Rail The Photographic Artistry of Rail Cameramen: A Tribute to the work of members of the Rail Camera Club

The Rail Camera Club had its origins in the prestigious Railway Photographic Club which Maurice W. Earley formed in 1922 and which continued until 1976 when `MWE', its Secretary throughout its 54 years, decided to `retire'. Membership of the RPS was by invitation only and over the years virtually all of the top photographers were members. As a result of the circulation of `Boxes' of prints for fellow members to see and comment on, the standard of railway photography improved significantly. In 1980, Stephen Crook, the respected Carlisle-based photographer, decided that the RPS should be resurrected under the guise of the Rail Camera Club. Several ex-RPS members were interested and once again `Boxes' of pictures of railway subjects began circulating. Although the age of digital photography really took off from the mid-1970s RCC members favoured the opportunity of taking time to examine and comment on colleagues' prints in detail and two Folio Boxes, packed with pictures, were circulated about six months apart, a practice that still continues. The lOOth RCC Folio began circulating in the autumn of 2017 and hence the opportunity has been taken of producing this `Commemorative' book; it features work from virtually all the photographers who have contributed to the Folios over those 38 years. The National Railway Museum has also commemorated this milestone by hosting an exhibition, `Rail Cameramen', at Locomotive Shildon for several weeks in 2018 featuring many of the images contained in this book. Although until the 1960s many photographers concentrated on `traditional' front % views taken on sunny days several RPS and RCC practitioners assumed rather more adventurous styles and various approaches are included here.