Bognor Regis Camera Club celebrate 75th anniversary with special show

Club president Rob de Ruiter said: “We celebrate with a one-off special exhibition in the Oxmarket Gallery, Chichester which will be officially opened by the Mayor of Bognor Regis with the deputy Mayor of Chichester in attendance on the evening of Monday, September 26.”

The exhibition will run for two weeks.

“There have been five Bognor Regis camera clubs in the 20th century! It all began on February 21 1900 with a letter from the Rev H Mudie Draper, a local Methodist Minister, to the Bognor Observer attempting to establish the level of support for a photographic club. Six weeks later the Observer carried a report on Dr Tidecombe’s inaugural address on ‘The history of photography, its development, and the increasing use to which it was being put at the present day.’ However, neither this club nor the one begun in 1919 by Edward Cleeves nor the group started in the late 1920s appeared to survive for long. This may in part be due to the cost of materials and consequently the perception that photography at that time was very much an interest pursued by the wealthy. Then, in 1939, Teddy Cleeves, son of Edward, along with a group of stalwarts, again made plans. The resulting club was short lived falling victim to international events. After the war the same group renewed their efforts in 1947 giving rise to the Bognor Regis Camera Club which continued to meet regularly from the October of that year to the present day.

“This coming season, under the joint chairmanship of Yvonne Green and Carolyn de Ruiter, Bognor Regis Camera Club builds on its proud reputation of being a friendly club which welcomes new members and is open to everyone, whatever their level of expertise or interest in photography. The present membership is evenly split between male/female members with a wide range of ages and abilities from beginner to professional. Members can look forward to a varied programme including talks by speakers from a broad range of photographic disciplines.” www.bognorregiscameraclub.org.