Flourishing camera club puts focus on charity

by Judy Murphy

Gorgeous photos at great prices are the promise this weekend when Galway Camera Club holds its annual exhibition in the Kenny Gallery. This event marks a new departure for the club which was formed in 1975, because for the first time ever, the photos at the annual end-of-year show are on sale, with all proceeds going to local charity, Camp Claddagh, the Galway branch of the Chernobyl Children’s Project.

The subjects range from the city’s Long Walk and Cathedral to seashells and rose petals, from Menlo Castle to scenes in Connemara, the Burren and South Mayo.

Some of the images are in black and white, but colour is the norm. The price range is between €50 and €120 per photo, says John McHugh, of the Camera Club.

“We wanted to put a price on them that will ensure these pieces will sell; that people feel they are getting value and that the charity will get the money.”

The Camera Club, which is the largest in the country outside Dublin, meets every Thursday evening in Cluain Mhuire (GMIT), formerly the city base of the Redemptorist religious organisation.

According to John the club caters for “all shapes and sizes . . . and that’s just the cameras!”. But joking aside, this club is a real success story. And, while an interest in photography is obviously a help, you don’t need to be David Bailey to join.

“If you are a top class pro, honed in every aspect of technology, it caters for you, but it also caters for non ‘experts’. It’s for everybody and covers the spectrum. And it’s a great social outlet,” observes John.

Members come from all walks of life with doctors, solicitors, accountants, unemployed people and one qualified artist currently involved. The age profile is a wide one, ranging from 19 to 90. There are seven professional photographers in the group and some members who were “rank amateurs” when they joined, are now professional, although John says that the club can’t necessarily take credit for their success!There might be a perception that yo

u need money to join a camera club and that members compete to have the latest high-tech gadgets, but John, who is a glass designer in Greaney Glass, is keen to quash that notion.

“You can spend as much as you want or save as much as you want and still produce really good quality images. There’s an old saying in photography ‘it’s not the camera, it’s the lens’ and the lens behind the camera (i.e. your own eye) is very important.

“People can see things where other people will pass them.”Indeed some people don’t even own a camera before they join the club. It sounds odd, but if you are a beginner, seeking advice on what to buy, what better place to get it?

You mightn’t need top-class equipment to be a good photographer, but certain attributes are required.

“An eye for beauty and an eye for the unusual,” offers John, who feels that “anyone can be a good photographer” by taking pictures of things that are pleasing to them.And of course, there are certain basic skills that must be followed. Firstly, says John, there is “the rule of thirds”, which dictates that you keep your main subject a third up, a third down and a third in from the sides. For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.