Professional Photographers Association

Congresses

6-10
April

1910

1st 

Royal Horticultural Hall, London

 - Visit to Marion's works.

15-19
May

 1911

2nd 

Royal Horticultural Hall, London

 - Visit to Kodak.

-  Visit to Haughton Works.

-  Visit to Platinotype Works.

-  Also Photographic Arts & Crafts Exhibition.

9-13
May

1912

3rd

Royal Horticultural Hall, London

-  F P Moffat was the President for this Congress.

Frank Pelham Moffat - Professional photographer ©

 - Visit to Messrs Ross.

-  Exhibition of Photographs by Members.

Gold Medal to be awarded to the best picture to be chosen by ballot of all delegates.

-  Also Photographic Arts & Crafts Exhibition.

7-11
April

1913

4th

Royal Horticultural Hall, London

 - Visit to Wellington & Ward.

-  Also Photographic Arts & Crafts Exhibition.

11-15
May

1914

5th

Royal Horticultural Hall, London

 - Visit to Illingworth & Co

-  Also Photographic Arts & Crafts Exhibition

16-20
April

1920

6th

Royal Horticultural Hall, London

-  Also Photographic Fair.

 18-22 April

1921

7th

Royal Horticultural Hall, London

-  Also Photographic Fair.

11-13
September

1922

21st Anniversary Year for PPA

8th

Princes Galleries, Piccadilly, London

-  Space offered in Horticultural Hall was considered now too small for PPA's growing  needs.  No other suitable halls in London could be found for Spring 1922, so the Congress was held in Autumn 1922. 

-  Also International Professional Photographers' Portrait Exhibition.

-  Photographic Fair at Horticultural Hall: 1-6 May 1922.

This Photographic Fair was not re-arranged to coincide with the Congress, but PPA Members were advised how they could apply for tickets for the Fair on preferential terms.

 Advertisement for Photographic Fair at Horticultural Hall, London - 1922 ©

19-23 March

1923

9th

Cardinal Vaughan School, Addison Rd, London

-  Also Welcome Club in .

-  Visit to the Tower of London

-  Visit to the Wallace Collection

-  Welcome Club and some of the Meetings at Holland Park Hall.

-  Also Photographic Fair at Holland Park Hall.

 2-6
June

1924

10th

Town Hall and Freemasons' Hall, Chester

 - Visit to Houghton-Butcher Works.

-  Motor trip to Wales

-  Exhibition of Photos at the Princes Galleries.

-  Exhibition at lower Freemasons' Hall.

- There was no Photographic Fair in 1924.

Instead, 20 firms exhibited Photographic Apparatus and Materials at the 'Daily Mail' Ideal Homes Exhibition on the Gallery at the New Hall, Olympia.  The remainder of the Gallery was devoted to wireless and home entertainment exhibits.

11-14
May

1925

11th

Baptist Church Hall, Southampton Row, London

"Almost within a stone's throw of several of the largest establishments dealing in professional photographic supplies.

 - Visit to Houghton-Butcher's Walthamstow Works.

-  Visit to St James' Palace

14-17 June

1926

CONGRESS ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR

14-17

May

BUT POSTPONED DUE TO THE GENERAL STRIKE

12th

Baptist Church Hall, Southampton Row, London

-  A Photographic Fair was originally scheduled at Horticultural Hall to be held on 8-16 May 1926, but this was cancelled due to the General Strike.

The Horticultural Hall was booked for the remainder of the season, so the Photographic Fair could not be rescheduled.

 Advertisement for Photographic Fair at Horticultural Hall, London - 1922 ©

- Exhibition of 200 photographs by PPA delegates.  Most were chloro-bromide, a few were platinotype or carbon prints.  The Prize Picture was by Edward Drummond Young of Edinburgh.

 16-20
May

1927

13th

Baptist Church Hall, Southampton Row, London

-  Exhibition of Photographs, one per PPA Member

 - Visit to Illingworth & Co.

-  The Photographic Fair returned to the Horticultural Hall for the first time since 1922.

BJP 1927 pp.267-271 gives a good summary of the 43 exhibits at the Photographic Fair.

7-12
May

1928

14th

Portman Rooms, Baker Street, London

New venue because "recent Congresses had suffered from somewhat inadequate accommodation".

 - Visit to Imperial Institute

- Advertisement Competition arranged by Messrs Wills, being for the most suitable design embodying the letters PPA and symbolising photographic portraiture.

- Photogrpahs by Members, one per Member on whole-plate studio mount.

-  Loan Collection display:  Photographs by Ferdinand Flodin (Stockholm).

- Exhibition of posters collected by Valentine Bibbs and supplied by Kodak.

-  Also Professional Trade Show of Apparatus and Materials.

6-11
May

1929

15th

Portman Rooms, Baker Street, London

 -  Also an Exhibition of PPA Members' work.

12-16
May

1930

16th

New Horticultural Hall,  London

-  Play performed by Members of the North London Centre of the PPA.

 The Cover of a Programme for a Play performed by Members of North London Branch of the Professional Photographers' Association at the Annual Congress, London, 1930 ©    The Cover of a Programme for a Play performed by Members of North London Branch of the Professional Photographers' Association at the Annual Congress, London, 1930 ©

A scene from a play performed at the PPA Congress in 1930 ©

-   Loan Collection of works on view - by F Drtikol (Prague),
 H Berssenburgge (Gravenhage) and Dr E Quedenpelt (Vienna)

-  Also Photographic Fair.

BJP 1930, pp.268-275 gives a good summary of the 59 exhibits at the Photographic Fair.

4-7
May

1931

17th

Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London

-  Also a competitive Print Exhibition between Local Centres  of the PPA.

2-5
May

1932

18th

Brighton

- Also a competitive Print Exhibition between Local Centres  of the PPA.

1-5
May

1933

19th

Imperial Hotel, Russell Square, London

 - Visit to Ilford's Selo Works

-  Visit to Bloomsbury Trade School

- Also a competitive Print Exhibition between Local Centres  of the PPA.

7-11
May

1934

20th

Winter Garden, Blackpool

 - Excursion to the Lake District.

-  Exhibition of Modern Portraiture. in the Art Gallery.

-  Exhibition of Modern Modern Industrial Photography, in the Art Gallery.

-  PPA Members' Inter-Centre Photographic Competition.

- The Official Photo of delegates was taken at Stanley Park, but it was not published in BJP.

8-12
April

1935

21st

Great Central Hotel, adjoining Marylebone Station, London

 - Visit to Kodak works, Harrow

-  Visit to Messrs. Johnson's works, Harrow

-  PPA Members' Inter-Centre Photographic Competition
 Winners - N London.

18- 21
approx
May

1936

22nd

Great Central Hotel, adjoining Marylebone Station, London

 - Visit to GEC Works, Wembley.

-  Visits to Gaumont British Studios + London Film Productions.

-  Visits to Aerofilms, Studio Briggs, Elliott & Fry + other studios.

-  Visit to Heatherley School of Fine Art + National Portrait Gallery

-  PPA Members' Inter-Centre Photographic Competition
 Winners - N London (again).

19- 22
approx
April

1937

23rd

Harrogate

 - Lecture by E Drummond Young (Edin.):  Full -length portraiture.

-  PPA Members' Inter-Centre Photographic Competition
 Winners - N London (3rd year in succession).

16-19
approx
 May

1938

24th

Bournemouth

 -  Lecture: J R Coltart (Edin.):
"Increasing Turnover in the Middle Class Studio"

-   Lecture by Paul Shillabeer (Edin.): 
"Making the Most of a Miniature Camera.
The Rolleiflex in the Studio."

Sources of Information

All details above have been taken from contemporary editions of the British Journal of Photography.  Was the 1938 Congress the last one held?

The Congresses appear to have not been held from the start of the 2nd World War.   I have checked the BJP for 1939, 1940 and 1945 but found no reference to any BJP Congress in these.

Congress Photographs

Following each Congress (except in 1921, and most of the congresses in the 1930s) the BJP published a Group Photograph of, the Congress Delegates with a key.

These photos were often taken during a visit to one of the photographic establishments.

 

 

Photographic Congresses  and  Photographic Fairs

Background

Dates

1920s Adverts

1930 Play

Horticultural Halls

 

 

__________________