Burton Photographic Society is a long-established and active camera club, bringing photographers together through weekly meetings, competitions, exhibitions, practical training and community events. Founded in 1933 as Burton Camera Club, the Society has kept its original spirit of learning, friendship and shared enthusiasm for photography while continuing to evolve with the times.
It seems a long time since 14 February 1933, when a dozen like-minded people decided to form the Burton Camera Club at the inaugural meeting at the Queen’s Hotel, Burton. A committee was formed and a format for the meetings was agreed: a mixture of lectures, competitions and outings. Looking back at those aspects of the Society, very little has changed from 1933 to the present day.
In 1954 the name was changed to Burton Photographic Society because, at the time, it was felt that the emphasis of the club was more to do with equipment, especially in those post-war years, than with the art of photography. The name Photographic Society was therefore adopted in the hope that the emphasis would again be on the skill of photography.
The club used to meet every alternate Thursday, with a winter programme of indoor meetings and a summer programme of outings. Subscriptions were 6s.6d for gentlemen and 4s.6d for ladies and juniors. The meetings even continued throughout the war years, with few references to those times in the minutes. At the Annual General Meeting in January 1940, “the question of carrying on during the ensuing winter session was discussed, in view of the present war situation and the frequency of air raid warnings. It was proposed by Mrs Ashmore and seconded by Mr Williams, that meetings should be held when there was full moon. And this was agreed.” At the Annual General Meeting in January 1941, the secretary, giving a résumé of the previous year’s activities, said that “the meetings, despite the prevailing abnormal conditions, had been well attended. While it was gratifying to note four new members had been enrolled. With regard to the excursions, a series had been arranged but only one had been actually undertaken, as owing to photographers nowadays being looked upon with suspicion, although not banned altogether it was thought desirable to cancel them.”
Over the years, the venues for meetings have moved around the town: from the Queen’s Hotel to the club room at Cox and Malin in the High Street, near the National Westminster Bank, then to the Congregational School Room in the High Street and St Paul’s Institute. If there was nowhere else for a meeting to be held, it was not unusual for it to take place at someone’s house. This would be more difficult today, when the Society averages more than 30 members each week. A short time was also spent at the college buildings in Union Street, Friars Walk School, Grange Street, and the Teachers’ Centre. In the eighties, a few meetings were held at the British Oak public house before the Society moved to its present accommodation in Stretton.
The Society is affiliated to the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) through the Midland Counties Photographic Federation (MCPF), and over the years it has helped the MCPF organise various events in the local area. The MCPF organises an annual photography seminar, and in 1995 it approached BPS to host the event. That seminar featured an all-female speaker line-up for the first time. In 1997, the seminar was delivered entirely by a couple from Holland, and in 1999 the club again hosted a seminar with speakers covering different photographic media, from Lith printing to landscape work. In 2008, as part of the Society’s 75th anniversary year, BPS hosted another MCPF seminar, this time with three Irish speakers who held the audience in the palms of their hands. The event attracted people from as far afield as Scotland and Wales. The Society has since hosted two more successful seminars with speakers from Ireland, and in 2013 the MCPF added BPS to its Roll of Honour, only the fourth club to receive this accolade.
BPS has also hosted the MCPF’s General Meeting, followed by the Interclub Knockout Slide Competition. This annual competition identifies the top two clubs in the MCPF, which then go on to represent the Federation in the PAGB National Final at Warwick University. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious competitions in the PAGB calendar. In 1998, the Society was runner-up at the knockout stage and won a place in that year’s finals at Warwick University. Heading into a new adventure for the club, some members hired a minibus and set off early one Saturday in July. Competing against the best photographic clubs and societies in the country was a memorable experience: the atmosphere was electric, and all the members who went wanted to repeat it. The Society finished a creditable 19th in the country.
In more recent years, BPS has been at the PAGB Inter-club Print Finals on three occasions, including 2017, when it came in the top eight clubs in the final and won automatic entry into the 2018 finals. Its most recent visit was in 2018.
The club took the decision to hold an exhibition in February 1936, when it was proposed to hold two, one in April and the other in October; however, no records have been found of that ever occurring. A committee was formed in the early years, and its members decided on the judges, where and when to hold the exhibition, and who should be asked to open it. The exhibition has always been judged by an external judge and, during the club’s early years, by as many as three judges.
The club has held an exhibition every year with the exception of 1942, when “owing to short supplies of sensitive material it was decided with reluctance to forgo the Annual Exhibition,” through to 1948. There was another interruption in 1951, when the dates offered to the club by the Art Gallery were too early in the season, so the exhibition was put back to January 1952. There has always been a good entry, with prints usually numbering over a hundred. In 1937, it was thought “desirable to ask the entrants to pick their own order of merit, so that should there be insufficient space to exhibit all the pictures, some of the surplus ones could be taken out of each entrant’s work, from the bottom of the list”.
That principle is still relevant to the most recent exhibition at the Priory Centre, now held in November. Because of the excellent facilities there, the Society has plenty of room to show all the work submitted by members, but still looks forward to a time when it may need to invoke the ruling above.
Alongside exhibitions and competitions, the Society encourages members to aim for photographic honorary letters from organisations such as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB), British Photographic Exhibitions (BPE), and Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique (FIAP). These associations each have their own award schemes with many different levels, too many to list here, so members are encouraged to visit the individual websites for details. Listed below is a record of Burton members and their achievements.
That spirit of encouragement has continued into the Society’s modern era. From its earliest days, BPS has welcomed and supported female members. Nellie Ashmore became its first female President in 1941, and more recently Lorraine Hardy held the role from 2017 to 2019. Today, nearly a third of current members are women, and in one recent Annual Exhibition, female members won more than half of the trophies awarded.
BPS has also successfully bridged the traditional and electronic eras by launching a website, using digital projectors, and holding monthly digital training sessions, while carefully protecting space for traditional darkroom workers.
The Society’s programme continues this blend of tradition and innovation. Weekly meetings include expert lectures from accomplished landscape, portrait, nature and documentary photographers; practical workshops on camera skills and editing techniques; friendly internal competitions; and summer outings where members can practise together in a social setting.
Members often describe this welcoming atmosphere as one of the Society’s greatest strengths. One member explained that they joined to improve their photography and were surprised by how much they learned in a short time, adding: “Everyone at the club has been so generous with their time and knowledge but, above all, they’ve been so friendly and made me feel so welcome. I feel like I’m part of a family.”
Another member said the Society had “improved my photography an enormous amount”, particularly through seeing other people’s work, learning new editing techniques and enjoying the social programme. Together, these experiences show that BPS is not only a successful photographic society, but also a supportive community where members inspire and encourage one another.
Taken together, these individual successes point to the wider strength of the Society today. By 2025, BPS had 25 members with coveted PAGB merit awards, ranking Burton second among more than one hundred clubs in the Midland Counties Photographic Federation. Among these members is one photographer who has reached Masters level. The Society also has two APAGB recipients, recognised for meritorious service to the photographic community at both local and Federation levels.
Interested in photography? Whether you are just starting out, returning to photography, or already experienced, Burton Photographic Society offers a friendly place to learn, share ideas and enjoy photography with others. New members and visitors are always welcome at our weekly meetings.
