Portfolio

Peter Hemment LRPS

As a retired academic I now have the time to pursue my passion for the visual arts which, in my case, involves an increasing participation in digital photography.  My interest in photography developed during school days when I used a little Kodak Six-20 Junior folding camera (1940’s vintage) both to capture family ‘snaps’ and, also, to record landscapes and travel scenes.  Subsequently, like so many of my contemporaries, my photography progressed from B&W prints to 35mm colour transparencies and then to colour prints – however, in those days I used commercial print houses. 

About five years ago I purchased a Sony digital camera.  After a while I advanced to a Nikon D200 and since then I have been working to gain an understanding of the basics of image capture and manipulation.   Adobe Photoshop has been an invaluable tool whilst RPS meetings and various trade conventions and exhibitions have been inspirational. 

Artistically my photography is all about people – the images being presented as inkjet prints.  My work ranges from scenes showing the activities and involvement of people in urban environments through to studio images, spanning traditional portraiture to fine art figurative studies.  I like my images to suggest a story line or a narrative.  My current goal is to capture images which show the beauty of the female figure and also convey the emotion of the moment.  Ideally every image should carry an implied narrative.

During 2007, I decided that I would like to apply for a Licentiateship.  In preparation I attended a Licentiate Distinctions Workshop, which served both to advise on the presentation of my work and also to help me to select the images that I would include in the LRPS panel.  Interestingly I found that I could best construct my submission by assigning a “theme” to the panel.  Thanks to successful studio sessions with a professional model (Joceline Brooks-Hamilton) I was able to compose images which show the model’s activities during a ‘shoot’ - from arriving in the studio to the final ‘coats on’ departure.   Continuity from image to image was achieved by retaining the same model and incorporating a flower/plant or a reflection in a mirror.  I was so pleased in November 2007 to be awarded a Licentiateship of the RPS.  

The images in the accompanying portfolio include the ten prints in the LRPS panel together with other studio ‘shots’ which I hope show my continuing development as a digital photographer.