All content copyright © South London Federation 2015 - 2019
SLF Handbook
Section 2 Federation History
Section 2
FEDERATION HISTORY
When,
at
the
end
of
1946,
following
the
end
of
the
war,
photographic
materials
and
leisure
time
began
to
be
more
freely
available,
a
small
group
of
enthusiasts
met
at
the
home
of
one
of
their
number
to
discuss
how
amateur
photography
in
the
South
London
area
could
be
encouraged
and
improved.
The
result
was
a
general
meeting
held
on
23rd
January
1947
under
the
auspices
of
the
Croydon
Camera
Club,
at
which
eight
clubs
duly
agreed
to
form
themselves
into
THE
SOUTH
LONDON
FEDERATION
of
Photographic
Societies*,
the
object
of
which
was
“To
improve
the
facilities
for
photography
and
foster
fraternal
relations
between
federated societies.”
Those eight clubs were:
ACC
&
TAB
C.C.,
BECKENHAM
P.S.,
CROYDON
C.C.,
PUTNEY
C.C.,
OLD
COULSDON
C.C.,
SOUTH
LONDON
P.S.,
STREATHAM PARK P.S. and SUTTON C.C.
Since
those
early
days
many
clubs
have
come
and
gone,
some
having
joined
and
left
the
Federation
more
than
once;
others
have
changed
their
names,
amalgamated,
or
for
one
reason
or
another
been
dissolved.
The
total
number
of
clubs
in
membership
has
varied, the maximum being 26 at the time of the 21st Birthday celebrations in 1968.
From
the
beginning,
the
aim
of
the
Committee
has
been
to
encourage
the
exchange
of
visits
and
ideas
among
the
member
clubs.
In
the
first
two
years,
in
spite
of
having
to
work
on
shoe-string
finances,
the
Committee
organised
inter-Club
competitions,
postal
portfolios,
and
produced
a
syllabus
containing
an
outline
programme
for
all
member
clubs.
A
start
was
also
made
on
the
preparation
of
a
list
of
judges
and
lecturers,
and
a
very
successful
inter-Federation
meeting
was
held
with
the
Middlesex
County
Photographic
Alliance.
Under
the
Chairmanship
of
Mr.
S.
E.
Whittaker
ARICS,
of
Croydon
C.C.,
and
with
Mr.
L.B.
Fleming
of
Streatham Park P.S. as Secretary, the firm foundation was established on which all subsequent success has been built.
Undoubtedly
the
most
appreciated
activity
of
the
Federation
has
been
the
inter-Club
competitions.
The
monochrome
print
competition
was
started
in
1947
with
the
original
members
formed
into
two
groups
of
four.
South
London
P.S.
won
the
first
series
of
competitions
in
their
Jubilee
year
and
were
the
first
holders
of
the
Holroyd
Trophy
generously
presented
by
Mr.
R.
O.
Wooton
on
behalf of Putney C.C.
The
first
Finals
were
held
by
invitation
of
member
clubs
on
their
own
meeting
nights
until
1952,
when
the
Committee
felt
sufficiently
confident
of
the
interest
in
the
competitions
to
hire
a
hall
at
Cambridge
House,
Camberwell,
on
a
Saturday
and
put
on
a
full
afternoon’s
programme.
This
included,
in
addition
to
the
final
of
the
inter-Club
competition,
competitions
for
individual
entries
of
monochrome
and
colour
slides,
and
prints
made
from
35mm
negatives,
a
film
show,
and
an
address
by
Baron,
the
court
photographer.
For
the
first
time
an
exhibition
of
certificate
winning
prints
was
hung
and
the
best
print
of
the
year
was
selected.
The
result
was
a
resounding
success
from
which
has
grown
the
annual
Finals
Day
event
which
is
now
one
of
the
biggest
and
best
supported meetings among amateur photographers.
In
1957
the
Finals
were
held
at
Cobbs
Banqueting
Hall,
Sydenham
in
the
presence
of
the
President
and
Vice
President
of
the
Royal
Photographic
Society.
In
1958
and
1959
we
enjoyed
the
facilities
at
Lambeth
Town
Hall,
and
in
1960
moved
to
the
Livesey
Memorial
Hall,
Lower
Sydenham,
where
the
Kent
Gas
C.C.
generously
provided
excellent
accommodation
for
all
subsequent
Finals
events until 1976.
In
1977,
78
and
79
the
event
was
held
at
St.
Mary’s
Church
Hall,
Wellesley
Road,
Croydon,
the
H.Q.
of
Thornton
Heath
C.C.
In
1980
Selsdon
C.C.
arranged
for
the
Finals
to
be
held
at
St.
John’s
Church
Hall,
Selsdon.
From
1981
to
1991
Old
Coulsdon
C.C.
hosted
the
event
at
their
(then)
Headquarters
at
Coulsdon
Youth
and
Social
Centre.
The
event
continued
to
be
held
there
until
2006,
except
for
1990
when
we
had
to
go
to
Purley
Council
Offices
for
the
day.
In
2007
the
Federation
has
opted
to
move
to
All
Saints
Church
halls,
Sanderstead.
1992
saw
the
first
year
of
having
a
different
Club
each
year
to
organise
the
catering
for
Finals
Day.
To
add
zest
to
the
competitions,
trophies
have
very
kindly
been
presented
by
various
members
from
time
to
time;
a
full
list
is
given
elsewhere in this handbook.
Over
the
years,
various
other
interests
have
been
catered
for,
such
as
competitions
for
slides,
colour
prints,
and
audio-visual
presentations,
including
a
biennial
Audio-Visual
Competition
held
at
Sanderstead.
The
Audio-Visual
Competition
was
started
in
1985
as
an
annual
event
but
in
1990
changed
to
its
present
biennial
frequency,
to
allow
competitors
more
time
to
acquire
sufficient
material to put together a programme of work of a higher standard.
In
2005
the
first
competition,
Jack’s
Jug,
was
held
for
images
projected
digitally,
and
in
the
following
year
the
federation
organised
its
first
inter-club
competition,
The
Vic
Smith
Trophy,
for
such
images.
In
this
respect
we
were
ahead
of
our
neighbouring
federations in consolidating digital photography into our programme.
We
have
also
held
from
time
to
time
autumn
lectures
and
meetings
of
judges
and
programme
secretaries.
Seminars
to
help
new
judges
have
been
organised
to
swell
the
number
of
judges
working
in
our
area.
From
1983
biennial
exhibitions
have
been
held
in
the
Fairfield
Halls
with
the
sponsorship
of
Mr.
Alex
Falk
of
Mr
Cad
and
then
with
the
sponsorship
of
Hargreaves
(KJP)
Ltd.
In
1999
the Exhibition was moved to the Sutton Central Library, but has not been held since, owing to lack of sponsorship.
Since
the
new
Millennium
the
Federation
has
increasingly
felt
the
pressures
experienced
by
many
voluntary
groups
in
these
modern
times.
Numbers
were
generally
going
down
and
clubs
were
finding
it
difficult
to
attract
younger
people.
However
the
accessibility
and
excitement
of
digital
technology
is
starting
to
reverse
these
trends
and
in
many
clubs
there
is
a
growing
confidence
in
the
future.
A
notable
feature
of
the
changes
in
club
membership
is
that
the
nearer
to
inner-London
the
club
is
located,
the
harder
it
is
to
survive.
This
trend
has
been
clear
throughout
the
sixty
years
of
the
federation,
and
even
clubs
established
for
over
a
hundred
years,
such
as
Thornton
Heath,
have
not
been
spared.
The
result
is
that
the
remaining
clubs
lie
in
a
narrow
ring
around
the
edge
of
the Federation’s geographic limits, a less-than-ideal situation.
The
Federation
has
joined
the
Kent
County
Photographic
Association,
who
actually
altered
their
Rules
to
enable
us
to
do
so,
our
only
right
of
membership
being
that
we
have
access
to
the
low
cost
public
liability
insurance
arranged
through
the
Photographic
Alliance of Great Britain.
August
2003
marked
the
end
of
an
era
with
the
passing
of
Kathy
Robinson,
who
had
given
31
years’
service
to
the
Federation
as
Hon.
Secretary,
and
the
stepping
down
of
her
successor
as
Hon
Secretary,
Eddie
Harris
of
Beckenham
PS,
after
14
years’
service.
The
AGM
of
that
year
saw
fresh
volunteers
for
the
principal
Committee
posts,
and
there
remains
a
strong
awareness
of
the
value
of
the Federation. We have a solid nucleus of clubs which should ensure that the Federation continues for the foreseeable future.
In
2009
it
was
decided
to
revise
the
organisation
of
the
main
competitions
to
accommodate
the
changing
number
of
clubs
and
the
increasing
difficulty
of
finding
enough
experienced
judges.
This
re-organisation
also
saw
the
introduction
of
Plate
competitions.
With
the
overwhelming
shift
to
digital
photography,
it
also
saw
the
replacement
of
the
slide
competitions
with
Projected
Digital
Image
competitions
in
the
main
Federation
events
calendar.
The
slide
competitions
continued
to
be
run
on
a
separate
evening.
The
new
arrangements have worked very well in their first few years.
The
Federation’s
last
slide
competitions
were
held
in
2011.
By
the
following
year
there
were
considered
insufficient
slide
workers
in
member clubs to make them viable. They were, therefore, discontinued and marked the end of an era in the Federation’s history.
*
The
federation’s
name
was
later
changed
to
“The
Federation
of
South
London
Photographic
Societies”
to
avoid
confusion
with
the
existing club, the “South London Photographic Society”