WPS was founded in 1888 with rooms at the Blind Institute, 17A Victoria Street housing the first Members Exhibition in 1891. By now the boundary between photography and graphic design was becoming increasingly blurred. It is interesting to reflect upon one of the rules of entry which stated: "No retouching other than spotting of the print shall be allowed in the enlargement class and a print from the original negative must accompany the exhibit.

In 1892 the Members Exhibition was held at the Art Gallery with 270 prints hung from an entry of 542 from 17 workers. Many of these would have been contact prints from ½ plate or above. A popular ½ plate camera with one slide, lens, and stand cost 84 shillings and a suitable enlarger complete with paraffin lamp cost about the same.

In 1898, due to lack of support, meetings were held at member's homes but in 1900 WPS was reformed at a public meeting attended by 100 people. From this time meetings were held at several locations. The School of Art in Darlington Street, Miss Blizzard's School in Compton Road (now part of the Eye Infirmary), The Blue Coat School in North Street and then, in 1908, to Eagle House in Darlington Street, the attic of which was to serve as headquarters until 1953.

Meetings continued with difficulty through 1914 -18. It was 1922 before a long period of stability began. Open exhibitions were held at the Art Gallery from 1930 to 1934 and again in 1936. In 1935 the Midland Salon was staged jointly with the MCPF. In March 1940, with the advent of WW2, all public meetings of WPS were discontinued. They were restarted in November 1943. Some continuity was preserved during that period by a number of members maintaining their subscriptions and the sum of £1 per annum retaining the rooms. December 1944 saw the staging of an Open Exhibition at the Art Gallery with Hugo van Wadenoyen (an old friend and one time member) as the sole judge. This brought a great deal of publicity to WPS and dismay to some well known establishment figures experiencing rejection for the first time in their 'senior lives'.

1945 saw the creation of the 'Combined Societies' with the Bristol, Hereford and Wolverhampton Societies joining to run annually an International Exhibition with an outlook 'in keeping with the times'. Judges for 1945 were Helmut Gernsheim, E.O.Hoppe and Hugo van Wadenoyen. Acceptance required the vote of one judge only. By 1947 the 'CS' had outgrown its roots and became a travelling exhibition, which visited over 20 galleries in the UK and others in North & South America and Europe.

The immediate post war years saw a boom in interest with some meetings held in public halls drawing audiences of 150. In 1949 the WPS staged the world premier of an exhibition of prints by Ferenc Berko at the Art Gallery together with ten panels from Midland Societies.

With rising costs and falling membership, the 'Friday Nighters' course was introduced in 1951. These comprised of a series of basic lectures by members aimed at beginners. The success of this activity secured the immediate future of the WPS and continued for a number of years.

During 1955, WPS began a photographic survey of Wolverhampton at the request of the then Chief Librarian. Thus adding to records produced by the Society between the wars. 1955 also saw WPS actively involved over the next few years in the organisation of a series of weekend courses at Attingham Hall, Shrewsbury. Lecturers included names such as Gernsheim, Wadenoyen, Chipman, Lewinsky, Pollock, and Peto etc. Other courses were later staged at the more local Pendrell Hall.

These were nomadic times for WPS. Eagle House had become too expensive and a subsequent series of venues proved unsatisfactory. With them the fortunes of the WPS slumped to the point where a small group of members dug deep in their pockets to secure the immediate future. A merger with the Wolverhampton Camera Club in 1978 saw an improvement, but it was not until 1984, with a move to the Merry Hill Public House, that signs of stability returned, with this venue proving popular. A scheduled re-development at the Merry Hill pub in October 2004 forced a move to the Albert Lawn Tennis Club in Aldersley Raod. However this venue has now turned out to be one of the Societies most successful moves with the Tennis Club offering excellent facilities and a warm welcome. .

Our Centenary in 1988 was marked by a series of public events and a retrospective Members Exhibition at the Art Gallery. This exhibition included a loan panel from the Royal Photographic Society of the work of Oscar Rejlander, "The father of art photography". He had occupied a studio in Darlington Street from 1846 to 1868. A Civic Society Plaque funded by WPS marks the approximate site of his studio.

Now we are well into the 21st century things are continuing to go very well for WPS. Membership and enthusiasm are been maintained. Contact with a local college that provides darkroom facilities is proving very popular. At least half of our members are now embracing digital imaging and are creating some truly stunning pictures. We have now responded to this trend by forming our own digital group, which is growing from strength to strength.

In 2003 the Society wanted to persue the latest technology in photography - Digital Imaging. At least 50% of our members were producing prints digitally and some of the more adventurous members were beginning to experiment with Digital AVs. To enable the Society to keep at the cutting edge of this new technology we applied for a grant from the "Awards For All" section of the National Lottery fund. We were successful and the grant enabled us to buy the latest laptop computer, a first class digital projector and associated software. This allowed us to stage a number of purely digital evenings and also, most interestingly, an AV evening using both traditional and digital methods of producing AVs working side by side.

However we must also be very mindful that in this "spend and technology driven age" that we live in it is very important not to overlook the fact that most beginners initially come along simply in order to learn how to take better pictures and that if they are not provided with a "shallow end" to put their toe in they will stay at home. The learning of any subject, if approached correctly, never ends and what ever your photographic goals may be Wolverhampton Photographic Society can help you achieve them.