Richard Boll

Category Archives: National Portrait Gallery

How & Why I enter Photography Awards

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Filed under Exhibitions, Fine Art Photography, National Portrait Gallery, Photography Award, Photography career, Photography competitions, Portrait Photography

Why I enter photographic competitions

Early on in my photography career, I started entering interesting and highly respected competitions that were suited to my personal style and creativity.  I had various reasons for wanting to enter these competitions:

• Exposure for my work to be seen on respected global platforms
• The personal challenge to produce high-quality work for a specific brief
• Recognition for my work to be acknowledged by judges of a high calibre
• Providing me with some content to share, whether for a blog post, social media or to show potential clients
• The potential to win prizes!
• The opportunity to have my work seen alongside highly respected photographers

Here are some of the successful entries that have either won or been shortlisted in photography awards:

1. 2004 – 1st place – Audi/Next Level International Award for Contemporary Photography

A dark mirror leaning against a wall, from the project Studio, produced in the Edinburgh College of Art.

From the project Studio

2. 2006 – 1st place – National Portrait Gallery (NGP) Photographic Prize

The portrait Joe, winner of the National Portrait Gallery's Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize in 2006.

This image, Joe also led to a commission by the NPG to photograph Sir David Attenborough.

3. 2011 – Selected Winner – Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Exchange

A portrait of a man in a snow-covered field holding a pheasant from the project Death in the Afternoon. Richard Boll Photography, London.

From the project Death in the Afternoon

4. 2021 – Shortlisted – Wellcome Photography Prize

A portrait of Louise, taken in March of 2022.

Louise, March 2020

5. 2022 – 3rd place – Kuala Lumpur Photography Awards

The artist Adam Chodzko standing in a pond in Whitstable, Kent, 2022. Richard Boll Photography, London.

The Artist Adam Chodzko, Whitstable, 2022

6. 2023 – Shortlisted – Professional Creative Category – Sony World Photography Awards

An image from the project Road, shortlisted in the Sony World Photography Awards 2023.

From the project Road

Two main approaches

When deciding which competitions to enter, I have two main approaches and I’ve had good results from both. I’ve also entered many awards and competitions in which I had no success at all!

The first approach is producing work specifically for an award. This involves planning the kind of work that could potentially do well and photographing a subject accordingly. When researching new potential competitions, I turn to various sources of information regarding awards, competitions, and also open exhibitions for example:

https://submit.picter.com/home
http://fotoroom.co/photography-awards-competitions/
https://photocontestdeadlines.com/all-photo-competitions/

2. The second approach is when I have suitable images already created that I feel strongly about and that I believe have the potential for a specific competition. With this approach, there is an element of chance that I happen to have something that meets the competition brief.

Competition Advice

If I were to give any specific advice to photographers about entering competitions, I would encourage them to blend producing the strongest work that they can with meeting the expectations from any particular competition. It has to be work that you feel is strong and that has come from the heart, but there is a skill in adapting work to particular competitions and recognising the potential in that competition for your own work. Similarly, understanding when your work is not a good fit or suitable can be key. However much you’d like to be in the running, you have to be realistic about whether you have strong and suitable work. Looking at galleries of previously successful work is a good way of getting an understanding of the nature of imagery that judges in the competition are likely to be looking for. If you start to believe that a competition doesn’t correlate with your style of image-making, the best thing to do can be to decide not to enter at all.

I find researching and entering photography awards a fun and enjoyable process and it’s a significant part of my work. I like looking at images that have been successful in current competitions and seeing what’s fresh and contemporary in other photographers’ work.

I enjoy the personal challenge of selecting suitable images, entering awards, and then hearing the results, whether good or not so good! To have your photographs critically assessed and receive constructive feedback from respected judges helps to elevate the standards of your work.

Call +44(0)7812 908229 or email richard@richardbollphotography.com to discuss your next photography project.

The portrait photographer Richard Avedon

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Filed under Editorial Photography, Editorial Portrait, Environmental Portrait, Fine Art Photography, National Portrait Gallery, Portrait Photography, Vogue

Photography Inspiration and Influence

When I first started my photography degree in 1996 and began to research well-known portrait photographers, I was struck by the strength of Richard Avedon’s powerful imagery, and in particular, his black and white portraits.

He was both a fashion and portrait photographer and pioneered his own signature style of black-and-white portrait photography. One project of his called ‘In the American West’ (1985) had a lasting impression on me, in that every portrait in the project was a powerful image taken of a visually interesting character.

Black-and-white self portrait of the photographer Richard Avedon

Avedon was an extremely hardworking, prolific photographer. In his lifetime, he produced an impressive quantity of high-quality work, photographing a very wide range of interesting people including celebrities, politicians, artists, poets, and writers. His work was an incredible commentary and document of the time. It always impressed me how he managed to combine his own artistic personal projects with editorial, magazine, and commercial work. The structure of his working life was a huge inspiration for my own photography career and I attempt to follow his blueprint in my own work.

Photography was very much a part of his personal life too. He consistently took pictures of his family, and whilst traveling. These images were taken purely for pleasure and not as a commercial project. This aspect of his photography also inspired me and forms the basis for my own personal projects, such as the UK visual artist portraits that I’m currently working on.

Who was Richard Avedon?

Avedon was born on May 15, 1923, in New York City and was best known for his work in the fashion world and minimalist portraits. Starting out as a photographer for the US Merchant Marines during World War II, he took ID portraits of sailors. He then moved on to fashion, shooting for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. His insistence on models conveying emotion and movement was a welcome departure from the norm of relatively motionless fashion photography.

Beginning of Photography Career

Avedon attended the New School for Social Research in New York to study photography under Alexey Brodovitch, the acclaimed art director of Harper’s Bazaar. Within a year, Avedon was hired as a staff photographer for the magazine. Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, he created elegant black-and-white photographs showcasing the latest fashions in real-life settings such as Paris’s cafes, cabarets, and streetcars.

Portraits and Later Career

Richard served as a staff photographer for Harper’s Bazaar for 20 years, from 1945 to 1965. As well as his fashion photography, he was well known for his black-and-white portraiture. He managed to capture the essential humanity and vulnerability of larger-than-life political figures and celebrities, such as President Eisenhower, Martin Luther King, Marilyn Monroe, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles.
From 1966 to 1990, Avedon worked as a photographer for Vogue, continuing to push the boundaries of fashion photography with surreal, provocative, and often controversial images in which nudity, violence, and death often featured prominently.
Avedon always believed that the story of his life was best told through his photographs, saying: “Sometimes I think all my pictures are just pictures of me. My concern is… the human predicament; only what I consider the human predicament may simply be my own.”
As one of the first self-consciously artistic commercial photographers, Avedon played a leading role in defining the artistic purpose and possibilities of the genre.

Discover more about Richard Avedon and his iconic work by visiting The Richard Avedon Foundation.

[Article Source: https://www.biography.com/artist/richard-avedon#citation]

Portrait Photography: The Day I Photographed Sir David Attenborough

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Filed under Editorial Photography, Fine Art Photography, London, National Portrait Gallery, Portrait Photography

portrait of sir david attenborough by richard boll photography, london

Sir David Attenborough by Richard Boll/ Commissioned by The National Portrait Gallery, London

In 2007, I had the privilege of taking this photographic portrait of our nation’s favourite, Sir David Attenborough, in London. Of the photographs I took I chose this particular image for the final portrait as I think it captures the calm, thoughtful, and highly intelligent nature of his character. There’s a reflective, meditative element to the portrait that I hope represents him effectively. I’m proud to say that this portrait went on to form part of the permanent collection at the National Portrait Gallery, leaving a fantastic ongoing legacy for my work and professional photography career.
Although some time has passed since that day, I can still vividly remember how I felt at the time. It was an exciting and enjoyable shoot, as Sir David was someone I had always admired and respected. People often ask how I came to take the photograph in the first place and what it was like to meet Sir David.

Joe and The National Portrait Gallery Photographic Prize

It was a lovely, sunny day on Brighton seafront. I spotted Joe, taking his dog for a walk along the promenade past my flat. I thought he looked like a very cool and interesting character and I asked if I could take some portraits of him. Joe was very happy for his portrait to be taken and gave me a few minutes of his time. We’ve kept in touch and maintained a positive connection over the years since the photograph was taken. I entered this portrait of ‘Joe’ into the prestigious Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, awarded annually by the National Portrait Gallery. The competition celebrates and promotes the very best in contemporary portrait photography. It was very exciting to be awarded first prize in the competition. I knew I’d been shortlisted but only found out that I’d won on the evening of the prize-giving.

portrait of joe the winning portrait of the national portrait gallery photographic prize 2006

Prize-winning photographic portrait of Joe on Brighton seafront

Britain’s Greatest Living Cultural Icon

After winning the portrait prize, the National Portrait Gallery arranged a special opportunity for me, to take a photo of the winner of a public vote for ‘Britain’s Greatest Living Cultural Icon’. 10 British icons including the likes of David Bowie and Sir Paul McCartney were shortlisted. The public voted overwhelmingly for Sir David Attenborough, and I’m pleased to say that I also voted for him. Thankfully, he agreed to be photographed after the result of the poll was announced. On the day of the shoot, he was extremely polite and very generous with his time. He patiently allowed me to take several portraits against a couple of different backgrounds.
I’m incredibly proud of the final image and people respond well to it, recognising what I was trying to capture of Sir David’s character and legendary status. There was never any guarantee that the portrait would be accepted for the permanent collection at the National Portrait Gallery which makes me particularly proud that it was sufficiently well-received to be accepted, ensuring a great ongoing legacy for my work.

Sir David Attenborough awarded Knight Grand Cross

Sir David Attenborough needs no introduction, enjoying a very distinguished broadcasting career, spanning the last 60 years when he
first joined the BBC.

Best known for writing and presenting his many acclaimed television documentaries exploring the natural world, including Life on Earth, The Living Planet, and The Blue Planet, he received his first knighthood in 1985 from the Queen.
In recent news, Sir David, now 96 years old, received a ‘second’ knighthood, the even more prestigious Knight Grand Cross from Prince Charles. Attenborough is one of only 120 people with this honour, which was awarded for his services to television broadcasting and
conservation. Let me end with some final words from Sir David himself, “I just wish the world was twice as big and half of it was still unexplored”.

Click here if you’d like to read more about Attenborough and his career, and more of my portrait photography can be seen here. Signed, archival-quality prints of the portrait can be purchased here.

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