Boston Camera Club facts for kids
The Boston Camera Club is a group for people who love photography in Boston, Massachusetts. It started way back in 1881! The club offers lots of fun activities for amateur photographers, whether they use digital cameras or old-fashioned film cameras. Members pay dues to support the club, and many of its programs are free for everyone to attend.
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History of the Boston Camera Club
Photography first appeared in 1839. For many years, taking photos was a lot of hard work. It involved complicated methods like daguerreotypes and wet-plate photography. But things changed a lot in 1880 when companies like Eastman Kodak introduced "dry plates." These were glass plates with chemicals already on them, making photography much easier.
Then, in 1888, Kodak came out with flexible film. This was a huge step! It meant photography could be enjoyed by many more people. Even so, professional photographers often kept using glass plates until the early 1900s. Today, most photography, including what happens at the club, is digital.
How the Club Started
The club we know as the Boston Camera Club began on October 7, 1881. It was first called the Boston Society of Amateur Photographers. It's the oldest camera club in the U.S. that was started by amateurs and has been active ever since!
A few people were at that first meeting, including John H. Thurston, who played a big role. They elected temporary leaders. Soon, another group of photographers joined them. On November 18, 1881, they all met and chose permanent officers. William T. Brigham became president, James F. Babcock was vice president, and Wilfred A. French was secretary and treasurer. These early leaders included a chemistry professor, photo suppliers, and a newspaper editor.
At first, the club met in different places, like a newspaper office. Later, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) became a regular meeting spot. Joining the club wasn't cheap back then; it cost $5 a year plus a $3 admission fee.
Changes and Growth
As amateur photography became more popular across the United States, the club changed its name to the Boston Camera Club in 1886. The first meeting under the new name was on October 7, 1886. On April 6, 1887, the club officially became a non-profit organization in Massachusetts. Its goal was to "further the knowledge of photography" and help amateur photographers in Boston connect with each other.
The first president of the officially recognized club was George Edward Cabot, who made electrical products. By 1888, the club had 64 members, and by the end of the 1800s, it usually had around 100 members. But by then, the yearly dues were quite expensive at $20.
The 20th Century and Beyond
From 1886 for about 35 years, the Boston Camera Club had its own headquarters at 50 Bromfield Street in Boston. This building was in the city's photo-supply area. The club had eight rooms, including a gallery for showing photos, a studio, darkrooms for developing pictures, and a library. They had cameras, special lenses, and equipment to make different kinds of prints and lantern slides.
Around 1908, the club faced some tough times. Membership went down, and its future was uncertain. However, people like Frank Roy Fraprie and Horace A. Latimer helped keep the club going. Around 1924, the club moved from Bromfield Street and met at the Boston Young Men's Christian Union (YMCU) for several years.
In 1931, a generous gift from a wealthy member named Horace A. Latimer helped the Boston Camera Club become strong again. The club moved to 330 Newbury Street for a short time. Even though membership was low in 1934, the club bought a building at 351 Newbury Street in 1936. They had two exhibition galleries, a darkroom, a library, and a kitchen there. Public photo shows started up again.
Membership grew a lot, especially after World War II, reaching 350 members around 1949. It hit its highest known number of 547 members in 1959. This growth was helped by the good economy after the war and the introduction of 35-millimeter film by Kodak in the 1930s. Many people joined camera clubs to learn how to use their cameras.
However, starting in the 1960s, membership began to decline again. This was partly because cameras became more automatic, needing less instruction. Things like SLR cameras, autofocus, and automatic exposure made photography easier. Also, new hobbies like video became popular.
In 1980, the club had to leave its Newbury Street headquarters. For the first time, the club moved out of Boston, going to the nearby town of Brookline. In 1997, it moved to another part of Brookline.
Membership started to grow again around 2006. This was largely because the club focused on digital photography, promoted itself more, and had a good website. During the worldwide coronavirus pandemic in 2020-2022, the club held its meetings and presentations online. In 2023, the Boston Camera Club returned to Boston. It now meets at the historic Old South Church in Boston in Copley Square.
Prominent Photographers and Members
Since the Boston Camera Club started before photography was common, many early members were very skilled. Some even helped improve photographic technology or became famous for their work. The club has given honorary life memberships to people who have helped the club a lot or achieved great things in photography.
19th Century Figures
Among the club's founders, James F. Babcock was a chemistry professor who held several U.S. patents. Wilfred A. French was a publisher and editor of a photography magazine. Other important early members included Emma J. Fitz, Sarah Jane Eddy (a photographer, painter, and supporter of women's rights), and Emma D. Sewall, a photography pioneer from Maine.
George Edward Cabot, the first president of the incorporated club, was a partner in an electrical products company. Another early honorary member was Antonie Stölle, who gave popular lectures with color slides of artworks. The club also had two famous astronomers as members: Percival Lowell and William Henry Pickering. Pickering was an astrophotographer who discovered Saturn's moon Phoebe. He also worked on faster camera shutters for night photography.
Sarah Choate Sears, a painter, photographer, and art supporter, was named a "Member" of the Photo-Secession group by Alfred Stieglitz. She had her own exhibition at the club in 1899.
Two people who worked with Alexander Graham Bell were honorary club members. Professor Charles Robert Cross is thought to have taught the first electrical engineering course in the U.S. at MIT. Inventor and club vice president Francis Blake Jr. helped the club financially in its early days. His invention, the Blake amplifier, helped Bell's telephones become very popular. Blake also did important work on camera shutters, achieving very fast exposure times of 1/2000 of a second by 1890.
Fred Holland Day, a publisher and artistic photographer, joined the club in 1889. He gave lectures and judged exhibitions there. Horace A. Latimer, a wealthy amateur photographer, is one of the club's most remembered early members. His photos were shown at the Smithsonian Institution. Today, the club's print competitions are named the Horace A. Latimer Print Competition because of his generous gift that helped the club.
20th and 21st Century Achievements
In the first half of the 20th century, several club members were important photography authors and publishers, including Wilfred A. French and Frank Roy Fraprie. Another famous person was Adolf "Papa" Fassbender, a German-born educator who taught thousands of people about photography over 72 years.
The club also had members who were artists in other fields but also practiced photography. These included sculptor Leonard Craske, etcher and author Samuel V. Chamberlain, painter Emil Albert Grupp‚, and watercolorist Eleanor Parke Custis. Arthur Hammond, a photographic author, won a top prize at the 1939 New York World's Fair for his photo of the fair's famous icons.
One of the most well-known photographic inventors of the 20th century was Harold E. "Doc" Edgerton, an MIT professor and honorary club member. He greatly improved the photographic strobe (flash), making it possible to take photos with exposure times of one-millionth of a second. His "stop-action" photographs were famous in Life magazine. He also did important work for the D-Day invasion in World War II and explored the ocean with Jacques Cousteau.
In the second half of the 20th century, the club had members with notable photography achievements. H. Bradford Washburn Jr. was a famous mountaineer, mapmaker, and aerial photographer. Photojournalist Arthur Griffin was known for his photos of New England scenes. He even opened the Griffin Museum of Photography. Lou Jones is a Boston-based commercial, Olympic Games, and jazz photographer. Gordon A. Hicks was the longest-known club member, staying for 71 years from 1938 to 2009.
Exhibitions and Shows
The Boston Camera Club has a long history of holding photo exhibitions. They have hosted many types of shows:
- Exhibitions by their own members.
- Joint shows with other camera clubs.
- Exhibitions by famous photographers from outside the club.
- "Salons," which are judged competitions open to photographers from all over the world.
The club's first exhibition was in 1883 at MIT, showing about 700 photos! The second show in 1884 was at the Boston Art Club. In 1898, the club showed 250 prints by Fred Holland Day. In 1904, they helped organize a photo exhibition at the St. Louis World's Fair.
The Boston Camera Club also held "Joint Exhibitions of Photography" with clubs from Philadelphia and New York. These shows rotated between the three cities. The fifth Joint Exhibition, held in Boston in 1892, was a huge show with over 600 photos, including 18 by Alfred Stieglitz.
Photo Salons
The Boston Camera Club has had two series of "salons," which are competitive photo exhibitions. The most important series was the Boston Salon of Photography, which started in 1932 and was held 43 times over the next five decades. In 1953, it was renamed the Boston International Exhibition of Photography.
The Frank R. Fraprie Memorial Medal was created in 1953 to honor Frank R. Fraprie, who helped keep the club alive during difficult years. At first, the salon only accepted black-and-white prints. Later, color slides were allowed in 1954, and color prints were added in 1959. The last exhibition was held in 1981, the club's 100th year. The club stopped these international shows because it took too much effort to manage thousands of entries.
Many famous photographers entered the Boston Salon over the years. These included Croatian photographer Toso Dabac, future U.S. senator Barry Goldwater, and famous photographer A. Aubrey Bodine. Other notable entrants included Fan Ho, a photo prodigy from Hong Kong, and Mexican cinema director Jos‚ Lorenzo Zakany Almada. In 2021, the club held an outdoor exhibition, showing members' work on a wall in Boston's Seaport district.
Guest Photographers
From the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, the Boston Camera Club hosted exhibitions by many famous photographers. In 1896, they showed work by Alfred Stieglitz. In 1899, they had shows by major figures like Frances Benjamin Johnston and Clarence White. In 1900, they showed 150 photos by Gertrude Käsebier, which a magazine called "undoubtedly the finest collection of photographs ever seen" in Boston.
The club also exhibited work by early English pioneer photographer Henry Peach Robinson and German photographer Rudolph Dü hrkoop. In 1940, they showed work by Edward Weston, and in 1950, by Paul Gittings Sr.. In 1953, the club even exhibited photos from the 1840s by Scottish pioneers David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson.
Learning and Other Activities
The Boston Camera Club's goal is to share "the knowledge of photography." To do this, they have hosted many lectures and programs by expert members and guest speakers. The first known talk was about lenses. In 1883, the club's president gave a talk on the history of photography. In 1895, a member showed his "Eames Animatoscope," an early motion picture device. In 1897, the head of an Austrian optical company spoke to the club. In 1904, Fred Holland Day gave a famous talk asking, "Is Photography a Fine Art?"
Around 1888, some club members started the "Old Boston project." They took photos of historic sites around Boston. These photos are now owned by the Boston Public Library and were rediscovered in 2007. In the 1890s, members made lantern slides (like early color slides) and explored 3-D photography.
In the 1940s, the club brought entertainment and photography lessons to disabled World War II veterans in a Boston hospital. In the 1950s and 1960s, the club had a movie group and owned a movie projector. In the 1970s and 1980s, they had presentations by famous photographers like Marie Cosindas and Minor White. In the 1990s, they sponsored day-long courses by photographers like Lou Jones and John Sexton.
Today, professional photographers from the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, and instructors from photography schools, often give presentations and judge competitions at the club. Since the late 1990s, the Boston Camera Club has regularly held lectures and field trips focused on digital photography.
The Club Today
The Boston Camera Club still meets weekly, except in the summer. Meetings are held at its headquarters in the Old South Church in Boston. These meetings are open and free for everyone to attend.
The club offers activities for all skill levels, from beginners to advanced photographers. These activities include:
- Educational sessions.
- Print competitions where members' photos are judged and discussed.
- Live-model portrait sessions.
- Field trips to interesting locations for photography.
- Competitions with other camera clubs.
Outside speakers and competition judges are often invited. The club shares information through its website and its newsletter, The Reflector, which started in 1938 and is now published online. The Boston Camera Club is part of the New England Camera Club Council and the Photographic Society of America.
Images for kids
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Darkroom
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Darkroom stalls
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Making lantern slides
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Studio, with skylight
All images, 50 Bromfield Street, Boston, 1893.
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