The Wratten Company
The Wratten and Wainwright Company was formed in 1877 by Frederick Wratten and Henry Wainwright, barely 40 years after the birth of photography. The company opened a factory in Croydon in 1890 to manufacture and sell photographic supplies. Wratten had invented a new ‘dry’ plate method of producing photographs that was 15 times quicker than the old ‘wet’ plate method.
In 1906, Wratten, incorporated the company with his son and Kenneth Mees as owners.The company continued to innovate, eventually producing the world famous Wratten filters, which are still produced today by Kodak. The company was eventually taken over by Kodak in 1912 with Mees moving to New York to found Eastman Kodak Laboratories. Both Wratten and Mees had a long association with Croydon Camera Club.
The Wratten Lecture
The Wratten Lecture was instigated to commemorate Croydon and Croydon Camera Club’s long and illustrious association with the photographic industry and the contribution they made to the history of photography.
First held in the 1980s, The Wratten Lecture is given approximately every 2 years attracting well known photographers and commentators covering all aspects of photography.
Meeting details
“Croydon Camera Club will be holding its flagship event, The Wratten Lecture, on Wednesday 11th March 2026 at Shirley Methodist Church.
The lecture celebrates the Club’s 136 year history and recognises the connection that the club had with the world famous Wratten filter company. The filters are still available today through Kodak, another firm with close ties to Croydon.”
Remembering Wildlife is the collective name for the series of books created by British wildlife photographer Margot Raggett MBE who was prompted to take action after seeing a poached elephant in Northern Kenya in 2014.
She began asking fellow wildlife photographers if they would contribute to a fundraising book. Their response was unanimous and Remembering Elephants, by ‘Wildlife Photographers United’ was published in September 2016 with images donated by 65 of the world’s top wildlife photographers.
The series has now sold more than 55,000 books and distributed more than £1.23 million GBP / $1.58 million USD to 80 different conservation projects in 34 countries across Africa, North and South America, Asia and Europe.
2026 sees 10 years of the Remembering Wildlife series and Croydon Camera Club is delighted that Margot Raggett is presenting this year’s Wratten Lecture.