Sycamore Public Library Photography Club

I decided to start the Photography Club at the library for personal reasons. I love photography. I love taking photographs and looking at them. I was disenchanted though. The fun of taking pictures only goes so far. I get bored in the digital darkroom and not really having any purpose for my work, I spent more time procrastinating than photographing.

After a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico with National Geographic on a photography expedition, my love of photography was reignited, but I still needed a way to keep myself motivated. I thought that it would be fun to be a part of a photography club, but discovered that there was no such thing in Sycamore or DeKalb area. For a year, I thought about starting my own club. Out of fear that I would be alone at the meeting and because I wasn't sure that I wanted to be in charge of creating and keeping a club going, I did not move on the idea.


In November, I attended a program for libraries about reinventing, re-imagining, and re-allocating libraries. The presenter talked about how many libraries have really changed who they are and what they do to meet the demands and needs of their communities. One example she shared was about a librarian who loved to do digital touch-up work of old photographs. He started sharing his knowledge with patrons who wanted to learn what he knew, and turned his hobby into a popular library program. This stuck with me and then that Nike saying got into my head. "Just Do It!, Just Do IT!, JUST DO IT!"


So, I did it. I picked a date, reserved the meeting room and created a poster. Then I waited. I got some questions and I had hope that 10 - 20 people would be at the first meeting with me. To my surprise, by the time people stopped coming through the meeting room doors, we had 52 people in the room. At that first meeting we only had time to introduce ourselves and make a few decisions about the future of the club.

The Midweek and the Northern Star both took an interest in this new club, and we got great press. I continue to get phone calls and emails from interested photographers.

Our second meeting will be held tonight in the big meeting room. We will spend most of our time sharing our current work and a little time continuing to narrow down what this Club is to become. For now, the plan is to meet the first and third Wednesday of every month. We will spend the first few meetings sharing our work and developing the club and see where it all goes. At each meeting we will have an assignment as a get out and do photography motivator. In the future, we will have programs to learn more about the digital darkroom, styles of photography, and ways to use our cameras. We hope to have occasional field trips/outings.

By the way, the library has many great books on photography. I have read a couple of the newest books. The reviews of those books can be found on our Review Blog. You will find reviews of all kinds of stuff including music, movies and books for all ages. You are welcome to write reviews of the materials you read, watch, and listen to as well. It's just one more cool way we can connect with you.