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Historical
Annual General Meeting 2011
The minutes of the RPS Historical Group AGM 2010 are below:
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Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the
Royal Photographic Society - Historical Group
held in Room 4, Floor 4, Birmingham Central Library, Birmingham
11.00 am Saturday 5th March 2011
1) Those Present: Susanne Atkin, Mr. Geoff Blackwell ARPS (Hon. Treasurer), Dr. Carolyn Bloore (Chair), Dr. Ron Callender FRPS, Mr. Rob Crow, Dr. David Drury FRPS, Mrs. Jenny Ford ARPS (Secretary), Mr. Brian Iddon LRPS (committee member), Mr. Nino Manci, Dr. Michael Pritchard FRPS (committee member), Mr. Jim Ranahan, Mrs. Gilly Read FRPS (committee member), Mrs. Patricia Ruddle ARPS, Mr. Richard Sadler FRPS and Dr. John Sawkill FRPS
2) Apologies received from: Mrs. Avril Harris ARPS, Mr. Peter James, Dr. Donald Stewart FRPS (Vice Chairman) and Mr. Graham Whitwham ARPS.
3) Minutes of 2010 AGM: The minutes of the 2010 AGM were accepted as a true record. Proposed by Gilly Read and seconded by Geoff Blackwell.
4) Matters arising: There were no matters arising from minutes of 2010 AGM.
5) Chairman’s Report: Dr. Bloore reported that the last year had been very productive with a sustained input from all the committee in the organisation of events. The Historical Group began 2010 at the British Library with a wonderful insight into the exhibition of early photography by John Falconer.
In April we held an event at Birmingham Central Library, with talks by Pete James, Donald Stewart and Michael Pritchard, who gave us a taste of his PhD research in a highly informative talk entitled ‘Photography without Photographs’. During the year, group members took part in HG instigated events and participated in others associated with the HG programme. The AGM weekend meeting in June at Lancaster was organised by Graham Whitwham. Members and friends were welcome by curators at the Ruskin Library, Lancaster University and Lancaster City museums and had a privileged view of the Fenton collection at Stonyhurst College facilitated by Roger Taylor. The group had a major involvement with the Niépce conference at the National Media Museum, Bradford in October. Members supported the purchase of a specialist display case for the Niépce plates and, in conjunction with Science Imaging will be publishing the conference papers. Some of the group felt that Bradford was becoming a second home, when only 10 days later several members returned to attend a day organized by Brian Iddon on Rawlins Oil Process with a practical demonstration by Kirk Toft. This was followed by an opportunity to view and study many examples of the process from the RPS collection. (Our thanks to Brian Liddy for making this possible and giving up part of his weekend to spend even more time in the museum.) The final meeting of 2010 was in South Wales facilitated by Richard Morris, who with Carolyn Bloore, was one of the speakers at the Glamorgan History Society Conference at the Margham Castle (the 19th century home of Kit Talbot (cousin of Wm. Henry Fox Talbot) and a location for early photography). There has been a small increase in membership following the January 2010 distribution of HG leaflets with the RPS Journal.
On the publishing front, a double issue of The PhotoHistorian, PH159/160 Summer 2010, was finally printed and distributed and the Autumn/Winter issue PH161 appeared before the winter was over. The Scottish issue, PH162, is in the process of preparation. Two articles are still outstanding for the Niépce Conference summer 2011 issue.
6) Treasurer’s Report for 2010:
Geoff Blackwell presented his first annual report as the recently appointed group Treasurer. Geoff thanked Graham Whitwham, the outgoing Treasurer for his help and co-operation and handing over his accounts and papers in such good order.
Although the surplus for this year exceeded last year (see attached Income and Expenditure Account for the year ending 31st December 2010) it would be dangerous to draw any strong comparison as there are so many issues that impact differently on the years. For example, this year we have only issued one volume for The PhotoHistorian (although a double volume went out very shortly after the year-end) and there were no costs for the survey or leaflets this year. On the other hand, our reduced expenses enabled us to provide for a contribution to the Niépce display cabinet without reducing our reserves.
Overall, if the income for the coming year is maintained and four volumes of The PhotoHistorian are published, we can realistically project a small surplus. However, we need to bear in mind that the costs for the Niépce Special Edition of The PhotoHistorian may have a serious impact and although the question of a contribution from Bath has been raised we do not yet have any working estimates. At the same time, it is possible that the Plymouth conference may raise a small surplus. Overall, the Treasurer felt that the group can face the coming year with cautious confidence.
7) Election of the Committee for 2011-2012
The Secretary reported that completed nomination forms had been received from the following members:
Dr. Carolyn Bloore (Editor of PH)
Dr. Michael Pritchard FRPS
Mr. Geoff Blackwell ARPS (Treasurer)
Mrs. Gilly Read FRPS
Mrs. Jenny Ford ARPS (Secretary)
Dr. Donald Stewart FRPS (Chairman)
Mr. Brian Iddon LRPS
The constitution allows for up to 10 committee members, thus all the above were elected unopposed. The roles of committee members to be agreed at the first committee meeting, which is to be arranged. This was agreed by those present.
8. Any other business
a) Richard Sadler congratulated the Historical Group for arranging events outside London.
b) Dr. Carolyn Bloore spoke about the upcoming RPS Historical Group Conference, Amateurs and Artists: 19th and 21st Century Photography in the South West, to be held in Plymouth, 13-15th May 2011.
c) Dr. Ron Callender gave a vote of thanks to the editor of The PhotoHistorian for the production quality of the publication. The amount of work involved was appreciated but he was aware that there must be a backlog of information to be edited into future issues. Dr. Ron Callender accepted Dr. Carolyn Bloore’s invitation to be guest editor of a future issue.
d) Dr. Carolyn Bloore reported that she had accepted Graham Whitwham’s offer to be a proof reader.
e) Geoff Blackwell reported that the subscribers to The PhotoHistorian had been understanding of the sporadic nature of the throughput of issues.
9. Date and Venue of 2012 AGM
This would be arranged in conjunction with the timing of the RPS end of year.
The Annual General Meeting closed at 11.45 am.
The AGM was followed by a ‘Researching Photographic History Workshop’, presentations were given by Dr. Michael Pritchard FRPS, Richard Sadler FRPS, Geoff Blackwell ARPS, Rob Crow, Jim Ranahan, Patricia Ruddle ARPS and Dr. Ron Callender FRPS.