London's National Portrait Gallery has announced its 2025 programme which includes several exhibitions of photographic note. First up, in spring is The Face Magazine: Culture Shift (20 February - 18 May 2025). The Face Magazine: Culture Shift celebrates iconic fashion images and portraits from The Face, a trail-blazing youth culture and style magazine that has shaped the creative and cultural landscape in Britain and beyond. From 1980 to 2004, The Face played a vital role in creating contemporary culture. Musicians featured on its covers achieved global success and the models it championed – including a young Kate Moss – became the most recognisable faces of their time. The magazine also launched the careers of many leading photographers and fashion stylists, who were given the creative freedom to radically reimagine the visual language of fashion photography and define the spirit of their times. Relaunched in 2019, the magazine continues to provide a disruptive and creative space for image-makers, championing fresh talent in photography, fashion, music and graphic design. This exhibition will bring together the work of over 80 photographers, including Sheila Rock, Stéphane Sednaoui, Corinne Day, David Sims, Elaine Constantine and Sølve Sundsbø, and will feature over 200 photographs – a unique opportunity to see many of these images away from the magazine page for the first time.

The Face Magazine: Culture Shift is curated by Sabina Jaskot-Gill, Senior Curator of Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, together with Curatorial Consultants Lee Swillingham, former Art Director of The Face from 1992 to 1999, and Norbert Schoerner, a photographer whose work featured in the magazine throughout the Nineties and Noughties. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication of the same name, with contributions from Ekow Eshun, Sabina Jaskot-Gill, Jamie Morgan, Pete Paphides and Matthew Whitehouse, and interviews between Nick Logan and Lee Swillingham; Neville Brody, Jill Furmanovsky and Sheila Rock; Elaine Constantine, Glen Luchford and Nancy Rohde; and Norbert Schoerner and Stéphane Sednaoui.

In the autumn Robin Muir has curated Cecil Beaton's Fashionable World (9 October 2025 - 11 January 2026). Renowned as a fashion illustrator, Oscar-winning costume designer, social caricaturist and writer, Cecil Beaton – ‘The King of Vogue’ – was an extraordinary force in the 20th century British and American creative scenes. Elevating fashion and portrait photography into an art form, his era-defining photographs captured beauty, glamour, and star power in the interwar and early post-war eras. No previous exhibition has exclusively spotlighted his ground-breaking fashion work, a pivotal aspect of his career that laid the foundation for his later successes. With this in mind, Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World will showcase Beaton at his most triumphant – from the Jazz Age and the Bright Young Things, to the high fashion brilliance of the Fifties and the glittering, Oscar-winning success of My Fair Lady. In between, he endured the hardship of war as a photographer of the home front and of the Western Desert campaign and beyond. From 1939 as a royal photographer, by appointment to the House of Windsor, he propelled the monarchy into the modern age.

Curated by Robin Muir, a Contributing Editor to British Vogue (to which Beaton himself contributed for over fifty years), this new exhibition will chart Beaton’s rapid progression through the fashionable worlds of film, art and couture, influenced in London, Paris, New York and Hollywood by the fast-moving pace of metropolitan life. The exhibition will be accompanied by a new publication, Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World, by Robin Muir.

November also sees the rteurn of the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize exhibition (13 November-8 February 2026) and a new commission.The TWPPP showcases the work of talented young photographers, gifted amateurs and established professionals in the very best of contemporary photography. The competition celebrates a diverse range of images and tells the fascinating stories behind the creation of works, from formal commissioned portraits to more spontaneous and intimate moments capturing friends and family. The selected images, many of which are on display for the first time, explore both traditional and contemporary approaches to the photographic portrait whilst capturing a range of characters, moods and locations. The annual In Focus display will also highlight new work by an established photographer. The 2025 edition will see the unveiling of a new commission for the Gallery’s Collection, to be announced in November 2024. A new publication, including all works exhibited as part of the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize, will be available from November 2025.

See: www.npg.org.uk

Images: L-R: Jazzie B (Soul II Soul) by Enrique Badulescu, April 1989 © Enrique Badulescu; Kate Moss by Glen Luchford, March 1993 © Glen Luchford. Styling Venetia Scott; NPG x40415. Cecil Beaton and Stephen Tennant, ‘Riviera Wanderers’ by Maurice Beck and Helen Macgregor, 1927 © reserved; collection National Portrait Gallery, London; The Second Age of Beauty by Cecil Beaton, British Vogue February 1946 © The Condé Nast Publications Ltd. Condé Nast Archive London.

This role will support the Senior Registrar in managing the daily logistics of incoming and outgoing stock for the gallery and archive. This role is vital to the smooth operation of the gallery and involves the general upkeep of both the gallery and the archive.

The Michael Hoppen Gallery opened in 1992 and is founded on a passion for photography. As a gallery we are renowned for nurturing the careers of new and interesting artists and exhibiting them alongside acknowledged nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century photographic masters.

Details: https://www.artsjobs.org.uk/jobs/51794

The Bodleian has launched a call for its annual visiting Fellowships. Bodleian Visiting Fellowships in Special Collections are awarded to promote research based on archival, manuscript, and printed books collections of the Bodleian Libraries. Researchers external to the University of Oxford are invited to pursue their own research projects requiring use of these collections. Visiting Fellows may be invited during their visits to present their work in progress formally or informally within the University or in the Bodleian Libraries and should consider publication of their findings in the Bodleian Library Record.

Although the Sloan Fellowship in Photography is not being offered this year other categories will be of interest to photographic historians and artists.

The Sloan Fellows for 2024/25 are: 

Sloan Fellow in Photography: Hilary 2025: Beth Saunders, Curator and Head of Special Collections & Gallery, Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; ‘Enmeshed: Lace and Women’s Labor in Julia Herschel’s A Handbook for Greek and Roman Lace Making (1870)’

Sloan Photographic Arts Fellow, Michaelmas 2024: Adrian Paul Tyler, Photographer and book maker; ‘Book Wreck’

Details of past Sloan Fellows are here: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/csb/fellowships/awarded-fellowships

Details of the current call and categories are here: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/csb/fellowships/bodleian-visiting-fellowships 

The Department of History at the University of Nottingham is seeking a Research Associate/ Fellow in Photographic History (with a particular focus on colonial Southeast Asia). The purpose of this role is to work on the AHRC-funded project ‘Resettling the Colonial Lens: Photography and the (Re)Making of Malaysia’s New Villages’. This is 3-year, multidisciplinary and transnational project which aims to respond to the following question: What role has photography as a medium played in documenting, critiquing and re-writing the history of resettlement in late-colonial Malaya? Photography was a key medium through which the colonial state sought to document the Malayan Emergency (1948–60). This was particularly so for resettlement. Under this counterinsurgency scheme, almost half a million rural residents of colonial Malaya were moved into hundreds of resettlement camps – later re-labelled ‘New Villages’ (NVs) – in an attempt to undermine support for the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). The ‘Resettling the Colonial Lens’ Project explores not just the way in which photography was used to document resettlement, but also how it is being used today to re-imagine and rewrite histories of resettlement in Malaysia.

The successful applicant must have a PhD (or close to completion) or equivalent in photographic history or related fields. They must have experience of working with/on historical photographs, particularly those relating to colonial Southeast Asia (especially Malaya/Malaysia). They must have excellent oral and written communication skills (and be fluent in English). They must also have the ability to work well to deadlines and to manage administrative demands efficiently.

We warmly welcome applications from under-represented groups, regardless of gender, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, age, socio-economic background, disability, religious or political beliefs, trade union membership, family circumstances, sexual orientation or other irrelevant distinction. We have an Athena Swan Bronze Award recognising good practice towards the advancement of gender equality in our school.

Shortlisting is anonymous. We cannot see any personal data or the ‘Additional Information’ section in your application until shortlisting is completed. Shortlisting is by criteria-based questions based on the role specification, rather than CV or letter. 

The post is offered on a fixed-term contract until 31 December 2027, post commencing on 1 January 2025 or as soon thereafter. Hours of work are full-time (36.25 hours per week). Job share arrangements may be considered. The candidate will be expected to attend scheduled online and in-person meetings and events with relevant parties in the Nottingham area, though extended periods of research will also be undertaken in London and elsewhere.

Details: https://jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=ARTS439224

As part of Headstone Manor and Museum's current exhibition Lights Camera Kodak which runs until 30 November Dr Michael Pritchard will look at the history and development of the camera from its origins in the early 1880s to the advent of digital cameras from the 1990s, with a particular emphasis on those made by Eastman Kodak Co from 1888 and Kodak Ltd in the United Kingdom. Many of those Kodak cameras were landmarks in the history of the camera and amateur photography such as the Brownie and Instamatic cameras, but Kodak also made cameras for professional photographers and for specialist purposes. It is perhaps for its amateur cameras – that most of us or our families will have used – and these came in many shapes, sizes and colours, and influenced by industrial designers such as Kenneth Grange.

The talk will be heavily illustrated and will also explore how the cameras were sold to snapshotters and amateurs, and how Kodak targeted specific markets such as women and children. It will rekindle memories of past cameras and the types of pictures that we used to take with them, and you are encouraged to bring your own Kodak and other cameras along for comment!

Kodak Cameras – A Journey Through the Lens of Time
Tuesday 12th November, 2pm – 3pm
Live only, £3, booking required
The Granary, Headstone Manor Museum, Pinner View, Harrow, HA2 6PX
Details: https://headstonemanor.org/events/tuesday-talk-kodak-cameras-a-journey-through-the-lens-of-time/

Information on the exhibition can be found here: https://headstonemanor.org/events/lights-camera-kodak/

Photo: Kodak Brownie 127 / Michael Pritchard

Richard Ovenden, Bodley's librarian, has reported the gift of the earliest image of the Radcliffe Observatory, now ⁦Green Templeton College, to the photography collections at the Bodleian Library. The image is a paper negative by William Henry Fox Talbot, from 1842.

The negative is shown in The William Henry Fox Talbot catalogue raisonné as Schaaf 2675, date inscribed in pencil, in Talbot's hand, verso, 29 July/42 [29 July 1842]. See: https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/search/catalog/artifact-5183

The main call for papers has now closed with seventy proposals received. As this is a global event for International Womens Day 2025 the organisers are still open for proposals from scholars or academics from under-represented areas of Asia, both East and South, and Africa, or papers dealing with photography, by or of women, from those areas. 

Use the link on the original call: 

https://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/cfp-women-in-photography-celebrating-international-women-s-day-20

Visit the Library for a spooktacular collection encounter featuring spirits, ghosts, auras and ectoplasm. Seeing is believing…. Join Tony Richards and Jamie Robinson from the library's imaging team to discuss the late Victorian craze of spirit and supernatural photography including books and photographic examples from our collections. Drop in to the Historic Reading Room for this free event.

This close up encounter may not be suitable for children, viewer discretion is advised.

Spirit and supernatural photography
With Tony Richards and Jamie Robinson
31 October 2024 from 1400-1600
Reading Room, John Rylands Library, Manchester
Free, drop in
https://events.manchester.ac.uk/event/event:zwt-m23alq0v-uv9dzy

This lecture takes as a case study the Czechoslovak surrealist group, formed in 1934 and still active to this day in Prague, through the lens of its distinctive tradition of surrealist documentary photography as a tool to reflect and critique its geographic and historical contexts.

A long-time specialist in the history, theory and practices of the international surrealist movement, Krzysztof Fijałkowski is Professor of Visual Culture and senior lecturer on the BA Fine Art programme, Norwich University of the Arts.

Organised by Professor Gavin Parkinson (Professor in European Modernism, The Courtauld) as part of the 2024-25 Frank Davis Memorial Lecture Series, ‘A Century of Surrealism: Resistance and the Image Since the Manifesto of Surrealism’.

Surrealism / Surrealismus: Documentary photography and the conditions of Czechoslovak surrealism 1934-1959
Krzysztof Fijałkowski
Tuesday 15 October 2024, 17:30 - 19:00
London: The Courtauld, Vernon Square Campus, Lecture Theatre 2
Free but booking required - book here

Image: Jindřich Štyrský, untitled, 1930s. Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague.

The Centre for British Photography is seeking a Director of Development and Strategy. Established in 2020, the Centre (UK registered charity no. 1190955) presents an expansive overview of the diversity of photographic practices in Britain from a range of voices past and present. Its mission is to support all kinds of photographic practices in Britain and to provide platforms for these contributions that are educational, inclusive and inspiring for the benefit of all audiences. It has a particular focus on supporting the practices of women and emerging artists working in photography. It accomplishes these aims through community engagement, mentoring, grants, educational resources, exhibitions and events.

We are looking for a dynamic Director of Development and Strategy who will be critical to the delivery of Centre for British Photography’s mission and vision. The Director of Development and Strategy will work closely with the Founding Director and other Trustees in all aspects of strategic planning, with the specific responsibility of advancing the charity’s mission and fundraising for CBP’s permanent home.

The successful candidate will be an effective face-to-face fundraiser with extensive experience in securing high value donations and managing the full lifecycle of significant donor relationships across corporate, foundation, private and public sectors. You will have up-to-date knowledge of best fundraising and regulatory practices. As an advocate, you will be committed to the charity’s mission, vision and values; interested in and passionate about shaping the future of a young charity; and play a pivotal role in the development and execution of its fundraising strategy. Experience with CRMs a plus.

At present, the charity does not have a physical space; initially this role is a hybrid one where the successful candidate will WFH and attend meetings and events in Greater London area. The role’s emphasis is to build the charity and secure the funding for a permanent space.

Director of Development and Strategy
Full-time (35 hours/week), Permanent role
Hybrid ways of working as the role allows
£34,000 - £40,000 per annum, dependent on experience
Application deadline: 12pm (midday) on Friday 1 November 2024
Details: https://britishphotography.org/news/161-we-re-hiring-director-of-development-and-strategy/

Identify and Care for Your Photographic Collections, is a hands-on workshop designed to assist community archivists and enthusiasts in learning how to identify, care for, and preserve photographic materials. Hosted at Cupar Library, the workshop features experts from the University of St Andrews, including Laura Brown, the Curator of Photography, and Erica Kotze, an accredited conservator with over 20 years of experience.

Participants will gain practical knowledge on recognizing various photographic techniques, from historical to modern-day prints, and learn essential skills in handling, storing, and exhibiting photographic collections.

Morning Session:
Led by Laura Brown, participants will learn how to:
Identify different photographic techniques, ranging from early Daguerreotypes to modern colour gelatine prints, as well as negatives on both glass and plastic film.
Examine and handle photographs using practical tools like microscopes and torches.
Engage in a hands-on approach to identifying materials in photographic collections.

Afternoon Session:
Erica Kotze will cover:
Care and storage methods for photographic collections.
Basic conservation techniques.
Considerations for exhibiting photographs, including best practices for display.

What You Will Gain

• A foundational understanding of different photographic materials and how to handle them.
• Practical tips on how to store and preserve photographs safely.
• Insights into exhibiting and sharing photographic collections with the public.
• A certificate of achievement supported by SCA, CAHG, ARA & ICON.

The workshop is an excellent opportunity for those with no prior experience, especially for volunteers or groups working in community archives. If the workshop reaches capacity, it may be held again in early 2025.

Identify and Care for Your Photographic Collections
Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Cupar Library, Crossgate, Cupar, KY15 5AS

Details: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/identify-and-care-for-your-photographic-collections-tickets-1021733551557

This year's Home Movie Day is going to be extra special... London's participation in the worldwide Home Movie Day takes place on Sunday 20 October 2024 at The Cinema Museum, 2 Dugard Way (off Renfrew Road), London SE11 4TH UK.

Our archivists will be on hand to examine, evaluate and if ok, project your home movies on 9.5mm, Standard 8 and super 8mm. If you've home movies sitting in your attic or under your floorboards and you don't know what's on them, bring them along to London's Home Movie Day. Running from 10:30am until 4pm, this is a free, family friendly event and you don't even need a film to attend.

To tie in to this year's BFI London Film Festival Gala film, Steve McQueen's Blitz at 1pm, we'll be showing a very special home movie kindly lent from our friends at the Imperial War Museum London. Shot in 1941, Rosie Newman's film catalogues the devastation wrought on London's streets during the Blitz in April of that year. To bring some light and glamour to the day, we'll also be showing some exclusive home movies from the archive of ranconteur, actor, playwright and film director Noël Coward This specially curated programme will be accompanied by film composer and pianist, Neil Brand.

The day will be an astonishing love letter to all things #homemovies #films #london #family #cinema Plus, there'll be tea and homemade cakes! What's not to like?!

Please contact Louise Pankhurst at londonshomemovieday@gmail.com for further details. 

This new book was the subject of a call for papers last year. It features twenty chapters discussing different aspects of Edith Tudor Hart's life, photography and her impact, plus a timeline and selection of her photographs. It includes essays from Zelda Cheatle, Tania Cleaves, Mike Crawford, Rachel Dickson, James Hyman, Sian Mcfarlane, Drew Milne, Merilyn Moos, Elizabeth Otto, Stefanie Pirker, Beate Pittnauer, Larry Ray, Rachel Rosin, Daria Santini, Lou Taylor, Emery Walshe, Julia Winckler, Jenny Wilson, and Shirley Read. 

Poverty for Sale. Edith Tudor Hart in Britain
Edited by Shirley Read
Museumsetc, 2024
ISBN 0-978-1-912528-45-5
290 pages, paper covers
https://museumsetc.com/

Preserved in Print is an exhibition of photography by E Chambré and Margaret Hardman, both of whom were accomplished photographers in their own right, alongside artefects from the Hardman studio. The studio premises is now preserved by the National Trust with the the negatives and photographs housed by Liverpool Record Office. There is an active programme of cataloguing, conservation and digitisation taking place.

The exhibition has been extended until 19 October 2024.

In addition Amy Carney, Cultural Heritage Curator for the National Trust, and archivist Lindsey Sutton spoke about the E Chambré Hardman studio, the collection and conservation at a recent talk which can be viewed here. 

The exhibition has been produced alongside the the launch of the Trust's 100 Photographs book which featured Hardman's photography. 

Preserved in Print - The photography of Chambré and Margaret Hardman
Liverpool Central Library
extended to 19 October 2024
https://liverpool.gov.uk/libraries/explore-central-library/central-library/

Photograph courtesy of Jonathan Wallis, and thanks for bringing it to BPH's attention. 

Belfast Exposed, in collaboration with the Centre for British Photography, will unveil two shows this month featuring artists Jo Spence and Arpita Shah. Jo Spence: A Woman's Place?, an exhibition spotlighting the ground-breaking phototherapy work of the celebrated British photographer and feminist Jo Spence (1934–1992), provides an intimate and powerful look at Spence’s exploration of the roles and experiences of women within society.

Jo Spence was not just a photographer but a cultural critic and activist who used her medium as a tool for emotional and political self-exploration. A central aspect of this exhibition focuses on Spence’s practice of phototherapy, developed primarily with collaborator Rosy Martin. Spence’s phototherapeutic sessions combined photography with therapeutic practices, allowing her to confront the deeply personal and often painful aspects of her life in a social context that sought to marginalise and silence women’s experiences. The exhibition shines a light on Spence’s engagement with the complexities of womanhood, class, sexuality, and health, addressing themes often left unspoken.

Spence's work in A Woman's Place? showcases her lifelong exploration of the idea that the personal is political. It gives viewers a rare opportunity to engage with her deeply introspective yet socially critical perspectives. Her ability to draw attention to private moments - such as grappling with the shame of illness, body image, motherhood and sexuality - resonates profoundly today as we continue to question the roles women are expected to play in both the private and public spheres.

Modern Muse by acclaimed photographic artist Arpita Shah is a compelling exhibition that Belfast Exposed is delighted to bring to Ireland for the first time in collaboration with the Centre for British Photography. Originally commissioned by GRAIN projects, this ongoing series of portraits explores the evolving identities and visual representation of young British-Asian women. At the heart of Modern Muse is Shah’s desire to address and challenge notions of the 'muse' in art. By replacing the Mughal emperors of classical South Asian painting with modern British-Asian women, Shah subverts those historical representations and celebrates the strength, diversity, and individuality of each woman depicted in her series.

Deirdre Robb, CEO of Belfast Exposed, said: “At a time when femicide and racism dominate our headlines, we want to use our gallery to showcase this powerful work, which highlights the inequalities in our society. Jo Spence used photography as a form of therapy, a practice that we also use within Belfast Exposed to help communities with their mental health. Her messages about women’s roles have never been more important. Arpita Shah’s ‘Modern Muse’ looks at British-Asian identity and, in light of the recent racially motivated attacks across Northern Ireland, we think this show has a vital message to convey. We want visitors to Belfast Exposed to take time to reflect on ideas and preconceptions they have around ‘A Woman’s Place?’ in society.”

James Hyman, Founding Director, Centre for British Photography, said: “We are delighted to have collaborated with Belfast Exposed to bring these two important exhibitions to Belfast. These complimentary exhibitions bring to attention significant personal and political issues and are part of our mission to support the most powerful and challenging photographers past and present.”

José Neves, Curator of Photography, Belfast Exposed, said: “Curating these two exhibitions has been an enriching journey, allowing me to explore the intersections of identity, memory, and healing through the perspective of two distinct yet very powerful artistic voices. At the core of Spence and Shah’s work is the capacity for photography to be a transformative tool for self-exploration and cultural reflection. I am certain that the personal and collective histories on display will resonate with audiences in a profound way.”

Jo Spence: A Woman’s Place? | Arpita Shah: Modern Muse
Belfast Exposed, in Collaboration with the Centre for British Photography
17 October – 21 December 2024

For more information, visit www.belfastexposed.org

Main image: © Jo Spence / CBP. Below: © Arpita Shah. 

The next Bloomsbury Photograph Fair takes place on 13 October 2024 at  the Holiday Inn, Coram Street, London, WC1N 1HT. Open from 0930-1500. 

Details: http://www.etcfairs.com

Bradford's National Science and Media Museum has unveiled its plans for a phased reopening and revealed renders of some of its new spaces. The museum has been closed since June 2023.  First to open in January 2025 will be reconfigured foyer (shown above) with a new visitor welcome desk, seating and redesigned shop. A new lift - which was part of the cause of the extended delay in reopening - which will provide access to all floors.

The museum has stated an ambition to attract 500,000 visitors in 2025 and to bring 500 objects from the permanent collection, many of which have not been seen before, to be on display.

As part of the Bradford 2025 city of culture programme the artist collective Marshmallow Laster Feast is creating a new immersive installation for the museum's temporary exhibition galleries, laumnching in April 2025. Inspired by Born in Bradford, a major research programme that has been tracking the lives of more than 40,000 people across the district since 2007, the installation will take visitors on a multimedia ride through time and space, exploring who we are and what makes us human.

The new Sound and Vision galleries (shown right and below) will launch in summer 2025 and will celebrate all aspects of the museum's permanent collection including photography, film, audio, animation and gaming.

On reopening visitors will see the return of the interactive Wonderlab gallery, along with the IMAX – the biggest screen in West Yorkshire. its 2025 programme will also see the return of the museum’s annual Yorkshire Games Festival, the Widescreen Weekend film festival, and the Bradford Science Festival. 

Commenting on the plans for reopening, Director Jo Quinton-Tulloch said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming visitors back into the museum in January just as Bradford takes on the role of City of Culture. With an enhanced public programme, newly revamped spaces and improved accessibility including a new passenger lift, we’re ready to welcome many more visitors in 2025 and beyond. It’s going to be a momentous year for the district, and we’ve planned a fantastic lineup of exhibitions, festivals, and events including a new immersive exhibition in partnership with Bradford 2025; a supercharged Bradford Science Festival and the opening of our new Sound and Vision galleries in the summer.”

See: https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/

and https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0jsnfdh

Lydia Heeley has been appointed the Bern and Ronny Schwartz Curator of Photography at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, and will start in post on 2 October 2024. She replaces the inaugural curator Phillip Roberts who was appointed in 2022 and left earlier this year. The post was advertised in May. 

Lydia brings curatorial experience from her most recent post as Assistant Curator, Photography, at the museums of St Andrews University a role she has held since December 2022. Prior to this she was Digitisation Officer responsible for 3D and 2D digitisation at the museum, and has been at the university in various part-time and voluntary roles, including work on the James Valentine collection and on the St Andrews Photography Festival.

Her MPhil thesis which was undertaken at St Andrews, supervised by Luke Gartlan was titled Scottish documentary photography and the archive: George M. Cowie, Franki Raffles and Document Scotland in the University of St Andrews Photographic Collection. The first major retrospective of Raffles' work was shown at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and remains on view until 16 March 2025. Lydia blogged about her work on the exhibition. 

The curatorial post at the Bodleian was first announced in 2021 with the objective of caring for, and developing, the libraries' growing photography collections. It was realised through a 'transformational' gift of £2 million from The Bern Schwartz Family Foundation. The endowment accompanies the Foundation's donation of the archive of renowned American portrait photographer and businessman, Bern Schwartz, and the Bodleian will be delivering an exhibition of Schwart's photography.

The Bodleian houses a significant and growing collection of photography. It has major holdings of significant photographers such as William Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, Helen Muspratt, Bern Schwartz, Daniel Meadows, and Paddy Summerfield; photobooks from the Sir Charles Chadwyck-Healey Collection; prints gifted by James and Claire Hyman; albums from the Michael and Jane Wilson Collection of Nineteenth Century Photographs; as well as huge volumes of photography present in the Libraries' wider archive and print collections, for example the extensive photographic component within the archive of Oxfam GB. The study of and research into photography is increasing in prominence at the University of Oxford, and the post will be key to bringing together different strands of the University for research collaborations with various faculties, museums within the University, other organisations in the city, and with the History of Art department under the leadership of Professor Geoffrey Batchen, whose work focuses on the history of photography.

See Lydia's Linkedin profile here
The Baltic's Franki Raffles exhibition details are here

Portrait image: Lydia Heeley / Linkedin. 

Photo-Secession: Painterly Masterworks of Turn-of-the-Century Photography celebrates an intrepid group of photographers, led by preeminent photographer Alfred Stieglitz, who fought to establish photography as fine art, coequal with painting and sculpture at the turn of the 20th century. The Photo-Secession movement took cues from European modernists–who seceded from centuries-old academic traditions–to demonstrate photographic pictures' aesthetic, creative, and skillful value as art. An homage to Stieglitz, Photo-Secession includes some of the very images that established the appreciation of photography's artistic merits.

The UMFA will present this exhibition concurrently with Blue Grass, Green Skies: American Impressionism and Realism from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to draw attention to the cyclical dialogue between painting and photography in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this period, photographers manipulated their images at various stages of production to imitate painterly effects, while painters worked and reworked their oils to imitate the immediacy of photography, demonstrating a remarkable reciprocity between these two art forms.

Collection of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg / Exhibition organized by art2art Circulating Exhibitions.

Photo-Secession: Painterly Masterworks of Turn-of-the-Century Photography
29 December, 2024
Utah Museum of Fine Arts

Details: https://umfa.utah.edu/photo-secession

Image: Gertrude KÄSEBIER (American, 1852–1934), The Picture Book, 1903, Platinum print on paper