The
Archives held by Southampton Camera Club contain a detailed
history of the club. The Southampton International Exhibition
of Photography is an important part of that history. It was
five years after the club was formed in 1896 that the very
first exhibition was held in 1901. This was mainly a local
event. The Southampton Art Gallery was completed in 1939 and
one of the first exhibitions to be held at the new Art Gallery
was by Southampton Camera Club in the spring of 1940, with
a recorded attendance of 11,707 visitors.
The Art Gallery was very badly damaged by bombing a few months
later with some loss of life. To celebrate the club's jubilee
in 1947 the Exhibition was again held in the rebuilt Art Gallery.
Twelve countries were invited to enter and from then its popularity
increased from year to year. By 1970 up to 50 Countries entered
prints and slides in the exhibition. This very popular event
continued to be exhibited at the Southampton Art Gallery until
1996 when a change of policy by the Art Gallery decreed the
'International' should be replaced by a more local exhibition!
SCC club members can enter the Exhibition for
free.
Further
information on entry fees, rules and ENTRY FORMS will be available
for download later
or to find out more detail about the International Photography
Exhibition scene contact the
chairman.