About Us

The Society was formed in 1968 by Arthur Scrase, Chairman of the Ham Photographic Club (now long disbanded). Three ex-servicemen living in at the Royal Star & Garter Home, Richmond had an interest in photography and, although severely disabled, they were able to attend meetings with the help of St. John’s Ambulance staff, who brought them along to the meetings. However, owing to the severity of their disabilities, they were unable to operate conventional cameras.

Another photographic society in the area was the Richmond & Twickenham P.S. who, at times, provided lecturers and judges for the Ham club. One of these lecturers, named Harry Wells, was an engineer, who ran the apprentice programme for C.A.V. Ltd. at Acton, London. Harry offered to try and find a way to adapt a normal camera for disabled use and began work on the project with his apprentices. The camera selected for modification was a Konica C35, a compact film model with auto exposure.

Within a period of about three months, a working prototype was produced. The shutter was fired by an air release which could be held in the hand, or by a suction release which could be operated my mouth. The film wind-on was achieved by a small solenoid-operated electric motor, which was powered by a 12 volt car battery stored under a wheelchair. If the wheelchair was electrically operated itself, the power was taken directly from its power source.

Further developments took place on camera operation and enquiries began to come in from other people with disabilities who wanted to take up photography. So it was that the Society came into being. It was originally called “Photography for the Disabled”, but the name was changed in the late 1970’s to the present one.

In 1988 the founder, Arthur Scrase, died and the Society was restructured with a larger committee. Apart from the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, other posts were created to ensure the continued smooth running of the charity, as technical enquiries, specialist adaptations, supply of darkroom and camera equipment, repairs to equipment donated to the Society and press and public relations.

The society has continually developed over the ensuing years and its members now embrace the latest digital technologies. In some ways the digital revolution has made things easier. But even this has brought with it a new set of problems, such ss equipment cost and the need for some computer skills in order to be fully able to utilise the technology. Little wonder then some members still choose to use film, both print and slide varieties, for many reasons, and they are still catered for within the society competition’s and exhibition.

The technology and fashions may change but the Disabled Photographers’ society founding and overriding principle, of helping the disabled to take up and to continue to enjoy photography, remains unchanged and is a constant challenge.

In common with most societies, clubs and institutions the Disabled Photographers’ Society has a set of rules, or constitution, within which the elected committee runs the society, in the best interests of its members.

The founders of the DPS laid down the original constitution in 1968 and it has been amended several times during the forty-year history of the society.

The first amendment we have a record for was in 1973, when the society was known as “Photography for the disabled”. Changes made included the name of the bank used by the society and the month in which the AGM was to be held. Some more small amendments were made in 1996, by which time the current name for the Society had been adopted.

Late in 2007, it was felt by many that the language used in the Constitution was out dated and that it did not reflect the modern world or the technology that we use in photography today. Accordingly, a review of the constitution was undertaken and some amendments were proposed.

It was also felt that as a society we had expanded and that we now needed to reflect this in our constitution. Unfortunately, things are not that simple in UK law. We had a monumental struggle to change even one or two words in some of the original rules but we finally agreed on some amendments, to existing parts of the constitution with the charity commission. These changes were mainly in the language and terminology used to describe persons with disabilities. We were also able to add some further amplification of the aims and work of the society, to reflect what we actually do today.

The amended constitution was presented to the AGM held in 2022. It was adopted by unanimous vote. Since then, we have looked at a part of the constitution that needed to reflect the modern technology used by most people to communicate and we have now updated that in an amendment presented at the May 2024 AGM, which was again approved unanimously by the members present.

If you wish to download the Constitution please visit our Downloads page.

The DPS relies upon volunteers for 100% of its activities, as we are not allowed, by our constitution, to employ paid staff.

We have a very diverse membership, drawn from all areas of society and we have numerous people within our ranks who have a great variety of skills, in addition to photography. Many of our members already assist the DPS as committee members or as volunteers at various events.

This does not mean that we do not have a need for additional help on a regular or intermittent basis!

We would particularly like to hear from our members, or other interested parties, if they have any of the following skills and if they can volunteer to assist the DPS in the following areas:

Fundraising
To help in developing new ways of raising funds for the DPS and sponsorship of the society.

Financial
Are you numerate and good with finances? Can you help with our accounting procedures and provide management accounts on a regular basis.

Transport
On an occasional basis when required in various locations within the UK.

Any interested parties for any of the above should contact us in the first instance by using the Contact Form on our Contact page.

You can make a big difference, to so many, by helping just a little.

The DPS aims to provide service of a standard acceptable to all our members. If we fail to do this we want to know about it. This will enable us not only to deal with the specific problem, but also to avoid it happening again.

This complaints procedure sets out how to take up matters if you think the service you have received from the DPS is unsatisfactory.

Initially, we would expect members of the society with issues about the operations and service of the DPS to raise their concerns informally through a committee member/the chairman. Details of current committee members/the chairman are available from the contacts page. The committee member/Chairman may take the matter up with the whole committee or with an appropriate officer. The complainant should be given a response within a month, of the complaint being raised.

Additionally, and/or in the event of that informal complaint not being resolved to the satisfaction of the member, a formal complaint can be made in writing to the General Secretary of the society, through the PO Box address, the complaints procedure can be downloaded from our Downloads page:

The Disabled Photographers Society
37 Orchard Close
New Barn
Longfield
Kent
DA3 7JP

In such an event, the General Secretary will convene a sub-committee of three members from the main committee; without vested interest in the complaint. They will consider the matter; taking evidence from all parties and responding to the complaint with their comments and outcomes. Again this would be within a month of the issue being raised.