Council Meeting - June 2008

Council met on Tuesday 17 June 2008 at The Society's Headquarters in Bath.

Mrs. Wilman and Mr. Blake reported that they had attended the National Media Museum's 25th anniversary celebrations and had discussed with Mr. Goodman acquisitions to the Collection from the late Barry Thomas FRPS and Adi Sethna FRPS.  Mr. Goodman advised that he was making arrangements to view some of Mr. Thomas's work. It was noted that there is no progress to report regarding acquisition of Adi Sethna's work and that it would be necessary to continue to press the Museum for a decision.

Mr Birch reported that he had discussed the amended draft of the Rules of the Society aimed at improved clarity with the Society's solicitors.  The solicitors had suggested some minor changes for onsideration.   Council reviewed the changes and agreed a revised version of the Rules and to put it put to the next Annual General Meeting for approval.

The Trustees proposed a vote of thanks to Messrs. Birch, Buckley and Simpson for the work they had done on the amendments.   It was noted that it is the duty of the Council to review all Society documents at least once in every Council term. 

The notice of the Annual General Meeting which will include the resolution to accept the revised Rules would be published both in the July/August and September issues of the Society journals.

Mr. Blake circulated a reply from the Home Office following our request for clarification in respect of photography in public places and the position of the police forces.  Mr. Blake was asked to contact the Home Office and ask permission to make the letter available to Society members when appropriate. 

The Trustees received the latest Society membership numbers which had shown a slight downturn from the previous month. 

The approval by e-mail of the recommendations of the panels that had sat since the last meeting was ratified.  It was agreed that future e-mails immediately following the panel would have full information including the Region.

Ms. Goode reported on the opening of the 151st International Print Exhibition which had taken place the previous week at the offices of Allen & Overy in London at which nearly 300 people had attended. 

The entry forms for the International Projected Image Exhibition had been circulated.

Entries for the 2009 Members' Exhibition would be sought before the end of the year.

Ms. Williams joined the meeting and updated the Trustees on the arrangements for the Visual Literacy Conference to be held in 2009.

Ms. Williams advised that owing to the late announcement of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme for the Photography course in Bath it would not be feasible for it to go ahead this year.  It was agreed therefore to cancel it for 2008 but to support it in 2009.

The Trustees received an update on the proposed event with Jessops to be held on 15/16 November 2008 at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.  This event would be based on a similar format to the Photo Forum events held by the Society at the Octagon in the 1990's.  It was noted that Jessops would be sponsoring the event by paying for the venue and that the Museum would be giving a reduced entry fee for attendees at the event.

Mr. Land and Mrs. Harper from EC1 Publishing Ltd joined the meeting for discussion of issues relating to the Journal.

Council congratulated the journal staff on the June 2008 issue of the Journal which was the first one with the enlarged pagination.  There then ensued a discussion on the layout of Membership matters and it was agreed that the future format would be square rather than oblong.

It was agreed to look at future positioning of the list of Distinction successes and the possibility of changing the colour of the lettering and the colour of the background to increase the prominence.

A Distinction pull-out was considered advantageous with the contents being very much image based with some text about the photographer.  The membership survey that took place in 2007 indicated that there was a need for more information especially relating to Society Distinctions.  It was agreed that Mr. Land should put forward his thoughts and liaise with Mrs. Agar and Mr. Hallett.

In discussion of the coverage of events Mrs. Harper  commented that whilst basic information on events was readily available more detailed facts were often difficult to obtain. 

  It is understood that there are plans to change the copyright law   in America that this might  have implications for organisations within the UK.  It was agreed that this is an area of relevance to members and to keep a watching brief on the subject.

It was agreed that a delegation from the Chinese Photographers Association would be invited to attend the Awards ceremony and that the visit would include some time at Fenton House for an introduction to the Distinctions.

 It was noted that Mr. Page Hon FRPS was keen   to re-vitalise the Visual Journalism Group.  Council strongly supported this initiative.

The next Council meeting was scheduled for Tuesday 15 July 2008 in Bath at 10.30 a.m.

Back to top