The Owensboro Photography Club, a community fixture for more than 50 years, is preparing to showcase its annual exhibit inside the Kolok Gallery at Kentucky Wesleyan College’s Ralph Center.
The show opens with a reception and awards presentation at 6:30 p.m. on October 13. The Ralph Center is located at the corner of College Drive and South Griffith Avenue.
This year’s exhibit features 29 photos from seven local photographers, displayed in a uniform black frame, white matte style that club president Eddie Atherton said gives the gallery “a classy and consistent look.” The show will remain open to the public during KWC’s regular hours — 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday — through November 5.
Atherton, who has led the club for approximately a decade, said the group continues to strike a balance between tradition and fresh energy.
“The Owensboro Photography Club has been around for over 50 years,” he said. “We’ve still got some original members like Edna McCrady, our treasurer, who’s been part of it since the beginning. We average about 10 to 12 people at our monthly meetings, and we’ve always got new folks coming in.”
The club meets on the fourth Monday of each month at KWC’s Ralph Center, typically featuring presentations, contests, and outings to local spots like Smothers Park or Reid’s Orchard. During the summer, when classes are out, members take their cameras outdoors for themed photo sessions.
This year’s competition includes two divisions: limited-edit, which allows for simple adjustments such as cropping or converting to black and white, and open-edit, which welcomes more advanced digital work like HDR or focus stacking — with one key rule: no composites.
“We like to keep things realistic,” Atherton said. “We want photos that start from an actual image, not something built out of several.”
Subjects in this year’s entries range from landscapes and architecture to experiments in intentional camera movement, a creative technique members explored together this year.
The club welcomes new members and relies largely on word-of-mouth to grow.
“We’re a small, volunteer-run group on a budget,” Atherton said. “We just want to give people a chance to express themselves, share their work, and keep photography alive in Owensboro.”
Those interested in learning more can visit the group’s Facebook page, Owensboro Photo Club Group, for meeting details and event updates.
