History of the Club

Recent competition winners

The Ingatestone & District Camera Club was founded in 1953, under the guidance of Mr. Pollard, an Ingatestone chemist. In forming the Club he was assisted by Bernie Back, Ken Rodgers and Ron Goose. The first set of Club rules were formulated by Mr. Pollard.

The Club first met in the old Constitutional Club building, and the facilities provided included a darkroom. When this building was dismantled to make way for the new one in the early 1970s, the Club moved to its present meeting place in the Parish Rooms in Stock Lane. At about this time, the club in Billericay disbanded and most of its members joined the Ingatestone Club.

Bernie Back, a railwayman all his working life, was a well known Ingatestone resident and remained an active member of the Club until his death in 1989 just before his 90th birthday. He introduced the wildlife enthusiast Rosemary Upton to the Club and her natural history slide lectures were very popular.

Both are remembered in the Club today by the Natural History photographic competitions for the Bernie Back Trophy, first presented in 1979, and the Rosemary Upton Cup, presented in 1964. The oldest active member was Bernard "Pop" Moore from Shenfield, who joined the Club in 1959 at the age of 63. He remained a member until his death in 1992 aged 96.

The Club's first Annual Exhibition was held in November 1960, and the early exhibitions also invited panels from other local clubs. A large boost to the Club's ego came in 1966 when they were sent photographs to be hung at the Annual Exhibition by a photographic club in South Australia. This came about through an arrangement by the then Club secretary, Fred Bissell, who commuted regularly to Australia in connection with his government job.

Club members at Ingatestone Hall

The governing body of photographic clubs and societies is the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain, and affiliation is effected through an area association or federation. The Ingatestone & District Camera Club is affiliated through the East Anglian Federation.

The benefits of belonging to the PAGB are many. Access to lists of prospective judges and lecturers is one, and contact addresses to secretaries of other clubs is another. Each area association holds an annual exhibition and clubs are invited to forward their members' work for selection. The standards are high and only a minority of the photographs submitted are selected to be shown. At the end of the exhibition a further selection is made by each area, for an exhibition by the PAGB which then tours the country. Some of the Ingatestone members have been successful when submitting their work. The East Anglian Federation is also responsible for arranging weekend lectures and audio-visual presentations given by some of the finest photographers in the country.

The Ingatestone & District Camera Club meets every Friday from September to May, at 8pm in the Parish Rooms, Stock Lane. The Annual Exhibition is held in late April when all the awards and trophies are presented to members successful in the various competitions. Besides the Annual Exhibition, the Club also exhibits each year at the Ingatestone & Fryerning Horticultural Show at the Seymour Field. In recent years, further exhibitions have been mounted in the St. Edmund & St. Mary Church, on Essex Heritage and environmental issues. In conjunction with the Ingatestone Historical Society, the Club mounted an exhibition of "Ingatestone Then & Now", where old and new photographs of certain views around the village were displayed side by side for comparison.

Club members enjoy a varied social life with parties during the year, and regular midweek photoshoots during the summer break.

It is not necessary for people contemplating membership of the Club to be proficient in photography, but we trust that by joining, you will progress in the art and craft of picture taking. We are exhibiting a variety of prints from a number of members, some of whom have started to print their digital photos the first time this season. In doing so, we hope that we are able to show the benefits that can be gained by becoming a member of the Ingatestone & District Camera Club.

If you are interested in joining the Club, please take a look at our Program for the season. We look forward to welcoming you to our club.

The photographs contained on this website are the copyright of their respective authors.
Images may not be used for any purpose without the permission of the appropriate copyright holder.

History of the Club

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