About Us

The Center for Photography at Madison (CPM)

was founded in 1998 to provide a home for advancement of photography in Madison, WI and surrounding areas. Now located in a studio on the second floor at 303 Paterson St, CPM is a volunteer organization that provides a rich mix of education programs, including formal classes and workshops, lectures ( Photographer of the Month, Third Thursday), Members exhibitions and juried exhibitions, and a series of information regularly scheduled meeting of members and guests to discuss all aspects of photography. 

Instructional Classes In Photography

are scheduled for Fall and Spring and usually meet on Monday and Tuesday evenings from 7-9. Professional and experienced instructors provide a series of classes to enable members and non-members to learn new photographic methods and styles in a friendly environment. Often students are given assignments and their images are presented to the class and discussed. The analysis usually proceeds along the lines of what works and what maybe didn’t work so well in the image, with the goal that all can learn from our mistakes and from the successes of everyone. In addition, in-the-field workshops are organized at sites away from the CPM studio. Group photography sessions on State Street, Outdoor and Nature Photography workshops, illustrate recent activities. See Current listings under Classes.

CPM organizes and hosts a Bi-annual PhotoMidWest, a series of lectures, workshops and exhibits in Madison presented by distinguished speakers from around the country. PhotoMidWest takes place in October of even years. Check out the PhotoMidWest web site.

CPM sponsors other Exhibits throughout the year.

In the Spring, the Annual Members Exhibition is exhibited at UW-Madison Hospital. Other CPM sponsored exhibitions can be found under Exhibits. Individual members and member-groups organize exhibits of their photographic work at many places during the year. These exhibitions can be found by reading the Announcements.

CPM holds regularly scheduled Lectures, Interest Group meetings, and also maintains a working Dark Room. Information about each of these activities can be found in the following sections of this web site.

To Contact Us: 

The Center for Photography at Madison (CPM) is located at 303 S. Paterson St. (near Williamson St) in downtown Madison. All our activities take place in our studio in the evening or at special times during weekends. There is no telephone messaging service. To contact members, send an email to the various leaders listed in the individual sections of the web site.