80 Years: Southland Photographic Society

Developing Great Photographers!

Dawn Patterson

It was on 15 August 1940 that SPS was born. Charles E Barwell APSNZ (Charlie) was instrumental in persuading 21 other photography enthusiasts to establish the Southland Photographic Society.

Club membership decreased during World War 2, but it progressed slowly but surely after that. Subs were set at $1.50 for men, 75c for ladies, 50c for under 18s, and 25c for primary school pupils.

Charles won many PSNZ and international awards, competing against the world’s best photographers. His crowning glory was in the 1970 Pentax World Photo Competition in Japan when he won the top pictorial award against 213,000 entries

In 1985 he was honoured with the PSNZ Distinguished Service Medal.

Charlie was a popular man due to his kind nature, sense of humour, and willingness to share advice. His comments and demonstrations assisted many future successful photographers. He taught tinting and colouring prints before colour film existed.

In 1945-46, with membership at 50, SPS exchanged portfolios with the Dunedin Photographic Society. In 1946 George Chance FPSNZ of Dunedin presented a trophy for competition between the two societies, initially hosted by and won by Southland. This cup is still competed for today but is open to all New Zealand clubs.

To celebrate the club’s 21st anniversary, the first colour slide exhibition was presented to 1000 members of the public in the Scottish Hall, with a full house both nights, not due to the Scotch whisky expected but the quality of the slides. Interest in slides soared.

81 years later — 19 August 2021

Just as World War 2 interfered with the beginnings of SPS in 1940, COVID 19 reared its ugly head and the club’s 80th celebrations were suspended until 2021. Then the Delta variant, not to be outdone, took over and meetings were banned. Fortunately (if that word is appropriate) we had the modern “new Zoom age”. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but it worked well for SPS because, even though we had to forgo the tea and tiny cakes, we were treated to a Nostalgia Zoom meeting which highlighted (from available photos) the growth and success of the club. It proved to be a hit and was very well received.

Much of the early and more recent history was narrated by three senior members of the club before audio-visuals of happenings and antics were shown, accompanied by images of club fundraisers such as garage sales.

When membership took a serious dive in the 1990s, down to 26 with a committee of 13, a promotions committee was formed to raise awareness of the club, setting up displays of club work in the aisles of a local department store. We also held open nights at the start of each year and invited local media. The club held print competitions for the general public, with the winners receiving a year’s free membership as part of their prize. The club undertook a print exchange with Japanese sister city, Kumagaya, with their prints displayed in Invercargill and ours in Kumagaya.

The club organised the 100% Pure Slide Competition which came into being when digital first raised its head and people were concerned about slides having to compete against digital images. This filled a gap of three years until most photographers turned to digital.

SOUTHLAND PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY REACHES 80 YEARS OF AGE

The club came up with workshops, spontaneous Sunday outings and other activities. There were trips to Dunedin, Nugget Point, Lake Monowai, the Wairaurāhiri overnight jetboat trip, winter weekends and workshops in many locations with a variety of tutors. Club members had many trips to Gunn’s Camp over the years but, sadly, that is no longer possible. Fun, friendship, mishaps, laughter, photography and tuition were always guaranteed on these trips. Images and audio-visuals were shown on our Nostalgia Nights and were appreciated by club members new and old. Lots of memories were stirred as we saw pictures of people no longer with us.

Revisiting all the fun of the SWEDES Challenge, initially an exercise in most genres that took participants around parts of Southland, becoming an “around the city” rally when petrol prices went up. Hilarious images showed what members got up to for the sake of the club. SWEDES? S=Simple, W=Wacky, E=Exposure, D=Depth of Field, E=Emotion and S=Shutter Speed!

The acting ability of a few more daring members was shown when hilarious images from the promotional AV made for the Alexandra Southern Regional were screened. Oh, it was a cold day, believe me!

Then came appearances at various regional conventions where a theme was on the programme. SPS never had a problem putting together a team entry to join in the fun. The favourite was the B&W theme in Nelson where they appeared as prisoners accompanied by a very stern “copper”, complete with baton.

Championship Dinners also had themes; we had some very creative club members, believe me! They have been years of lasting friendships, fun, laughter and learning.

SPS has hosted numerous PSNZ national and regional conventions. We were possibly the first to host both the convention and the exhibition; we did this in 2012.

The club continues to thrive with tuition available, a programme and competitions to suit all tastes and abilities. If you don’t want to enter competitions you are always welcome to sit back and learn. Pre-COVID membership was 71.