The Society
was formed in 1968 by Arthur Scrase, Chairman of the Ham Photographic
Club (now long disbanded). Three ex-servicemen living in at the Royal
Star & Garter Home, Richmond had an interest in photography and,
although severely disabled, they were able to attend meetings with the
help of St. John's Ambulance staff, who brought them along to the
meetings. However, owing to the severity of their disabilities,
they were unable to operate conventional cameras.
Another
photographic society in the area was the Richmond & Twickenham P.S.
who, at times, provided lecturers and judges for the Ham club. One of
these lecturers, named Harry Wells, was an engineer, who ran the
apprentice programme for C.A.V. Ltd. at Acton, London. Harry offered to
try and find a way to adapt a normal camera for disabled use and began
work on the project with his apprentices. The camera selected for
modification was a Konica C35, a compact film model with auto exposure.
Within a
period of about three months, a working prototype was produced. The
shutter was fired by an air release which could be held in the hand, or
by a suction release which could be operated my mouth. The film wind-on
was achieved by a small solenoid-operated electric motor, which was
powered by a 12 volt car battery stored under a wheelchair. If the
wheelchair was electrically operated itself, the power was taken
directly from its power source.
Further
developments took place on camera operation and enquiries began to come
in from other people with disabilities who wanted to take up
photography. So it was that the Society came into being. It was
originally called "Photography for the Disabled", but the name
was changed in the late 1970's to the present one.
In 1988 the
founder, Arthur Scrase, died and the Society was restructured with a
larger committee. Apart from the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer,
other posts were created to ensure the continued smooth running of the
charity, as technical enquiries, specialist adaptations, supply of
darkroom and camera equipment, repairs to equipment donated to the
Society and press and public relations.
The society
has continually developed over the ensuing years and its members now embrace the
latest digital technologies. In some ways the digital revolution has made
things easier. But even this has brought with it
a new set of problems, such as equipment cost and the need for some
computer skills in order to be fully able to utilise the
technology. Little wonder then some members still choose to use film,
both print and slide varieties, for many reasons, and they are still
catered for within the society competition's and exhibition.
The technology
and fashions may change but the Disabled Photographers' society founding
and overriding principle, of helping the
disabled to take up and to continue to enjoy photography, remains
unchanged and is a constant challenge.
