Exhibition of Henley Royal Regatta images;

by Michael Wayne Plant

At Idea Store Learning in Canary Wharf

Is a series of rowing races, which are held at Henley on Thames, normally held over the first weekend in July each year. Originally established in 1839, becoming Henley Royal Regatta in 1851, when Prince Albert became the first Royal patron. Thereby giving the event a place on the English social calendar.

The Stewards enclosure is only open to the stewards of the Regatta, members of the stewards enclosure and their guests, because of the social nature of the event, often their is more interest in the people on the banks of the river than the rowing itself. He is interested in the social landscape that exists at this event each year He has been photographing on various days at the Regatta since 2005. Each year, he sees something different in the event.

Michael’s approach to making these documentary images is to use a fixed focal length lens on my camera, no flash, as he don’t want to overpower or disturb the scene that he is photographing with a burst of flash lighting. Michael has established a method of working, that he is continually seeking to develop, some of these techniques come from street photography, while the images all adhere to a documentary approach to photographic practice. He does not manipulate the images more than adjustments in white balance, tone, contrast and sharpening no photoshoping elements within the image only removal if need be by cropping. This keeps the “truth” in the image as he sees it at the moment of making the image. No image has a universal attachment to documentary truth it is only something that Michael as the photographer thought interesting and it is dependent on his perspective as the creator of the image. This project will continue each year as he finds it interesting to see how his processes and thoughts change each year. The images you will see in this exhibition, are from a number of years of attending Henley Royal Regatta.