Regatta snapper is people person

A PHOTOGRAPHER who grew up in Henley is exhibiting photographs of the royal regatta in London Bridge Station this month.

Henry Reichhold’s Up and Down the River collection has been commissioned by the Thames Festival Trust for the Totally Thames Festival and is on display at the station’s Tooley Street entrance.

It features two of the river’s largest events — the royal regatta and the Great River Race, which will take place on the Thames from Millwall to Richmond in September.

The montage images compile thousands of photographs taken at the events to create a collage-like effect.

Mr Reichhold, 70, lived in Henley when his mother owned an antiques shop in the town. The family lived close to the town hall and later in West Street. He said: “I lived in Henley for many years and when I was about eight or nine I started doing photography. I would go down to the Thames and photograph everything in black and white. I spent huge amounts of time there, just from a love of the river.”

Mr Reichhold went on to study fine art at Dartington College of Arts, gain a master’s degree at the University of Warwick, and teach evening classes at Central Saint Martins for 12 years. He now lives in London.

Specialising in creating panoramic images of large-scale events, Mr Reichhold has photographed events like the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the coronation of King Charles III.

After attending his first royal regatta aged 20, Mr Reichhold has returned about four times since to photograph the event. Photographs taken in the 2023 and 2024 regattas are featured as a montage in the exhibition.

Mr Reichhold said: “I really wanted to capture the atmosphere of the place and the people. All the smiling, quite a bit of drinking, the colours, the hats, what everyone was wearing. I was trying to capture the whole vibe.

“I wanted to bring in historical elements too, as I’d been looking at postcards from the Twenties and Thirties and I noticed a lot of people used to go on the river to watch the action in boats. Now there’s just a few boats alongside the regatta course, but all the punters used to gather together.

“With that in mind, I photographed a lot of people from the back so I could reconstruct a modern version of that. So the whole bottom half of the picture is something that never happened but with people who were there. With the band, I used classic British colours to bring in a touch of the Sixties with ‘Sgt. Pepper’ colouring on their costumes.”

Mr Reichhold, who has exhibited at London Bridge Station for five years, said: “Racing is not that photogenic and when you’re there the atmosphere is electric but it doesn’t really translate visually that much but, with people, you never know what you’re going to see.”

He typically uses a Canon 5DS, full-frame, 50 megapixel camera but this year he used 50- and 100-year-old cameras.

Mr Reichhold added: “They do create very unique images and help gather the atmosphere of the event.”

l Up and Down the River will be available to view free of charge until Tuesday, September 30.