Commons:Commons Photographers User Group/Annual Report for 2021

The year 2021 started with Your most memorable shot 2020 with a record turnout of 40 photographers from all over the world. We adjusted the event’s name (formerly: Your best shot) to reflect the fact that this annual event is about photos that are less focused on technical aspects than on how memorable the moment was when they were captured. Image subjects ranged from Nigerian horsemen dressed in Hausa traditional cloths to an ice dancer lighting the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Switzerland. Most of the contributions, though, highlighted how much members of our group had been affected by the global the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, group members continued to gather online in Zoom video calls. Purpose of those virtual meetings is to get to know each other better, to strengthen the sense of community among user group members, to share photography skills and insights with each other, and to provide room for discussions. During our meeting in March, we hosted Ben Horne as our first external guest. Ben is maybe one of best known contemporary large format photographers in the United States. On his excursions to national parks, he shoots 8×10 film and talks about his adventures on his YouTube channel which has attracted more than 48,000 followers so far. He is YouTube's first, and longest active landscape photography vlogger. At our Zoom meeting, Ben talked about large format wilderness photography, followed by a question-and-answer session (click here for a recording of the session). Our October meeting featured user group member Ermell, who talked about the story behind some of his images. This type of presentation has been traditionally been very popular and we all enjoyed Ermell’s presentation.

Also in 2021, we improved our membership list. The updated list now also contains information about whether our group’s members are available as jurors for photo contests.

And finally, at the end of the year, our members elected the group’s first board:

• Ailura, Chair
• Suyash Dwivedi, Vice Chair
• Frank Schulenburg, Secretary
• Filipinayzd, Treasurer
• Kwameghana, Membership Coordinator
• Shreya Bhopal, Events Coordinator
• Wilsn Oluoha, Events Coordinator

Between January and end of December 2021, 22 new members joined our group.