Rankin to mentor photography talent in new challenge series for BBC - First on tv on Monday evening

[weltweit]

Rankin to mentor photography talent in new challenge series for BBC

Portrait and fashion icon Rankin to find a dynamic new name in British photography for the Great British Photography Challenge - on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer this summer

www.bbc.co.uk

Portrait and fashion icon Rankin to find a dynamic new name in British photography for the Great British Photography Challenge - on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer this summer

I think I will be watching

 

[neonwilderness]

This should be interesting, he was pretty engaging in that thing he did with school kids a few years ago

 

[Petcha]

He did an episode of Glow Up, I think this is a spin-off from that.

It was brilliant. He seemed a genuinely nice guy. Politely told one young makeup artist that he couldn't polish a turd, poor thing.

 

[weltweit]

This should be interesting, he was pretty engaging in that thing he did with school kids a few years ago

I had forgotten about that, I think I saw it before, thanks for posting it I enjoyed watching it again.

 

[weltweit]

However, Rankin clearly lives in a different world to the average amateur photographer, even with those school kids he had specialist studio hair and makeup people, assistants to hold lights and fans, an MF camera and what looked like pretty powerful computers to show the work.

Interested me that he preferred to use hot lights rather than studio flashes. More flexible I suppose WYSIWYG. Is that right, or did they just cut the film to avoid showing flashes? He had a remote trigger on his hot shoe and the photos shown had white backgrounds. I am confused.

 

[weltweit]

Very quick lateral thinking when the last schoolgirl didn't want to be photographed at all. That could have caused an issue but he immediately suggested instead she could take a photo of him. Quick witted I would say.

 

[weltweit]

Aha, Doh for me, much of these exact same comments I made in a thread I started way back in 2013

Rankin

Rankin is on BBC R4 Desert Island Disk atm.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/d3564cce#b01r09sy http://rankin.co.uk/portraits/

www.urban75.net

 

[weltweit]

I think it is tonight at 9pm BBC4 ..

I am going to watch it tomorrow on iPlayer.

 

[Idaho]

Was pretty rubbish imo.

 

[weltweit]

I just watched it and liked it, they are very different characters and it was interesting how they tackled the celebrity portrait, particularly the guy that went into the auditorium. I liked the shot Rankin chose as the best of the day, I would have been very happy to have taken that. She was a great model.

 

[weltweit]

I just watched episode 3 ..

Fascinating the different levels of technical knowledge the photographers have, the woman doing the blurry London bus behind the bike had to read up on what is basically just a slow shutter speed shot. Mind you she makes nice images, I am just surprised she got this far without knowing more about her gear

 

[1927]

Makes you wonder how they selected the participants for this when, as weltweit has already stated, the basic knowledge lacking in some of them is surprising!

 

[weltweit]

Hi 1927, I expect they had

Best photos
A short bio
A mix of photography styles
A 50:50 split male & female
And finally a mix of personalities that will make good tv!

 

[1927]

Hi 1927, I expect they had

Best photos
A short bio
A mix of photography styles
A 50:50 split male & female
And finally a mix of personalities that will make good tv!

They clearly didn’t ask if they knew the relationship between ISO, shutter speed and aperture, which you would have thought would have been a start!

 

[weltweit]

They clearly didn’t ask if they knew the relationship between ISO, shutter speed and aperture, which you would have thought would have been a start!

I went to a talk by a couple who had both become ARPS (might have been FRPS I don't remember) which I believe is quite difficult. He was a traditional photographer who knew all these things but she didn't, she used various combinations of scene modes at the most and I am pretty sure would have had no knowledge of aperture and its effects.

However, I liked her pictures a lot more than his. She had an eye for a great image, something that her husband, despite his technical know how, just didn't have.

 

[mauvais]

I've watched all of this now (it's four parts) and I'm really pleased I did.

I don't think it's giving too much away to say that this show doesn't follow the usual Bake Off/Sewing Bee/Pottery/whatever elimination format - they all stay in for the duration. There's very little negative criticism either. It's a much, much better show for doing this.

We see photographers from different backgrounds getting out of their comfort zone and eventually embracing something new. They all develop as people too, I think.

This thread sort of pokes fun at some of their lack of the technical side but weltweit is spot on with that last comment. The least technical person was presumably chosen because she has an eye for an idea if not necessarily the skills to perfectly execute it yet, but those skills can be learnt more than passion can, and I would much rather watch or listen to someone like that than someone who has it all clinically nailed but goes about it coldly.

I also really liked the guy with the late 1800s medium format (?) camera.

 

[neonwilderness]

I haven't watched any of this yet, but I will do at some point. I heard Rankin talking about this on Radio 6 (to Lauren Laverne on Friday, I think) and he sounded quite passionate about it. I've liked previous shows he's done, he comes across a lot less arrogant than some other photographers.

 

[weltweit]

I watched episode 4 last night, I really enjoyed the series and am a bit sad it is over.