{"id":139837,"date":"2020-08-19T10:32:49","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T09:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/?p=139837"},"modified":"2020-08-19T16:00:43","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T15:00:43","slug":"new-rps-boss-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: new RPS boss interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of our World Photography Day celebrations, we meet the new CEO of\u00a0one of the world’s oldest photographic societies \u2013 The Royal Photographic Society<\/a> (RPS), established 1853.\u00a0Evan Dawson (below) is only in his third week as CEO but has plenty to talk about already…<\/p>\n\"\"\n

What is your background?<\/strong>
\nMost of my career so far has been in music. For the past seven years, I was CEO of Live Music Now, where we trained hundreds of professional musicians each year to work in specialist settings such as care homes, special schools and hospitals around the UK. It\u2019s wonderful how music and the arts can inspire people and bring them together within communities, even those living in very difficult circumstances. I\u2019m fascinated by projects like these and how their impact can be measured.<\/p>\n

It was music that brought me to photography, initially through the work of the great David Redfern (who I met when I was a child). More recently, I\u2019ve been photographer-in-residence at St George\u2019s Bristol, where I\u2019ve shot portraits of some of the world\u2019s leading musicians and ensembles (my portfolio is here<\/a>). Bristol is a great city for photography, particularly with Martin Parr<\/a> being based right next door to the RPS. We\u2019re looking forward to Bristol Photo Festival next year. When it\u2019s possible, I do hope that many more photographers will come and visit us.<\/p>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t

Moving to the trendy Paintworks area in South Bristol has put the RPS closer to Bristol’s creative hubs<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n

What are your priorities as CEO?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s been an extraordinary experience to start a new job in these \u2018locked-down\u2019 circumstances, from an empty office and gallery in Bristol. The RPS has a really dedicated, informed and witty team of staff, trustees and volunteers; as well as over 11,000 member photographers around the world. I can\u2019t meet them all through Zoom, but I\u2019m doing my best to get to know the organisation through its people. I\u2019m learning how different people see the RPS and its future, before I set out my own priorities.<\/p>\n

Currently we have a fascinating range of activities taking place; from online workshops and free talks with renowned photographers, to digital Distinctions roadshows and assessment days. There is much more to come, and I\u2019m looking forward to the development of our online offering.<\/p>\n

Many organisations are losing members due to Covid-19. Has the RPS done anything in particular to adapt to the changing environment over the past few months?<\/strong>
\nCovid-19 forced the RPS to think laterally. All events and workshops were taken online, and we launched a thriving Facebook group with over 2000 members. Our online talks with photographers and bursary recipients (which are available to view on our website rps.org) have attracted up to 1000 participants, many of whom are based overseas. These are available for everyone, whether you are a member of the RPS or not.<\/p>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t

The new HQ has a dedicated and spacious gallery and display area<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n

Whilst people have been confined to their homes, many have found exciting new ways to be creative through photography \u2013 so engagement with the RPS has actually been greater than ever before.<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts on increasing the inclusivity and diversity of RPS membership?<\/strong>
\nInclusion within the arts has been the main theme of my career so far. If any arts organisation wants its work to be relevant, creative and exciting, then it must reflect the society around it. The RPS has more women and more BAME Distinctions assessors than ever before – but we are conscious that we have a long way to go. There are many visible and invisible barriers to joining the RPS, and we will be working hard over the coming months to make it possible for many more people to get involved with the organisation. It was founded in 1853 to make photography accessible to more people – so I hope that we can use that founding vision to help inspire and support many more people on their journey with photography. Everyone is welcome at the RPS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As part of our World Photography Day celebrations, we meet the new CEO of the RPS – the oldest photo society in the world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":139838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[311,39],"tags":[],"product-category":[],"class_list":["post-139837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-photo-news"],"yoast_head":"\nExclusive: new RPS boss interview - Amateur Photographer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exclusive: new RPS boss interview\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As part of our World Photography Day celebrations, we meet the new CEO of the RPS - the oldest photo society in the world\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Amateur Photographer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Amateur.photographer.magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-19T09:32:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-19T15:00:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/ED-Portrait-1-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Jones\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AP_Magazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AP_Magazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Jones\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Steve Jones\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/97055e11a17e073555cf1df246de195c\"},\"headline\":\"Exclusive: new RPS boss interview\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-19T09:32:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-19T15:00:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/\"},\"wordCount\":697,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/ED-Portrait-1-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Latest articles\",\"Latest news\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/\",\"name\":\"Exclusive: new RPS boss interview - Amateur Photographer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/ED-Portrait-1-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-19T09:32:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-19T15:00:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/97055e11a17e073555cf1df246de195c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/ED-Portrait-1-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/ED-Portrait-1-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Latest\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Latest articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Exclusive: new RPS boss interview\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/\",\"name\":\"Amateur Photographer\",\"description\":\"The world's number 1 weekly photo magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/97055e11a17e073555cf1df246de195c\",\"name\":\"Steve Jones\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb0c8ae71b139c89daee89fabe871899?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb0c8ae71b139c89daee89fabe871899?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Steve Jones\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/author\/stevejones\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Exclusive: new RPS boss interview - Amateur Photographer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Exclusive: new RPS boss interview","og_description":"As part of our World Photography Day celebrations, we meet the new CEO of the RPS - the oldest photo society in the world","og_url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/","og_site_name":"Amateur Photographer","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Amateur.photographer.magazine","article_published_time":"2020-08-19T09:32:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-08-19T15:00:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/ED-Portrait-1-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steve Jones","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AP_Magazine","twitter_site":"@AP_Magazine","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Steve Jones","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/"},"author":{"name":"Steve Jones","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/97055e11a17e073555cf1df246de195c"},"headline":"Exclusive: new RPS boss interview","datePublished":"2020-08-19T09:32:49+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-19T15:00:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/"},"wordCount":697,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/ED-Portrait-1-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Latest articles","Latest news"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/","url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/","name":"Exclusive: new RPS boss interview - Amateur Photographer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/ED-Portrait-1-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2020-08-19T09:32:49+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-19T15:00:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/97055e11a17e073555cf1df246de195c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/ED-Portrait-1-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/ED-Portrait-1-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/new-rps-boss-interview\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Latest","item":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Latest articles","item":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/latest\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Exclusive: new RPS boss interview"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#website","url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/","name":"Amateur Photographer","description":"The world's number 1 weekly photo magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/97055e11a17e073555cf1df246de195c","name":"Steve Jones","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb0c8ae71b139c89daee89fabe871899?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb0c8ae71b139c89daee89fabe871899?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Steve Jones"},"url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/author\/stevejones\/"}]}},"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/08\/ED-Portrait-1-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 14:12:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139837"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139907,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139837\/revisions\/139907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139837"},{"taxonomy":"product-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product-category?post=139837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}