Taken on field trip to Smiggin's Holes. L to R Keith Karnall, unknown, Ewan McKinnon and Graeme Connolly. they came in Barton's Bus seen in the background to the right..

MOVIE MAKING

In the early years cine photography was a substantial activity within the Society. At the first monthly meeting members screened several of their own movies, including a coloured film on Canberra, a travelogue on island life to the north, and a documentary on camera men at war. Soon after members with movie cameras shot footage on the Society's first field trip.

Movie makers structured their activities differently to the still photographers, usually screening their films at meetings in a non-competitive way, often after supper. Members shot 8mm, 9.5mm and 16mm formats, and at least one member had a sound projector.

In August 1946 a 12 months-long movie competition was announced with a first prize of Ten Pounds Ten Shillings, donated by Capitol Picture Theatres. Miss E. Holt was the eventual winner.

Unfortunately, movie making activities went into a decline notwithstanding the appointment of a special committee to promote it. By late 1947 only one member, a Mr Etoile Norsa, was seriously making movies, a further indication of a decline in member interest. By 1949/50 the annual report contained nothing about movie making activities. Mr Etoile Norsa, however, continued on with his movie making and was to be seen around Canberra in the late 50s and early 60s shooting footage for TV stations.

FIRST EXHIBITION OF MEMBERS' WORK

Meanwhile the Society continued its meetings at the Radio 2CA theatrette, per favour of the Manager, George Barlin. Black and white printing was strong and the first public exhibition of members' prints took place on 23rd-28th February 1948 in the Theatrette, when 210 individual prints made by 14 members were hung.

Members of other photographic societies and organizations also contributed to the exhibition and all up, 242 prints and 10 panels of images were shown.

The Rt. Hon E.J. Williams, the United Kingdom High Commissioner, opened the exhibition and gave a talk about war-time photography in Europe. He also took out an annual subscription. His First Secretary, Mr. Garth Kimber, was a keen member of the Society at the time and contributed 15 prints to the exhibition.

The Exhibition opening was well attended. There was an admission charge of eleven pence and catalogues cost five pence and the Society made a profit of eighteen pounds nine shillings and sixpence on the venture.

The catalogue was a simple booklet of 6 pages with no photographs and carried advertisements from Cusack's and John L. Davies Pharmacy.

JUBILEE OF FEDERATION INTERNATIONAL SALON

In 1950 planning began for an International Photographic Print Salon as the Society's contribution to Canberra's celebration of the Jubilee of Federation in 1951.

Alf Redpath was appointed Secretary of the Salon. The 24th and 31st January 1951 were selected as the opening and closing dates, and the venue was to be the Radio 2CA Theatrette. The Prime Minister, Mr R.G. Menzies agreed to open the Salon, if in Canberra at that time. Entry forms advertising the Salon were distributed to overseas and Australian destinations, and judges were sought out and appointed.

A total of 710 prints from 16 countries were received by 2nd December 1950, the closing date;
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271 prints were accepted for exhibition, about half from overseas, and 11 prints made by Canberra photographers were accepted. Well-known Australian photographers achieving acceptances included Harold Cazneaux, Max Dupain and Olegas Truchanas. There were 29 prints awarded Honours by judges Keast Burke, Clarence B. Young and Canberran, Chris Christian.

On the night of the opening, Sir Robert Garran, Chairman of The Arts Council of Canberra, introduced not Bob Menzies, nor Arthur Fadden who was Acting Prime Minister at the time, but Mr. L.W. Hamilton, who was deputizing for Arthur Fadden, to open the show.

The Salon was without doubt the pinnacle of success in the early days of the Society and came after years of striving to raise printing standards to international level, and there has never been another C.P.S. event quite like it.

Catalogue of first International Salon run by the Society in 1951.. Alf Redpath was the secretary of the salon.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

During the years 1948 to 1950 there was a changing of the guard. At the end of this period all of the original office bearers had retired. The Secretary, Keith Carnall, was the last to go in September 1950.

During the period, Ally Nish donated the "Ally Nish Cup" to be presented to the author of the best picture of the year, and Snows Limited, then occupying the premises now occupied by Fletcher Jones, showed the monthly winning prints in their window displays.

During 1951, the Radio 2CA Theatrette, the meeting place for C.P.S. since its inception, became unavailable due, anecdotally, to the need for some structural alterations to the premises. Meetings were then held in the theatrette at The Institute of Anatomy, now The National Film and Sound Archive.

HUT NINE ­ RIVERSIDE HOSTEL

In 1952, the Society became a full-time tenant of Hut 9 at the Riverside Hostel following Department of Interior offers of accommodation there to various cultural societies. This tenancy brought the theatrette period in the Society's history to an end, and commenced the hut period which was to continue for the next 14 years.

The rent for the hut was, anecdotally, two shillings per year, if demanded, but the Society had to pay for electricity used.

Working parties of members had to completely revamp the hut to make it suitable for Society use. As it existed the hut had bedrooms down the long sides, with a central access corridor, with doorways at both ends leading outside.

To prepare the hut for use, all but four of the bed rooms were ripped out to make a meeting room at one end of the hut. This room was then fitted out with racks to display prints and a permanent projection screen hung.

The remaining bedrooms were converted for darkroom, library and kitchen uses. A serving hatch was constructed between the meeting room and the kitchen, and darkroom drainage facilities were dug out. /

Alf Redpath lent a 2-1/4 sq Kodak enlarger for darkroom use and the Society was in business in its new premises.

There was some interchange between the Society and other tenants. For example, the Canberra Repertory Society, also a former user of the 2CA Theatrette, occupied a nearby dining room converted into a theatre. C.P.S. members occasionally visited there to conduct portrait sessions and stage photography.

THE HUT PERIOD

The Society was very active during the Hut period. A snapshot is provided by the 1952/53 Certified Financial Statement which lists expenditure on items such as The Sydney Interclub Competition, freight on pictures sent to Hobart, 51 entry fees for the Hall Show Photographic Exhibition, purchase of print mounting board, and Canberra Times advertisements for colour and Antarctic displays.

Receipts included 24 membership subscriptions, the sale of print mounting board and keys, donations from several members, and a small donation from Bishop Burgmann.

During the 50s, there were exhibitions of collections of Harold Cazneaux's landscapes, Dr. Julian Smith's character studies and Swede Anne Marie Gripman's child studies.

In 1954, the Society put together an International Goodwill Exhibition and displayed it throughout Australia. The photographs for the exhibition were collected earlier from Canberra embassies, each embassy designating a contact officer to collect the photographs and hand them on to the Society. Intriguingly the designated contact officer for the Russian Embassy was Vladimir Petrov.

The Society ran photography classes for the public for three years prior to 1955 to attract new members and continued to compete in across the border competitions, winning the NSW State Print Award in 1956, 57 and 58, and the 1958 Colour Slide Award as well.

Over the hut period there were numerous lectures by Society members and many highlights from visiting lecturers, including Woodward Smith on 'Colour in Photography', Keast Burke on 'Humour in Photography' and Dr T. Dunham of Mt. Stromlo on 'Space Photography'.

Core activities of the Society remained strong. Dougal Macdonald, The Canberra Times film reviewer, a member in the late 50s and early 60s, recalled that he was competing in black and white with prints made in Alf Redpath's home darkroom and was also home processing colour slides.

There were some drawbacks to the occupation of the hut. For example, the huts were located in relative isolation with poor outdoor lighting. When the Repertory Theatre toilets could not be accessed, the alternative was a miserable outhouse. The story goes that this was a bigger problem for the Chess Club of Canberra, as in their hut it was traditional to drink plenty of coffee while playing chess. There were also security problems from time to time with the hut unattended for long periods and lapses occurring in the lock-up procedures. For instance, the enlarger lent by Alf Redpath disappeared without trace, and one night while a Society meeting was in progress, George Barlin's car was stolen. ./

In 1966 the Society ended its hut tenancy and moved to the more comfortable and more convenient Griffin Centre, only a stone's throw from their first meeting place in the Radio 2CA Theatrette. At the Griffin Centre the Society hired meeting rooms as required, and had a sole occupancy space for the darkroom.

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