan to write a book about why I take photographs, and why I take many fewer than I used to. A sort of confessional about my photographic journey. Autobiographical even. A journey that started after breast cancer and a need to find a way to express how good it felt to be alive.

i have written some words, and rewritten them and refined them. They don't feel right yet, and time is passing, but I am working on it.

Slowly but surely.
I have tried some images in my publishing software, and am a long way from deciding what format the book will take.

​
Picture
playing with layouts in Affinity Publisher


This book needs to be special. It needs to tell a good story. And most of all it needs to come from my heart.

And in case you are worried, I can always defer until 2024 if I am not ready, but at least I have a plan.
2 Comments
    Picture

    Caroline Fraser - an ordinary life

    on life, suburban living, art, creativity, photography, book art and travel.

      Sign up here if you would like to be notified of future posts, news, tips and special offers.

    Join my mailing list

    Categories

    All
    Art And Creativity
    Book Art
    Environment
    Lockdown Life
    The Art World
    Travel
    Travel Photography

    Archives

    May 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    December 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020

    RSS Feed

    This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies.

    Opt Out of Cookies
Welcome to Caroline Fraser Photography

Colourful abstracted and traditional photographic landscapes, book art and workshops. Capturing the moods and beauty of nature whether in wild open places or in small sanctuaries in suburbia.

About Caroline Fraser
Picture
Picture
  • welcome
    • news
  • works
    • Immersion
    • Shore Life
    • rain dance
    • fire on water
    • findings
    • Conversation pieces
    • unbearable lightness
    • previous works
  • artist books
  • Workshops in Rye
  • Blog
  • online workshops
  • shop