Victoria Camera Club's member photographers meet to share knowledge and experience through presentations, photo competitions, workshops and photo shoots.
Our experiences range from novice to master and our tools include both film and digital.
In recent years our numbers have increased substantially and our programs have become broader in scope and deeper in content, offering increased potential for learning and growth in skills and abilities.
Our History
Born in 1944 from the union of the Victoria Photographic Society (1941) and the Civil Service Camera Club.
Participated in international salons (competitions and displays open to the public) until 1966.
Initially most members were black and white print makers, many with their own darkrooms.
A Colour Clinic, based on colour slides, began in 1957 and became very popular in the 1960s.
Print making, in both colour and black and white, has become popular again.
Today club members have strong interests in both prints and projected images from both film and digital sources.
Membership in the Club has grown substantially in recent years, reflecting a strong public interest in all things photographic.
The Club was registered under the BC Societies Act on October 28, 2008.
Club members currently pursue an active program which includes guest speakers, competitions, members' nights, field trips, workshops, shared interest groups and print shows.
In The Beginning - by Ted Hill-Tout (VCC President 1948)
In the beginning there were two camera clubs, in the end there was a brand new one. The Victoria Camera Club was born!
It was September 1944, and a meeting had been called at the old YMCA Building on Blanshard Street. Those in attendance were members of the Civil Service Camera Club and members of the Victoria Photographic Society.
The Civil Service Camera Club was losing its meeting place. The building was about to be torn down.
The Victoria Photographic Society, formed in 1941, had undertaken a major organizational project and in three years had successfully produced three international Photography Salons. A larger club would help insure the Salons would continue.
At that historic meeting, these two photographic clubs decided to amalgamate to form the Victoria Camera Club.
By the start of the new year, we had our new Constitution and By-Laws, and the Fourth Annual Victoria International Salon was held in the Princess Louise Room of the Empress Hotel.
Most of the work of this Salon had been done by the Victoria Photographic Society in the spring and it was their show. But the new Victoria Camera club was to carry on in the years following.
And I was there! I had met Irvine Dawson, the first VCC President, several months before when we were both employed for the summer as painters for a local company. We were both teachers, both interested in photography, and both sitting on the tail gate of a truck, being driven to work at Royal Roads. Ira turned out to be the president of the Victoria Photographic Society, and the instigator of the planned merger of the two clubs, so I was invited to attend the meeting.
Irving Dawson, 1st President, 1944