The Limerick Camera Club has been in operation for 75 years, first founded in 1943 as a social gathering for photography enthusiasts in the city.
The Club’s Vice Chairman Dominic Moloney said that they were more than a mere club owing to the diversity of members.
“We have people from all walks of life – we have professionals, skilled photographers, semi-skilled photographers, employed, unemployed, retired people, and of course cross-gender, male, female, and everything else.”
He added that it also acted as a place for people to socialise and to express their creative talents.
“The club gives people the chance to perhaps do something artsy, they might not have the skills for painting, but they can improve their skills through photography.”
The club also has an archive of historical photographs taken by their members, including shots of Limerick from the last century which may not have otherwise been documented.
George Spillane, one of the founding members, heavily photographed the city, creating a documentation of the city changing through the previous decades.
The Club’s longest-serving member Adrian Kelly explained that tangible photographs are forever, and the new age of digital photography may not be the best way to preserve memories.
“We have seen computers go down and photographs vanish into thin air. Like all things digital, they can vanish in the morning.”
He said that he hoped that the club would be able to maintain the records that they have right now in the coming future, especially since the digital process is so well integrated with the younger generation.
“I think people have almost stopped keeping hard copies of their pictures and that is a shame because they are the ones that will last.”
The Limerick Camera Club meets every Wednesday night from 8 PM to around 10 PM at Mary Immaculate College.
