Dear SPC Community,
As we wrap up 2024, it’s becoming a tradition to take time to reflect on the highlights of the year and share what lies ahead for 2025. Your enthusiasm and support have driven us to new heights, and for that, we’re deeply grateful.
This year, we reached some record milestones:
- Participants in SPC Classes: 1238
- SPC Academy graduated students: 26
- Photos Exhibited in SPC Awards: 3717 in Switzerland, 4166 in Germany & Austria
- Countries Hosting SPC Events: 3 (Switzerland, Germany, Austria)
- Students average rating: Increased to 4.95 out of 5.0
This year, our theme has been community. To an outsider, photography might look like a lonely hobby. What we discovered is that appreciation for visual arts connects people in a deeper way, improving their lives and their art. This is why our membership program is becoming more and more popular, people meet each other and hang out for a long time during the awards exhibitions and more and more students register to our classes to learn in person effectively instead of watching YouTube videos.
We do our best to follow our mission: Spreading the passion for photography far and wide. Here’s how we’ve grown together in 2024:
SPC Academy
Since its launch in 2020, SPC Academy has grown exponentially. We celebrated 14 students in 2023, and in 2024 we had 26!
This is partly thanks to the new option of “Your Private Academy”, in which the students can finish the program by taking classes in private, at 50% of the time, according to their own availability and learning preferences, for the same price as group classes.
SPC Academy takes a deeper dive into teaching photography, providing comprehensive training in the artistic, technical, and business aspects. We’ve witnessed our students show incredible improvement during career breaks, after retirement, or during evenings attending our Academy classes.
It’s been amazing to see alumni using what they’ve learned to build successful careers—and even networking independently of us! For instance, we recently highlighted two alumni who met through SPC: one exhibited at the other’s gallery in Basel, in an inspiring example of how this community supports and uplifts each other. Read the story here.
Membership
Our SPC membership program has continued to flourish, with long-term friendships forming among those who attend practice workshops regularly. In every city, a core group of members regularly attend our practice workshops, exploring new techniques while bonding over their shared passion. These connections go beyond photography—they’re about shared understanding and mutual encouragement. Seeing this network of photographers thrive reminds us why we do what we do.
Renate Stutz – Dance 3
Awards
This year’s SPC Awards showcased the incredible diversity and talent within our community. Zurich’s exhibition was a standout, becoming the second largest in our history since launching Awards in 2016. We also expanded into Dresden and Vienna, continuing our mission to spotlight talent across Central Europe. These events are more than competitions; they’re celebrations of creativity, community, and inspiration. They’re also fantastic networking opportunities, offering photographers a chance to connect with peers who challenge and inspire them.
What’s Next for 2025
Online Awards
In 2025, we’re exploring the idea of launching SPC Online Awards. This initiative would allow photographers from all over the world to participate and all participants reach a global audience. Imagine the possibilities: connecting with photographers in distant countries, sharing diverse perspectives, and creating a digital exhibition space where creativity knows no bounds.
We still love to see photos in print, so the winners will still be printed and exhibited in the upcoming awards.
Awards Artists’ night:
Photography is about more than just aesthetics. Every photo tells a story. And in 2025, we will make it easier to communicate that story by providing a platform for interested participants to talk about their photos, open-mic style, to an audience of other participating photographers. Communicate your unique artistic vision to a group of people who can get it. We can’t wait to hear from you.
Continuing to deliver the best classes in the industry
We continue to use and improve our “secret sauce” to provide the best photography education in the industry:
- Work with the best photographers
- Work with those who are also highly motivated teachers
- Provide them with high quality teaching materials that we improve every year, so that they can focus on delivery rather than creating slides.
- Keep the class sizes small to allow for individualized attention
Every year we gather the feedback from our teachers and update our teaching slides accordingly. We prioritize practical results over theory, while making sure that the theory we do need to teach is easy to understand and relevant.
Continuing Our International Expansion
Following our successful launches in Dresden and Vienna, we’re excited to bring SPC events to even more cities. Expanding internationally allows us to connect photographers from different cultures and backgrounds, fostering creativity and collaboration on a global scale. So much photographic talent is hidden behind the scenes. We have the skills and experience to help people bring it to life–and we love to create these opportunities for every photographer to enjoy their moment in the spotlight.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Your passion and creativity inspire us every day. As we look ahead, we remain committed to spreading the love of photography, helping you grow your skills, and creating meaningful connections within this vibrant community.
Here’s to another year of creativity and connection in 2025!
Warm regards,
Oguzhan Altun
Founder, Swiss Photo Club
