The End of Year Trophies: Who do
they honour?
Each year trophies are awarded to the
winners in several categories. Many of these awards are named in
honour of past members who have rendered outstanding service to our
club. The question is often asked “Who were these people?” Here
are brief biographies of some of them. Of others unfortunately we
have little information.
The Ian Bock "Photography is Fun" Trophy – a
Trophy that considers all End of Year competition entries.
This Trophy celebrates the very significant
contributions that Ian Bock has made to the Melbourne Camera Club.
For over 40 years Ian has composed, prepared and exhibited
fantastically creative photographic images. He has
stirred-up the creative juices in many of his fellow members.
This Trophy does not require special entries - it is
judged from all the images (but excluding audiovisuals) submitted to the
MCC End of Year Competitions.
The criteria for selection of a winner:
- the Trophy is for an image in any photographic medium, and
- in the judge's opinion it is consider that;
- the image was fun to compose or capture, and/or
- the final image was fun to develop/process/prepare/present, and/or
- the image is fun to look at.
This Trophy is in two parts:
- the first piece (the brass key) is passed on to the next winner
- the second piece (the brass key tag) the winner keeps as their own.
At the next End of Year Social, when the brass key part is passed on to the next recipient, the previous winner is asked to share their thoughts on what aspect of their photography was fun for them in the previous 12 months – ie what was their “key to photography being fun” – a perpetual gift to all MCC photographers!
The Trophy was first awarded in 2006 to Maggie Smith.
Charles du Rieu
Charles joined the club about 1901 and
was active until the late 1920s. He served as secretary for several
years, was vice-president from 1910 to 1921 and president from 1922
to 1924. He was a club delegate to the Victorian Photographic
Association. Charles was in fact our first democratically elected
president, as from the inception in 1891 it was the custom to invite
the director of the Working Men’s College to accept the position.
Charles spent his working life in
photography, first with T. Baker and Co which became Baker and Rouse,
and finally Kodak (Australasia), where he became the manager of the
photographic mounts department. Not surprisingly he was in demand for
talks on mounting photographs but his main interest was in lantern
slides. When the trophy was instituted in 1931 it was associated with
an essay competition but this was later dropped.
L.P. Mullumby (d. 1960)
Leonard (Len) Mullumby came to
Melbourne from Perth in 1951. He was one of the first to adopt
modernism, the new contemporary style of photography. Always an
individualist, he found himself in conflict with the pictorialists.
Len was a forceful advocate of human interest subjects. It is
believed that he introduced the concept of the flush mounted 16 by 20
inch glossy print which became a hallmark of our club and was adopted
by many exhibitors throughout Australia.
Len was in demand as lecturer and judge
and from its inception was closely associated with the Melbourne
International Exhibition of Photography run by our club. He was an
outstanding amateur who turned professional and he achieved
considerable success both here and overseas. Len was awarded the
distinctions ARPS and AFIAP. He was active in club affairs, being
president in 1959. Len died in tragic circumstances when at the
height of his career.
Grace Lock (1902 – 1995)
Grace took up photography rather late
in life and soon became well-known in exhibition circles. She was a
woman of strong views and a forceful personality. She was a tireless
advocate for amateur photography in the Australian Photographic
Society, the Royal Photographic Society and the Leica Society as well
as in our own club. For many years she was the custodian of the APS
permanent collection of prints which she built up to be one of the
most important collections in the country. She was active in club
affairs and was president in 1964
Grace became one of the most highly
honoured Australian photographers. Included in her many awards were
the prestigious Honorary FRPS, EFIAP, ESFIAP, and the APS
Commonwealth Medal. She was awarded the British Empire Medal for
services to photography.
Edward (Ted)
Rotherham (1923 – 2009)
Ted was trained as
an industrial chemist but after serving in the AIF he turned to
teaching. His several years as a country teacher gave him a love of
nature and bushwalking. He took up photography as a hobby and this
led him to take a position as lecturer with the photography
department of RMIT where he worked until retirement in 1983. Ted
specialized in natural history photography and was a member of the
Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. He was the photographer and
co-author of definitive books on Australian Flora including Flowers
and Plants of Victoria, Flowers and Plants of NSW and Southern
Queensland and Orchids of Australia. Another of Ted’s
special interests was the photography of reptiles. For his folio of
photographs of Australian snakes he was awarded the prestigious
Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society.
Ted joined the Club
in 1950. He was also a member of the Melbourne Camera Circle. His
nature photographs were exhibited widely both in Australia and
overseas, winning him many awards. As a nature judge Ted was in
demand for club, national and international exhibitions. In addition
to FRPS his photographic honours included EFIAP and APSA. Ted served
for several years on our Club Council and was President in 1958.
Crosbie Morrison (1900 – 1958)
Philip Crosbie Morrision had a lifelong
interest in natural history and a passionate concern for the
environment and the preservation of National Parks that was ahead of
its time. After post-graduate work on the Great Barrier Reef for a
Master of Science degree he took a job with The Argus
newspaper covering a variety of fields including parliament, sport,
music and even shipping news. With a style described as ‘crisp
exactitude’ his polished prose was a model of clarity and
precision. His position as a writer on a daily newspaper gave him the
opportunity to publish articles on his favourite topic. As the author
of hundreds of natural history articles he became well-known and
highly respected. In 1930 he married Lucy Washington, a niece and
assistant to professional photographer and club member Ruth Hollick.
Wide knowledge coupled with warmth,
passion and an engaging speaking voice made him a popular speaker and
radio broadcaster. He was an excellent photographer and an enthusiast
for 35mm at a time when professionals regarded the miniature camera
as little more than a toy. He became a skilful cinematographer and
was in demand for public lectures illustrated with his 16mm
Kodachrome films.
In 1938 he left The Argus to
found and edit the magazine Wildlife, which, although highly
regarded, was never a financial success. After it ceased publication
in 1954 he returned to journalism.
It seems that Crosbie Morrison was
never a member of the Club. He was, however, a good friend, always
happy to give talks and to judge the nature sections of club,
national and international exhibitions.
Norton Hobson (1923 – 1998)
Norton served in the RAAF during WW2 as
a radar technician and on return to civilian life he attained the
degree of Master of Science (zoology and biology) and the Diploma of
Education. He joined the staff of Melbourne High School in 1957
eventually becoming head of the science department.
Norton joined the Melbourne Camera Club
in 1961. He served on Council for several years and was President in
1964, 1966 and 1972. Norton was heavily involved in the running of
the club. While president he was responsible for the organization of
two of the Melbourne International Exhibitions and of the move from
the Queen Street premises to Lygon Street. Norton was a brilliant
teacher. He loved a good argument, drawing on his vast knowledge of
science and the arts to support his case. Over many years his
lectures in the Introduction to Photography Course were models of
clarity and precision. His technical knowledge, practical experience
and teaching skills combined with a deep knowledge of photographic
art made him an outstanding judge.
(To be continued)
Alan Elliott , Hon.
Archivist.
The Queenie Gatt Trophy
The Queenie Gatt Trophy is a perpetual trophy that is being awarded by Edgar Gatt in memory of his late wife Queenie Gatt. It is intended to honour MCC members for their non-photographic work in support of the Club.
The procedure for choosing who to award the trophy to is as follows:
- The Board calls for nominations
- Any Club member can put forward a nomination to the Board
- After the close of nominations, each Board member informs the President who their chosen candidate is
- The President counts the votes and informs the Gatt family of the Board's choice
- The Gatt family has the last call on who to give the award to, but usually follows the choice of the Board
- A plaque with the name of the winner and the year of the award is then made and attached to the trophy
The award winner receives the trophy, to be returned in time for the next trophy holder to receive it, and a medal, which is for him/her to keep.
See below some images of the trophy with a list of the trophy holders since its inauguration, kindly provided by John Spring, Queenie Gatt Trophy winner 2010.
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