Erhard and Heidy are leading Swiss AV workers. They live in the high mountains near the Austrian border, where they spend a great deal of time photographing the beautiful scenery, village life and festivals throughout the different seasons.

Both have considerable appreciation of classical music, and whereas Erhard’s background is optics leading to AV, Heidy is a talented author. We saw some of her charming fairy tales translated into AV sequences with Erhard, who had produced much of the photography.

The first sequence of the evening was one they had produced for the people of their district in East Switzerland, showing their impressions as newcomers to the area. It showed the full grandeur of the surrounding mountains, the beauty of the flowers, the village itself and its pageantry. Wesaw a candlelit procession under the stars, a long distance cycle race passing through, and military parades with banners accompanied by vibrant brass band music to match the brightly coloured uniforms. All was given additional atmosphere by the live recordings of the background sounds and voices.This was followed by a most instructive account as to what elements they considered, when making their sequences and most importantly how they combined those elements to achieve the desired balance. We received advice on how to edit music to match the length of the picture sequence with demonstrations, and also saw examples of the same sequence projected with different pieces of music. These showed how the sound could compete with the pictures and spoil the overall effect, or by being in sympathy with the pictures but more subdued, could create a mood and so lift and enhance the pictures.

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By Robert Albright FRPS, Chairman RPS Distinctions Panel (AV)

I have been asked to summarise what makes a successful RPS Fellowship application. A good starting point is to access The RPS website at www.rps.org and follow the links to Distinctions and Qualifications/Criteria/Section 4. Here it makes it clear that Associateship is awarded for excellence in the preparation and presentation of the programme within the structure of an interesting initial concept. Fellowship requires distinguished ability involving outstanding original work.

Since we are here using words to try to describe an essentially visual and auditory medium, we must study the words with great care. What does ‘distinguished’ mean? I turn to my ‘Shorter’ (in two large volumes) Oxford English Dictionary: ‘Individually distinct; clearly perceived; clear; pronounced; remarkable; eminent; celebrated; of high standing. ‘We are distinguished from bruit-beasts led by sensualitie.’- Authorised Version [of The Bible]. ‘I candistinguish gold, for example, from iron.’- Bishop Berkeley.

It is often not appreciated by members of The Society that its charitable status and Royal Charter are intimately connected with its function as an educational charity. The status of Fellow RPS is comparable with the Fellowsof other institutions in scientific, artistic and educational domains. For this reason Council carefully scrutinises Fellowship recommendations from the Category Panels. When I recently attended the Fellowship Board, we eightvoting members of the Board (Chairs of the Panels) were joined as observers(non-voting) by The President of The RPS, The Vice (next) President and other members of Council. ‘Remarkable’ photographic distinction, must therefore be apparent in all successful submissions. We return to the Guidelines.- What is ‘outstanding original work?’ The Guidelines indicate that ‘original work in this context will demonstrate a deep personal involvement in the concept of the sequence and in the style of its deployment. The photography combines with these other creative elements to make the Panel see the world in a new and exciting way.’ An example is contained in two contrasting approaches to Welsh culture contained in the story of Hedd Wynn. One has its emphasis on the vulnerability of the subject culture to foreign influences, the other links its context to European culture at large. Although an Oscar-nominated film was made in 1992 on this very subject, there is little doubt that the authors of these sequences have a profound, original involvement in the subject-matter, which extends well beyond a casual or passing interest. Would you expect this subject, long before an AV sequence was considered, to have been discussed by the authors over dinner or for books about Welsh culture to stand on their library shelves? It is this photographic medium as a means ‘to capture new perspectives, to visualise the previously unseen’ [Ann Thomas from “Acting the Part”, Morrell Publishers 2006] which functions as a distinctive aspect of all successful Fellowship applications. It is important to underline the importance of the Statement of Intent. This summary is read out to the Panel and the Fellowship Board before they consider submissions. It is vital not to miss this opportunity to express what you wish to convey; alas, too often the Statement is a bland description of technical facts, not a carefully considered commentary on the expressive Intent of the author. Expressive intent does not include banal comments like ‘I hope this sequence will demonstrate my passion for the Birds of New Guinea and convince the Panel that I have reached the standard required for Fellowship.’ It might say, using one of the examples discussed: ‘Whilst keen to defend the right of the Welsh people to use our own language and to celebrate a distinctive culture, I am convinced that this can only survive within the context of a diverse European aesthetic. My sequence endeavours to show how a Belgian artist’s work combined with the poetry of Ellis Evans to form a unique monument which transcended the horrors of The Great War.’ One final point: as members of The Royal Photographic Society it is natural that the standard of photography must be equivalent to that required by other Panels - after taking into account that an AV sequence may contain ten times as many images as in other Categories. This means that the Panel will expect to see some exceptional photography and no poor images. To get anidea of what this means, potential applicants for Fellowship are well advised to attend advisory days for Fellowship submissions in a variety of different photographic disciplines.

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