From Glass-plates to Digital Images in 50 years
When a small group of dedicated photographers met in a school hall in Esher Town centre in 1950 they would have had no inkling of the way in which their proposed 'Photographic Society' was to grow; to prosper into a large body and gradually to decline as traditional cameras hecame more complicated and expensive. Now we are in the Digital Age and once again there is a revival of interest in this all embracing hobby.
As The Esher and District Photographic Society - as it was then known - it soon moved to the old Boy's Home in Weston Green Road, (now a Residential Home called The Newlands), and in the mid-50's to the Infants School in Speer Road. The main hall was very suitable for the showing of Slides (31/4" square in those days) through a converted Magic Lantern, but the main problem was the chair size - not conducive to comfort during a long talk on Black and White film development or the like.
There was one memorable evening when a keen member (Ted Telling, a farmer from Claygate) arrived late for the meeting straight from a Market with a bull in his trailer, and this was parked for the whole evening in the school playground. Perhaps just as well it was a dark night and the street lights were not that bright!
With a close conection to the Esher
District Council, joint public meetings
were organised each year in St. George's
Hall Esher with audiences of many
hundreds. The Chairman at that time was
one Jim Wolfenden who through his
contacts as the Principal of Twickenham
Technical College was able to bring to the
open meetings such luminaries as Sir
George Pollock, a one time President of the
Royal Photographic Society and well
known for his superb photographs of
lumps of glass; Alfred Gregory - fresh
from being the stills photographer to the
successful Everest Expedition in 1953, and
W. A. Poucher - the famous climber and
photographer of the English Lakes and the
Scottish Highlands, and a publisher of
many illustrated books on this subject.
Jim Wolfenden was also a Trustee of
'Brantwood', the Lakeland home of
John Ruskin and the setting for annual
visits by members, who had the
opportunity of trying out for the first
time a new fangled method of making colour prints from negatives.
The Society was also active in Slide and
Print competitions both within the Club
itself and through the Surrey Photographic
Association – this, in turn, was part of the
Photographic Alliance of Great Britain and
national competitions were held.
Numerous cups and trophies have been
presented over the years to the Club and
over 12 are still competitively ‘fought’ for
each year.
So to the recent past where film gradually gave way to a somewhat primitive method of printing digitally through the computer, often by the way of a 35mm slide or negative and then came the introduction of the ‘Prosumer’ Digital Camera; at first costing many hundreds, if not, thousands of pounds. Within a few years the quality went from a poor image giving a fuzzy result to prints of over A3 in size and at an ever reducing cost. The more experienced members – and many with less knowledge – can now produce excellent colour prints that exceed the high quality of the older ‘wet’ process; to such a degree that almost all Darkrooms have now been abandoned, the equipment sold or thrown away, and the latest all embracing computer acquired.
Computers may be the central instrument for a successful digital photographer at the present time, but there is movement towards direct printing from the camera with just a wire connecting the two units, and away you go! That system is also beginning to change with wireless equipped cameras and printers with the capacity to receive the image and print automatically. The only thing that does not change with time is the skill of ‘the eye behind the viewfinder’ – and that can be helped by membership of any Camera Club, where experts freely pass on their knowledge to the newcomer. It is with this in mind that the Club has formed a Digital Group catering for members who have moved into this field, perhaps for the first time.
The Club meets weekly on Tuesday at 8.00pm at the United Reformed Church Hall, Speer Road and any experienced or erstwhile photographer can be assured of a very friendly welcome. The programme contains print and slide analysis by ‘experts’; illustrated talks on a variety of subjects, annual outings and the inevitable Competitions. The separate Digital Group meetings are held in The Esher College, Weston Green Road each month (Wednesday 7.00pm) and no experience of computers is really necessary to start getting to grips with this method.
Further information on the Club and its programme can be obtained from the Secretary – Mrs Billie Buchanan on (020) 8398 3169, or e-mail – buchbillie@aol.com.