Photographic Conventions

of the

United Kingdom

Enamel Badge of the Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom

©  Reproduced by courtesy of Robert Griffin

Enamel Badge of the Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom

©  Reproduced by courtesy of Ian Wallace

 

The Badges

Question

Above are two Photographic Convention badges.  Can anybody tell me the significance of the red and black borders on these badges?

Annual Conventions

1886-1931

The Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom was a gathering of amateur and professional photographers.  They met annually at different locations.  The Conventions comprised a series of lectures and outings.

An official photograph of the Convention delegates was taken each year.  This, usually together with a key to the delegates, was published in the British Journal of Photography.

1892 Convention

Edinburgh

Please click on the thumbnail image below to see a photograph of the delegates at the 1892 Convention in Edinburgh.

Photograph of delegates to the Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom held in Dublin in 1894 ©

 

Convention Photographs published in BJP

A photograph of the Convention delegates was usually published in the British Journal of Photography, together with a key to the photo, shortly after each convention.  Here are a few of the photos.
1886

Derby

 Photograph of delegates to the 1st Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom held in Derby in 1886 ©

Key to photograph of delegates to the 1st Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom held in Derby in 1886 ©
1892

Edinburgh

 Photograph of delegates to the Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom held in Dublin in 1894 ©

Key to Edinburgh Convention photograph  not yet found.

If you find a copy of this key

 please e-mail me.  Thank you.
1894

Dublin

 Photograph of delegates to the Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom held in Dublin in 1894 © Key to photograph of delegates to the Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom held in Dublin in 1894 ©
1900

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

 Photograph of delegates to the Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1900 © Key to photograph of delegates to the Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1900 ©
1926

Edinburgh

 Photographic Conventions of the United Kingdom  - Edinburgh - 1926 ©

 

©  ©

BJP Report on 1926 Convention
 

 

Photographic Conventions

of the

United Kingdom

Date

Convention

BJP
Photo ***

BJP
Key
***

Aug 1886

1st 

Derby

 No Yes*

1887

2nd 

Glasgow

 Yes No

1888

3rd

Birmingham

 Yes No

Aug 1889

4th

London

 No No

Jun 1890

5th

Chester

 No No

Jul 1891

6th

Bath

No

 No

Jul 1892

7th

Edinburgh

Yes

 No

1893

8th

Plymouth

Yes

Yes

Jul 1894

9th

Dublin

Yes

Yes

1895

10th

Shrewsbury

Yes

Yes

Jul 1896

11th 

Leeds

Yes

 No

Jul 1897

12th 

Yarmouth

Yes

Yes

1898

13th

Glasgow

Yes

No

1899

14th

Gloucester

Yes

Yes

1900

15th

Newcastle

Yes

Yes*

1901

16th

Oxford

Yes

No

Jul 1902

17th

Cambridge

Yes

 Yes*

1903

18th

Perth

Yes

 No

1904

19th

Derby

Yes

 Yes*

Jul 1905

20th

Dublin

Yes

Yes

Jul 1906

21st

Southampton

Yes

Yes

Jul 1907

22nd

Hereford

Yes

Yes

Jul 1908

23rd

Brussels

Yes

 No

Jul 1909

24th

Canterbury

Yes

 Yes

Jul 1910

25th

Scarborough

Yes

 Some

Jul 1911

26th

Exeter

Yes

 No

Jul 1912

27th

Amersham

Yes

 No

Jul 1913

28th

Bangor

Yes

 No

Jul 1914

29th

Perth

 Yes No

1915

-

[None]

 - -

1916

-

[None]

 - -

1917

-

[None]

 - -

1918

-

[None]

 - -

1919

-

[None]

 - -

Jul 1920

30th

Norwich

 No No

Jul 1921

31st

Bristol

 Yes No

Jul 1922

32nd

?

 ? ?

Jul 1923

33rd

London

 ? ?

Jun 1924

34th

Chester

 ? ?

Jun 1925

35th

York

 No No

Jun 1926

36th

London **

 No No

1927

37th

Warwick **

 ? ?

Jun 1928

38th

Chester

 Yes
 only 4		 Yes

1929

 ?

[None?]

 No No

1930

 ?

[None?]

 No No

Jun 1931

 ?

Belfast

 Yes No

SOURCE of info in ABOVE TABLE

***  I have compiled the list above from bound volumes of BJP that I have consulted, mainly in the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Perhaps, some of the 'missing' photos and keys in the list above do exist but have not been bound into the copies that I have consulted. 

If you know of any, please e-mail me.   Thank you.  - Peter Stubbs

*     Thank you to John Bradley, Ashover, Derbyshire, for sending telling me that he has seen keys to the photographs for some of the years that I had not found.  I have asterisked these years in the last column of the table above.

John added:

KEYS to PHOTOS

"Incidentally do you know how they made the key?  All the participants were given a big number on a piece of card.

They signed for their number, then the first photo the photographer took had them all holding up their number, then they put their numbers away and had the formal photo taken.

In some images you can still see some of the people holding on to their number in a spare hand.

They were then able to work out who was who from the list of signatures and the first photo."

 

**    POSSIBLE PROBLEMS with details in TABLE

I compiled the table above about 20 years ago, and believe that I took the details from old editions of the British Journal of Photography, but I can no longer remember my exact sources.

I believe that the locations in this table are probably correct up to around 1914.

However, the locations that I have given for some of the later dates appear to be incorrect.  In particular, I now believe that the 1926 Convention was held in Edinburgh and it was then  proposed that the 1927 Convention should be held in Coventry.  I don't know whether or not  other post-1914 locations given in the table are correct.

Peter Stubs, Edinburgh:  25 October 2017

 

Acknowledgements

1.  The enamel badge above has been provided by Robert Griffin, who asks:

"Would I be correct in assuming that the design of this badge portrays a reference to a lens (concave/convex) possibly?"

2.  All dates and locations of Conventions have been taken from the contemporary edition of the British Journal of Photography.

 

 Conventions

and

Congresses

The Photographic Conventions above were for both amateur and professional photographers.

There were also Photographic Congresses, held annually for professional photogaphers.   It was held  from 1910 until 1933, and often included a visit to a commercial photographic works

 

Conventions  (1886-1931)

 

Convention - Edinburgh (1892)

 

Convention - Edinburgh (1926)

 

Congresses  (1910-1933)

 

 

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