Opening Remarks 
by 
Prof. Dr. Gottfried Konecny, President, ISPRS 
to the 
ISPRS Commission II Symposium 
Baltimore, Maryland 
"Distinguished guests, organizers and sponsors of this Symposium, and 
fellow photogrammetrists: 
When Commission President Larry Fritz asked me to welcome you all at the 
beginning of this Symposium with a few opening remarks on behalf of the 
International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, I accepted 
gladly for a number of reasons. 
Firstly, it is an easy job to do, as compared to the hard work which Larry 
Fritz, Dr. Bishop and their colleagues of the ASPRS Potomac Region with 
Region President Val Sellers put in to organize this Symposium. This counts 
for the facilities and events which are provided here in Baltimore, as well 
as the scientific and technical content of the Symposium, which just by 
reading the titles in the program fills me personally with great 
anticipation. 
I express this not only in my own name as President of ISPRS, but also on 
behalf of the other members of Council, who have come here today. Prof. 
Kennert Torlegard, Secretary General; Dr. Shunji Murai, Congress Director; 
Prof. Giovanna Togliatti, our Treasurer, who has ably represented Council at 
the nice reception last night, while Kennert and I were on the way to here 
from the airport. We believe this is a very important event, and that is 
why we are here with the exception of our two Vice Presidents, Dr. Zarzycki, 
who is preparing for the Toronto FIG Congress next week and Dr. Trinder from 
Australia, who works as our antipode on the other side of the globe. 
The second reason why I gladly wish to address you here because it is an 
event sponsored not only by the International organization, which I 
represent, but foremost by the American Society for Photogrammetry and 
Remote Sensing, one of the largest, most active and most distinguished 
members which our Society is fortunate to have. I have been a personal 
member of the American Society for Photogrammetry since 1955, and, like 
many a photogrammetrist from abroad, I feel I would be a poor 
photogrammetrist if I did not read PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE 
SENSING, which has outweighed by far even our own PHOTOGRAMMETRIA in 
significance as an International Journal. I would also feel that I would be 
a poorer human being if I had no opportunity on occasions to attend the 
ASPRS Annual Convention which along with our own Symposia and International 
Congresses furthers the cause of international advances in photogrammetry 
and remote sensing and the international understanding between fellow 
photogrammetrists. I would like to thank Dr. Alan R. Stevens, President of 
the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing for the continued 
contributions of his Society to our organization. 
There is a third reason for being glad to speak here today, because it gives 
me an opportunity to give some brief comments on where we stand in 
photogrammetry and remote sensing today: 
Photogrammetry is a traditional mapping discipline, which within our 
organization has been active now for 76 years since 1910. Even though for 
the first decades our International Society has united a group of dreamers 
with vision and determination but also with rather empty pockets, the 
massive mapping demands after World War II for a growing economy changed all 
that and photogrammetry became a viable professional activity in the 1950's.