Michael Pritchard's Blog – June 2015 Archive (24)

Biblioteca Nacional de España has organised an exhibition curated by Helena Pérez Gallardo, Delfín Rodríguez Ruiz titled Looking at Architecture. Monumental Photography in the XIX Century. It runs from 3 July-4 October 2015 in Madrid at the Biblioteca Nacional de España.…

Edinburgh International Book Festival is presenting Alison Morrison-Low and Sara Stevenson, curators of the National Museums of Scotland major exhibition (and associated publication) Photography: A Victorian Sensiation at a special event on 18 August. In an age where we are all happy snappers, we forget the…

A treasure trove of materials relating to John Logie Baird’s first-ever transmission of trans-Atlantic television pictures is at risk of being exported unless a UK buyer can be found to match the £78,750 asking price. In order to provide a last chance to keep the archive in the UK, Culture Minister Ed…

Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London, is currently seeking a freelance consultant lecturer for the MA in Photography (Historical and Contemporary). The Programme Director is Dr Juliet Hacking. The consultant lecturer will take on the role of Programme Unit Leader and lead tutor for ‘Contemporary Photography, 1968 until…

This exhibition showcases Historic England's photographic collections, which date from the 1850s to the present day. Photographers have taken pictures of England's buildings and landscapes since photography was first invented. These photographs were taken for many reasons – to capture the picturesque, to make a…

In a sign of growing confidence for the future of Bradford's National Media Museum and the start of the realisation of the Museum's exciting development plan the Science Museum Group is seeking an architec/lead designer for a new interactive gallery which will look at light, sound and perception, the basis of all the…

The V&A last night opened Captain Linnaeus Tripe Photographer of India and Burma 1852-1860. William Dalrymple and Museum Director Martin Roth introduced the exhibition which features some of the earliest and most striking views of the landscape and architecture of India and Burma, by a pioneering…

Every so often BPH comes across something that looks interesting or harks back to photographic history in some way. The Lumigraphe is a camera obscura which combines the functionality of your smartphone's camera to take photographs... no need for sensitised photogenic drawing paper. Just think what Talbot could have done…

The Guardian newspaper (18 June 2015) ran a story from the National Museums of Scotland which has put a call out to identify the family shown in a series of tintypes.

The photographs of the ‘Margate family’ come from the collection of Bernard Howarth-Loomes, and it is thought they were bought as a set.…

In preparation for the National Museum of Scotland's photography exhibition Photography. A Victorian Sensation a number of items from Talbot in the museum's collection had to be conserved. You can read a museum blog posting relating to…

Professor Larry Schaaf opened the University of Lincoln’s conference titled ‘Rethinking Early Photography last night and told the story of The Quillan Leaf (see BPH,…

Two new exhibitions devoted to the Julia Margaret Cameron open later this year – the bicentenary of her birth - in London’s Media Space at the Science Museum and at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The Science…

African photography has emerged as a significant focus of research and scholarship over the last twenty years, the result of a growing interest in postcolonial societies and cultures and a turn towards visual evidence across the humanities and social sciences. At the same time, many rich and fascinating…

The mystery surrounding the identity of a girl, known only as ‘Christina’, has been solved after her striking 102-year-old colour portraits were seen around the world, including on BPH. The images are part of The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum, and three are currently on show in the…

A few weeks ago BPH and several national newspapers and publications asked the question 'Who was Christina?'. Several BPH members undertook geneaological research and others have provided information. BPH now…

On the retirement of Professor Elizabeth Edwards, applications are invited for the full-time, permanent post of Professor of Photographic History, based within the School of Humanities.

The successful candidate will be appointed as the Director of the Photographic History Research Centre which was established in 2010…

A recent paper in the Journal of Museum Ethnography discusses Lewis Carroll's photograph 'Dressed as a New Zealander' and discusses the props use by Carroll and the wider context around the image, the sitters and its subsequent history.

The full paper reference is available here: Jeremy…

The 2015 PHRC Annual International Conference addresses the complex and wide range question of ‘photography in print.’ The conference aims to explore the functions, affects and dynamics of photographs on the printed page. Many of the engagements with photographs, both influential and banal, are through print, whether in…

Open Book Publishers have published Thomas Annan of Glasgow: Pioneer of the Documentary Photograph by Lionel Gossman. It is claimed to be the first account of Annan’s full achievement as a photographer. 

The Old Closes and Streets of Glasgow, Thomas Annan’s photographic record of the slums of the city…

Special Auction Services is holding an auction of cameras on 1 and 2 July 2015 which includes a large collection of British cameras, especially brass and mahogany. Also included is a telescope reputed to be the former property of William Henry Fox Talbot.…