Photography became a popular hobby and vocation after the 1880s. This was in part due to dry photographic plates and emulsions on gelatin sheets.
The west coast centers of photography in the late 1800s and early 1900s were located in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The 1920s and 1930s saw photographic clubs blossom in the outer reaches of these urban centers; and this was certainly true of San Diego, California.
The first San Diego Camera Club was founded in 1892, the second iteration of the San Diego Camera Club was formed in 1900. The photographer Harold A. Taylor founded the San Diego YMCA Camera Club in 1920. He also urged the formation of the Camera Enthusiasts in 1927. This was the first camera club in Balboa Park and the direct ancestor club of today's Southern California Association of Camera Clubs.
This blog is one of several repositories of ongoing research. Our team will discover and examine photographers and camera clubs which have met in San Diego and Balboa Park. This team will include members of the various clubs under the auspices of the Southern California Association of Camera Clubs.
