RIP AIPP – 1944-2021

Australia’s sole remaining body representing professional photographers has been placed in voluntary administration and ceased operations, citing a dramatic drop in income – primarily due to the loss of members as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns – as the main reason. Announcing the closure (with immediate effect) on 11 November, the Australian Institute Of Professional Photography stated, “The AIPP had been in a slow decline for more than a decade. The current AIPP Board had significant plans and initiatives to reverse this decline, reinvigorate the AIPP for a new generation of imagemakers, and align itself better with the arts industries. However, the pandemic has made it impossible to implement these changes”.

According to the AIPP, over the last 20 months more than 700 members had cancelled their memberships as a result of the loss of income caused by lockdowns around the country (which significantly impacted events such as weddings and other social gatherings). The pandemic accelerated a downward trend in membership that had been happening over the last five years. However, the AIPP also cites “a general reluctance to participate in events” as another factor in its demise. It also noted with surprising candour, “The AIPP has struggled to define a solid value proposition to attract new members and retain current members. For many, the AIPP is no longer relevant to their needs as an image maker. Many benefits and programs AIPP offer have been re-modelled and privatised by third parties. Where once AIPP was many things to many people, today people have found new, modern ways to seek what they need”.

The closure of the AIPP also ends the annual Australian Professional Photography Awards (last run in 2019) and the program of State Print Awards run by the various state divisions around the country. The Institute’s system of accrediting professional photographers also ceases and the ‘AIPP Accredited Professional Photographer' logo can no longer be used in anything other than an historical context. While the AIPP itself quotes 1944 as the year in which it was established, its roots can be traced back a lot earlier to 1930 and the creation of the Professional Photographers’ Association of Victoria that, 10 years later, was renamed the Institute of Victorian Photographers (IVP). The first national body – called the Professional Photographers’ Association of Australia – brought together the various state organisations in March

1944 and held its first conference in 1945 in Sydney. In 1963, the PPAofA president, Claude McCarthy OAM, proposed a name change to the Institute Of Australian Photographers (IAP), primarily in recognition of the importance of the word ‘Institute’. Established in July 1963, the IAP comprised the state divisions of NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The ACT division was created in July 1966 and the Tasmanian division in January 1973. In 1971, the name was changed to the Institute Of Australian Photography, the word 'photography' being considered more inclusive. In 1990, the association finally became known as the Australian Institute of Professional Photography. It subsequently outlived both the Professional Photographers Association Of Australia (actually a later organisation established in 1969 using the old PPA name) and the Society Of Advertising Commercial And Magazine Photographers (ACMP, subsequently standing for Australian Commercial & Media Photographers), which it absorbed in May 2015.