The January edition of the Documentary Group journal features work from the Documentary Photographer of the Year competition.
This is our first edition of 2020 which promises to be an interesting year in many ways.
We kick off with a celebration of the 'Best of 2019' with our shortlisted, finalists and winner of Documentary Photographer of the Year. Congratulations to all our successful entrants. We celebrated their success at RPS HQ, with our Awards Event. I also have to say a big thank you to the judges: Steve Kingswell and Alys Tomlinson.
Most of this edition is dedicated to the work of those shortlisted entries including insights about the projects. We already have exhibitions of DPOTY lined up in North Wales, South Wales and Newcastle and are planning some talks and opening events. We also hope to find locations in the Midlands and nearer London or Bristol to maximise the opportunity for people to see the work.
In February, we are hosting our first Advisory Day for Associateship and Fellowship in Documentary Photography at RPS HQ. This will be a great opportunity to understand what is needed to succeed in the documentary distinctions. We plan to have more, later in the year, depending on interest and demand.
We are also working on developing a new Workshop series dedicated to documentary. It is not focussed on distinctions, but on wider aspects of undertaking a documentary project. Having said that I am hoping it will provide insights to help people with their potential distinction panels. It is still very early days and we will update you in a future issue. I really hope we can develop something that helps throughout the entire lifecycle, from conception, through planning to execution, editing and final dissemination.
We have summed up many of these ideas in a new Plan for 2020-2021 which is in this edition. We are also using this to engage RPS Regions and RPS staff with the intent of putting on more joint events.