DENNIS HYLANDER COMMENTS ON PHOTOWEEK!

• Dennis Hylander Comments on PhotoWeek! –
Dennis Hylander, one of the best known names in UK wedding photography (he used to be famous!), has commented on last week's PhotoWeek! story on Helmut Newton:

"In the very early 60s Helmut and I had our studios in the same office building known as Block Arcade in Melbourne's city centre. As a busy portrait photographer I never have enjoyed a shoot with the model! For me the kick was to achieve the result working with the female client who was ready to give me her all!"

Most PhotoWeek! readers are the kind of professionals best described as those who make their living by selling prints. Photographing experienced models is a rare luxury! Taking a good studio portrait of Jo Public is much harder! [expand story >>>]

Over four decades, Dennis Hylander has made an extraordinary contribution to UK wedding photography, and many of our wedding photography awards are named after him. His autobiography, "I used to be Famous" was published in March.

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photoweek/2008/06/helmut-newton-at-topshop
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HAL SATTERTHWAITE TO EXHIBIT!

• Hal Satterthwaite to Exhibit at Summer Show! –
Art photographer Hal Satterthwaite, author of the "1000 Faces of Walthamstow" photo project, is to exhibit a selection of these portraits at the www.photomart.co.uk studios in Walthamstow, London, during the company's mammoth SUMMER SHOW on 18 June, 2008. [expand story >>>]

Hal's "1000 Faces of Walthamstow" was a community arts project that illustrated the diversity of the people of East London's Walthamstow district – a particularly cosmopolitan quarter of the capital. The project took two years to complete, and resulted in a body of work six feet tall and 120 feet long!

Hal has been invited to attend the www.photomart.co.uk SUMMER SHOW, which takes place in Walthamstow, as an honoured guest of the organizers. He will exhibit a selection from the 1000 Portraits at a reception at the www.photomart.co.uk headquarters during the event.
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ASDA PORTRAIT STUDIOS CLOSE SUDDENLY!

• ASDA Portrait Studios Close suddenly! – The Portrait Studios in ASDA stores in the UK have all suddenly closed down, leaving some customers with unfulfilled orders and missing images. The studios were owned and operated by PCA International (UK) Ltd, originally a subsidiary of the Portrait Corporation of America Inc., which went into Chapter 11 in the U.S. on August 31, 2006. (Yes, 2006!) [expand story >>>]

Portrait Corporation of America operated studios at more than 2,000 sites worldwide. They were the sole operators in ASDA/Walmart. They were bought out of bankruptcy last summer by rival CPI Corp., the operator of the Sears portrait studios, who coveted the WalMart relationship. CPI had gone digital, and cited its digital lead as one of the key things that would enable it to operate the former PCA studios more successfully. There were five branches of The Portrait Studio in ASDA stores in the UK prior to the closures.

ASDA gave us a prepared written statement for the press, which said: "We are really sorry to hear that some of our ASDA customers have experienced problems with PCA International (UK) Ltd who supply photographic reprints, canvasses and portrait crystals in 5 of our stores. The abrupt closure of their shops was totally unexpected and a surprise to us. Although we are not obliged to, we are where possible, fulfilling all outstanding orders or providing customers with a full refund to ensure they don't lose out."

PhotoWeek! is guessing the closures could be seen as just an aftershock of the long-ago and far-away PCA bankruptcy, not a failure of in-store portraiture in the UK. Shooting portraits doesn't seem to have been the core of what The Portrait Studio did.

[As this week's issue was closing, we had been unable to get through to PCA International (UK) management to ask the exact reason for the closure of The Portrait Studios, or to confirm whether PCA itself is still trading, and carrying on other activites around the manufacture and export of portrait crystals, or to establish its past and current relationship to CPI.]

Related Stories:

ASDA is doing portraits – from photographers.co.uk
Tesco Portraits? – from photographers.co.uk [add comment]

KODAK MPA WEDDING & PORTRAIT AWARDS 2008!

• Kodak MPA Wedding & Portrait Awards 2008! – It's come around again! The 2008 MPA Kodak Wedding & Portrait Awards is now open for entries! Entry fees are just a pound a pop, you can submit as many entries as you like, and all the money goes to the PACE Centre, a charity for physically disabled children, based in Aylesbury, Bucks. [expand story >>>]

The competition is open to any professional photographer (not just MPA members) but the materials used need to be from Kodak. Closing dates for entries are May 31 and August 30, 2008.



The Pace Centre (shown in their YouTube video above) helps children with motor disorders (such as cerebral palsy). PACE provides education and therapy for children from 6 months to 12 years and beyond. [add comment]