Photographer becomes the first to achieve unprecedented third Fellowship with the BIPP

Kevin Wilson FBIPP was recently awarded a record third Fellowship from the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP) making him the only member ever to hold three Fellowships in the Institute’s 111 year history.

Kevin Wilson FBIPP

Based at his studio in Dorset Kevin achieved his first Fellowship in 1996 in Portraiture. He then went on to achieve a second Fellowship in Weddings in 2009 - becoming the first member to hold Fellowships in both Portraiture and Weddings.

Widely acclaimed as one of Europe’s leading portrait and wedding photographer Kevin has travelled around the world and has recently returned from a successful visit to the USA.

Kevin has always been an advocate for professional qualifications and a few years ago, a gentleman in his late nineties visited his studio in Dorset. Having been delighted with the results of Kevin’s work he promised to commission a portrait for his 100^th birthday, sadly he died before this could be achieved. This inspired Kevin to assemble 20 portraits of people who had achieved the age of 100 or more. He started the project in February 2012 and finished in May. Kevin submitted his project for a qualification assessment with the BIPP in June 2012 and was awarded his third Fellowship in Documentary Portraiture.

The Qualification Assessors were moved by Kevin’s remarkable presentation of images highlighting the harsh beauty of some of the country’s oldest residents.

BIPP President Roy Meiklejon FBIPP commented ‘ Kevin’s achievement is truly unprecedented. His most recent Fellowship presentation was both moving and inspirational. A true reflection of the standard of the photography required at Fellowship level. ‘

When asked why he decided to submit for a third Fellowship Kevin commented ‘I have always felt that it was not good enough to rest on my laurels, gaining a fellowship is a difficult task, once gained it is important to push on forward. I am involved with assessing other photographers’ work and feel that you have to talk the talk and walk the walk, in other words prove you are current in different genres.’

The BIPP trains and qualifies professional photographers who, once qualified, hold either a LBIPP (Licentiateship of the BIPP), ABIPP (Associateship of the BIPP) or FBIPP (Fellowship of the BIPP).  In order to gain a Fellowship with the BIPP a photographer must demonstrate an exceptional level of craftsmanship and creativity. 

http://www.kevinwilson.co.uk/

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