SPS Member: 1973 to 2020
Elected to Hall of Fame in 2021
Rich Novak joined our club in 1973 and was a member of the Springfield Photographic Society for 47 years. But the number of years does not begin to account for his contributions to our club. Rich served as president of the SPS for more years than anyone in its 85-year history: 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 … a total of seven terms.
Back in the 1980’s, Rich led the Springfield International Salon along with Harry Ahern, Paul Deegan and others. This was a slide exhibition with entries from all over the United States and beyond. It was a high-level event requiring professional management and attention to detail … two requirements capably met by Rich, Harry, and Paul.
What is most noteworthy about Rich‘s contributions is that they were made at a high level, in so many ways, for such a long period of time. Rich was the editor of the Exposures newsletter for over 20 years. He began doing that while also serving as club president. Rich conducted presentations of many kinds to our club members, including one of our all day seminars at the Agawam Public Library. He was a judge, led efforts for SPS logo merchandise, the end of year picnics at Sky Meadow and, along with Les Campbell, set up the strobe lighting for us to capture hummingbirds at 1/8000 of second. He lent his own equipment for use by club members and, in years past, tutored new members in photo basics, one-on-one in their homes.
Rich was one of our technical gurus and had a career in photography, including a long tour at Pratt & Whitney. Rich could tell you everything you would need to know about the dark room days, but he was one of those rare individuals who also translated his technical curiosity and expertise into the digital era. We were able to view the end of year images in a wonderful production each year, as Rich assembled a huge digital slide show, always with perfect timing and just the right complimentary music.
Other leadership roles that Rich provided within our club include organizing our group entries to the NECCC conference. Rich was a long standing member of the NECCC board and served as the Historian & Memorial Fund Chairman.
In consideration of his leadership of the SPS and tireless efforts to guide us to achieve excellence in all that we do, the SPS Image of the Year Award is now the Richard A. Novak Image of the Year.
Click the image below to see a few of Rich Novak’s images.
