Text from a newspaper article
A constitution lost
By Anne-Marie Willis
11 - 17 May 1978 Nation Review
THE Australian Centre for Photography with its trendy Paddington location, its renovated chocolate brown exterior and its exclusive magnetic walls is one of the world's most elegant venues for hanging photographs.
Half the money it is given by the Visual Arts board to promote photography in Australia is spent on renting Sydney premises. The reason the centre is located in such a fashionable and expensive suburb is because its major, if not sole, concern since its inception in 1974 has been the establishment of photography as a high art form: the Australian Centre for Photography has certainly made the Paddington art gallery set .aware of photography, if no one else.
At its recent annual general meeting, questions were raised about the narrow range of photographic activities in which the centre is involved. The meeting, which was held to elect an executive committee and amend the constitution, was poorly attended with only 14 members, four of whom were staff, being present. This was hardly surprising considering that the meeting was held at five thirty on a Wednesday afternoon.
Such a time would not encourage interstate members to attend, and gave local members a bare half hour after finishing work to rush to the centre and participate. Several prominent members who had late afternoon teaching commitments and wished to support dissenting motions, were unable to attend.
After the director's report had been read a member, Wayne Hooper, asked if the centre dispersed any of its funds outside Sydney, how it was fostering and encouraging research, whether it was collecting photographs and what moves had been made to establish a library and publish a journal - all of which are activities mentioned in the centre's articles of association.
Although director Christine Godden replied that the centre was involved in all these areas to some extent, it is clear that the centre's ideal of fine prints in aluminium frames is pursued at the expense of other activities.
A library has been planned since the original proposal for a photographic centre was written in 1973. A few thousand dollars (out of an annual grant of $39,000) spent on a library of photographic books would be a more efficient way of increasing public-knowledge about photography than ten exhibitions per year.
No register of photographic research currently being done in Australia exists. Surely establishing such a register should be a prime function of an Australian Centre for Photography?
John Williams, a former ACP executive committee member, recently expressed his dissatisfaction with the centre, asking: "Is it viable or even relevant in 1978 to just hang photographs on walls?" He believes that the centre should be more involved in research and publishing, so that it becomes a resource centre, not just a gallery. "Does the fact that the centre hangs photographs discourage other Sydney galleries from exhibiting photos?" he added.
This is an interesting point when one considers that Melbourne — which has no government funded photographic centre — supports at least three commercial photography galleries and is acknowledged by many as the photography capital of Australia.
A total national membership of 64 could be an indicator of the lack of relevance of the Australian Centre for Photography to the australian photographic community. By contrast, last October, 150 photographers, teachers, curators, librarians and students attended a conference on photography as an art form and communication medium, which was organised not by the centre, but by Sydney University.
To become a voting member of the centre costs only $25 per year, yet people paid $35 plus transport and accommodation costs to attend this photography conference.
Even these 64 members are not given sufficient opportunity to participate in the running of the Australian Centre for Photography. The notice of this year's annual general meeting concluded by saying "your attendance and participation are encouraged".
However, this was not to be. Very little time was allowed for members to nominate for the executive committee. Nominations were required to be lodged with the secretary 14 days before the annual general meeting, yet the notice ol meeting was posted to members a mere 17 days beforehand.
Section 21 of the centre's articles of association stales that any member must give 21 days notice of any resolution intended to to be moved at a general meeting. The late posting din't encourage participation.
Proxy forms wen- sent in members who could not attend. But these would be of little use in voting for the committee as there was little lime before the meeting to inform members ol who had been nominated for the committee.
Wayne Hooper, from Sydney University, also drew attention to section 68 of the Centre's articles of association which required that a balance sheet he sent to ever member. This had not been done. Instead members were merely invited to study the balance sheet at the meeting.
Hooper complained that as a member he had never received a copy ol the Australian Centre for Photography's constitution. This made the bald statement contained in the notice of meeting "that the articles of association of the company be altered by deleting in line two of article 52 the word six and substituting in lieu thereof the word four" seem rather meaningless. The chairman hastily apologised and belatedly handed him a copy of the articles of association.
As the ACP is meant to be a national organisation, Hooper also suggested that it should have surveyed its members regarding a suitable time and place (not necessarily Sydney) for its meeting. Six weeks notice should have been given to allow members to place items on the agenda, to nominate and to allow for the circulation of nominees names and policy statements. Then a postal ballot should have been held to elect the committee.
He wanted an extraordinary general meeting to be held in several months time to elect the committee and amend the constitution. This would allow time for preparations to ensure maximum participation of local and interstate members.
No one seconded his motion to open debate on the subject. Ai! Mr Hooper's criticisms were met with silence. The meeting continued and, not surprisingly, last year's executive committee was reelected unopposed.
At last year's annual general meeting the quorum was reduced from 20 to five members. And the New South Wales bias of this national organisation is confirmed in section 37b which states that no more than three of a possible ten ordinary members of the executive shall be resident outside New South Wales.
At one point in the meeting the chairman acknowledged that "in Melbourne we are known as the Sydney Centre for Photography and in Hunters Hill as the Paddington Centre for Photography". What was intended as an Australian Centre for Photography (and which receives two thirds of Visual Arts board money spent on photography to be so), has become the Sydney photography gallery.