Thanks to Valerie Hazelton, who compiled the following material in 1984 (revised in 1988), we now can look back to the early days of the Manitoba Camera Club (MCC) and follow its development through to the 1980's. The links provided here take one forward to specific sections of the document (or, with sufficient stamina, one can read it straight through).

Formation and Beginnings of the MCC
Exhibitions and the MCC's Leading Role
Far Flung Exchanges
Competitions - Regular and Special
Club Activities
"In Focus" - the MCC Newsletter
Quarters - To the Fire and Beyond
Services Rendered
Special Event
Program Development
National Affiliation
Summer Fun
Into the Future
Club Firsts

Added Feature - MCC Presidents over the Decades

The Manitoba Camera Club is one of the oldest camera clubs in Western Canada and, although it was probably in existence long before 1932, it is generally felt that this was the year the Club was formalized with a written Constitution and By-Laws. The following excerpt, from a letter the Manitoba Camera Club wrote to the Montreal Camera Club in October 1935, describes the Club and its activities at that time: "Our Club was formed approximately three years ago and now has a membership of about forty or more members. We have no clubrooms of our own as yet but hope to be in a position to acquire them shortly. Our activities have been limited to holding monthly meetings at which a talk is usually given and the results of our monthly competitions made known, along with print criticism by the judges, etc."

From these modest beginnings comes the Manitoba Camera Club as we know it today. Its history is a rich and colourful one and it is interesting to see how the Club has "evolved" over the years.

To become a member of the Manitoba Camera Club in its first years was a very formalized procedure. It was necessary to find two other members to sponsor you and your application was then brought before the "Board of Directors" for approval. This "Board" consisted of the elected officers of President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer, along with other board members who headed up the various committees. Members wishing to resign sent a formal letter of resignation or were asked to resign due to unpaid dues, etc., or, in one case, for "numerous complaints" having been received about the member's "attitude at club meetings, which on several occasions has not been conducive to harmony at our meetings."

Becoming a Camera Club member tody is much simpler! Anyone with an interest in photography need only fill out a form and pay the required fee to join.

The committees formed in the early years of the Club were much the same as they are now, with one notable exception - a special "Salon" committee, responsible for planning an annual salon, existed for many years. The following is abstracted from an early Club newsletter: "An exhibition of Western Canadian Pictorial Photography, under the auspices of the Manitoba Camera Club, will be held in the Art Gallery at the Auditorium commencing June 10^th, 1935, and continuing for the following two weeks. The exhibition includes work of the members of the Manitoba Camera Club and representative work of the various Western Canadian Camera Clubs who have been invited to submit their best work. This is the first exhibition of its kind in Western Canada and it is hoped that the increased interest now evidenced in photography will receive an impetus which will result in Winnipeg being placed in the foreground of Canadian photographic art."

Clubs participating in this first exhibition included Brandon, Regina, Saskatoon, Lethbridge, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria and several Winnipeg clubs in existence at the time, including the University of Manitoba, Y.W.C.A., Hudson's Bay and T. Eaton Company Camera Clubs.

This annual event expanded and, in 1942, became the First International Salon of Western Photography. It was sponsored by the Manitoba Camera Club for many years, the last one being 1965.

Currently, an annual national and, more recently, international photographic salon is sponsored by the Red River Exhibition Association under the management of past members of the Manitoba Camera Club (often aided by both past and current members when it comes time for exhibition). Many club members enter their photography in the National competition and do themselves and the Club proud. In June, 1987, Lyse Remillard placed first in the Amateur Monochrome class, second in the Amateur Colour class, and had five honourable mentions. Twelve other Club members received honourable mentions or had their work displayed.

In addition to the involvement in salon exhibition, our Club participated in many print exchanges with other Camera Clubs, some as far away as Germany, Russia and Japan. The prints that the Manitoba Camera Club sent to other clubs in exchange sometimes provoked a lot of comment. The Halifax (Camera Obscurists) Club had these comments about a particular set of prints sent to them in 1943: "Your exhibit rates with the best we have received and, in addition, I may add that it is perhaps among the unusual ones. The average exhibit is usually judged quite simply but yours raised quite a storm...many prints caused members to become quite wrathful at the opinions of others and, for a time, an outsider might have been inclined to expect bloodshed at any moment. I don't think the final selection received the blessing of more than a very small majority...so you see what your exhibit did to an otherwise staid, peaceful and conventional Club." It certainly would be interesting to see what these images were that caused so much controversy.

Monthly competitions have always been a major part of the Club's activities. For many years, a judging committee, formed by senior members of the Club, was responsible for judging members' prints. The process was very formal, with each of the three judges awarding up to five points each for technique, pictorial appeal, and composition. Points were then added up for the total and prints getting over a certain percentage were set aside for the judges to choose the winners from. A detailed written criticism was filled out on a form attached to the back of one of the entrants prints. All prints had to be titled and mounted on 16" X 20" cream mounts.

At present, the Competitions Chairperson arranges for three knowledgeable persons, usually photographers from outside the Club to do the judging and to have one of them give a critique on meeting night.

Competition topics were much the same from year to year, such as the following list from the 1936-37 club year: land, water or cloudscapes; architecture; still life; portraits, figure and character studies; snow scenes; miscellaneous. Under this miscellaneous section was a category for "any picture taken with a camera normally retailing at $3.00 or less". It would be interesting to know what cameras fitted into this category!

In addition to the regular monthly topics, there were often many special competitions held throughout the year. For example, the subject of a special still life competition was "Eggs (in their shell) on a white plate" (1936). In 1945, E.V. Caton, a senior club member at the time, offered a prize for the best picture submitted by a junior member illustrating any line from Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard".

Special competitions are still part of the Club's makeup, with one often planned for showing at the annual Christmas party. As well, there are two annual specials: the Henry Kalen award for Architecture and the Archie Riedel awards (one for slides, one for prints) for Animal photography. A new competition, the "Executive Team Trophy Competition", was initiated in 1984. This competition involves a team of two or three Club members co-operating to produce a slide essay on a topic set by the current Club Executive. The teams are chosen in October of the Club season and have until the following April to complete their slide essay, which is then judged by the Club Executive.

In past years, a number of special competitions, open only to Manitoba Camera Club members, were sponsored by various companies and government agencies in the city. In 1946, the Winnipeg Electric Company awarded $10 for the best photograph taken of one of their power plants and were prepared to buy any other pictures taken which they considered suitable for their use. The Winnipeg Parks Board, in 1952, gave prizes totalling $100 for prints taken on the City's parks, community clubs, playgrounds, golf courses, and the zoo. A similar type of competition was sponsored by the Department of Industry and Commerce, Bureau of Travel and Publicity, the following summer, with any photograph taken in any part of Manitoba being eligible. The theme of "Manitoba" was also the topic of the print competition the Manitoba Camera Club sponsored in 1982 to celebrate its 50^th anniversary, the competition being open to any amateur photographer.

As well as Club competitions, a special inter-club competition was set up in 1955, the main participants being the Manitoba Camera Club and the Y.W.C.A. Camera Club. Ten prints from each Club were entered and the Club receiving the most points was the recipient of the Paul Hunter trophy. An individual trophy was given to the person with the best overall print. This competition has not been held for several years and attempts to revive it have been unsuccessful so far.

With all this competition activity going on, one might think there wasn't any time for other programs. In the first years of the Club, when meetings were held once a month, a guest speaker was usually on hand to give a talk or demonstration. Later, when meetings were once a week, one meeting a month would be devoted to general business and print criticisms (often including a guest speaker), one for junior technical, one for senior technical and another for portrait and pictorial - "a night of practical and theoretical work". The latter meetings usually had a model of some sort present: members of a modelling school, cheer leaders, dance group, senior citizens, etc., for Club members to get practical experience in portrait photography.

The format of weekly meetings has remained with the Club, along with the monthly competitions and critiques. A guest speaker comes to the Club at least once a month. "Model" nights are held once or twice a year, and there are frequent outings. And the Club Auction has become an annual ritual, appearing on the Club program every February! The two big social events of the year are the Christmas party, complete with a photo session with Santa Claus, and, of course, the Annual Banquet and Awards Night to wind up the season's activities.

The Club has always had a monthly newsletter, "In Focus", outlining its activities. "In Focus" has taken on many different looks over the years. In 1982/83, the Photographic Society of America started an Annual Bulletin Contest for its member organizations. Our Club did very well that year (53^rd out of 150 entries) but did even better under the editorship of Karen Dunsmore (Berrel) the next year. Karen's February 1984 edition of "In Focus" won an honourable mention, placing 19^th out of 151 entries from around the world! The same newsletter also won a silver medal in the North Central Camera Club Council newsletter competition. Nester Rubachuk, who took over the editorship from Karen, topped even her award for the February 1985 issue of "In Focus", receiving one of the two Chairman's Awards for "most creative" bulletin and a ribbon for "most improved" newsletter.

From the Club's beginning, one of its dreams was to obtain permanent quarters with enough space for a darkroom. This dream was realized in 1950, when the 'ideal' clubrooms were rented at 289 Garry Street. Members spent considerable time and effort cleaning the place up, putting in a darkroom, building lockers, etc. Members' prints were even framed and hung up. Unfortunately, the following year the Club was unable to pay the proposed rent increase and had to move.

The Club has carried on its activities in many different locations and finding adequate quarters has always been a problem. The first meetings were held in the Free Press Boardroom but not too long after that were moved to the Tribune Building, then to the Music and Arts Building on Broadway, and so on, to end up a dozen or so places later at Young United Church at Broadway and Furby, where we enjoyed many years of tenancy. On December 27^th, 1987, this beautiful, historical structure burned to the ground and, unfortunately, along with it all the Club's historic records, equipment and books. The latter can be replaced, but the records, some dating back nearly 60 years, will be lost forever.

Companies often used the services of the Manitoba Camera Club. For example, Highnell Printing Ltd. used photographs taken by Club members in their yearly calendars. This practice was, unfortunately, interrupted by the Second World War and not continued afterwards. Other publication companies offered money for specific photographs: Maclean Publications offered $4.00 for "informal photographs of business and professional men" (1943); Coronet Magazine of Chicago offered $15.00 for photographs for their "Gallery of Photographs" featuring points of interest, landscapes, etc. of Manitoba for use on a calendar for a client (1947); and a Miss Margaret Kennedy, who was in the 'postcard business', was prepared to pay $2.50 for 8" X 10" winter scenes of Winnipeg, the only stipulation being that the photographs must include a recognizable Winnipeg Building (1954).

Special Club projects were also taken on to assist various agencies in the city. A 1951 Club project was to photograph the Winnipeg Ballet. The photos were used for press publicity for the Ballet's "Gala Benefit Performance". In 1952, the Club took pictures for the Central Volunteer Bureau (CVB) showing volunteers of the various agencies at their work, which were used to publicize the work of the CVB. The CNIB, in 1962, requested the help of our Camera Club to build up their slide library showing the work and activities of blind persons. And the Club's 1970 Manitoba Centennial project was a collection of slides by the members on Manitoba, edited and prepared for showing by Nelson Harvey, one of our Club's present honorary members. (Mr. Harvey, by the way, has been a Club member for more than 50 years!)

With the large number of freelance and professional photographers in the market today, such opportunities as the aforementioned are not often available to the amateur Camera Club member. The 1984 visit of the Pope to Canada, however, prompted the Papal Rose Publishing Company, who produced a book on the visit, to contract the Club for possible contributions. The Company provided the film and processing and contracted to pay $100 for each photo they used. From all the thousands of images submitted from the Manitoba tour, one of our Club members, Linda MacLennan (Davidson) was fortunate enough to have one of her photographs, taken at the site of the public Mass in Birds' Hill Park, published in the book.

As well as providing members with a wide variety of programs, the Club has for the past three years sponsored an evening seminar with a local photographer. For a modest sum, the general public can spend an evening soaking up the magnificent images of such photographers as Courtney Milne, Dennis Fast and Robert Taylor. These seminars have been so successful, the Club hopes to continue them as an annual event.

Always looking for ways to reach out and help members develop their special interest in photography, new groups and activities are formed, some formally, others informally. Currently a print portfolio group, under the guidance of Patrick Hackett, is exploring how to photograph a theme of particular interest to an individual photographer. The group displays their work to the Club from time to time.

The Club is currently a member of the National Association of Photographic Art (NAPA) [now evolved into the Canadian Association for Photographic Art (CAPA)], a Canadian organization whose aim is to promote good Canadian photography, encourage photographers and provide information. Club members' prints and slides are regularly entered in the Association's three yearly competitions and several times the Club has been a host judging club. The judging takes place at a regular Club meeting and gives members an opportunity to observe a "real" judging take place as well as giving them a chance to see the photography of other Clubs and individuals from across the country.

Although the Club doesn't "officially" meet during the summer months, many members maintain contact and, for a number of years now, outings have been planned in advance for those who wish to participate. The itinerary for the summer of 1987 was the most ambitious to date, with an outing planned for every other weekend. The membership is treated to a lot of great photography and some great anecdotes, too, when the Club meets again in the fall.

The Club records made for fascinating reading and Don Amos spent many hours sorting through them and putting things into some kind of chronological order. The loss of these records in the fire of 1987 was a sad one indeed.

The Manitoba Camera Club, incorporated in 1984 and with a much larger membership than in 1932 (averaging 120 members over the past several years), carries on the fine traditions of its humble beginnings: to provide an opportunity to meet with other photographers who share a common interest in and wish to get more enjoyment out of photography. The loss of its quarters has not stopped the club from forging ahead. New quarters were arranged for at Lion's Place, 610 Portage Avenue, without a single meeting having to be missed. Now that's spirit!

Club Firsts...

1937: The Library was started. According to a 1945 newsletter, "the Manitoba Camera Club is in possession of one of the best and largest collections of photographic books to be found anywhere in Canada".

December 15, 1946: The first social evening was held. A buffet supper followed the regular meeting, the cost being 30 cents each. The event was so successful that refreshments were provided once a month after business meetings.

February 1950: The first annual Club auction netted around $50, which was to start off the building fund.

1951: A colour slide category was added to the competition categories.

June 10, 1952: The first annual banquet was held at the "Homestead", 379 Broadway Avenue. Admission was $1.25 for a chicken dinner. Competition awards were presented ("some 18 silver cups"). Everyone received a rose and a gold printed program, compliments of some of the camera stores around the city.

1953 Annual Dinner: A certificate of merit was presented to Nelson Harvey and Nick Komus "for services rendered to the Club beyond the call of duty". In following years, the Paul Hunter Efficiency Statuette was presented to the member who had contributed that something extra to the running of the Club.

October 31, 1961: The Club held a Hallowe'en party. Members came in costumes and brought their cameras. Prizes were given for the best costumes and for games.

1974: The Club acquired a box number for mail to be sent to.

December 1975: This was the first time a wine and cheese party, with Santa handing out gifts, was held.

1982: The Manitoba Camera Club celebrates its first 50 years, with a special Anniversary competition on "Manitoba" and a seminar featuring Robert Taylor. A special logo was developed by Don Berthman to commemorate the occasion.

September 5, 1984: The Manitoba Camera Club officially becomes the Manitoba Camera Club Inc.