After desperately struggling to keep its doors open, famed New York punk-rock institution, CBGB’s, said goodbye last week after 32 years.  Its closing has furthered a continuing debate that New York City is rapidly losing its history.  Now, this question of how to stay vital without going broke is facing one of New York’s best-kept secrets - the Camera Club of New York.  

One of the last matured New York institutions, the club was founded in 1884 by Alfred Stieglitz and a group of gentlemen photography enthusiasts who sought refuge from the mass popularization of the medium in the 1880s, and wished to promote photography as nothing less than high art. A November 20^th auction of its archive will raise money for a new space when their lease is up next June. 

The club has been a launching pad for photographers who would later become giants in their field. Paul Strand joined the club at 17 and was introduced to the camera with the right-angle finder to allow him to photograph people unaware.  Strand used the camera to produce some of his most memorable images on the streets of New York, including blind women and his famous Wall Street series.  Stieglitz used the club as a forum to convince a still skeptical public that photography was an art form worthy of comparison to painting.  X-ray photography was introduced there in 1898, as was the autochrome process.  An early form of color photography was demonstrated there in 1909, and in the 1930s, the new Leica camera was introduced to an invitation-only salon.  Man Ray exhibited at the club, and Richard Avedon lectured on fashion photography in 1949.

Today the club offers 6 dark rooms, a shooting studio, lecture series, workshops, and a residency program.  Club president Caren Rosenblatt says, “We would like it to be a vital place for young photographers.  The unique thing about this place is that you have people who are amateurs as well as professionals.  It’s a place where it all comes together.  Photography can be such a lonely thing.  You’re shooting by yourself and printing by yourself.  It’s nice to have a community.”  The club has been at its current space, near Union Square, since the 1980s, and keeps its traditionalist feel with developing tanks, drying racks, fixer tanks, and old high-school lockers. Ideally, the club would like to have digital capabilities while remaining faithful to the art of printing. 

“Radio didn’t become extinct.  It’s a question of the medium and how you want to express yourself.  We will never compete with commercial labs, but our aim is to nurture the art of photography,” says Rosenblatt.  The informality of the space and low membership fees makes the club a rarity.  Recent SVA lecturers have included club members like Albert Watson, Peter Beard, Mick Rock, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Max Vadukul and Duane Michals.  “It’s incredible how many people have come through here.  A lot of people made their first portfolios in there.” says photographer Barbara Nitke.  Nitke, whose most recent book of photographs is called A Kiss of Fire: A Romantic View of Sadomasochism, has been a member since 1989 and served as president for four years. She still prints at the club.   “It’s open 24 hours every day of the year. I’m a late-night person and it’s amazing how many people you run into there at 1 or 2 in the morning.”

~Sara Costello

See It:

The Camera Club of New York's Auction will be held at Daniel Cooney Fine Art, 511 West 25th Street, Suite 506, November 20th, 7pm-9pm, a href="http://www.danielcooneyfineart.com">danielcooneyfineart.com

To preview works that will be auctioned, and to bid early, go to cameraclubny.org/auction

For more on the New York Camera Club, check out cameraclubofnewyork.org

1st & 2nd Photo Azikwe Mohammed
3rd Photo Juliana Beasley
4th Photo Randy Weinstein
5th Photo Stephen Schuster
6th Photo Ghada Kunji
7th Photo Stacey Mehrfar
8th Photo Martine Fougeron

Photos include those by winners of the Camera Club of New York's 2006 National Juried Photo Competition and CCNY members.