The Pen and Camera Club of Methodism
The Pen and Camera Club of Methodism
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The beginnings of the Pen and
Camera Club are inseparable from the early days of the Wesley Guild. The first
Wesley Guild was started at Roscoe Place Chapel in
Extracts
from 'The Guild’ Magazine.
Issue ‑June.1904:
Our Pen and Camera Postal Club. In connection with our Pen and
Camera pages, we have made arrangements to start a Postal Club for members of
the Wesley
Guild. Our object will be to advance the study of photography as an art,
especially from the pictorial point of view. The Secretary will be the
Rev.H.Mudie Draper, 11, We hope every reader of 'The
Guild' who possesses a camera will help in the new venture, as it is exceedingly
helpful to be able in this way to set productions of other workers, and to
secure the careful criticism of experts in the art. Issue ‑ July,1904:
Our Pen and Camera Postal Club. We have made a beginning. The
Club already has members. We have bought our Postal Folios, printed our Rules
and Criticism Sheets, and now for WORK. The subscription is 3s. per
annum to cover the bare cost of material and printing. Write for rules, etc., to
Rev.H.Mudie, Draper, 11, We want all photographers to
join who mean to try for excellence. Issue ‑ September.1904:
Our Pen and Camera Postal Club. On August 1st. our first folio
started on its rounds. We do not commence with a large number of workers, but
these will be added to month by month. We want all Guild photographers to join.
We want to see their pictures, and we want them to see ours, and will mutually
help each other. The subscription is only 3s per year; and a copy of the rules may he had by sending a
stamped addressed envelope to Rev.H.Mudie Draper, 19, Issue ‑ November,1904...
Our Pen and Camera Postal Club. The Club is now in full working
order. We have doubled our membership during the past month, but we still have
root for more workers. Write for rules, etc. to Rev.H.Mudie Draper .... We advise our photographic
friends, if they wish to forge ahead, to take in regularly some photographic
magazine. The best penny magazine is 'Focus', published weekly; and for those
who wish to excel on the pictorial side nothing better can be had for two pence
than the weekly 'Amateur Photographer. Issue: June.1913:
Good work by the Pen and Camera
Club. Nearly all our illustrations
this month are by members of the Wesley Build Pen and Camera Club. We well
remember the Club being formed a few years ago, and the emphasis laid by its
Secretary on artistic work. Much that found its way into the first portfolio was
very amateurish; but to‑day it is a pleasure to look through it. Many of
the prints are exceedingly beautiful; and, as will be seen from the selection
given this month, some of our photographers are attacking most difficult
subjects. It will be an encouragement to
some who are still in the early stages of photography to look at these prints
and remember that the artists were once beginners like themselves. We advise
those who really aim at excellence to join the P.& C. Club, and avail
themselves of the help and criticism of their comrades. The Secretary is
Mr.W.Pye, 150, Issue: September 1930.
Wesley Guild Pen and Camera
Club. In the June number of 'The
Guild,' 1913, thirteen of the illustrations were the work of members Of the
Build Pen and Camera Postal Club. Two of the members who sent
prints to that pre‑war number of 'The Guild' have prints in the portfolio
now circulating, which is not a bad testimonial to the value and interest
maintained by the Club's activities. It may not be surprising that with
contributors residing widely apart, the members of the Club have never had a
meeting until last Easter, when all who could get away spent the week‑end
together at A meeting of Methodists can
usually be trusted to discover their mutual interests without the necessity of
formal introductions. On this occasion we knew sufficient of one another to
accost a newly arrived member by saying, 'Oh, you'll be
Mr.‑‑‑, who always tells me to improve my pictures by cutting
two inches from the top and a half an inch from the I left, ' or 'You'll be
Mr.‑‑‑ of the sleepy advanced section,' or 'You'll be ‑‑‑,
I remember seeing your picture in the folio. ' We were soon able to talk as old
friends. From a photographic point of view we may perhaps have a more
successful time when next we meet, but a happier week‑end could not be
desired. It is safe to prophesy that there will be another meeting of the Club
as soon as a favourable opportunity arises. The foregoing was written by one
of the oldest members of the Wesley Guild Pen and Camera Club. If you are a keen
photographer, and would like to know more of the Club, please drop a line to the
Secretary, Mr.E.Sowden, 3 Oakdene Mount, Clayton, As we have only vacancies for
three or four new members, immediate application for membership is necessary. (Members present were listed as
Messrs. Joesbury, Davies (Scottie), Halliday, Sowden, The enthusiast, and prosperity,
of the Club ebbed and flowed over its first 50 years. With never more than about
25 members, some of whom were far from regular with their contributions of
prints or money, the Secretary had a gruelling time in keeping them all up to
scratch. The Club survived two World Wars and the difficult economic conditions
of the time. At about the time of the Golden
Jubilee in 1954, under the enthusiastic leadership of J.E.Norton ARPS, it was
decided to form a folio of 2"x2" colour slides. Shortly a second print
folio was started, and then further colour slide folios. At the meeting at
Highcliffe in 1971 membership was reported as 99 full members and 9 associates,
in 1989 membership stood at 4 life Members, 109 full members and 95 associates,
in 1993 there are 6 life Members, 114 Full Members, 27 Associates and 50
Household Members.
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Last modified: April 18, 2005
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