Photographic Conventions: 1886 to 1931

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of the

United Kingdom

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.

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	©	©
1892 Edinburgh	©	Key to Edinburgh Convention photograph not yet found. If you find a copy of this key please e-mail me. Thank you.
1894 Dublin	©	©
1900 Newcastle-upon-Tyne	©	©

Photographic Conventions

of the

United Kingdom

Date

Convention

BJP
Photo ***

BJP
Key
***

Aug 1886

1^st

Derby

Yes*

1887

2^nd

Glasgow

Yes

1888

3^rd

Birmingham

Yes

Aug 1889

4^th

London

Jun 1890

5^th

Chester

Jul 1891

6^th

Bath

Jul 1892

7^th

Edinburgh

Yes

1893

8^th

Plymouth

Yes

Jul 1894

9^th

Dublin

Yes

1895

10^th

Shrewsbury

Yes

Jul 1896

11^th

Leeds

Yes

Jul 1897

12^th

Yarmouth

Yes

1898

13^th

Glasgow

Yes

1899

14^th

Gloucester

Yes

1900

15^th

Newcastle

Yes

Yes*

1901

16^th

Oxford

Yes

Jul 1902

17^th

Cambridge

Yes

Yes*

1903

18^th

Perth

Yes

1904

19^th

Derby

Yes

Yes*

Jul 1905

20^th

Dublin

Yes

Jul 1906

21^st

Southampton

Yes

Jul 1907

22^nd

Hereford

Yes

Jul 1908

23^rd

Brussels

Yes

Jul 1909

24^th

Canterbury

Yes

Jul 1910

25^th

Scarborough

Yes

Some

Jul 1911

26^th

Exeter

Yes

Jul 1912

27^th

Amersham

Yes

Jul 1913

28^th

Bangor

Yes

Jul 1914

29^th

Perth

Yes

1915

[None]

1916

[None]

1917

[None]

1918

[None]

1919

[None]

Jul 1920

30^th

Norwich

Jul 1921

31^st

Bristol

Yes

Jul 1922

32^nd

Jul 1923

33^rd

London

Jun 1924

34^th

Chester

Jun 1925

35^th

York

Jun 1926

36^th

London

1927

37^th

Warwick

Jun 1928

38^th

Chester

Yes
only 4

Yes

1929

[None?]

1930

[None?]

Jun 1931

Belfast

Yes

NOTES

*** 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."

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

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