Amateur Photographer 20/11/2021

It isn’t every day, or even every year, that we buy a new camera, and many of us are still happily using cameras that are years old. The same goes for lenses. But one good way to put the jump-leads on our photography without breaking the bank is to treat ourselves to an accessory or two. There are literally thousands to choose from – all of which are designed to enhance our photography in some small and very specific way, whatever genre we enjoy. This week we present a wide selection of gadgets at prices starting from under £10. The next time a family member asks you what you want for Christmas you may well find the answer within these pages. Also this week we present a fascinating retrospective of…

Jumping Jacques by Keystone English actress Hattie Jacques (1924-1980) practising ‘jumpology’, an American craze originated by the Latvian photographer Philippe Halsman. He is quoted as saying, ‘Starting in the early 1950s, I asked every famous person or important person I photographed to jump for me. I was motivated by a genuine curiosity. After all, life has taught us to control and disguise our facial expressions, but it has not taught us to control our jumps. I wanted to see famous people reveal in a jump their ambition or their lack of it, their self-importance or their insecurity, and many other traits.’ His book, Philippe Halsman’s Jump Book, was published in 1959, the same year that this photo was taken, and featured 178 photographs of celebrity ‘jumpers’. The Getty Images Hulton Archive is…

AP picture of the week And They Call it Poppy Love! By Ian Toft Fujifilm X-T30, Fujinon XF 55-200mm, 1/125 sec at f/5, ISO 200 Ian says, ‘I’ve always had a love of photography and my father was a photographer and an AP reader. I am a recently retired as a primary school teacher and with my newfound freedom wanted to see if that love was still there. I had read rave reviews about Fujifilm cameras so I took the plunge and bought the X-T30. It was different and love at first sight! This photograph was taken in a field of poppies planted by the local council parks department. I was attracted by the late evening sun which highlighted the hairs on the poppy stems and accentuated the “tissue paper” quality of the…

NIKON’S new Z 9 mirrorless camera is shaping up to be one of the biggest releases of the year and there is already speculation that the sheer volume of global pre-release orders will result in lengthy waiting lists for the fast, high-resolution flagship. While Nikon has not confirmed this, it does seem to be the case that UK dealers are witnessing a blizzard of orders for the camera, the exact release date of which has still to be confirmed. ‘About a minute after the Z 9’s announcement on 28 October, it just went insane,’ said Gray Levett, owner of long-established London dealership, Grays of Westminster. ‘We were in the office until just before midnight on the day, still handling orders. We saw the highest number of pre-orders in a single day in…

WE’RE glad to report that Neil Kenlock, a pioneering, widely exhibited black British photographer, has been found and reunited with his family after going missing in early November. Kenlock, 70 and hard of hearing, was last seen at Waterloo Station on 6 November, before reappearing on 8 November. The photographer, who also goes by the name of Emile, was born in Jamaica in 1950 and has lived in London since the 1960s. He has been described as being ‘at the forefront of documenting the black experience in the UK’. As well as ordinary people, Kenlock’s subjects have included a stellar line-up of black celebrities including Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, James Baldwin and Bob Marley.…

SIMON Marsden’s Haunted Life in Pictures, a critically acclaimed 2018 documentary about the idiosyncratic infrared specialist and darkroom master, will be available on DVD on 14 December. The movie is directed by Jason Figgis (a scion of a celebrated movie family) and recounts his, often spooky, experiences working with Marsden in rural Ireland and beyond, along with insights from friends and family. Marsden, who’s full title was Sir Simon Neville Llewelyn Marsden, 4th Baronet died in 2012, and was best known for his books on haunted houses, historic ruins and Venice. The movie will also be available on digital release on 23 November.…