RA PHOTO CLUB
75th ANNIVERSARY BANQUET
November 18, 2014
RA Centre
Ottawa
Gilles Vezina, vice-chair of the RA Photo Club, welcomed the 133 attendees to a historic occasion, before handing the mike to MC Glen Cullis. Glen warmed up the room and read greetings from past members who could not have been there in person. We heard from Glen Staflund, Karin Lehmann, Suresh Mehta and Bill Dexter. In 1964, 17-year-old Eric Bawden walked into a RA Camera Club meeting, hoping to learn photographic and darkroom skills not easily obtainable elsewhere at the time. Crediting the Club for helping him launch a successful career in imaging and photography, Eric presented his tribute in person. (The RAPC today needs new blood like the young Eric!) Glen went on and named several other notable alumni in the hall and recounted their contributions to the Club.
We sat down to a dinner of succulent prime ribs or Vegetable Wellington. After dinner, the RA in the persons of Ferdy Doreleyers, Vice-President of the Board of Directors, and Tosha Rhodenizer, the newly appointed General Manager and CEO of the RA, offered congratulations. Ms Rhodenizer shared a story about her recent job interview at the RA. Sitting in the West Lobby awaiting her turn, she was somewhat apprehensive. Then she noticed the prints on the wall and the rolling images on the monitor. Photography calmed and inspired her, and she went to her interview confident and uplifted. Let’s hope one good turn deserves another, and the new CEO will look at the Club’s requests with a kind eye!
We came to the marquee event of the evening: The Ages of Photography Past, Present and Future. The special guest speakers were Catherine Kelly (past), Mike Giovinazzo (present), Mike Heffernan (future).
Armed with a Praktica SLR, Catherine Kelly joined the RA Camera Club in 1974. Her presentation, The RA Photo Club: Our Glorious Past, had the audience laughing. She read from her diary the entries made during the first four weeks as a member:
“I went to the RA Camera Club tonight. There was a large crowd and I spent the night walking around with the zipper down on my pants.” (Week 1)
“I went to the camera club again and about all we did was look at a few slides.” (Week 2)
“I didn’t feel like going to the Camera Club so stayed home to watch television.” (Week 3)
“They tried to show a film tonight, but it caught fire.” (Week 4)
Catherine stays for 40 (and counting) years!
Mike Giovinazzo’s presentation was entitled Photographers and Photography Today. He called us the Snap Happy Population. Facebook alone uploads 350 million photos a day! He listed the current trends: GoPro, drones, remote control by smartphones, etc. Photography are more creative, manipulative and selective. It borders on Digital Art. In conclusion, he said people do not need to sit in a darkroom every Tuesday to see nice images. But people still look for social interaction, while seeking access to facilities such as studios, modelling, etc.
Mike Heffernan’s presentation, The Future of Photography, continued where Mike Giovinazzo’s left off. He noted that technological change is faster than what most people anticipate. Whatever current technical difficulties we have will resolve themselves in a couple of years without our help. For hot gadgets, he listed fast wide-angle lenses, in-camera HDR, smart phones with lens add-ons, mirrorless camera, wearable cameras, drone photography, light field photography, post-processing focusing, 3D sweep post-processing.
When equipment becomes easy to use, they will be “democratized”. To rise above the herd, good photographers need to keep up their artistic skills and knowledge. For the RAPC, Mike says the future is bright. There is an opportunity for us to capture the retro niche, therefore we should not throw out our darkroom facilities. We should partner with other clubs, such as the drone folks. Photography rarely stands alone, so we should, for example, increase our interest in AV production. Our lobby monitor is a good beginning, but we should pay attention to the next-gen exhibition capability.
The last act of the festivities was the draw for door prizes, donated by the RA. The main prize was won by Bill Woodley, of At the Galleries fame. Bill is a member from the 1960’s. What a fitting end to the anniversary celebration!
The photos from the banquet are in 3 separate galleries. Many thanks to Nix Wadden, who spent a weekend tracking down people’s names for the captions. To view the galleries, click on the 3 thumbnails below:
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