Committee
The committee of the London Photographers’ Branch consists of:
Chair – Jess Hurd
Jess Hurd is a photojournalist and campaigning photographer, with 15+ years experience supplying images and photo-essays to international newspapers, magazines, trade union journals, NGO’s through her library Report Digital. London based since 1996 and working with a broad range of campaigning organisations on social issues often inadequately covered by the mainstream press.
In the international sphere, she has worked at the global political grassroots – the Egyptian Uprising, Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, the Zapatistas in Mexico, and urban social movements in Brazil, India, China and Africa.
Jess is a passionate advocate of press freedom which has come under increasing threat in the UK. She is one of the founders of ‘I’m a Photographer Not a Terrorist‘ a campaign against police repression. She is also an organiser of Photo-Forum, a monthly London event where professional photographers showcase their work, socialise and discuss photographic issues in a supportive environment.
She is an active member of the National Union of Journalists and proud to be organising the first London Photographers’ Branch alongside her membership of the International Federation of Journalists and the British Press Photographers Association.
Library: reportdigital.co.uk
Blog: www.jesshurd.com
Twitter: jesshurdphoto
Mobile: 077131 51765
Vice-Chair – Andrew Wiard
Andrew Wiard began his photographic career at Report of London, under the guidance of Simon Guttmann, one of the founding fathers of modern photojournalism in pre-war Berlin. And has tried in the years since not to stray too far from Simon’s straight and narrow path. He has campaigned for photographers’ rights both in and outside the NUJ, and is a former member of its Freelance and National Executive Councils. He represented the NUJ during the last reform of the UK Copyright Act. Launched the NUJ’s campaign resulting in the creation of the UK Nation Press Card. Opposed the seizure of journalistic material provisions in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act ( and was himself subsequently the subject of an unsuccessful PACE attempt to seize press film ). He wrote the photographic section of the NUJ Freelance Fees Guide. Has campaigned for proper representation of photographers within the NUJ, calling, so far unsuccessfully, for both a Photographic Organiser and a Photographers’ Industrial Council. A founder of the EPUK email list, a business discussion group for photographers, and still the UK brand leader. A Board member of the British Press Photographers’ Association which he occasionally represents, together with EPUK, on the British Photographic Council. And a founder of Stop 43, which led the destruction of Clause 43 of the Digital Economy Bill and its provisions for licensing so-called orphan works. Now taking part in formulating Stop 43′s proposals both for dealing with” Son of Clause 43 “, and for fundamental copyright reform.
Email: andrew@reportphotos.com
Website: www.wiard.co.uk
Phone: 07973 219201
Joint Secretary- Welfare Officer – Web Editor – Jason N. Parkinson
Jason is a freelance video and print journalist based in London. Working for most television news outlets and multimedia packages for online national newspapers, he specialises in covering protest movements nationally and internationally. His investigations, covering social and environmental issues, have led him to the privatised water sources of Coca cola in Mexico, the Genoa courtrooms of Italy, the homeless refugee camps of France, the hidden refugees fleeing sexual violence in Turkey and the oil stained coastlines from Louisiana to Florida. More recently his coverage of the Egyptian revolution exposed the use of live rounds and police snipers on peaceful pro-democracy protestors in Cairo.
With 11 years of video editing behind him, Jason retrained in 2001 at the London School of Journalism, securing an Honours Diploma in freelance and feature writing. He has been on the LPB committee since its inception in January 2010, has been a firm campaigner on press freedom and has been at the forefront of assisting journalists targeted by far right groups like the English Defence League (EDL).
Blog: http://jasonnparkinson.wordpress.com
Twitter: JasonNParkinson
Facebook: JasonParkinson
Joint Secretary/Treasurer – Larry Herman
Larry has photographed, exhibited and whose work is in private and public collections in many countries. He has won grants from the Ford Foundation, The International Fund for Concerned Photography in New York, seven awards from various Arts Councils in Britain, including their Bursary and was a finalist in the International Fund for Documentary photography in San Francisco.
Primarily making books, Larry is currently shooting WAGED LONDON, documenting the working lives of people who, often through very low pay, run the NHS, transport, manufacturing and tourism and underpin the entire London economy.
Originally from New York City, Larry immigrated to the UK during the Vietnamese War.
Web: www.larryherman.net
Email: larry@larryherman.net
Learning Representative – Phillip Wolmuth
Philip is a freelance photographer based in London and has been a member of the NUJ since 1981. Most of his commissioned work is for publications in or about the public and voluntary sectors. He also sells photos to a wide range of newspapers, magazines and books through his own online library and Report Digital.
Library: http://www.philipwolmuth.com
Blog: http://philipwolmuth.blogspot.com/
Phone: 07957 572139
Equality Officer – Michael Preston
Michael is a freelance photographer and photojournalist based in London. He has covered various protests, UK politics and military and defence issues. He additionally specialises in disability and disabled sport.
He has been active within the trade union movement for over 29 years and has previously been involved with both the TGWU and GPMU disability and LGBT networks to a national level.
In addition to being the Photographer’s branch Equality Officer he also sits on the Freelance Industrial Council in the Disabled Members’ Seat.
He is also a member of the Editorial Photographers UK email list and the father of a hyper active one year old boy.
Email: info@creative19.com
Web: www.creative19.com
Committee Members without portfolio:
Grant Smith
Grant Smith is an internationally acclaimed architectural and construction photographer. Australian born, he has lived and worked in London since 1983 and has an extensive knowledge of London’s architecture. His body of work includes some of the world’s iconic structures : the Pont de Normandie, second Severn Crossing, the Millennium Bridge, the Millennium Dome and the Gherkin in London. He is commissioned by all sectors of the industry including design companies, magazines, architects, contractors and engineers. He has worked as both a staff photographer on a weekly trade publication and since 1994, as a freelance photographer.
Recently he has become involved with I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist because of frequent harassment and questioning by security guards and police officers while taking architectural photographs on the streets of London. His portrait work takes him beyond the architectural and construction industry and into all sectors of commerce. He was Chairman of the Association of Photographers for 2 years from 2001 to 2003.
Present projects include one on Sir Christopher Wren’s City churches and a series of portraits of fathers and sons.
Represented in:
National Portrait Gallery, London
British Architectural Photographic Collection.
Nationalbibliothek, Vienna.
Present projects include one on Sir Christopher Wren’s City churches and a series of portraits of fathers and sons.
Email: grant@grant-smith.com
Website: http://www.grant-smith.com
Phone: +44 (0)7774 839 078
Jules Mattsson (Co-Opted)
Jules is a freelance press photographer and multimedia journalist based in London.
Working freelance for national and international agencies and clients, documenting news stories and social issues. Jules represented the branch in the 2011 TUC young members conference.
Members feel free to get in touch for advice or assistance.
Email: info@julesmattsson.co.uk
Mobile: 07958 308 541
Twitter: @julesmattsson
Franc David (Co-Opted)
Having had several previous careers in building construction and in secondary school teaching Franc has been shooting for years. It is only recently that he has moved towards photo-journalism. His latest work has been product shots, event shoots and some local press work.
One of his major long-term projects involves shooting American Football in London. He has plans to continue this work, with a view to creating a touring exhibition.
He has been an active trade unionist over a number of decades, initially in Canada (building construction in British Columbia, 1980’s) and in England (NUT London 1990’s). He has worked on a mental-health collective in Vancouver Canada (1971 – ‘73), and since then within a building trades co-operative in London (1980 – ‘83).
Find some examples of his work from his joint ‘degree show’ in 2010.
Email: francjdavid@gmail.com
Blog: http://francsphotos.blogspot.com/
Phone: +44 (0)7810 481 177
Matthew Aslett (co-opted)
Matthew is a documentary photographer who recently graduated from Newport University in Wales. His first vocation was as an Internet entrepreneur in the late 1990′s, after a successful few years he moved to London to work with people directly, rather than from behind a screen. He found his skills in high demand and spent the next several years working with various NGO’s, community groups and grassroutes organisations. He helped setup and eventually managed a community development project in Camberwell, south London, before returning to University to complete the life-long ambition of studying photography.
Matthew now works freelance for various clients which have included the United Nations, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the NUJ. He has been published both internationally and domestically in a number of newspapers and magazines. International projects include Womens rights in Palestine, the Indian occupation of Kashmir, and human rights in Western Sahara.
Matthew is currently developing projects which utilise digital multimedia and social media to explore the developing potential of the photographic image.
Matthew is an active member of the NUJ, perviously a student member, he is helping to co-ordinate the branches new student mentor program.
Tel: +44 (0) 7725608091
Email: Matt@matthewaslett.com
Blog: docphot.wordpress.com
Twitter: @docphot
Web: matthewaslett.com