Cultural > Photographic society 

The newly remodeled and revamped Photographic Society is now fully under way to stay part of the schools multi-dimensional life concept. After a period of dormancy, the society was revived by teachers and students. This commitment to the society has resulted in an enormous amount of energy and time being put in and a great result of having excited and enthusiastic members active in both the "School Life" and "Application of Skills" sections.

The "School Life" section was created for the society to encourage its members to participate in photographing sports and cultural fixtures as well as exploring the school buildings in new ways and showing the camaraderie and spirit that the school gives one. This spirit has given some members a determined and committed attitude and they are seeing results. Teachers and parents as well as old-boys are excited about the happenings of the society. The "Application of Skills" section is a series of lectures that takes a student trough his paces into the world of photography. They begin at basics and move right through all the spheres of photography. Special projects are being formulated to encourage the application and use of these skills.

For some students a major boundary in the learning and participation is having a camera. Although the school has some cameras, it is always important to have a god amount which is our aim and we are finding ways to proactively solve this problem. We are also in the process of restarting darkroom skills and lectures on the darkroom. Our equipment is in working condition and members are becoming excited already. Paper and film are expensive and here again we are trying to find solutions.

History

The Photographic Society started in the early 30's at the school making it one of the oldest societies. It went through 70 years making a valuable contribution to the school. In 1998, the Photographic Society unfortunately lost some of its momentum and has been dormant since then. In 2004, a major effort was put and now, in 2006, the society is back up and running with a healthy amount of members. Yet, there is still so much to be done, Photography is changing all the time and moving from an analogue to a digital age. We see the value of both and encourage members to take up both as they are all add to someone's love of photography which is showing in the members.

Past Achievements and Competitions

The Photographic Society had many trophies and awards which are awarded at the end of the year at the annual art exhibition held together with the Photographic Society. We are in the process of setting up the intra-school photographic competitions and cannot wait until the teachers and learners start to become involved in the competition.

Society Members

PHOTOSOC is run by a student committee and the teachers-in-charge, and together form the executive of the society.

The executive is:

The committee and teachers run the society on a day to day basis working together to improve and commit to the society. We are always looking for new and interesting ways to do things, we are open to suggestions. We have plans on for tours and after school gallery trips as well as having lecturers come and give talks to inspire the members to really try their best.

We have also introduced a mentor system, where experienced photographers mentor a new member to reach his own potential. This system is working well and helping to keep members interested and help to get new members introduced into photography.