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• Issue #123
• Article

At a special meeting of the board of directors of the Daguerreian Society on February 7th, the board made a number of key decisions to insure the long-term viability of this organization, one of the longest running and most important photography-oriented non-profit societies in the U.S.

The society cut its Pittsburgh museum from its budget, accepted the resignation of its current president Mark Johnson, who will remain a board member, elected Matt Isenburg as interim president until a new president is selected, built a stronger committee system, and appealed for more volunteer support from its members.

The board also restated and updated its mission statement. The statement is as follows: "The Daguerreian Society is a non-profit organization of individuals and institutions dedicated to advancing an understanding and appreciation of the art, history, collection and practice of the daguerreotype, as well as other photographic processes as they relate to the daguerreotype, through the holding of an Annual Symposium, the publication of the Daguerreian Annual (Official Yearbook of the Daguerreian Society), Newsletters for its members, and by maintaining a Website."

With these changes, the organization has closed its financial budget gap, focused on its core membership benefits and strengthened the structure of the organization.

I have personally been a long-time member of the Daguerreian Society and can highly recommend its publications and conferences. Membership is a must for any museum or institution which deals with photography in any way (it deals with both contemporary and historical issues), for any photographer working with or considering alternative processes, such as daguerreotypes, and for any individual who is collecting photography.

You can join by contacting the society's office manager Diane Filippi at DagSocPgh@comcast.net or by calling her at 1-412-343-5525. She is usually in the office on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. For an application and costs of membership, just go to: http://www.daguerre.org/society/applic.html .

The society's home page can be found at http://www.daguerre.org . Member and photography dealer Christopher Wahren heads up the website committee and has done a great job on bringing the website up to date as a major resource.

Details about the upcoming conference in Kansas City in November can also be found on the society website and in the I Photo Central online calendar.