Camera Club Bulletin

Alpha Camera Club:
Making Dreams Work through Teamwork-
Text by Lara Grace Sureta–

In 1986, a group of photo-enthusiasts gathered at Fuji-YKL on Hidalgo Street, Quiapo in Manila to share informal discussions and valuable inputs regarding photography. It was the group’s distinctive love and passion for photography that drew them close together and came up with an idea to establish a camera club. Ka Tony Raval and Ka Lito Beltran, two of the club’s pioneers, including other hobbyists initially named the group “Palpak Camera Club” for most of the shoots they took then were rejects. But through the intervention of Joe Sarmiento (board of director, Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation or FPPF), who suggested that the name be changed as it might have a negative connotation later on when the group would become successful in the craft, it was later renamed Alpha Camera Club.

The Association of Lovers of Photography and Arts, or simply Aplha, has become the group’s nestling ground which helped each member nurture deep interests in photography.

Club members started their adventures early on where most of the events they loved to do were photojournalistic in nature. This explained how lucky and blessed the group was when they covered the EDSA Revolution – the country’s peak of democratic liberation. Travel shoots, of course, were still a vital part of their booming craft.

Alpha at one time thrived significantly when its members reached a maximum of ninety in the mid-‘80s. Though its membership waned into a smaller group in the late ‘80s, the club stood firm, keeping the love of photography unceasing. In 1987, Alpha was already a member of the Association of Philippine Camera Clubs, FPPF’s organizational arm. To date, the team is actively affiliated with FPPF.

Alpha Camera Club’s labor of love was fruitfully rewarded in the years 1995, 1996, and 1997 – taking home the Photoworld Cup Championship title, a three-peat recognition in Photoworld. In 2008, climbing its way up 11 years later, the organization was awarded as First Runner Up in the Photoworld Cup. And in 2009, Alpha made it to the top by achieving the Camera Club of the Year Award. This holds true to the club’s motto: “Teamwork makes the dream work.” Moreover, five of its members were recognized as among the Top 10 Photographers of the Year.

The club successfully mounted its first photo exhibit dubbed as “Exhibit One” at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2000. It was followed by a major exhibit, “Nostalgia: Laguna, Images of the Past, Captured at the Present,” which showcased photographs rendered in monochrome held at The Alcove, Filipino Heritage Library for the entire month of April 2004. In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Alpha launched its third photo exhibit (”Celebrating Twenty”) in June 2006 at the local grounds of Fort Santiago Chamber. The club also presented “Byaheng Norte” held at the Fort Santiago Chamber in June 2008.