Information and discussion on all aspects of British photographic history
Time: February 8, 2022 at 6pm to September 30, 2022 at 5pm
Location: Tate Britain
City/Town: London
Website or Map: https://www.tate.org.uk/visit…
Event Type: exhibition
Organized By: Tate Britain
Latest Activity: Feb 8
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By building long-term relationships with local people, these imagemakers sought to represent working-class communities from within
The photographers and filmmakers in this display used social documentary practices to record the lives of communities in northern England during a period of socio-economic upheaval. Acknowledging the traditional imbalance of power between the image-maker and subject, they found new ways to connect with the people they documented. Some were from the areas they photographed and filmed, others relocated to the North, building relationships with local people in order to better represent them. These image-makers attempted to create compassionate records of their subjects lives in a manner only an insider can. Many of them set out to challenge stereotypical narratives and create images that could act as a catalyst for social change.
The photographs in this display were taken during a period of deindustrialisation in the north of England. The decline of heavy industry and manufacturing had profound consequences for people working in coal mines, shipyards, iron and steel works, and factories. Thousands were left unemployed as specialised machines replaced the workforce and manufacturing moved to countries where wages were lower. Britain was also recovering from the destruction of the Second World War. Large-scale post-war rebuilding led to the demolition of housing the government deemed ‘unfit for habitation’. Entire neighbourhoods were demolished, and communities were displaced. These images provide an insight into the lives of people who experienced this upheaval first-hand. They reveal the challenges these communities faced, the resilience they showed and the joy they continued to find in their daily lives.
Victoria and Albert Museum's photography collection
National Science and Media Museum
RPS Journal 1853-2012 online and searchable
Photographic History Research Centre, Leicester
Birkbeck History and Theory of Photography Research Centre
William Henry Fox Talbot Catalogue Raisonné
British Photography. The Hyman Collection
The Press Photo History Project Mapping the photo agencies and photographers of Fleet Street and the UK
The correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot
Historic England Archive
UAL Photography and Photography and the Archive Research Centre
Royal Photographic Society's Historical Group
www.londonstereo.com London Stereoscopic Company / T. R. Williams
www.earlyphotography.co.uk British camera makers and companies
Fox Talbot Museum, Lacock.
National Portrait Gallery, London
http://www.freewebs.com/jb3d/
Alfred Seaman and the Photographic Convention
Frederick Scott Archer
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