History

The Westville Camera Club was started by Noel Henderson in 1979 as the Westville Cine and Coloured Slide Club. The other founding members were Yvette Henderson, Tom and Graham Croot, Graham Smith and one other. Meetings have been held at the Westville Library since the inaugural meeting.

In 1982 the name was changed to the Westville Camera Club (WCC) to give the club broader appeal and no doubt a more user-friendly name.

Marcia Wilde designed the badge in 1984 during her tenure as chairman and incorporated elements of the Natal and Westville coat of arms.

The original objectives were noted as “… to hold periodical gatherings of members for the purpose of promoting and fostering a spirit of good fellowship whilst viewing each others’ films and slides, obtaining and giving advice and instruction with the view of achieving the best results in making films and slide series.”

The natural progression of photography has seen film/AV fall away completely and even slides are no longer taken by any current members, with prints and digital images being the current media of choice.

The competitive element of photography is encouraged but not to the exclusion of the social and fun aspects of the club.

There are numerous members who, over the years, have contributed significantly to the running and promotion of the club but probably none more so than the founder, Noel Henderson who was still a committee member in 2001. Two other names that were prominent since the early days, are Tom and Maggie Lally, with Tom being the first APSSA Honours member. Tom has sadly passed away, but Maggie is still a very active member of the photographic community and is currently (and has been for many years) the KZN representative on the National PSSA committee.

The history is too full of colourful characters and memorable events to do justice to it here and the current members are deeply indebted to those founder members and all who have helped keep the club going over the years.