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 photographic revolution that took place in 19th century Britain. Join the National Museum of Scotland’s curator A D Morrison-Low (pictured, right) and Sara Stevenson, formerly chief curator at the National Galleries of Scotland, to discover how the Victorian craze for the photograph transformed the way we capture images today and mirrors our own modern-day fascination for recording the world around us. Chaired by Ruth Wishart. Book here. 

In addition, the Museum is also hosting a series of events around the exhibition including a history of photography short course, a lecture on stereoscopy by Denis Pellerin and a symposium on Scottish photography. See all the events here.

Details of the symposiuum programme which includes presentations from John Falconer, Roger Taylor, Anne Lyden, Helen James, Mary Panzer, Sara Stevenson and Ray McKenzie can be seen here.

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 Vaizey has placed a temporary export bar on the items in the hope a UK buyer can be found in the time permitted. BPH understands that a UK museum is looking in to the possibility of finding the funds to acquire the material. 

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said:

Britain led the world in the development of television technology in the 1920’s, all due to the pioneering work of John Logie Baird and his colleagues. It belongs in Britain where it would be of huge importance for the study of the history of television, and I hope a UK buyer will come forward to save it for the nation.

Between November 1926 and April 1927 – John Logie Baird and his assistant, Benjamin Clapp developed the idea of rigging up a receiving station and television receiver in America and transmitting pictures over telephone lines from Baird’s laboratories in London, to Clapp’s house in Surrey and from there (where there was a powerful transmitter station), by wireless to the East Coast of the United States of America.

The archive is comprised of: Benjamin Clapp’s radio log books for the USA receiving station and his amateur radio station (GK2Z) used in the transmission, related paper ephemera, and a gramophone “Phonovision” disc (SWT515-4), containing an early video recording made on 20th September 1927. It is the only known Phonovision disc which depicts images of ‘Stookie Bill’, one of Baird’s famous ventriloquist dummies which is in the collection of the National Media Museum. It is the earliest Phonovision disc in existence, and thus the world’s earliest surviving video recording.

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey took the decision to defer granting an export licence for the items following a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA), administered by Arts Council England. The RCEWA made their recommendation on the grounds that the items are closely connected with our history and national life and that they are of outstanding significance for the study of the history of national and international television and for our wider understanding of twentieth century communications.

RCEWA Member Christopher Rowell said:

The Columbia disc and the notes connected with this world first of a transantlantic video recording represents British ingenuity and invention at the highest level. The notes contain the first ever use of the acronym ‘TV’ for television. The excitement of the achievement rests in these objects, which we hope will remain in this country as a permanent testament to Logie Baird and his team. Their departure abroad would also be a serious loss to scholarship.

The decision on the export licence application for the phonovision disc and ephemera will be deferred for a period ending on 28 September 2015 inclusive. This period may be extended until 28 December 2015 inclusive if a serious intention to raise funds to purchase the items is made at the recommended price of £78,750.

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 now’, a 30 credit unit, for the academic year 2015-16. The teaching will take place one day per week in Semesters One and Two (with occasion commitments on other days). The successful candidate will be paid according to a day rate, with a contract specifying the total number of days to be worked. Applicants must have a PhD in a relevant field and the ability to work in the UK.

For further information/to apply for the role, please send a CV and covering letter by midday on 10th July 2015 to vacancies@sothebysinstitute.com

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 living, to promote or condemn, or to record what is disappearing or is normally hidden. Collectively these images have changed the way we see and understand our environment.

A book of the same title has also been published. It features over 300 striking photographs from the Historic England Archive, an unparalleled collection of 9 million images on England's buildings and landscapes from the 1850s to the present. Viewed collectively, its photographic collections record the changing face of England from the beginning of photography to the present day. They form a remarkable national asset, a huge memory bank that helps us understand and interpret the past, informs the present and assists with future management and appreciation of the historic environment.

With informative essays and captions by the authors, this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in photography, architecture, archaeology or social history.

Picturing England: The photographic collections of Historic England by Mike Evans, Gary Winter & Ann Woodward. £45.00, 344pp. ISBN 978-1-84802-099-3. Read more or order here.

Picturing England: The photographic collections of Historic England on show at:
Library of Birmingham, Centenary Square: 2 July 2015 – 21 September 2015

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 Museum's technology collections.

The winning team will oversee the design and construction of a new exhibition space. According to the contract notice: ‘This commission is intended to appoint a design practice that is able to provide architectural/gallery design services, but also help procure, manage and lead a team of specialist designers under the guidance of the external project manager...The lead designer will be expected to coordinate their own design, along with the design input of their team of specialist designers, with the 30 interactive exhibits designed and procured separately by the client team.’

The opening of the gallery is expected to be December 2016 and the value of construction work is anticipated to be £520,000, which does not include the cost of purchasing exhibits which will come from the Museum's collection.

The announcement comes after Bradford Council and the Science Museum Group pledged £1 million each towards improvements at the high-profile museum. The Museum has developed an exciting plan for its future although it depends on securing funding. 

The deadline for for submission of tenders is 17 July. See: http://sciencemuseum.mytenders.org/Search/Show/Search_View.aspx?ID=JUN110530

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 British photographer. It forms part of the V&A India Festival.

The exhibition was co-curated by Emeritus Professor Roger Taylor (shown below with Martin Roth) and is accompanied by a superb publication.   

See more here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/captain-linneaus-tripe-photographer-of-india-and-burma-1852-1860/

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 with it... Plus you can use it with sensitised paper too.

In the words of the designer: 'The Lumigraphe is a camera obscura for your smartphone that authentically captures the beautiful effects of this historic optical device. Photos and videos shot with the Lumigraphe have a distinct look defined by beautiful color saturation and a soft, dream-like focus. The natural grain and delicate vignette create a quality that feels like film - with a depth and texture beyond anything you can make with a digital filter.' As they so no need for Instagram filters, this is all real life and real world...

It may look a but cumbersome but maybe smaller models or even a reflex model can be designed. 

You can read more about it here - and there's only until 6 July to make sure the project is funded: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lumigraphe/lumigraphe-a-camera-obscura-for-your-smartphone?ref=nav_search

and if you want a conventional pinhole camera then check out the ONDU here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ondu-/ondu-pinhole-cameras-mk-ii?ref=nav_search

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. Lettering on the small boy’s bucket in one of the images determined that the resort was Margate, in Kent. Can you help? See the images here.

They are included in 
Photography: A Victorian Sensation is at the National Museums of Scotland 19 June-22 November

All photographs: Kodak Collection/National Media Museum/Science & Society Picture Library.

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 this here. 

Details of the exhibition where you can see the Talbots are here.

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, passim) and presented his own views of the story without, perhaps, responding directly to the more outlandish claims of Sotheby's and the press about the financial value of the image (multi millions) and its alleged rewriting of the history of photography (links to Wedgwood and 1800). Schaaf does present his research which shows a link to Ham Green and a new name to early photography Sarah Anne Bright.

You can read a summary on the William Henry Fox Talbot Catalogue Raisoneé blog. Hopefully there will be further presentations of the talk and Lincoln will be making a video of the full talk online shortly. 

See: http://foxtalbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/blog/

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 Museum exhibition, which will include the only existing print of her iconic portrait Iago, is drawn entirely from the world’s largest collection of Cameron’s photographs, held in the National Photography Collection - including The Royal Photographic Society Collection.

Exploring the vibrant life and genius of the trailblazing British artist, the exhibition will feature unique objects including a daguerreotype portrait (the first known image of Cameron) and her camera lens (the only piece of her photographic equipment known to survive) from the RPS Collection. Also on display will be handwritten notes from the original manuscript of her autobiography Annals of My Glass House, personal letters by Cameron and others and a selection of extremely rare photographs taken in Sri Lanka during her final years.

 A key element of the exhibition will be one of the National Photography Collection’s greatest assets: The Herschel Album, compiled by Cameron in 1864 as her finest work to date and a gift to her friend and mentor, the scientist and photographer Sir John Herschel. Representing for many the finest album of Victorian photography, it was the first photographic item to be placed under an export ban and saved for the nation in 1975. This marked a major milestone in the classification of photography as art and vindicated Cameron’s artistic aspirations for her medium.

The V&A will showcase more than 100 of Julia Margaret Cameron’s photographs from the Museum’s collection. The exhibition will offer a retrospective of Cameron’s work and examine her relationship with the V&A’s founding director, Sir Henry Cole, who in 1865 presented her first museum exhibition and the only one during her lifetime. Cameron sold and gave many photographs to the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) and 150 years after first exhibiting her work, the Museum will display highlights of Cameron’s output, including original prints acquired directly from the artist and a selection of her letters to Henry Cole. Cole’s 1865 diary will be on view, along with the only surviving Cameron portrait of Cole. The exhibition will also include the first photograph to be identified of Cameron’s studio, which has never before been exhibited.

Cameron’s bold portraits of influential artistic and literary friends, acquaintances and family members including Alfred Tennyson, Thomas Carlyle, William Holman Hunt and several striking photographs of her niece Julia Jackson, mother of Virginia Woolf, both revolutionised photography and immortalised the Victorian age. Her purposefully unconventional approach, using a lack of sharp focus and technical faults to harness photography’s expressive power, instilled feeling and energy into her images and became a hallmark of her style despite fierce criticism from the photographic press.

Kate Bush, Head of Photography, Science Museum Group said: ‘Julia Margaret Cameron is deservedly regarded as one of the founding figures of modern photographic portraiture. The range of her work, from tender, naturalistic observation, to dramatic staged tableaux, anticipates every subsequent approach to the genre. Her closely framed faces, bold, expressive and minimal, are as radical and visionary as the woman who created them.’

Julia Margaret Cameron: Influence and Intimacy will run from 24 September 2015 to 28 March 2016 in the Virgin Media Studio, Media Space, Science Museum, London. Full details of the exhibition and its events programme can be found at www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/mediaspace

Julia Margaret Cameron will show at the V&A from 28 November 2015–21 February 2016 in Gallery 100. It is accompanied by a book by curator Marta Weiss. See more here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/julia-margaret-cameron/about-the-exhibition/

Images: 
Top: Julia Margaret Cameron, William Michael Rossetti, 1865.  © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Above: Henry Herschel Hay Cameron, Julia Margaret Cameron, c. 1870. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

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 photographic collections have come to light. 

This volume (Bloomsbury, 2015), edited by Christopher Morton and Darren Newbury, explores the complex theoretical and practical issues involved in the study of African photographic archives, based on case studies drawn from across the continent dating from the 19th century to the present day. Chapters consider what constitutes an archive, from the familiar mission and state archives to more local, vernacular and personal accumulations of photographs; the importance of a critical and reflexive engagement with photographic collections; and the question of where and what is 'Africa', as constructed in the photographic archive. 

Essential reading for all researchers working with photographic archives, this book consolidates current thinking on the topic and sets the agenda for future research in this field. 

See more and order here.

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 exhibition Drawn By Light: The Royal Photographic Society Collection (National Media Museum, Bradford, until June 21).

Initially, Christina was thought to be the daughter of Mervyn O’Gorman, the amateur photographer who took the shots. But research showed O’Gorman had no children, meaning her true identity remained a mystery, until now.

As a result of seeing the images, Mr Stephen Riddle contacted National Media Museum curator Colin Harding to say he had a set of stereoscopic slides by Mervyn O’Gorman, which had been passed to him by his father-in-law. The slides feature colour autochrome pictures not previously seen by anyone at the Museum.

Captions on the slides refer to Edwyn and Daisy Bevan, along with ‘the children’, Anne and Christina, picturing them in various locations including the beach at West Lulworth and outside an address in Chelsea Embankment.

Colin Harding, Curator of Photographs and Photographic Technology at the National Media Museum, said: “We are very grateful to Mr Riddle for contacting us and it was a genuine thrill to see these images. After all the recent attention Christina had been getting I hoped they would give us sufficient clues to finally confirm her identity. It turns out Christina wasn’t O’Gorman’s daughter. Indeed, she wasn’t a relative – either close or distant.

“Christina’s full name was Christina Elizabeth Frances Bevan. She was born in Harrow on 8 March, 1897 and died in 1981. Christina was the daughter of Edwyn Robert Bevan (1870-1943), a prominent philosopher, writer on comparative religions and lecturer in Hellenistic Studies at King’s College, London.

“On 25 April 1896, Edwyn married Hon. Mary Waldegrave (born 1870), the daughter of Granville Waldegrave, 3rd Baron Radstock. Edwyn and Mary, who was known to family and friends as Daisy, had two daughters – Christina and Anne Cornelia Favell Bevan (1898 – 1983).

“The Bevan family lived at no. 6 Chelsea Embankment – just a two minute walk from the O’Gorman’s home at 21 Embankment Gardens. The precise relationship between the two families still needs to be explored – perhaps Edwyn and Mervyn were members of the same club, or perhaps they shared a mutual interest in automobiles. Perhaps Mervyn O’Gorman’s wife, Florence, and Daisy were friends.

Whatever the link, both families were clearly on friendly, first name terms. Certainly, the friendship was sufficient for Mervyn to accompany Daisy and her two daughters on a trip to Lulworth Cove in August 1913, where he took portraits of Christina.”

The exhibition Drawn By Light: The Royal Photographic Society Collection was previously displayed at Media Space in the Science Museum, and runs until Sunday 21 June at the National Media Museum.

Images:

Above: Christina, Daisy & Anne, walking to the beach in West Lulworth - the location of Christina’s portrait shots, August 1913. Stereo-autochrome. By Mervyn O’Gorman, courtesy of Stephen Riddle.

Below: Windsor Park, Daisy Bevan and the children watching for birds, June 1913. Stereo-autochrome. By Mervyn O’Gorman, courtesy of Stephen Riddle.

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 understands that the mystery of Christina has been solved. The National Media Museum and curator Colin Harding will be revealing the answer shortly...so watch this space. 

In the meantime images of Christina can be seen in Drawn by Light, Treasures of The Royal Photographic Society Collection on view at the National Media Museum, Bradford, until 21 June. The catalogue featuring Christina on the cover and can be purchased here.

See: http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/planavisit/exhibitions/drawn-by-light/about

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 and is already widely acknowledged as a world-leading centre for the interdisciplinary study of the history of photography in all its aspects. He or she will also be expected to contribute to the broader development of History and of Photography as subjects at De Montfort.

Applicants should have an international scholarly and/or curatorial reputation in one or more fields of photographic history, an outstanding publication record, and be able to demonstrate experience of research leadership and funding development.

Closing date 18 September 2015 / Interviews: mid-October 2015

See the full specification and job description here

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 Coote and Christopher Morton, 'Dressed as a New Zealander', or an ethnographic mishmash? Notes and reflections on two photographs by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), Journal of Museum Ethnography, no.28 (March 2015), pp. 150–172; and it may be available directly from the authors. 

Image: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.

With thanks to Professor Elizabeth Edwards. 

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 newspapers, books, magazines or advertising. Photography in Print will consider what are the practices of production and consumption? What are the affects of design and materiality? And how does the photograph in print present a new dynamic of photography’s own temporal and spatial qualities? In addition, photography can be said to be ‘made’ through the printed page and ‘print communities’. Therefore, the conference will also explore what is the significance of photography’s own robust journal culture in the reproduction of photographic values? How has photographic history been delivered through the printed page? What are the specific discourses of photography in the print culture of disciplines as diverse as history and art history, science and technology?

Photography in Print
June 22-23, 2015
De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
Registration closes 18 June

For registration details and programme

https://photographichistory.wordpress.com/annual-conference-2015/

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 prior to their demolition in accordance with the City of Glasgow Improvements Act of 1866, is widely recognized as a classic of nineteenth-century documentary photography. However, Annan’s achievement as a photographer of paintings, portraits, and landscapes is less widely known. To repair this neglect, Thomas Annan of Glasgow offers a handy, comprehensive and copiously illustrated overview of the full range of the photographer’s work. Successive chapters deal with each of the main fields of his activity, touching along the way on issues such as the nineteenth-century debate over the status of photography — a mechanical practice or an artistic one? — and the still ongoing controversies surrounding the documentary photograph in particular.

Lionel Gossman, a native of Glasgow whose own graduation portrait was made, in 1951, at the studio of T. &. R. Annan in Sauchiehall Street, has spent his career as a teacher of literature at universities in the United States (Johns Hopkins and Princeton). Here he returns to his roots to produce a tribute to one of his city’s most talented and conscientious nineteenth-century artists. He chose to publish with the innovative Open Book Publishers so that Thomas Annan of Glasgow could be read for free online and reach the largest number of readers possible.

The book can be accessed here: http://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/339/thomas-annan-of-glasgow--pioneer-of-the-documentary-photograph It is also available in interactive PDF and e-book versions.

Open Book Publishers is a non-profit organization, run by academics in Cambridge and London. We are committed to making high-quality research freely available to readers around the world. This dedication to changing the nature of the traditional academic book continues with Thomas Annan of Glasgow.

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.

The description reads: An early 19th Century three-draw brass and mahogany Abraham of Bath, 1½in. Pocket Telescope, believed to be formerly the property of the great photographic pioneer William Fox Talbot (1800-1877), engraved ‘William Talbot Esq’ to brass collar ring, with hinged eyepiece dustcap, clear fingerprints to third draw, 550mm long extended, F-G, lacquer worn, objective dust cap missing; although the provenance of this piece is not known, researches have indicated that it is extremely unlikely that anyone else of the same name would have purchased a telescope engraved in such a manner and bought from a source so close to Fox Talbot’s home at Lacock Abbey; it could have been a gift from his stepfather, Rear-Admiral Charles Fielding or Sir John Herschel,a known patron of Abraham’s; the Abraham family were involved in the retailing of early photogenic paper £4,000-£6,000

More details of the cameras and the telescope can be found at the SAS website here. 

The Royal Photographic Society is encouraging everyone interested in photography to nominate an individual connected with photography to become the face of the new £20 banknote. The Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has announced that the next £20 note will celebrate Britain’s achievements in the visual arts and The RPS believes a UK photographer or photographic scientist is well-placed to be selected. 

The BBC's Arts Correspondence Will Gompertz has come out as a supporter of Cameron. See here.

RPS Director-General said: "Photography has been the defining medium of the ninteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries and it's inconceivable that a photographer or someone connected with photography would not be chosen as the face of the new £20 banknote. If you own or use a camera or enjoy looking at photographs think about who you would like to see on the £20 note and nominate that person - and let the Society know by emailing director@rps.org so we can keep the UK photography community updated ".

Members of the public will have two months to nominate people of historic significance from the visual arts including photographers and filmmakers – whose work shaped British thought, innovation, leadership, values and society. The public can nominate characters from within the field of visual arts on the Bank’s website.

Nominations are required by 19 July 2015. Click here to make your own nomination and to learn more. 

The public nomination programme is the first to be held under the Bank’s new character selection process which was put in place to ensure that the choice of characters for the Bank’s notes commanded broad respect and legitimacy. In line with principles announced in December 2013, the field of visual arts was chosen by a new Banknote Character Advisory Committee. Following the two month nominations period, the full Committee, with input from public focus groups, will draw up a shortlist of characters from which the Governor will make the final choice. The selected character will be announced during spring 2016. The new £20 note will be introduced into circulation in 3-5 years.

- See more at: http://www.rps.org/news/2015/may/nominate-a-photography-person-for-a-new-banknote#sthash.2WdA0X3b.dpuf

UPDATE: The Bank of England has issued a list of visual artists nominated by the public which can be seen here. It features a number of photographers. Please continue to visit the link above and continue to nominate photographers to ensure that they make the final short-list.