The Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, as part of The PhotoMatrix Project has arranged a series of four hybrid talks as part of the Collegium Historiae Artium lecture series between February and May 2024 looking at aspects of photomechanical reproduction. They are: 

14 February 2024
Meghan Forbes (independent scholar, New York)
Devětsil and the Aura of Mechanical Reproducibility

28 February 2024
Camilla Balbi (IAH CAS, Prague)
A Forgotten Media Interest: Erwin Panofsky and Photography

24 April 2024
Anthony Hamber (independent photographic historian, London)
The 1840s: Transformations in Reprographics

15 May 2024
Kim Timby (École du Louvre, Paris)
Bringing Home the Museum: The Colour Turn in Art Reproduction in the Mid-Twentieth Century

The talks will take place at the Institute of Art History of the CAS, Prague, Husova 4, general meeting room (117), 1st floor at 1630 and online.

For details and abstracts, visit https://photomatrix.cz/outputs#events

For the Zoom link, please contact by email: masterova@udu.cas.cz

About PhotoMatrix Project
Going back to the advent of photomechanical reproductions of art in periodicals at the beginning of the 20th century, PhotoMatrix examines the far-reaching consequences of this media revolution on the distribution and popularization of art among both experts and the general public. The project focuses on art and art historical journals published in Czechoslovakia, Germany, France, and Russia from 1900 to 1950. The reproductions featured in these journals will be examined quantitatively, through the methods of digital art history, and qualitatively, based on archival sources (publishers, photo agencies, photographers, printers). What new narratives of art emerge if we look into this period through the lens of reproductions printed in period journals? What new insights does this historical inquiry open into the use of remote access to art in the digital age?

The Bible in Photography addresses the untold story of biblical subjects in photography, from work by William Henry Fox Talbot and Julia Margaret Cameron in the nineteenth century to David Mach and Bettina Rheims in the twenty-first. Landscapes, character portraits, stories and visionary imagery from the Bible are found to pervade photographic practices and ideas, across the worlds of advertising and tourist information, the book and the gallery, in theorists such as Roland Barthes and John Berger, and in artistic reflection.  

The book first explores the critical space for thinking about religion and the Bible in photographs. It draws methodologies from biblical traditions of hermeneutics and also from visual culture criticism, asking how this most modern of visual media brings a language of belief into the frame.

The second part of the book is concerned with the cultural histories of photography, and introduces four themes for grouping biblical subjects: the index for landscape photographs such as Frith’s images of the Holy Land; the icon for portraits of Jesus and Mary such as by Gabriel Harrison and Lewis Hine; the tableau for instructional images, including those by Oscar Rejlander  and Graystone Bird; and the vision for spirit photography and apocalyptic imagery, such as by Frederick Hudson and John Heartfield.

Throughout, the book is also illustrated with living photographers, drawing the ideas and ideologies of the past into the present day. What is revealed is a charged spirituality in photography. Far from telling a secular story, this is a history of the medium which exposes the religious, and particularly Christian understandings, which were and are held by many of its practitioners over nearly two centuries.

About the author:

Dr Sheona Beaumont is a writer and artist working with photography. Her books explore the religious heritage of Christianity in the arts and visual culture, from photobooks to scholarly monographs. She is a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London, and has held artist/writer residencies across the UK, most recently as the Bishop Otter Scholar in Chichester, West Sussex. www.shospace.co.uk

The Bible in Photography. Index, Icon, Tableau, Vision
Sheona Beaumont
Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024
Hardback, 272 pages
£99, eBook £79.20
Details: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bible-in-photography-9780567706539/

This Manplan panel talk brings together different perspectives, examining the interconnected worlds of photography, graphic design, architecture, and publishing as seen through the pages of the Manplan series.

Experts explore how these disciplines intertwine, shaping perspectives on architectural journalism, visual storytelling, and graphic communication. They discuss the transformative power of Manplan, its bold objectives, and how the imagery and themes resonate today and influence practice within the different fields. 

Perspectives on Manplan panel discussion
6 March 2024, 1830-2000
London: RIBA, 66 Portland Place
Details and booking: https://www.architecture.com/whats-on/perspectives-on-manplan-riba-panel-discussion

Imperial War Museums (IWM) London opened a new suite of galleries late last year dedicated to the representation of modern conflict and the experiences of artists, filmmakers and photographers. Although IWM say that the galleries ‘explore the complex tension between creativity and destruction’ I would argue that the still single image does more to show the impact and effect of war on combatants, civilians, and places, than many of the tanks, aircraft and other artefacts on display elsewhere in the museum. These galleries show that very effectively. 

In an age where the immediacy of conflict is readily available on screens these galleries make the point – intended or not – that the still image retains a power to shock, inform and explore, and most importantly to remain in one’s memory in a unique way, that television and the moving image struggle to match. Photography does this in a particular way of course, but paintings and drawings, too, have that same power. The artist – and I include photographers in that term - through their presence, situation, and decision on what to show the viewer bring a unique perspective.

The five galleries of some 500 works, plus two screening areas, are arranged thematically. An introduction is following by practice and process, power of the image, mind and body, perspectives and frontiers. The artworks come from IWM's own extensive holdings and photography, artwork and film are all integrated in the gallery spaces. Of course, photography shows itself better than art in some areas. The camera as a tool is there and has more impact than the artist’s paintbox. But the impact of John Singer Sargent’s monumental painting Gassed (left), back after undergoing significant conservation, shows how artwork too can engage and absorb the viewer. Film is shown on screens in the galleries and in two viewing spaces ands felt less impactful and effective than the still image, although footage of the Normandy beach landings and concentration camps hold their own against single artworks. 

The work of photographers and photojournalists are represented from the first world war up to the present. Christina Broom, Olive Edis, Cecil Beaton, Bill Brandt, Don McCullin and Tim Hetherington are just a few whose photography look at war and civilian life during conflict.  Framed photographs on the wall remove many of the photographs from their originally intended method of presentation, changing their meaning, and treating them as artworks, although their power remains intact. Elsewhere, lantern slides, albums (amateur and for official presentation) and publications such as Picture Post, newspapers, books and posters show how photography was intended to be consumed by the public.

An end quote on the wall from first world war photographer and cinematographer Frank Hurley from 1917 faces the visitor on arrival and exit: ‘None but those who have endeavoured can realise the insurmountable difficulties of portraying a modern battle by the camera… I have tried and tried but the results are hopeless’. Hurley was being unfair on himself. Photography showed the war to an innocent public, and new uses of the medium such as aerial photography, used extensively from WW1, literally brought a new high-level perspective to places of conflict. But it was the photographers focusing in on details that had more to convey to the viewer about conflict, reminding us that conflict is human and its impact is on humanity.

The new galleries are a triumph of curatorial selection and design, and do much to remind us of the power and impact of the still image. Highly recommended. 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/blavatnik-art-film-and-photography-galleries

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/war-photographers-iwm-photography-collection  

Dr Michael Pritchard

IWM London
Lambeth Road, London, SE1 6HZ
1000-1800 daily, except 24 to 26 December
https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-london

The German Photo Book Prize bronze medal has been awarded to Neue Wahrheit? Kleine Wunder! / New Truth? Small Miracles! which was published to accompany an exhibition that toured three venues across Germany.

The book looks at the development of photography from its origins up to the 1870s before phootgraphy became a mass amateur and popular pursuit. What makes this book (and the exhibitions) all the more remarkable is that it is based on the collection of Hans Gummersbach who has built a thoughtful collection with a particualr focus on the daguerreotype. The book consists of a series of essays and is very well-illustrated from Gummersbach's phenomenal collection. 

As Grant Romer notes in a review of the book: 'This publication, the collection it is based on, and the history of it’s formation will become a landmark, embodying past understanding of what was Photography.'

Neue Wahrheit? Kleine Wunder! / New Truth? Small Miracles!
Sammlung/Collection Hans Gummersbach
Edited by Kunstmuseum Ahlen / Museum Georg Schäfer Schweinfurt
Text in German and English
Wienand, 2021,
Hardcover, 224 pages, €27
ISBN: 978-3868326314
Available here: https://www.amazon.de/Wahrheit-Kleine-Wunder-fr%C3%BChen-Fotografie/dp/3868326316

This Spring, Imperial War Museums (IWM) opens its first exhibition of work by celebrated photojournalist, filmmaker and humanitarian, Tim Hetherington, following IWM’s acquisition of his full archive from the Tim Hetherington Trust in 2017. 

Opening at IWM London on the 13th anniversary of Hetherington’s death while covering the Libyan Civil War in 2011, Storyteller: Photography by Tim Hetherington (20 April 2024 – 29 September 2024) showcases photography, films and personal objects from across Hetherington’s career. Key works on display include his projects in Liberia (2003 - 2007), Afghanistan (2007 - 2008), and his final, unfinished project in Libya (2011). With newly displayed objects and photographs, including the camera and diary he used in the days leading up to his death, this exhibition for the first time, brings together aspects of Hetherington’s personal experiences and perspective, alongside his most engaging projects. 

Featuring over 65 of his most striking photographs, Storyteller: Photography by Tim Hetherington shines a light on Hetherington’s unconventional approach to conflict photography. In contrast to photojournalists who spend just weeks in warzones before moving on to new assignments, Hetherington, who was awarded four World Press Photo awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for his and Sebastian Junger’s feature-length documentary, Restrepo, took an unusually long-term approach to projects, which saw him return to the same places over several months or years. The resulting work has a profoundly human focus, developed through deep connections with the people with whom he spent time. Hetherington also broke with convention in his use of vintage film cameras through the early 2000s, at a time of major advancements in digital photography. Slowing the photographic process down gave more freedom to interact with people, while challenging him to take more carefully considered photographs.  ​

Visitors can witness Hetherington's first experince of an active frontline, with his project documenting the Second Liberian Civil War, and the subsequent steps towards peace and democracy. Alongside this, the exhibition features his time in Afghanistan, where he lived for long periods with a platoon of US soldiers. Here he chose to depict an alternative angle to contemporary news reporting, by focusing on the young soldiers he lived and spent significant time with, covering every nuance of their behaviour during periods of extreme tension, fear, vulnerability, exhuastion and boredom.

In 1999, Hetherington began work on his first large scale project, Healing Sport, exploring the consequences of conflict in countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone and Angola. Over a decade later, in April 2011, he was mortally wounded whilst working on a new project in Libya. Both projects, at either end of his career, sought to close the distance between his audience and the human stories of the conflict his work explored. Storyteller: Photography by Tim Hetherington invites visitors to look at these projects in dialogue and to consider how his Libyan project might have developed, had it not been tragically cut short.

Other defining and award-winning works by and about Hetherington, shown in dedicated screening rooms, include Sleeping Soldiers, Liberian Graffiti, Healing Sport, and his self-reflective film, Diary. 

By showcasing this diverse selection of projects, Storyteller: Photography by Tim Hetherington invites visitors to reflect on his legacy and ask themselves; ‘What is the role and responsibility of the photojournalist is when documenting conflict?’.

Greg Brockett, curator of Storyteller: Photography by Tim Hetherington, said: “In the process of curating this exhibition, and the years I have spent cataloguing and researching Tim Hetherington’s archive, I have discovered just how driven Hetherington was to explore his own fascination with the world through the lens of conflict. I’ve uncovered a depth of personal insight to Hetherington's character and his thoughtful approach to his work. At IWM, we are delighted to be sharing this poignant insight to the person behind the lens as we invite visitors to explore a more thoughtful and visually captivating insight into conflict than we find in much of the news we watch, read or browse."

Speaking for the Tim Hetherington Trust, Judith Hetherington (Tim’s mother and founding Trustee) said: “Storyteller: Photography by Tim Hetherington fulfils the Trust's core ambition that Tim’s visionary work should continue to inspire new generations of artists and journalists dedicated to bringing truth to the world.  We are particularly excited that Tim's rich legacy has been amplified and given new relevance by the deep knowledge and historical perspective of the team at IWM. The result is an inspiring opportunity for old friends and tomorrow’s emerging talent to catch a spark from recent history and to carry it forward in their telling of the urgent stories of our time.”

Storyteller: Photography by Tim Hetherington will be accompanied by a brand-new photography publication of Hetherington’s work. Tim Hetherington: IWM Photography Collection by exhibition curator Greg Brockett will feature 50 of Hetherington’s photographs, offering a new perspective of his work and revealing insights into the man behind the lens.

The Tim Hetherington and Conflict Imagery Research Network, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, helped to inform the content development of this exhibition. 

Storyteller: Photography by Tim Hetherington will open at IWM London on 20 April 2024.

Images (l to r):

© IWM (DC 64010) A Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy combatant in Liberia, taken in June 2003 by Tim Hetherington
© IWM (DC 66144) A sleeping soldier from United States Army's 2nd Platoon, Battle Company, 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade in Eastern Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, taken by Tim Hetherington
© IWM (DC 64035) A Liberian woman carries cassava leaves to the central market in Tubmanburg, Liberia, taken in May 2003 by Tim Hetherington

Between 1860 and 1868, elite members of Victorian society regularly arrived to be photographed at the studio of Camille Silvy at 38 Porchester Terrace in Bayswater, London. Silvy’s twelve photographic daybooks, now owned by the National Portrait Gallery, form a record of this activity with almost 12,000 portraits contained within their pages.

Among Silvy’s aristocratic sitters were seven early women photographers, temporarily repositioned to become the subjects rather than the creators of photographs. These first generation photographic pioneers adopted new technology and a variety of chemical processes as an alternative expression of creativity to that offered by traditional art forms, such as oil or watercolour art. Instead of brush on canvas, landscapes or portraits could now be captured onto light sensitive paper by the action of the sun.

Rose Teanby shares her knowledge of early women photographers through a new blog on the National Portrait Gallery's website. 

Read Rose Teanby's blog here: https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/reframing-narratives-women-in-portraiture/female-focus-page/through-camille-silvys-lens

Image: Jane Frederica Harriot Mary (née Grimston), Countess of Caledon by Camille Silvy, 1860, NPG Ax50283 / National Portrait Gallery, London

National Science and Media Museum conservator Vanessa Torres is the subject of a blog post where she discusses how the museum uses cold storage to preserve materials held within the collection. 

Read the blog here: https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/blog-from-the-basement-cold-storage/

As early as October 1859, William Crookes, one of the editors of the Photographic News, mentioned the possibility of using magnesium to produce an artificial burst of light to illuminate a scene for photography. Flash photography became one of the most spectacular technical manifestations of commercial photography within a few years of its invention. Thanks to the most recent camera sensors (specifically the SPAD type), scenes can now be recorded with a minimum of 0.001 lux without any artificial light. Like film, flash could well eventually become a somewhat distant memory in a new technological ecosystem that both digitally alters and expands what is visible and recordable. It is therefore particularly timely to reopen this case in order to carry out an archeology of flash free of purely technicist narratives.

The history of photography might easily be reduced to a rather narrow narrative of successive technological advancements that ultimately lead to its triumph over darkness. It is the aim of this conference to steer clear of such teleological readings in order to better understand the flash – a sudden emission of artificial light caused by a variety of technical means (from magnesium to the electric stroboscope via flash bulbs), in contrast to more permanent artificial light – not only as a technique, but as a connecting point between different ways to investigate the history of photography.

Proposals may explore, but are not limited to:

• the spaces of flash (physical and/or social)

• the temporalities of flash (instantaneity, arrest)

• flash as an event and a narrative

• the archeology of flash (the use and etymology of words used to refer to artificial light; the dissemination of the flash among amateurs via photography manuals; its degree of use)

• flash as sign, format, and aesthetic

• flash as photographic metaphor and metaphor of photography

• the visualities of flash and constructions of class, race, and gender

Conference details

The conference will take place in Paris, 17-18 October 2024 (Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Richelieu). We will be able to help towards travel expenses for doctoral students and young researchers. To apply for these stipends, simply indicate in your email to the organisers that you wish to be considered and state the country you will be travelling from.

The conference will be followed by the publication of selected papers in the Photographica journal in 2025.

Submission

Proposals for papers should include author name and affiliation, 300–400 word abstract, and a short CV. We invite proposals from scholars at all levels from early career onwards. Papers will be selected on the quality of the proposal and with the aim of ensuring a broad spread of topics for the conference.Conference presentations will be 20 minutes.

Proposal should be sent to flashconf2024@gmail.com by the deadline of May 5, 2024. They will be reviewed by the scientific committee.

See the full call: https://journals.openedition.org/photographica/1667

Lyon and Turnbull's auction of Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps and Photographs on 7 February 2024 includes five lots, each with a photograph from Robert Howlett of views and portraits of those connected with the Great Eastern. They comprise: 

• Group portrait of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and associates at the launching of the Great Eastern, 1857
• Hull and paddle-wheel of the Great Eastern, c.1857
• Hull, paddle-wheel and chain-drum of the Great Eastern, c.1857
• Starboard bow of the Great Eastern, 12th November 1857
• Three photographs of the Great Eastern, 1857

Estimates range from £400 to £3000. 

Details: https://www.lyonandturnbull.com/auctions/rare-books-manuscripts-maps-and-photographs-773

The Guardian newspaper reports that one of three known life-size, photographic and hand-coloured reproductions of the Bayeux Tapestry has been bought by the Bayeaux Museum. The tapestry was photographed in 1872 by the South Kensington Museum, now the V&A Museum, and six copies were originally made over a two year period. The Bayeaux Museum's recent acquisition cost £16,000 (plus buyer's premium, total £20,160) and came from the collection of Rolling Stone drummer Charlie Watts which was sold at Christie's last year.  The V&A still holds the original negatives of the tapestry. 

Read the article here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/29/bayeux-museum-lands-19th-century-reproduction-of-tapestry-for-16000

The original Christie's auction description and illustrations are here: https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/charlie-watts-literature-jazz-part-ii/victorian-full-size-replica-bayeux-tapestry-301/192658 The reproduction was previously sold at Bonhams in 2009 for £6000 (inc premium) alongside a fuller description: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/17616/lot/164/

The most authoritative study of the photography of the Tapestry is Ella Ravilious, 'The Bayeux Tapestry Photographed', The Burlington Magazine, v. 165, no. 1442 (May 2023). See: https://burlington.org.uk/archive/back-issues/202305

See the Bayeaux Tapestry Museum here: https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-bayeux-tapestry/

There is an unprecedented exhibition of the Clarkson Stanfield Album, a superb volume of early photographs by the celebrated Scottish partnership of Hill & Adamson. Launching their collaboration in Edinburgh in 1843, the established painter David Octavius Hill (1802–1870) and the young photographer Robert Adamson (1821–1848) combined their aesthetic sensitivity and technical brilliance to produce an unparalleled body of portraits, architectural and landscapes scenes, and pioneering social documents. Their work endures today as one of the earliest sustained explorations of photography as an artform.

In the fall of 1845 Hill & Adamson prepared an album of their finest work, arranging 109 salted paper prints from their calotype negatives into a folio bound in rich purple leather with intricate gold tooling, and sold it to the prominent English marine painter Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (1793–1867). Now known as the Clarkson Stanfield Album, it is one of only a few such unique albums assembled in the years before Adamson's death at age 26.

More than 175 years later the album is undergoing structural repair, providing the first opportunity since 1845 to view several sections at once before conservators return them to the original binding. The exhibition includes 39 salted paper prints from the Clarkson Stanfield Album, as well as examples of Adamson's earliest photographic trials and two of Hill's painted landscapes. The exhibition is drawn entirely from the Gernsheim Collection, acquired by the Ransom Center in 1963.

Hill & Adamson: The Clarkson Stanfield Album
9 March  – 2 June 2024
Harry Ransom Center, Austin Texas
See: https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/2024/hill-and-adamson-the-clarkson-stanfield-album/

Image: Hill & Adamson (Scottish, active 1843–1847), A Newhaven Pilot, 1843–1845. Salted paper print, 20.3 x 14.6 cm. Gernsheim Collection, purchase, 964:0048:0085

­The National Portrait Gallery commissioned Dr Katayoun Dowlatshahi to make 25 tri-colour carbon prints for the exhibition Yevonde: Life and Colour (2023). Here she describes the journey in making them and the historical developments that are part of the story. Katayoun also runs private courses on Carbon printing from her home in Norfolk. 

Read the blog (complete with footnotes): https://www.silverwoodstudio.co.uk/post/a-journey-in-colour-researching-yevonde-vivex

For information on black and white, colour and carb printing workshops see: https://www.silverwoodstudio.co.uk/colour-carbon-photography-workshop

Bosham Gallery is presenting a collection of limited editioned silver gelatin photographs printed from the original glass plate negatives of the Beken of Cowes archive, an elegant and quintessentially English collection of magnificent sailing photographs from a bygone era of international yachting. In order to make silver gelatin photographs today using the original glass plate negatives in the Beken of Cowes archive, which are over 130 years old, first the glass plate negatives needed to be cleaned and then scanned to produce a digital file.

Read how the arduous task of digitally restoring the Beken of Cowes photographs was completed by Paul Brett in 2015, by way of an example using Alfred John West’s iconic photograph of Meteor II Aground in 1899 by clicking here.

Merton College, Oxford, is inviting applications for a Visiting Research Fellowship in the Creative Arts (Book Arts) 2024-2025. This covers the broad gamut of Book Arts including genres such as the photographic book, and the artist's book. 

The Fellowship is open to creative artists of all ages, and might be awarded either to emerging or established figures. For 2024-25, applications are invited from practitioners in the field of Book Arts (including illustration, graphic design, fine printing, dust-jacket art, binding, and such genres as the graphic novel, photographic book, and the artist's book).

• Tenure: The Fellowship can be held for any period between two months and one year - with the period of tenure offered being determined by the needs of the proposed project. The starting date is negotiable, the earliest being 1 October 2024.

• Stipends: there will be a stipend of up to £2203.67 per month. The Stipend will be subject to Tax and National Insurance and will be pensionable.

• Expenses for qualifying research, travel, and materials up to £317 per month may be claimed subject to the College's rules for Fellows' Research Allowance. The college cannot, however, fund additional support personnel.

• Accommodation and meals will be provided for the Fellow. If available the College will endeavour to provide partnered accommodation when required. It is expected that the Fellow will reside in the College accommodation during the tenure of the Fellowship.

• The College will endeavour to provide a suitable studio or office where required.

• Fellows will retain the copyright for work carried out during the tenure of the Fellowship. They are, however, expected to acknowledge, where possible, the support provided by the College and, where practicable, to deposit copies of work produced in an appropriate media, in the College archives. The College intends to create an archive of the scheme within the College archives.

• Fellows will be expected to submit to the Governing Body a brief account of their work during the Fellowship.

Details: https://www.artsjobs.org.uk/jobs/37031

Photographs by renowned British photographer John Bulmer capturing the fortitude of Hartlepool people during the hardship of the 1960s will receive their first-ever showing in the town in a major exhibition of his work.

Born in 1938, John Bulmer is best-known for his pioneering colour photojournalism in the Sixties, when he worked for, among others, the Sunday Times magazine and famously shared the cover of the very first issue of the ‘Colour Section’ with David Bailey. Over the next ten years, he would travel to over 100 countries around the world to document historic moments ranging from Queen Elizabeth II visiting Ethiopia to life under the regime in North Korea. In 1960 he had been assigned by Town magazine to document the bleak industrial centre of Nelson, Lancashire, and contrast it with the up-and-coming town of Watford, and his talent in capturing the gentleness and humanity in an otherwise grim situation elevated his images beyond any typical reportage-style photography.

He continued to return to the north of England, and in the winter of 1962-63 he visited Hartlepool for Image magazine, taking more than 40 photographs. It is those images which will feature in the new exhibition called Northern Light which opens in Hartlepool Art Gallery on Saturday, 27 January and runs until Saturday, 4 May.

At the time of Bulmer’s visit, during a bitterly cold winter, Hartlepool was suffering from mass unemployment. Gray’s shipyard had just closed with the loss of 1,400 jobs and the future looked bleak. His images record the town before it changed, but also the daily life of men and women who were out of work and gathering sea coal from the beach, waiting in the dole queue or visiting the labour exchange. The article the photographs were used for tried to make the case for more targeted Government intervention in places like Hartlepool where poor infrastructure and low investment meant businesses were more likely to set up in the already prosperous south-east. Despite the hardships people were facing, Bulmer’s photographs convey a sense of resilience, humour and even optimism, and although the landscape appears bleak and hard he remembers the warmth of the people he met.

By the end of the 1960s the landscape of the town had changed immeasurably as a result of slum clearance and the closure of shipyards and steelworks, and new employers moved in and grew in place of the old.

John Bulmer said: "It’s sixty years since the ‘big freeze’, when Hartlepool had a record cold winter which corresponded to having the highest unemployment in the country. The shipyard had just closed, and I made my first trip to Hartlepool. The faces of the people showed an extraordinary fortitude, which is a reminder sixty years on of the strength of the people of the North East. It is wonderful to show this now in a new Hartlepool!”

Complementing the exhibition will be images by photography students from the Northern School of Art, capturing what Hartlepool means to them, and reminiscences of the 1960s contributed by local people.

Councillor Bob Buchan, Chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s Adult and Community-Based Services Committee, said: “We are privileged and delighted to be able to showcase this exceptional series of photographs by John Bulmer for the first time in Hartlepool. The people of Hartlepool are renowned for both their strength and their friendliness and these images capture both. The photographs provide a remarkable and very poignant snapshot in time of a town which in the intervening years has changed massively and is currently undergoing further major regeneration.”

John Bulmer: Northern Light
Hartlepool Art Gallery
27 January - 4 May 2024.
Hartlepool Art Gallery is located in Church Square and is open Tuesdays to Saturdays 10am – 5pm
Entry is free.
See: https://www.culturehartlepool.com/art-gallery/

Images: Hartlepool 1963, John Bulmer. © Popperfoto

Following its World Premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest, EMU Pictures is proud to present MY FRIEND LANRE, a new feature documentary from filmmaker Leo Regan. It will open in select
UK cinemas on 29 January, including a special screening and director Q&A at Curzon Soho, before being available to watch on demand via Curzon Home Cinema from 2 February.

In MY FRIEND LANRE, acclaimed filmmaker Leo Regan draws on decades of footage to create a moving portrait of the complex life of friend and photographer, Lanre Fehintola. Regan first documented his friend’s life in the 1998 film DON’T GET HIGH ON YOUR OWN SUPPLY. Fehintola became hooked on heroin while working on a book about a group of drug addicts in Bradford. Regan caught up with him again in the 2001 film COLD TURKEY, as Fehintola attempted to break his addiction by locking himself in his flat without medication. MY FRIEND LANRE jumps two decades, to a moment when Fehintola has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Drawing from over 25 years of footage, the filmmaker presents an intensely intimate portrayal of his friend during his final months and weeks, as Lanre faces his ultimate adventure, his own terminal illness.

Moving, funny, devastating and bravely personal, MY FRIEND LANRE is a living testament to one person’s incredible life and work; a celebration of living and dying that becomes a hymn to the soul.

My Friend Lanre was supported by the BFI Doc Society Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.

My Friend Lanre
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/836503455
https://www.instagram.com/myfriendlanre
https://www.twitter.com/myfriendlanre
There will be a special screening with Director Q&A at Curzon Soho on 29 January at 6.20pm. Tickets and more information available here
Following its cinematic release, it will be available to watch on Curzon Home Cinema from 2 February to 31 March 2024..

Image © Lanre Fehintola

TownsWeb Archiving has just issued a blog about a digitisation project of 1115 glass plates it was involved in for Sherborne Museum. The plates had been gifted to the museum by a local resident with around 300 believed to be the works of Adam Gosney. Gosney was an influential figure within the town during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and left his mark on Sherborne as an established and skilled photographer. 

The glass plates shine a light on an unprecedented and poignant visual narrative of the servicemen and women, including Red Cross nurses and wounded soldiers from the first wolrd war. Further glass plate negatives have unearthed glimpses into the everyday life of Sherborne residents, showcasing Sherborne's iconic buildings, past carnival festivals, and the traditional idyllic countryside surrounding the town.

Read the blog here.