Duchess of Cambridge RPS

DG Phototraining said:
Yep - great marketing for them, several societies have Honorary members with no qualifications from that society just to raise their profile

She does take some nice snaps though :)

Dave
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She absolutely does mind.

(although it's a bit different taking photos of a child in a grands worth of clothing in a palace than your average kid in a bedroom with window the size of a prison cell :D)
 
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It will get the RPS a bit more publicity, for today but probably not much longer. As the society exists to ".... promote photography and image-making and to support photographers in realising their potential, irrespective of their level of knowledge, equipment or skills." then the award is hard to argue with but then with that brief just about anyone who takes photos should be a member. I don't know how enthusiastic the Duchess is but I can't see a lot of talent. They are good shots but nothing that many others are not capable of and there are a lot better ones around - plenty on here for example, but if they had given an honourary membership to Joe Bloggs then it wouldn't have been in the news at all.

Dave
 
Tringa said:
It will get the RPS a bit more publicity, for today but probably not much longer. As the society exists to ".... promote photography and image-making and to support photographers in realising their potential, irrespective of their level of knowledge, equipment or skills." then the award is hard to argue with but then with that brief just about anyone who takes photos should be a member. I don't know how enthusiastic the Duchess is but I can't see a lot of talent. They are good shots but nothing that many others are not capable of and there are a lot better ones around - plenty on here for example, but if they had given an honourary membership to Joe Bloggs then it wouldn't have been in the news at all.

Dave
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Anyone who takes photos can be a member (or anyone who doesn't for that matter) as long as they pay the membership fee.
 
Tringa said:
I don't know how enthusiastic the Duchess is but I can't see a lot of talent. They are good shots but nothing that many others are not capable of
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The Mail's caption to her first picture rather damns her with faint praise...
The Duchess of Cambridge has been given honorary lifetime membership by the Royal Photographic Society. This image features Prince George on his first day of nursery. Veteran Royal photographer Ken Lennox has given his verdict on Kate's photographs. For this shot, he said: 'This is a nice snap shot, taken of a little boy on his first day at nursery. It’s nothing special, he has a half smile which is about as good as you can expect when he is nervous on his first day but it gives you a good look at his face. Millions of these types of photographs will be taken by proud mums on the first day of school across the country’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Society-images-s-best-work.html#ixzz4UhZm3sbx
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook​
 
He work isn't that bad - there are some errors, but they are OK. Indeed, I've seen work done by so-called 'professionals' who's work is far worse than hers.

The RPS have had royal connections (hence the word 'Royal' in the name), and it makes sense to have a royal as a member. Plus if her association with the organisation helps to raise better standards in photography, them I'm all for it.
 
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I think the award is a clever move, nothing serious or hard-to-achieve anyway.
Nobody is missing out by this.
 
the RPS have far more to gain from this than her. For a lifetimes publicity they have had to fork out less than£1000, and as she will be a higher rate tax payer it will be reduced still further in relief.
I can't see that she gets anything out of it at all.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
I can't see that she gets anything out of it at all.
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I don't know, the RPS journal is a decent read these days, and I presume honorary members get a copy:)
In all seriousness though, if she's the only royal who has an interest in photography then it makes sense to award her this to provide a somewhat less tenuous link to royalty than the Queen who is the 'patron' of the society.
 
viewfromthenorth said:
I don't know, the RPS journal is a decent read these days, and I presume honorary members get a copy:)
In all seriousness though, if she's the only royal who has an interest in photography then it makes sense to award her this to provide a somewhat less tenuous link to royalty than the Queen who is the 'patron' of the society.
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I wonder if this is a step to her becoming the Patron when the Queen steps down as she has been stepping down / stepping back from patronages of various other societies / charities (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38380285 - it doesn't mention RPS but isn't a big leap to suggest they might be looking for a new Patron soon).
 
Let's not forget that she is the first member of the British Monarchy to have taken 'official portraits' of her children which have been enjoyed around the world. The two main A4 pictures that were published in the RPS Journal are really good natural portraits. Much better in fact than many of the 'High Street' mother-child portraits that have been pushed out.
 
viewfromthenorth said:
In all seriousness though, if she's the only royal who has an interest in photography then it makes sense to award her this to provide a somewhat less tenuous link to royalty than the Queen who is the 'patron' of the society.
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There's plenty of photos of Brenda wielding a camera - ofte a Leica.
 
They'll be giving Victoria Beckham an OBE next..........................oh wait a minute!
 
dade_f said:
- but she didnt pay a fee, they waived that. Not really fair on everyone else. :/
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Why is it unfair on everyone else? If she did pay a fee, how would everyone else benefit? It's an honorary membership, what do you think she's going to get out of it? The RPS will benefit from it so, as its been said above, it's good business on their part.
 
I look forward to the RPS bringing in free lifetime (or even 5 year long) memberships for half a dozen people each year who are pensioners / have health issues / are too poor to pay membership fees or for people who have done some good service for the community.

Some hope...
The more money or advantage people have, the more they get for free.
 
Lets not forget that many of the 'greats' of photography are also honorary members and some even have honorary accreditation. It wouldn't be much of an honorary membership if they charged you would it?
 
dade_f said:
- but she didnt pay a fee, they waived that. Not really fair on everyone else. :/
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Do people awarded honorary degrees study for 3/6/9 years?
No.
Where's the problem?
 
In my opinion, had she joined the RPS and paid her fee, like everyone else, it would have said MUCH more about the society. BTW it's not about harm or it being a problem - it's about being just.
 
Even (some of) the RPS's own members are not happy about it.
As for Honorary degrees handed out, I would assume that is because they made a SUBSTANTIAL contribution to a particular field or contributed in some great way to raising the profile etc - not just, ermmm.... we need to boost people interest in Home Economics, let's give (insert celebrity here) an honorary degree, they like to eat.
 
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Not sure Clarkson has made any real contribution to the world of engineering but was awarded an honorary doctorate by Oxford Brookes University.
 
Nod said:
Not sure Clarkson has made any real contribution to the world of engineering but was awarded an honorary doctorate by Oxford Brookes University.
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It's not a proper red-brick university so it doesn't count !
 
dade_f said:
In my opinion, had she joined the RPS and paid her fee, like everyone else, it would have said MUCH more about the society. BTW it's not about harm or it being a problem - it's about being just.
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HMTQ is patron and both the DoE and DoK are honorary members. It's hardly a precedent.

If you dislike it so much, I suggest you resign your membership and join the SWPP instead. They are far more egalitarian having no connection to royalty at all.
 
dade_f said:
In my opinion, had she joined the RPS and paid her fee, like everyone else, it would have said MUCH more about the society.
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I agree, it would have helped the society much more than the society giving her the honorary membership.

Whatever we think about members of the royal family there are some who think what they do is important and might have taken more notice if membership link had been the other way around.

Dave
 
So, a royal who likes photography is given membership of a royal photography society.

Shocking.

I'm sorry but I have no idea why this is any more than a shoulder shrug of a story.
 
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simon ess said:
So, a royal who likes photography is given membership of a royal photography society.

Shocking.

I'm sorry but I have no idea why this is any more than a shoulder shrug of a story.
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I was just about to type this.
 
simon ess said:
So, a royal who likes photography is given membership of a royal photography society.

Shocking.

I'm sorry but I have no idea why this is any more than a shoulder shrug of a story.
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Slow news day for the Daily Mail ?

That is after all, the attached link in post no. 1
 
simon ess said:
So, a royal who likes photography is given membership of a royal photography society.

Shocking.

I'm sorry but I have no idea why this is any more than a shoulder shrug of a story.
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Because if it doesn't make the news the value to the RPS has instantly disappeared. It's a PR move, which is valueless if it publicised.
 
Maybe we should all chip in and send the Duchess a present to promote this forum? Perhaps we could get her a copy of Brooklyn Beckham's new book on photography?
 
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