Club History

The History of Weymouth Camera Club

In the early 20th Century, professional and keen amateur photographers in the Weymouth area formed the Weymouth and District Photographic Society. Its aim was, and still is, to promote the art and science of photography through regular meetings, competitions and exhibitions of members’ work.

The Society has always met on Tuesday evenings during the winter months from September through to May. Originally all work was in monochrome and meetings were held in various buildings in the town, but from the 1930s, the Arts Centre in Commercial Road was used. This continued until 2003 when the Society was forced to move to the Rugby Club HQ when the Town Council agreed to SureStart converting the building.
The 1950s and 1960s saw the emergence of colour printing and routine use of colour transparencies. In the last two decades and almost complete revolution has occurred, with the change to electronic or digital imaging from the previous chemically based photographic silver processes.

In the 1960s, the Weymouth and District Photographic Society had over 80 members and 16″ by 20″ black and white prints and monochrome slides were the norm. Membership fell to between 30 and 40 after the move from the central Arts Centre but it is now slowly recovering. Today most of the prints produced are in colour and from digital files.

The Annual Exhibition and competition continues to be a highlight and is always well-supported. the Exhibition has been held in a number of venues including Weymouth Library’s Mulberry Gallery, Weymouth Museum and most recently the Centenary Club.

In 2009 the Society changed its rather stilted title to Weymouth Camera Club and had yet another change of meeting venue, this time to the Centenary Club.

Weymouth Camera Club is growing in strength and we always welcome new members