ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING André Bergmans

The RPS Benelux-Chapter AGM by André Bergmans Annual General Meeting

The program was an excellent mix of ‘business’ and pleasure

An excellent mix of ‘business’ and pleasure Our 2020 AGM took place in Antwerp = Belgium where the Committee managed to get a meeting room in the FOMU photo museum. The setting of Antwerp and the FOMU really added to the atmosphere of the day. The program was an excellent mix of ‘business’ and pleasure. Our Chair, Janet Haines, opened the meeting promptly and guided us efficiently through the agenda.

Overview of the year Again, we have had a fruitful and enjoyable year. The overall membership has grown to 62 members. In the graphs (pages 26 and 27) are various breakdowns of the membership data. In the past year we have had four general meetings, eight study group meetings and a celebration of distinctions. We were happy to have one exposition and a Summer Challenge. Quite a few members gained a Distinction and many more are working towards one.

eJournals The eJournals, with Armando Jongejan as eJournal Editor and Dawn Black as Proof reader, appeared quarterly. The issues contain RPS Benelux Chapter topics but also feature leading articles on photography. We had articles in co-operation with well known photographers like: Willem Wernsen, Cor Oorthuijzen, Martin Parr and Erwin Olaf.

Janet Haines gave a call for member entries as the eJournal is ours. It gets recognition outside our Chapter as well, for both content and layout, but it remains our Chapter eJournal. So, contributions should come from all Chapter members. Write about what you are working on and show us your images. Anything you think is of interest to your fellow members.

Chapter website André Meyer-Vitali, our website manager, has migrated most of the website content to the new RPS website. We are one of the few Chapters that has managed to complete the migration. The others are Ireland, Switzerland and Germany. Please explore our new website and its content. All eJournals can also be found there.

Finance and Constitution We are an informal society according to Dutch law. This means that the members of the committee are liable for any debt. Legally the constitution is not required but the RPS headquarters demands we have one. Also, for our membership the constitution states what kind of society we want to be and how we prefer to run the Chapter. The proposed constitution was approved by the membership.

Liability of the Committee requires that we have a healthy working capital. The treasurer, Jeroen Dorrestein, showed us a small increase in working capital. We are healthy!

Graph 1: Membership by Special Interest Group which indicates interest in certain genres of photography. Apart from Digital Imaging we observe Documentary/Conceptual and Landscape, Visual Art as focal areas

Graph 3: Membership by Gender. Is taken as just an observation without any background explanation

Forward programme The forward program was discussed in terms of suggestions for the year 2020. We have planned a workshop on documentary photography which was appreciated by the members. Also, a cooperation with the National Photo Museum in Rotterdam is in early discussion. This will be on portfolios, collections, curatorship and planning and marketing exhibitions. We also have suggestions to work closely together with the German Chapter.

To check whether the Committee still is in line with the membership Jeroen Dorrestein prepared a small survey. The results will be presented to the members after we also have polled the active members that could not attend the AGM so their voice can also be heard.

The study group meetings will continue to be in Rotterdam. For 2021 we are also investigating a cooperation with the street photography exhibition in Pelt (Belgium). The Summer challenge 2020 may be geared toward this theme.

Voting of Officers Richard Sylvester stepped down as Chapter Organiser. Richard was thanked with gifts and applause for his long-term contribution to what the Chapter is today. For the occasion RPS President Alan Hodgson ASIS FRPS was “beamed in” to address both Richard and the Chapter.

The minimum number of Officers that are needed in a Committee is three. We have Janet Haines as Chair/Organiser and Jeroen Dorrestein as Treasurer. The proposal to have André Bergmans in the role of Secretary was accepted and so we now have a complete Committee. On top of that Didier Verriest was approved to be in the role of Co-Organiser to represent Belgium/Luxembourg and thus a member of the Committee.

Besides Officers in the Committee we can have as many volunteers outside the main Committee as we like and is required to run the Chapters’ activities. So far, we have André Meyer-Vitali as Webmaster and Armando Jongejan as eJournal Editor.

Macro Workshop Richard Sylvester gave proof of his capabilities by giving a full day workshop on macro-photography. Richard presented the required tools, skills and purpose and was very thorough in explaining all aspects. The documents are a robust source of information on the genre. Richard proved that once you have a passion for a genre and mastery of the skills, you can get very far (eJournal 17, p. 12-19).

Museum Visit Many members decided to have a guided tour around the Stephan Vanfleteren exposition. The way the exposition was set-up was impressive in itself. A big exposition about the life and work of one (living) photographer for which the layout of the museum was fully adapted, see also a photo below, made during our tour. We also noticed an overwhelming and young public, which means photography is not dead by far. On the contrary, photography is hot!

AOB Overall the AGM proved that actual meetings can be short. The day was a success. We hear remarks like: “we should do this more often” and “the day is always too short” and “worth the trip”. For next year we have set high standards for our gatherings so we need all hands on deck to make it happen.