I’d lived close to the Thames for 25 years before I first saw the swan uppers as they made their annual pilgrimage up the river counting and marking the cygnets. Our local papers typically only notice the event with a short note the week later, although it is a spectacle that would interest many of their readers to see in person.
But perhaps newspapers – like more obviously television – are a way of avoiding contact with the world rather than encouraging participation, other than through patronising the advertisers. (Much of their content is of course advertorial, and even some of the news stories sometimes have me doubting. This week one front-page splashes a shock-horror-shame exposé of a local brothel for which the paper carries a regular advert in its adult section which makes me muse about the quid pro quo for this week’s extensive free advertising!*)
The uppers however, have been on the job since the twelfth century or so, though their modern practices are now considerably less bestial than in the past. The Queen, Dyers and Vintners no longer eat the birds and they don’t even cut their notches in their beaks any longer. It is all about conservation, ecology and the environment, and about a great deal of care and concern for the welfare of these splendid birds. And they are splendid, even though I once was driven to threaten to spit-roast any of my photography students who added yet another image to the pictorial waste-heap of pictures of them.
But it is in some ways an exciting event, and the skilled teamwork involved a delight to watch and admire, and it’s good to meet them again. Travelling back from Hull in the morning I caught up with them as they left the Swan for the afternoon’s voyage to Windsor, along a relatively swan-free section of river. There seemed to be considerably less press interest than last year, when rumours it could be the final year for the upping drew snappers from the nationals and major agencies, and I was able to work without having to use my elbows.
The swans get a quick medical on the bank and their details are recorded
It was only the second time that I’ve overcome my republican sentiments sufficiently to continue to photograph the royal toast in the lock at Windsor. This year the whisky seemed to be watered down even more than last.
It doesn’t really make for an exciting picture, although probably more saleable as stock than most I take. The final event of the day, when the Dyers and Vintners stand with oars raised to salute the Royal uppers as they pass standing similarly is one that I’ve yet to work out how to photograph adequately. This year I did slightly better than last, but still not to my own satisfaction. The boats are too spread out to photograph – even with the 10mm which in any case makes them look too small – and longer lenses just can’t show enough. So perhaps I’ll go back yet another year and try to find a different approach.
The boat at left had drifted back behind some bushes, and another had gone too far to my right.
*Note to their legal department. This is not meant seriously, although it does illustrate a certain hypocrisy endemic in the British press rather than any particular newspaper.