Hello all,
I'm a new member. My name is Kathleen McLaughlin and I've been teaching photography for over 20 years. I teach in the darkroom, as well as the history of photography.
I'll be visiting England soon and am looking for suggestions on what to see regarding mid-Victorian British Photography.
I'll be in Oxford, London, and Isle of Wight.
Here is what I'll be seeing:
Oxford - Charles Dodgson's camera equipment at History of Science Museum, as well as some of his photographs at Christ Church
London - photographs + camera equipment at V&A and NPG's Heinz Library
Isle of Wight - Dimbola, home/museum of Julia Margaret Cameron.
And, I just learned of PHOTOGRAPHICA 2022 on 22 May in London. I plan to be there.
I'm hoping to see anything that is related to mid-Victorian British photography - I even want to see the inside of Stationer's Hall (where they went to get their photographs and other things registered). It's not open but I hope to find a way to get a small peek inside.
What am I missing? Please, I'm open to suggestions.
thank you,
Kathleen from 'just outside' Los Angeles, CA
Replies
Dear Kathleen
Sadly I have only seen this message over a year after your visit!
If you come again, or if anyone else has the same interest, you are welcome to visit the daylight studio in Petworth, West Sussex, which was built by the portrait photographer Walter Kevis and used between 1877 and 1908. You can then visit the West Sussex Record Office in Chichester which holds 8,000 of the glass negatives taken n the studio.
The studio is not maintained as a museum (it is used as holiday let accommodation) but photos from circa 1890 show that little has changed since the days it was in use.
https://www.petworthpenthouse.com/history.html
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/events/event/3125/from_city_of_empire...
You should contact Birmingham Central Library regarding the research of the late Peter James, FRPS. He was one of the leading researchers in early Victorian photography. They also possess one of the very few known examples of a Wolcott & Johnson speculum camera of the sort used in the Richard Beard studio franchise.