Photographic Exhibitions of Australia     




YMCA CAMERA CIRCLE







July 1953 AP-R Magazine

The Ninth Annual Photographic Exhibition held on 22nd, 23rd and 25th May, was attended by approximately 600 people. There were 116 monochrome entries and these were judged by Messrs Keast Burke, J.W. Metcalfe and C.S. Christian. Entries were on display in the Hall for inspection by the public.

On Friday night, 22nd May, the exhibition was officially opened by Professor Bissietta, After being introduced by the President, Mr G.S. Gow, the Professor spoke briefly on the relationship of Art and Photography before he declared the exhibition open. Messrs Keast Burke and C.S. Christian were asked to give a short commentary on the merits of the winning prints. Professor Bissietta then presented Pho'tos to Mr E. Slater, whose entry "Good Earth" was judged the Best Print of the Exhibition. Other awards were:

A Grade: G.S. Gow Trophy - 1st B. Staveley; 2nd Laurie Friend; 3rd R. Kelly.

B Grade: E.C. Greening Trophy - 1st J. Fawdry and R. Kefford (equal); 2nd E. Graham; 3rd Miss H. Sinclair.

C.J. Jackson Trophy - "Early Colonial NSW Historical Collection", B. Staveley.

P.I.A. Trophy - "Portfolio of Four Diverse Subjects", Laurie Friend.

In the Color slide section, 63 slides were entered and these were judged by Mr Howard Ashton. As each slide was shown, Mr Ashton made brief comments and these were recorded on a tape recorder and played at successive screenings of the slides throughout the Exhibition. The J.W. Tidmarsh Trophy for the Best Color Slide was awarded to Mr H. Grenenger for his entry entitled "Cooling Off".

During the evening Mr Keast Burke and Mr Woodward Smith were made Honorary Members of the YMCA Camera Circle and were welcomed by the President. Congratulations were also extended to Mr E. Slater on receiving his his ARPS (Associateship from the Royal Photographic Society) and the evening was concluded when the President invited members and their friends to remain to supper.

On Saturday night a Gala Exhibition dance was attended by more than 150 people, who also had the opportunity of viewing the prints which were left on display.

The Exhibition concluded on Monday night when the trophies and other prizes won by members during the year were presented by Mr C. Noble and a further print commentary given by J.W. Metcalfe and Keast Burke.

The YMCA Camera Circle wishes to thank its many friends who attended and in other ways contributed towards making its Exhibition such a success.



January 1954 AP-R Magazine

The Landscape competition on 19th November, which was judged by Mr H.N. Jones, resulted: A Grade: 1st Laurie Friend; 2nd J.E. Fawdry; 3rd Laurie Friend; Highly Commended, J.E. Fawdry. B Grade: 1st Wal Allen; 2nd R. Westley; 3rd D. Hogarth; Highly Commended, G.E. Eves.

At this meeting Mr B. Townsend, of the Kodak Lecture Service Division, delivered a short lecture entitled "Paper Negatives". He said there were four main methods of producing a paper negative, by the use of reversal paper, from a positive print by contact printing, by enlargement on film (diapositive) followed by contact printing or further enlargements and finally, the use of paper instead of film in the camera. Although the paper negative process is a little laborious, it has advantages which make it suitable for use on special occasions. These advantages are ease of control by retouching, production of interesting textures and the ability to produce a bright print from a slightly flat negative. Mr Townsend was able to show some of his own prints to illustrate how he had been able to produce a more artistic presentation by this method.

On 3rd December, members and guests heard a lecture on "Stereo Systems" by Mr R.G. Robertson MA, A.M.I.Mech.E., the Sydney representative of the Stereoscopic Society. Mr Robertson has made a special study of the application of stereoscopy to 16mm movies for educational purposes. He described the basic principles in depth perception and explained how these are used in giving an illusion of a third dimension in still photography and in the cinema. This was illustrated by stereo and flat slides and movies, using two slide projectors and two movie projectors, which were skilfully handled by Mr Harris, of the Stereoscopic Society. Polaroid spectacles were supplied by courtesy of A.J. Dawson Ltd. This was one of the most interesting and novel evenings the club has enjoyed for some time.

The YMCA Camera Circle's Photographic course concluded on 15th December with a talk by the President, Mr Gow, on Pictorial Composition. The series has been well supported both by members and others. The lecture on Optics and Filters, given by Mr Grunwald, was so outstanding that Mr Grunwald has been requested to present this subject again at a future regular meeting.

A Christmas Social evening, arranged through club member Miss E. Banner, was held on 9th December in the studio of Mrs M. Maloney. Among the thirty or more members present were Mr Keast Burke ARPS, APSA, and Mr J.W. Metcalfe. The studio, which is used for sculpture, painting and pottery, proved a fitting place for an informal talk on art and photography.

Mr A. Eade was the judge for the Open competition on 17th December. The results were: A Grade: 1st D.N. Dove; 2nd B.L. Gibbins; 3rd B.L. Gibbins; Highly Commended, H.J. Wright. B Grade: 1st and 2nd G. Eves; 3rd K.E. Bailey; Highly Commended, L. Hagard and G. Halpin. Owing to a breakdown of equipment the Color Slide competition was postponed to 14th January.

February activities are: 11th, Lecture, Print Finishing, Henri Mallard; 14th, Field Day Outing to North Curl Curl; 25th, Competition, Shadows, and P.I.A. Trophy.






YMCA Camera Circle outing to Springwood NSW c. 1949







Wednesday 16th August 1961 The Australian Women's Weekly

ADOPTED - BY A FROG

A BLUE MOUNTAINS tree frog - possibly a prince in disguise - has a silver plaque for a Sydney doctor at the YMCA Camera Circle's Fourth International Exhibition of Photography.

The amateur photographer is Dr Leopold Pavlovic, Randwick, whom the frog (definitely a Thaddeus Toad Esq. type) adopted in a Penrith milk-bar last year.

You can meet Thaddeus in his "Watch Me Mamma" color portrait at the exhibition at Sydney Town Hall, August 12 to 23.

From the moment Thaddeus startled the milk-bar proprietress by leaping out of her refrigerator, he attached himself to Dr Pavlovic. He furiously resisted all efforts to release him in the bush.

Nor would he eat - not even the flies that friends helped to catch. Which led one of them to quip, "Maybe he's a frog prince. Offer the flies on a gold platter and see what happens at sundown.

Dr Pavlovic took him home, got his prizewinning shot after four and a half hours camera work with the lively Thaddeus on the kitchen table.

Finally, he persuaded Thaddeus to settle for a spot among the water-lilies in Centennial Park - where, as any youngster knows, anything magic in the way of a frog prince can happen.

Five other Australian entries won major prizes in the exhibition, which attracted 5152 entries from 50 countries, including China with 36. They arc Lance Nelson, NSW, Aleen Woodcock, Vic, Otto Hofmann, NSW, Mervyn Thomas, Vic, Peter Slater, WA.

Peter's nature slide "Wasp Carrying Caterpillar" (recently published in The Australian Women's Weekly} won the Photographic Society of America's Silver Medal - giving him a hat-trick this year. Earlier it took a silver plaque in Melbourne's exhibition and a bronze in Adelaide's.