The Photography Blog: The rise and fall of the camera club

Recently, I visited a well established local camera club to drum up support for a community photography project I was helping with.  It struck me how, at 31, I was at least half the age of the typical member and there was almost complete indifference to a great opportunity to contribute their photography skills to a local photography project.

It made me wonder: where were the next generation of members?  Why was the room full of mostly retired males?  I left wondering if perhaps the era of the traditional camera club in the village hall with its weekly meetings was drawing to a close.

Lets face it, the internet has opened up the playing field of the photography community and this must be a threat to the old style camera club.  Websites like Flickr and Photo.net boast millions of users all sharing their ideas, questions and photographs in a generally constructive manner designed to help and inform anyone interested in photography.

Now, I’m not saying that someone sat at home commenting from afar on a picture someone else half way round the world took is the same as attending and being part of a local camera club.

You can’t beat quality face to face interaction on a regular basis, with knowledgeable and helpful local people where the club becomes a part of the local community.  The value of this should not be underestimated.  The extended online community offered by the internet, from ‘how to’ videos on  YouTube (often more ‘How not to’ in my experience…) to forums packed with information is useful, but it’s still learning in a virtual world, rather than the real world.

I’m not convinced it’s curtains for the camera club yet.  With some adaptation to the traditional format there is a future for local, community based camera clubs.

Take my local area in Kent; there are photo meet ups and walkabouts regularly organised by members of a Flickr group for east Kent based snappers.  There are also new styles of camera club run on a very informal, relaxed basis that meet fortnightly in the pub and simply take part in a fun photo challenge they organised the session before.  Both are great alternative, easy formats for people to get involved face to face with their photography on a local level without the formality that a traditional club entails.

And I can see the appeal; there are no membership fees, committees to elect or pressure to attend regularly.  You just stick the date in your diary and you’re out there with like minded people talking, learning and shooting some photography.  There’s virtually no fear that the club will become some political battleground for a committee of people more interested in bossing other people around than they are in the actual photography.

The trick is meeting friendly, helpful and like-minded people face to face because it’s an ideal way to improve and enjoy our photography, and a good camera club will embrace a variety of genres, skill levels and equipment.

The problem is finding one with friendly, helpful and like-minded people.  I know I wouldn’t fit in to a camera club full of guys twice my age, half of whom just want to moan the digital age and the other half who are just there for the tea.

Would I travel further afield to one that was buzzing and full of keen, creative people enjoying their photography?  Probably not.  I can access a similar community online now and meet them face to face on my own terms when it suits me.  I might be missing out on something here but is it not something that can be compensated for through membership of an alternative style of camera club?  I’d say it can.

Exhibition update:

This week I attended the private view of the annual Travel Photographer of The Year awards at the Royal geographic Society.  It was a feast of gorgeous imagery from around the world and worth a visit during the period the exhibition’s running; 22 June to 19 August.

Your thoughts…

We’d love to hear your views on how the traditional camera club can compete against the wider, local and global, community offered via the web.

What makes a good local camera club worth joining?

What do they do to keep new members coming in and offer them something that isn’t available from an online community?

What does your camera club do to keep things fresh and engaging for the members making the effort to turn up every week?

Perhaps you mix both an online photography community with a local one?

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• Andrew Cowman

  The more relaxed setting would suit me, a busy life makes it hard to commit time to a formal club. However meeting up every so often with those of a similar mindset is ideal, the informal style would work well for me.

  It is similar for the car enthusiasts with the advent of informal pub meets and drives at the weekend (obviously not after a pub meet!) rather than single car clubs and is helping a lot of people enjoy their passions more, which after all is part of why we have these interests!

• Chris

  Harrogate Photographic Society has doubled it’s membership to over 100 in the last 3 years. We are exploring the world of photography beyond the stereotypical camera club imagery, in particular contemporary art photography, street photography and reportage. We have the most exciting season ahead with world-class photographers coming from as far as California and New York. We have members of all ages and levels of experience. http://www.harrogatephotographicsociety.co.uk

• Tom Barton

  Our Flickr group Effra FC covers the Herne Hill area in London and some of Brixton (following the course of the underground Effra river). We upload onto Flickr and have loads of discussions there. We meet once a month in a local pub and occasionally do excursions. We’ve been involved in campaigns, such as the one to save the Brixton covered markets. We’ve put on exhibitions and helped set up a pop-up space a couple of years ago where we helped organise many of the events as well as setting up and running the on-line community around it. Also sometimes something happens in the area like a fire or cordoning off in Brixton and we find out about what’s happened quickly through the group. Sometimes a shout goes out for help capturing a wedding. Most members are guys from 20s to 50s with a few women involved who wish there were a few more! I guess the big change is that there’s no dark room activity/skills involved, although some of the group are v interested in film and it’s something we’d like to explore. This club hasn’t been diminished by the internet – it exists as a result of it and uses it to connect local life and interests – and is fab.

• rustle

  If the typical member was 32 the writer at 31 would still be “at least half” his age!

• rustle

  Exactly, as I said!

• http://twitter.com/JPSlamdog Slamdog

  I would hope a real camera club doesn’t involve sucking each other off all night, like Flickr! members do.

• http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=747600250 Alexander Hare

  Tom, That’s a really interesting account of your club’s system of working and contribution to the local community. It’s what a camera club should be; like any other local organisation, it should be ‘out there’ and getting involved in local issues every now and then when something fits with the desire to take photographs. The club’s efforts and expertise then become more widely valued, appreciated and useful which skilled photographers in camera clubs, quite frankly, deserve.

• Carol Coward

  I’m a Flickr member and resent what you’ve said. We don’t ’suck’ each other off and I’ve made some very good friends both in England and abroad. I’ve even met three whilst on holiday in Somerset. Just because you don’t want to be a Flickr member doesn’t mean to say that you can slag off those of us who do. It’s a really enjoyable past time and you can get really good ideas to use yourself.

  I’m also a member of our local Penryn Camera Club and have been for nearly 30 years, 20 years as Secretary and two as Vice Chair. It’s a great club and we have all sorts of meetings indoors and out, have Battles with other local clubs and one large Battle with the member clubs of the Cornwall Photographic Alliance. Great fun.

• http://www.robmarshall.net/ rob marshall

  Alex

  I sympathize with what you are saying here, but I think you are overlooking something. All clubs, not just camera clubs, often have as a primary motivation of the people who start and organize them to be a vehicle for their own egos. They love arguing over who is going to be leader, they are, as such, often riddled with petty jealousies. They form little cliques, they herd, they ostracise, and in short they display all the classic behaviour patterns of groups. That’s why camera (why not ‘photography’?) clubs are full of older men who no longer have a role in life… and need one.

  The internet has that too, of course. But it’s less noticeable.

• http://twitter.com/JPSlamdog Slamdog

  If you really believe Flickr users are on the level, you haven’t seen this nightmare profile.
  flickr DOT com/photos/nicelumiere/. Tell me that is good quality? Every picture gets a million faves and comments. Oh, and I used to be a member, but felt I was wasting my time when I was up against this type of back slapping.

  I can find thousands of examples of this type of artistic weirdness if you like.