History

Bookham Camera Club was founded on 5th April 1946 by Mrs. E.M.Stephens, who was an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society. Eleven people were present and they became the club's first members, paying a subscription of 10/6d (52½p) per half year.

The inaugural meeting was held at Bookham Congregational Church Hall, which subsequently became the United Reformed Church Hall, which the club now uses once again for its weekly meetings. In between, meetings have taken place in a variety of venues, such as 'The Croft', Church Road, the Co-op Hall, the County Junior School (which is now the Library) the Barn Hall and the Baptist Hall.

Our first exhibition was held in October 1946 and the judge was none other than Percy Harris, FRPS who was at one time a respected Editor of the journal 'Amateur Photographer'.

The between 2020-2021 club successfully navigated 2 years of COVID through an imaginative programme of internal and external speakers held mostly through Zoom, which saw the club membership remain steady at a time when many clubs lost members. Today the club continues to attract & welcome new members. 

In 2021 the Club celebrated its 75th anniversary and published a book containing a photograph from each of the  members which included many photographs from previous competitions. 

Today the Club holds regular internal competitions and participates in a variety of external competitions throughout the year, and is a regular winner of awards and commendations from the Surrey Photographers Association in their competitions. In 2022 & 2023 the Club represented Surrey in the national competition held by the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain which was a great honour for the club.