Michael Pritchard's Blog – May 2012 Archive (22)

The National Media Museum, Bradford, has appointed Jo Quinton-Tulloch as its Head of Museum. Jo Quinton-Tulloch is currently the Head of Exhibitions at the Science Museum in London. She will take up her post in Bradford in September 2012. Jo has worked in museums for 18 years and has a wealth of experience in establishing successful exhibitions and programmes at the Science…

Bonhams Oxford is offering part of the photography collection of Harry Wills who died in 2011 aged 90. Wills was born and raised in Birmingham and was one of the earliest collectors of photographs and photographic equipment in Britain. He was a founder member of The Royal Photographic Society's Historical Group in 1972 and part of the first generation of British collectors…

On Tuesday 3 April 2012, the Library of Birmingham launched Reference Works: a major photography commission in which four leading photographers will make visual responses to the current Central Library building and to the build, transition and relocation to the new Library of…

At a recent auction a Victorian walnut cased table top achromatic stereoscope by Smith Beck and Beck complete with approximately 260 card mounted slides and 10 glass slides, was the subject of a frenzied bidding war between numerous telephone and internet bidders. It was sold to a New Jersey America buyer for £6900 almost seven times the upper estimate at Dee Atkinson…

Dr Lynn Pearson is researching the image shown here which has been attributed to W H F Talbot and does not appear to have been previously reproduced. The image shows Collins's Brewery in Water Lane, Richmond, probably 1840s.It is in the David Parry collection, part of the Brewery History Society collection, so it is just the cutting, stuck on a card with a few details about…

As BPH reported in 2009 De Montfort University had been given the remaining portion of the Kodak Research Library which had been based at Kodak Ltd's premises at Harrow. The company's archives are at the British Library. At an informal ceremony this week attended by…

De Montfort University's Photographic History Research Centre (PHRC) celebrated it's first anniversary on Thursday. Professor Elizabeth Edwards, the Centre's Director, gave her professorial lecture and launched her new book The Camera as Historian: Amateur Photographers and Historical…

Terry King & Hands-On Pictures in Richmond have a number of upcoming workshops: Niepce and Wedgwood on 12 & 13 June focuses on making prints on metal using asphaltum also known as ' bitumen of Judea'.  It will use two different methods, the first will produce a straight photograph in asphaltum, the second will produce an image using asphaltum which will result in a plate having the  same qualities as 'The First Photograph' in the 'Harry Ransom Center' in Austin. The…

Birmingham's Ikon Gallery is proposing a new museum of photography in the city centre's Curzon Street station building. The proposal document states: 'The Curzon Street railway station building, with its impressive classical entrance facing into the centre…

A one-day symposium on pivotal role of one family in nineteenth century life. From the history of science to literary criticism, this interdisciplinary event explores the Dillwyn family’s contributions to: Anti-Slavery and transatlantic trade, nineteenth century science and ground-breaking early photography, feminist literature and pioneering industrial fiction,…

The Photographers' Gallery in London re-opens to the public today after a major refurbishment and rebuilding programme. Speaking to BPH at the launch yesterday Brett Rogers, Director, said that the refurbishment has exceeded her expectations.

The…

Life Online,at the National Media Museum, Bradford, is designed by NRNDesign  The gallery is designed to explore the social, technological and cultural impact of the Internet. This permanent gallery traces the history of the Internet, looking at how it has changed people's lives and tracking…

The Media Space benefit auction held at Christie's last night realised £370,200. After a reception and short speeches from Ian Blatchford, director of the Science Museum and Michael G Wilson OBE the auctioneer, Philippe Garner of Christie's, knocked down sixty lots. The money raised will be used to support the National Media Museum's new space at London's Science Museum…

Auction house Christie’s is working with the Science Museum and the National Media Museum, Bradford, to present a benefit sale of Photographs 1840s to the Present which will be sold on the evening of Wednesday 16 May to raise funds for the new MEDIA SPACE that will open at the Science Museum in London in Spring 2013. The group offered comprises 61 remarkable…

View Old Master painting through a new lens with London's National Gallery's first major exhibition of photography co-curated by Christopher Riopelle, National Gallery Curator for Post-1800 Painting, and Hope Kingsley from the Wilson Centre for Photography. Opening on 31 October 2012 the exhibition explores work by early photographers from the mid-19th century…

Photographs are probably the most ubiquitous and far-reaching records of the colonial past. They trace the experiences of a vast range of people touched by European colonial expansion and domination, both colonised and colonisers.How is this record understood in public histories? What is its role in the way contemporary European cultures configure their pasts for the benefit…

A century-old collection of photographs of India has been discovered in the RCAHMS archive. The rare and fragile glass plate negatives, which date back to around 1912, show life on the subcontinent at the high point of the British Raj.

The 178 negatives were found in a shoebox for a pair of grey, size 9,Peter Lord slip-on shoes, and were stored in their…

Senior Photography Conservator, International Media Museum, Qatar Museums Authority, Doha, Qatar. The IMM possesses one of the most outstanding and valuable photographic collections in the region and one that ranks with major collections through the world. The photographs are of exceptional quality and span from the 19th century to present. The collection includes photographs…

Bob Lansdale and Louise Freyburger are trying to research this image. They writes...We know the name of Regiment – the 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot, stationed in London, Ontario, CANADA at the time of the Fenian Raids (1866-1870). The tintype was found in a letter in a staircase when they demolished an old barracks. It made the newspapers when found in 1947.…

With just under one month to go before the London Festival of Photography opens the programme is now available. In addition a wonderful range of exhibitions there are two events of particular note. On 21 June John Falconer, Lead Curator at the British Library will be talking on Henry Fox Talbot (see:…