Volume 48, No. 21, November 16, 2006
By Andrew Stackpool
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HOT SHOT: Photographer AC Aaron Curran from 87SQN peers through a giant photograph with his Canon camera while on duty at RAAF Base Amberley. Photo by
LAC Mark McConnell.
GOLD PRIZE: This Dakota DC-3 flying over the ocean was the last winner of the W.T. Riggs Trophy for best official photograph in 1999.
Photo by CPL Rob Hack |
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AIR Force photographers will soon find themselves facing stiff competition.
Recently, Air Force reinstated the photographic W.T. Riggs Perpetual Trophy as part of the annual Air Force Proficiency and Leadership Awards.
The trophy was presented by the then SQNLDR Bill Riggs – one of Air Force’s most senior photographers – in 1973 for the ‘Best Official Photograph of the Year’ taken by serving Air Force photographers.
After the Central Photographic Establishment and the School of Photography was disbanded in 1999, the trophy ceased being awarded.
OIC Photographic Training Flight WOFF Ray Bennell said SQNLDR Rigg’s intent for the trophy was for photographers to capture a moment in time, not create it later in the
darkroom.
“In today’s digital environment, image manipulation is considerably easier, but it also comes as a threat to Air Force reputation,” WOFF Bennell said. “For example, a picture of a parachute jump with five paratroopers may look rather boring so a photographer may be inclined to ‘clone’ the troops and create a mass jump of dozens. This is wrong. The photographer has now falsified an actual event.
“In 1973, SQNLDR Riggs foresaw this type of photography as incorrect, and stipulated that the best official photograph was for just that: a single photograph with no additional creative or artistic licence, other than what you would normally do in the black-and-white darkroom.”
CAF has now approved the reinstitution of the trophy for the 2006 awards, with a twist. It is open to all Air Force members, not just photographers. Inclusion within the Proficiency and Leadership awards was agreed because they provide wide exposure and are focused on serving Air Force members.
The decision to expand the award to include non-photographers was based on a number of reasons. SQNLDR Riggs opposed members ‘purpose shooting’ an entry. The photograph was to be taken during the normal course of a day’s work, and not staged, creatively constructed or set up purposely for the competition. With that intent in mind, entries can only be accepted from members who are formally designated the unit photographer as a secondary duty, and can certify in the form of ‘Approved for Release’ that the image was captured to support an official task.
An official photograph is an image that has been taken, administered and registered on the Air Force Imagery Register in accordance with the policy on photography: DI(AF) OPS 4-9.
“It’s great that the W.T. Riggs Trophy has been reinstituted, as it’s an award that was highly regarded and respected in the photographer mustering for nearly 30 years,” WOFF Bennell said.
Nominations are now invited and can be forwarded by email to ray.bennell@defence.gov.au. For more information, contact WOFF Bennell on (03) 5146 6540.
