about

Robin Harmsworth
Street and People Photographer

Accredited Judge
Kent County Photographic Association
Level 2 Judge
Sussex Photographic Federation



I am a full time gardener by trade as well as a self taught photographer, I have dabbled for many a year since starting with a Zenit, which was quite a handful for a youngster and have had a keen interest since digital first started and I still have my Olympus E-10, but took a much more dedicated interest about 2009 having upgraded to a Digital SLR.
I have used Olympus Micro Four Thirds and Nikon DSLR's, but found I was not enjoying my photography as much as I had hoped, until I tried a friends Fuji X-E1 which ignited my enthusiasm once more and then when Fuji brought out the XT-1 I converted completely and am now a devoted Fuji fan with no regrets.
Having joined the camera club scene and dealt with various roles and positions within, especially the competition side, I started to get interested in the concept of judging and then took the plunge to start as a provisional judge in November 2013 with the KCPA and gained my accredited status, as of 1st May 2016 and also achieved Level 2 status with SxPF which was a major jump from just hoping to be being registered.
Since starting as a judge I have had the privilege and honour of being regularly invited to clubs in Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey and South London to appraise their work which is always interesting as well as inspiring to see the wide range of diverse work across the various types of competitions I dealt with club exhibition work, end of year print/pdi to inter-club or mix &match to more specialised like record or panel competitions and to see the clubs changes/development on return visits.
My love of street/people photography has led me to attend Photo24 London in 2014 and then for five years running (This is a great event held in London over 24hours non-stop usually towards end of June) in 2016 not only did I get to complete Photo24 again, but was privileged to be a volunteer with the organisers team, which allowed me to see things from the other side not just an attendee, I have also been lucky enough to be able to attend a shorter 12 hour marathon organised by the DLR in London on a couple of occasions, which was very different travelling around on the DLR looking for related imagery partly for competitions and publicity material, so here's to future interesting events.Having been asked what my interests are while attending judging appointments at clubs, I have been persuaded to develop a talk which relays my experiences, challenges and images from my time attending Photo24 London and DLR12, which has gone well with the clubs I have presented it at.
Sadly Photo24 didn't run due to lack of sponsorship in 2019 and Covid stopped anything happening in 2020, but here's to photo24 returning soon.