Please click & scroll through the images...

In May 2026 I successfully completed my Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society (on the second attempt - it's a tough assessment process!) To gain a FRPS the applicant needs to write a statement of intent and then support it with a panel of 20 or 21 images. The statement, and the panel, are then scrutinised by 4 judges, who each give a 10 minute verbal analysis of the application. Technical rigour is a given, presentation must be perfect, and the images are judged for aesthetic and technical quality. The images must support the statement of intent, and the whole must show an individual approach. All my photos were taken in one location, within about 20 yards of one another. See when you can work out where I am....?

Below is the statement of intent, and then the images. Please click and cycle through them. Enjoy!

Statement of intent

Abstract art uses a visual language of shape, form, colour, texture, blur, sharpness, line etc, with little or no relationship to an existing object, to create impact. This break-away from reality can be highly subjective, emotive, even unnerving, as the mind searches for clues to grasp at understanding. Abstraction can be particularly unsettling in the realm of photography. The camera after all, is an unthinking eye, it reflects what is in front of it - it’s supposed to mirror reality.

This photography panel investigates that journey from abstraction to reality. The images flow from indecipherable at the beginning (top left) to literal at the end (bottom right). Slowly clues are revealed that hint at the real world. Where does recognition flood in? When does the viewer’s emotional abstract engagement switch to literal understanding? Does recognition give pleasure? And which is more satisfying – abstraction or reality?