The Demise Of Camera Clubs (And How To Stop It)

I have spoken at several camera clubs over the last couple of years, and there are some things that struck me. Perhaps the most notable are the demographic of the members and the environment in which the club is set.

The members are generally older and predominantly male. At the clubs I have spoken at, they have been very welcoming, open, knowledgeable, and appreciative of my talks. Put simply, there is a huge resource of photographic experience on tap for those that wish to use it.

However, there is very much a theme to the environment that these clubs meet in. Usually a draughty community or church hall, plastic seats, the whirl of a projector and harsh strip lighting. In short, they are not the greatest locations to enthuse about photography. This is often down to budget and the actual numbers of locations available to local camera clubs, but it does not present the most welcoming of environments to newcomers.

The Old School Stigma Within Camera Clubs

Perhaps one of the more pervasive aspects of camera club mentality is the preservation of traditional photography. The concept that there is a right way and wrong way to take photos and only the “right” way is acceptable.

Given how rapidly photography is changing and evolving, this can very much hold back younger photographers. Whilst more experienced and older photographers such as myself may see ourselves as the guardians of traditional photography, the simple fact is that we are not; we are guardians of one way of taking photos, a way that will always exist, but not the only way.

Social media, for good or bad, has created a new generation that wants fast results. Advancing technology has enabled us to get those fast results, often bypassing the traditional methods that older photographers evangelise. That can create friction between the younger generations and believers in the more traditional.

There is another element to this as well: gear. Many camera clubs are often quite gear focused, perhaps not in the talks given, but very much in the water cooler conversations before and after a talk. A lot of younger photographers are not gear focused. Often for the fact that they cannot afford the latest and greatest but also because the maximum aperture of a lens, or the continuous shooting speed of a camera, simply doesn’t interest them. They want to be judged on the photos they take, not the gear they shoot them on.

A Personal Experience

I started photography at the age of 16 with a £50 old Soviet camera. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

However, my uncle, an avid enthusiast, took the time to show me the ropes, including introducing me to my first camera club. It was 1983 and very little different from the clubs I have been to recently, the exception being that the projector is video, not slide.

As with all camera clubs, they held several competitions throughout the year, some bigger than others. By this time I was working for the photographic company Durst, so I could print my own colour images to my own style. One, a silhouette of two people walking up a beach at sunset, won the biggest competition of the year, going on to do a tour of affiliated camera clubs.

However, this was a problem for some of the more senior members of the club. They felt it wrong that a 16-year-old with a few months of experience and a cheap Soviet camera should be allowed to win a major competition. The upshot was that with the exception of my uncle and a few talented and generous photographers, I was effectively shunned. I left shortly after and never returned to a camera club until I was invited to speak.

The basis for this article comes from that experience, and from one of my recent talks where the chairman asked how camera clubs could encourage more youngsters and indeed more female members.

The Untapped Resource of Camera Clubs

As I said at the top, camera clubs are an extraordinary resource of experience. There will be members with an innate knowledge of studio lighting. Members who know how to capture rare birds in flight or how to pan just enough to capture a racing car at speed.

This depth of knowledge is virtually unrivalled.

Sure, there are articles and videos about every photographic subject under the sun, but they are not targeted directly to your needs. At a camera club, you can talk to someone directly, hold an in-depth conversation with them, and ask them questions about elements that you do not understand.

The older demographic of camera clubs understands the importance of the printed media or digital. They will explain why and what photos are better seen in print. They are there to teach you more traditional skills if you require, but should also be able to impart the creative aspects to you.

Whilst many clubs will have a few bad actors, it’s important that the voices of the willing and experienced are heard above those of the arrogant.

How To Save Camera Clubs

To my mind, there are many ways a camera club could engage a wider demographic. The first and foremost is to embrace social media. A lot of camera clubs have very basic, even dated websites that actually suggest the demographic of said club.

As creative people, often with our own websites, it’s not difficult to create a modern-looking, educational site that also gives information about club activities. That goes hand in hand with social media. Posting the occasional Tweet is not going to make you known in the community. Creating a Facebook page and posting to social media several times a week will raise your local profile. These posts should not just be about the dates of the next competition, for example, but genuinely useful photographic advice that people can embrace.

A lot of clubs revolve around monthly competition. Often these are won by a select few, with less experienced members never getting seen. Instead of perpetual competitions, you could swap some of them out for critique nights focusing on how to improve or even advice evenings.

Photography has moved on. Drone photography, smartphone photography, and high-quality video are part of the modern photographic world. These should be embraced. As should a greater emphasis on the creative rather than the technical.

A lot of camera clubs have model nights, where a studio is set up, and the members can shoot a model. Why, however, are these models nearly always young ladies? That, I am sure, would put off many female photographers who would love to do some people photography. How about a distinguished-looking gentleman or even a young family?

Whilst the midweek evening meet-up in the community hall is the bedrock of camera club society, in these days of flexible working hours, why not more informal coffee and camera meets, perhaps local photo walks or summer chats in a local park?

The simple fact is, that by embracing a wider demographic, you are also embracing new ideas. Clubs need to be open to these ideas rather than hunkering down and continuing the ways of old.

Camera clubs are an incredible resource, an unrivaled source of photographic knowledge, but they need to be more open to a rapidly changing photographic environment and demographic. Embracing younger photographers and giving them responsibilities, for example, of the social media accounts, will change the whole outlook and appearance of a club.

And that can only be a good thing