History
“On June 3 1954, a group of Ford employees met in the Ford Recreation Club Rooms to discuss the formation of a camera club. There was (sic) 10 people present. A motion that a club be formed was put forward by Mr E. Moore and seconded by Mr G. Barclay. A committee was formed and consisted of the following:
President - Mr W. Payne
V. President - Mr E. Moore
Secretary - Mr B. Molyneaux
Treasurer - Miss V. Branagh
Librarian Mr K. Johnstone
Auditor Mr C. Noonan
Those present at this first meeting were Mr. W. Payne, Mr. E. Moore, Mr. E. Holloway, Mr R. Molyneaux, Mr. C. Barclay, Mr K. Johnstone, Mr J. Zimo, Mr. W. Storjoham, Miss V Branagh, Mr K. Jarman.
The evening finished with a general discussion on photography.”
So is recorded the formation of the Ford Camera Club and what we now know as the Corio Bay Camera Club. Current members owe a debt of gratitude to those people who took the initiative to come together and get the ball rolling.
In its first year, the club had three presidents. Mr Payne resigned in September as he was relocating overseas. He was succeeded by Mr Moore who in turn resigned in November due to leaving Geelong. Mr Moore was succeeded by Mr E. Holloway. These movements at the top also resulted in a number of changes to the committee over that period. With such turmoil it was a wonder the club lasted fifty weeks let alone fifty plus years. Indeed a shaky start. We congratulate them and thank them for their persistence.
Finances in 1954, as they are now, were always a hot topic. The membership fee struck in that first year was £1-1-0 – quite a significant amount when related to the average wages of the time.
From the outset the Club adopted a multicultural approach. A minute from 1954 in regard to notices reads
“It was decided to put notices in connection with meetings on all notice boards. Notices being in 4 languages, namely English, Dutch, German and Italian – the object being to get more members and to encourage our New Australian friends to join the club.”
In January 1956 the secretary was asked to write to the Victorian Association of Photographic Societies in relation to the Ford Camera Club becoming a member of VAPS, thus starting our long and successful association with this body.
At the 1958 annual general meeting, the then president in his address to the meeting stated that “in the near future the club would play a very real part in the cultural life of our city”.
And that is indeed what this club has continued to do for the last fifty or so years. Thousands of photographs displayed, viewed and critiqued by judges and members have all added something to our view of the world and hence the culture of Geelong.
On 12th August 1958 the club combined with the Geelong and Ballarat Camera Clubs for the first of many interclub competitions. The annual interclub competition against Geelong continues to this day. Other clubs competed against over the years include GMH, International Harvester, SEC, Oakleigh, Camperdown Colac, Ballarat YMCA and Bendigo.
In 1959, the club moved its meetings from the Ford Recreation Club to the British Migrants Association Hall. After a short stint at the North Geelong Hall from early 1975, the club moved again in 1976, this time to the John Drysdale Library Auditorium in Norlane (now known as the Corio Library), to take advantage of the slide projection facilities offered there. The club’s last move to its current location at the Norlane Baptist Church Hall took place in July 1997
The move to the John Drysdale Library partly encouraged the club to change its name and sever its links with the Ford Motor Company. It has been known as the “Corio Bay Camera Club” since September 1 1977, becoming an incorporated body in April 1985.
The Vigex International Photographic Salon has been run every two years since 1980 and its management has been formally supported by the club since 1985, with eight past and present members serving on the Vigex committee in that time and numerous members volunteering to help at the judging sessions.
The club celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a dinner for past and present members on the 5 June 2004. In his address that night the President Jack Jansen stated:
“When reflecting on what we are celebrating tonight and reading through the early minute books, I wondered whether fifty years ago those first members could have imagined the changes in the technology that were going to take place and that we now have available to produce and share our images. At the exponential rate at which technology develops, my mind cannot begin to imagine what could be available in another fifty years. But today, as it was fifty years ago, and as it will be in another fifty years time, the important thing for photographers will still be the image – and the story it tells, the emotions it sparks, the situations it questions and the beauty (or ugliness) it portrays – no matter how it is produced.
We current members of the club are its custodians. We will move on and others will take our place and continue to provide Geelong with a place where like-minded people can discuss, debate and share their images and enjoy each others company for another fifty years. If future members display the same level of enthusiasm as the members of 2004, I am confident that this will happen.”