About Te Awamutu Camera Club
The club was formed in 1954 as the Te Awamutu Amateur Movie Club. Mr. Les Richards, who later became the long-serving Patron, called the inaugural meeting attended by 14 people.
A year later a 35mm slide section was formed, and in 1960 the name was changed to the Te Awamutu 8mm & 35mm Camera Club. A further name change to The Te Awamutu Camera Club was made in 1978.
A BRIEF HISTORY
It is one of the very few clubs remaining, which cater for members interested in both movie and still photography.
The annual (up till 1989) Film Festival has probably been the reason for this survival. It consisted of a two-hour programme of movie and slide AVs presented to the public, initially for three nights in the old town hall, before that was demolished. This was a popular presentation before the introduction of television. Over the years the venues have since included the “La Ronde”, The Bowling Clubrooms, The St Pat’s Hall from 1973 to 1986, and the Woolshed since 1987 where it is held on two nights and an afternoon matinee.
Since 1989 it has been held every two years, with the exception of a three-year gap to coincide with our 50th year. It is probably fairly unique in New Zealand as it requires a huge investment in time from members. Over the years many local events have been recorded, and some programmes have gone on to receive national awards.
Movie programmes started out in standard 8 format without sound, followed by recorded sound through an attached tape recorder, and then what was revolutionary in the form of a sound stripe on film along with a larger super eight format.
Colour slide programmes were presented with the standard push-pull manual projector with slides changed to a recorded soundtrack on tape. Presentation with two projectors mechanically controlled (Dual Projection) was a huge improvement. With the introduction of electronics, presentation became controlled automatically from the soundtrack on the tape recorder. Multi-track cassette recorders eventually made programme making much easier.
Video was first introduced into the club in 1988 and eventually took over from movie film. Changes were so rapid that club members had to grapple with digital technology, computer editing, and DVD presentation.
The club is affiliated with the N.Z. Photographic Society, and what was the Movie Federation which has now disbanded. Many events have been run on their behalf.
The club aims to cater to members to improve their photographic techniques, give the opportunity to members to show their work to others including the general public, and provide social contact with people with similar interests.
