Building and Empire: The Photographic Factory of the Valentine & Sons

There are many photographic archival treasures at the Format Festival in Derby right now, from Erik Kessels, to the Archive of Modern Conflict, but one that stands out for this group in particular is the exhibition by the newly formed curatorial collective, Hemera with the exhibition Building an Empire: The Photographic Factory of the Valentine & Sons. 

This exhibition celebrates the arrival of the mass-media and the photographic factory. The St. Andrews Library Photographic Archive holds a large collection of approximately 120,000 photographs and postcards from Valentine & Sons,a Dundee based company founded by James Valentine in 1855.

The Beetroot Tree
8 March - 7 April

An epitome of the late Victorian era, the humble picture postcard characterises a crossroad where serious industrial growth and consumer culture collide. We have here the growth of a commodity which can clearly demonstrate the socio-economic conditions of nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain.

Building an Empire: The Photographic Factory of Valentine & Sons is curated by Ashley Lumb, Hazel Johnson, Kay Watson, and Fangfei Chen from the collective Hemera with generous support from The University of St Andrews Library Photographic Collection.

www.hemera-collective.co.uk

curator@hemera-collective.co.uk