Jane Hall Black ARPS, FPSA, Hon PAGB,
Hon Life Vice President of the NCPF

Jane joined Tynemouth PS in 1959 and had been an active member of that society to date.    She was its General Secretary from 1962 until 1968 and in recognition of her work for the society she was made a Life Member of the Club in 2003.

She was also a member of Sunderland PA, Circle 36 of the UPP, the PSA and a Life Member of the RPS (Royal Photographic Society).

Round about 1988 she took over as Regional Organiser for the North East Region (now the Northern Region) of the RPS, a post that she held until 2016. During that time she organised monthly events for RPS members and overseas photographic holidays for RPS members in the Northern Region. In November of 2003, at its AGM, she was elected to the Council of the RPS a post she held for a number of years. RPS recognised her by awarding her the prestigious Fenton Medal.

Alongside all of this, Jane was a member of the NCPF Executive continuously from her original election in 1965.    From 1967 until 1971 she held the post of Competition Secretary for the NCPF, relinquishing it to become Vice President in November 1971.  Between 1971 and 1980 she served in that post, then as President from 1976 to 1978, followed by a final two years as Immediate Past President.

In 1978 she was appointed by the NCPF as its Representative to the PAGB Executive, a post she held continuously until 2000.

In 1979, when the Stockton International Slide Exhibition ceased to function, she was instrumental in persuading the NCPF to take it on and out of this was born the Northern Counties International Slide Exhibition.    She was appointed Chairman of the International Exhibition Sub-Committee in 1979 at its inception and held that post continuously for 40 years until failing health force her to relinquish the roll 2018.

In addition to the above roles she was a member of the following NCPF Sub-committees:

The Social Sub-committee,
the Judges’ Sub-Committee
and the Centenary Sub-committee,
plus a number of adhoc sub-committees
and was also the Chairman of the Overseas Lecturers Sub-Committee.

She had been an active member of the Federation Lecture List since about 1965 and of the Federation Judges List since 1970.

As a member of the PSA (Photographic Society of America) for many years she contributed to the PSA Journal on a number of occasions and was awarded a Bronze medal for those literary efforts. In addition, in 2003 the PSA recognised her contribution to photography by awarding her the APSA award.

As mentioned previously, she joined the PAGB (Photographic Alliance of Great Britain) Executive as the Regional Representative in 1978 and held that post continuously until she stood down in 2000 following her appointment as Vice-President.   Between 2001 and 2003 she was the PAGB President, and Immediate Past President from 2003 to 2005.

During her period with the PAGB she held the post of Competitions Administration Officer continuously from 1993 until 2001.    She was also a member of the following Sub-committees:

Awards for Exceptional Services (Hon PAGB)
Awards for Photographic Merit (a member of this sub-committee when the rules were devised)
Colour Slide Championships (at Warwick)
Delegate to RPS Council
Finance Sub-Committee
Judges Selection Sub-Committee
Patronage Services
Scoring Machine Hire Service

Jane was also a member of the PAGB Judges List from 1995.

In 2017 she was awarded an Honorary Life Vice Presidency of the NCPF. This award had only been given out once before, to Stan Bewick.

In 2004 the PAGB awarded her their highest award for service, the J S Lancaster Medal (HonPAGB).

Jane was a formidable person, with tremendous organisational skills and she deployed them in the interests of organised photography in an untiring manner for over forty years. 

Apart from all of the administrational work she undertook, she was also a very good photographer.

Jane died peacefully on 4^th December 2024 in the nursing home she had resided in since 2022.