Our History
Eastbourne Photographic Society at a glance
The Society was formed in this year
The Society headquarters was based at the Caldecott Museum, Lismore Road (no longer there). The Museum was established in 1870 by avid collectors of Natural History. The first meeting was in the first week of January 1892. Present were the President, Henry Habgood MD; Vice-President H P Molineaux; Secretary, H M Whitley and Treasurer John J Holloway.
Ellis Kelsey (1866-1939)
Ellis Kelsey, who lived in Upper Avenue, Eastbourne, was a gifted amateur photographer who specialised in low light photography. Research undertaken by Brendon Franks, from Seaford Museum, has uncovered work by Kelsey in the form of glass plates, cut film and lantern slides. This collection contains some 2300 items, dating from 1890 to 1938 and includes some from The Society (see some images here: www.scienceandsociety.co.uk).
Herstmonceux outing 1893
The image shows an outing in 1893 to Herstmonceux, together with the names of the members of the time.
Thornwell Gardens outing 1894
A further photo of the members, this time at Thornwell Gardens in May 1894.
Eastbourne Photographic Exhibition
In 1895 The Society put on a major exhibition at the Devonshire Park Pavilion (now the Winter Gardens), in what is now called the Gold Room. At the time it was reported to be the largest exhibition outside London and included live music. It was held in May, during the Eastbourne Carnival.
Committee members from 1904
Additional photos have been uncovered from around the area, by Brendon Franks. Eastbourne Library and Doncaster Library also hold several volumes of Ellis Kelsey’s work depicting the areas in the late 1800s.
1940-1946 The Society disbanded during the War years
Eastbourne Photographic Society reopens
Exhibition at the Towner Art Gallery
In January 1948 The Society held an exhibition at the Towner Art Gallery. The annual exhibition continued there every year until 2007, when the new Towner was built. Initially taking over the entire ground floor, the last Exhibition in 2007 contained over 200 prints and ran a continuous slide show.
Bertram Sinkinson joined The Society
Bertram was a Society photographer, and we have three prints of his in the permanent collection.
The Noel Habgood FRPS collection of work is donated to The Society
Noel Habgood (1911-1975) was a New Zealander who moved to England, and subsequently Eastbourne, after WW2. He established himself as a leading landscape photographer, whose images regularly graced the front covers of Country Life Magazine. Several prints from his collection were requested by both the Royal Photographic Society and the Central Association for their own permanent collections. Eastbourne’s Les Blackwell FRPS, who later changed his name to Les Hobart FRPS, produced copies of those prints so that we could maintain Noel’s full donated collection. More about Noel can be read here: 'Early New Zealand Photographers' www.canterburyphotography.blogspot.com/2015/09/habgood-noel.html
Norman Gryspeerdt FRPS (1910-1998)
It was suggested that The Society should make a video of the Norman Gryspeerdt FRPS (1910-1998) Bromoil Process. However, this did not take place until later.
Keynote Talk: 'My Life' Bert Hardy lecture
Bert (1913-1995) was an English documentary and press photographer known for his work published in the Picture Post magazine between 1941 and 1957. Colin Westgate recalls paying him with a bottle of whisky! Read more about Bert here: http://www.photohistories.com/Photo-Histories/50/the-life-and-times-of-albert-hardy-1913-1995
Bromoil Video with ART Video
This was when The Society undertook the making of the Bromoil Video with ART Video at a cost of £700. The video subsequently sold over 500 copies in over 13 different countries, thus recovering the initial outlay and making a substantial profit. It was withdrawn with the advent of DVDs as a decision was made not to re-edit the video onto DVD.
Joined the SPF
Joined the Southern Photographic Federation (SPF) due to disbandment of Central Association and subsequently won the SPF Print Championship at Romsey and went on to represent the SPF at the PAGB Print Championship held in Leicester (and came 21st). The Society was also runner-up in the SPF Slide Championship.
Joined the SPA
Joined the Surrey Photographic Association (SPA) and left the SPF, and subsequently won our inaugural year at the SPA Slide Championship in Warwick in July. (The Slide Championship has been superseded now by the PDI Championship still held at the same venue.)
Keynote Talk: 'Seeing landscapes' with Charlie Waite
Keynote Talk: 'Lee Miller' by Tony Penrose
Keynote Talk: 'Landscape Photography' with Joe Cornish
Keynote Talk: 'Wildlife Photography' with Andy Rouse
Keynote Talk: 'Natural History and Wildlife Photography' with Heather Angel
Keynote Talk: 'Falkland Islands' with David Osborne
Keynote Talk: 'Lee Miller' with Tony Penrose and his daughter
Recent Achievements
Runners-up in the KCPA Ross Cup (and qualified to represent the KCPA in the PAGB Print Championship at Connah’s Quay).
Recent Achievements
Participated in the PAGB Print Championship at Connah’s Quay.
Recent Achievements
Won the KCPA Ross Cup (and qualified to represent the KCPA in the PAGB Print Championship at Connah’s Quay). Runners-up in the KCPA Diamond Jubilee (and qualified to represent the KCPA in the PAGB PDI Championship in Warwick).
Recent Achievements
Participated in the PAGB Print Championship at Connah’s Quay. Participated in the PAGB PDI Championship in Warwick. Won the KCPA Ross Cup (and qualified to represent the KCPA in the PAGB Print Championship at Ormskirk). Sussex Print Championship (SxPF) winners.
Recent Achievements
Participated in the PAGB Print Championship in Ormskirk.
Recent Achievements
Hosted the KCPA Ross Cup and were runners-up (and qualified to represent the KCPA in the PAGB Print Championship at Connah’s Quay). SxPF Print Championship won both Open and Development classes and were overall winners.
Recent Achievements
Participated in the PAGB Print Championship at Connah’s Quay. Won the KCPA Ross Cup(and qualified to represent the KCPA in the PAGB Print Championship in Blackburn). SxPF Print Championship Open Class winners.
Recent Achievements
Participated in the PAGB Print Championship in Blackburn.
Over the years, Eastbourne Photographic Society has collected many prints and images, mostly from the 1950s to the present day; these have been scanned and are in our archives. Below is a small selection:
