Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom

[1] Prominent professional photographers present at the first meeting included William England, principal photographer with the London Stereoscopic Company; Richard Keene, who later became a member of The Brotherhood of the Linked Ring and Alfred Seaman who established a large number of studios across the Midlands and North of England.

The leading pictorialist photographer Henry Peach Robinson was an early member and was elected President in 1896.

Many of the founding members were also members of the Royal Photographic Society but sought to establish an organisation with a more informal and sociable purpose- ‘combining the features of a pleasurable outing with photographic mental friction.’[2] Attendance at the first meeting was 48 but grew rapidly over coming years to reach 328 by the 1898 event.

A large hotel was chosen as the convention headquarters and three to four days were devoted to a programme of lectures, outings, exhibitions and dinners.

[4] Twentieth century meetings included:[5] After the First World War interest waned and the PCUK was kept running by an increasingly ageing and declining membership.