Orientalist Museum in Doha has an opportunity for a curator of photography collection with several years experience to undertake the management of the museum collection.

Successful candidates will be required to manage the photography collection including, but not limited to, attention to proper storage and conservation needs and to research of the collection, incorporating new information into the museum database, exhibitions and publications; plan, design, and execute the photography exhibition program in collaboration with the Orientalist museum research team, plan exhibition installation design and assist with the actual installation as necessary; supervises presentation of traveling exhibitions scheduled by the Orientalist Museum. Conducts ongoing research on the Museum's photography collections. Works collegially with curators in overlapping disciplines on matters of mutual interest. Develops exhibitions and installations from the Museum's permanent collection. Conducts research, selects objects, and works with registrars on coordination of loan agreements, packing and shipping, and other exhibition details. Writes catalogues, brochures, and other publications; writes exhibition wall labels and extended object labels. Develop the photography collection as a research resource for local and international scholars. Work closely with the education department and supervise the docent training as it pertains to the interpretation of photography exhibitions. Foster collaborative projects within the museum and with international museums and related cultural and educational organizations. Perform other duties assigned by the Director of the Orientalist museum.

See: http://www.museumjobs.com/jobdetails.php?JobID=7588

The Royal Photographic Society's Historical group is presentating a day of reconstructions and demonstrations on 7 July in Bath...Roger Smith, a member of the Scientific Instrument Society has made a facsimile of the Wolcott and Johnson mirror camera, following as closely as possible the patent filed by Richard Beard.  David Burder will use the camera to demonstrate the daguerreotype process. This is probably the first time that a Wolcott camera has been used to make a daguerreotype since the early 1840s. 

There will be other demonstrations of early processes and prints, including wet-plate collodion (Guy Brown) and the bromoil process (Brian Iddon). Examples of prints resulting from some of the early processes will be provided by Donald Stewart.

This is a day devoted to notoriously unpredictable  processes - nothing is promised but an exciting day out.

The cost of £15 for non-Group members and booking is essential as space is limited.  

To see more and to book click here.

The proceedings of a conference that examined three plates from The Royal Photographic Society’s Collection by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce dating from c1826-27 have been published. The investigation by the National Media Museum and Getty Conservation Institute re-wrote photographic history and revealed a hitherto unknown photographic process.

In October 2010 the National Media Museum, Bradford, held a major conference, supported by The Royal Photographic Society, to present the findings from an extensive investigation into three plates by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce contained within the Society’s Collection. The conference brought together specialists from different areas ranging from conservators, to historians of picture frames, paper and fingerprints, as well as photographic historians. Exciting new findings were presented about the plates which rewrote the photographic history books. They revealed for the first time that the plates were the result of three different processes including a previously unknown photographic process.

The majority of the papers from the conference have been published by The Society’s Historical Group in a special edition of The PhotoHistorian and a one-off issue of The Society’s Imaging Science Journal totalling some 93 pages.  These are available as a set only in a commemorative folder for £20 including UK and worldwide postage.

The proceedings can be ordered via The Society website by clicking the link www.rps.org/niepce or by contacting The Royal Photographic Society on +44 (0)1225 325733 or reception@rps.org

Here is a singular opportunity to expand the vision of an important, multi-faceted centre that is not only a major gallery, but also an academic force in the world of photographic arts: a growing collection and an exhibition space that has inspired the creation of groundbreaking new works, publications and touring exhibitions. Since its opening in September 2012, more than 150,000 people have visited the Ryerson Image Centre. Situated at the heart of the university campus in downtown Toronto, this 4,500 square foot facility is dedicated to the exhibition, research, study and teaching of photography and related disciplines, including new media, installation art and film. It is home to an amazing trove of photographic works, highlighted by the world-renowned Black Star Collection of some 292,000 photographs. The Centre has Canada’s largest photographic teaching collection, a growing number of photographers’ archives, and a broad selection of moving image media.

Your inclusive, high energy leadership of the Ryerson Image Centre will expand its profile among Ryerson students, Toronto’s public and the international art community. As the Centre’s Director and chief relationship developer and a key fundraiser, one of your priorities will be to expand upon the many international partnerships already in place and create a visionary strategic plan that embraces the interests of multiple stakeholders. Reporting to the University Provost, you’ll be an advocate of the Centre’s academic mission as you put a significant focus on scholarly exhibitions, managing and building the research collection and supporting research. In addition to your role as champion of the Ryerson Image Centre, you will also add best practices and sound fiscal management to the organization while supporting progressive development of your team.

An accomplished organizational leader and advocate, you will also bring a zeal for the arts and academia to this administrative and entrepreneurial role.

To be considered for this position, please submit your resume and related information online by selecting where you heard about the role and clicking “Add to List” below.

For questions, please contact Margaret Vanwyck in the Toronto office at +1 416-366-1990.

See: http://www.odgersberndtson.ca/ca/executive-opportunities/11566/

The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation is proud to announce the short and long lists for its annual awards for photography and moving image books.  The Foundation also reveals Thames and Hudson Chairman Thomas Neurath as the recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Publishing award.

Established in 1985, the KKF Book Awards are the UK’s leading prizes for books published in the fields of photography and the moving image and the two winners share a £10,000 prize.  The judges have shortlisted books ranging from heavy tomes to small paperbacks, each with outstanding pictorial and literary content and exceptional production.  With the proliferation of self-publishing and e-books, the need for traditional publishers to create beautifully crafted books with cutting edge content is more urgent than ever.

Best Photography Book Award

The award was judged by photography specialist and curator Zelda Cheatle (chair), Guardian photography critic and writer Sean O’Hagan and photographer Paul Graham.  The panel selected:

Shortlist – from which one winner will be chosen

• Everything Was Moving: Photography from the 60s and 70s by Kate Bush (Barbican Art Gallery) [BPH's tip for the winner] 
• Billy Monk by Billy Monk (Dewi Lewis)
• War / Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath byAnne Wilkes Tucker, Will Michels and Natalie Zest (Yale University Press)

Longlist

• Algeria by Dirk Alvermann (Steidl)
• Uncle Charlie by Marc Asnin (Contrasto)
• Chris Killip: arbeit / work by David Campany and Ute Eskildsen (Steidl)
• On the Mines by David Goldblatt and Nadine Gordimer (Steidl)
• Faking It: Manipulated Photography before Photoshop by Mia Fineman (Metropolitan Museum of Art) (see illustration)
• Sarah Angelina Acland: First lady of Colour Photography by Giles Hudson (Bodleian Library, University of Oxford)
• Mikhael Subotzky: Retinal Shift by Mikhael Subotzky and Anthea Buys (Steidl)

Of the 10 short and long listed books Zelda Cheatle comments: “Our highly commended books include contemporary work, exhibition catalogues, a beautiful little paperback and turn of the century discoveries.  Every book was thought about, mulled over and the agonising process of elimination or inclusion enacted.  So many of the books were magnificent: we were glad to include Sarah Angelina Acland and her (previously-unknown) spectacular colour images, Marc Asnin’s Uncle Charlie with its 30 years of work and Chris Killip: arbeit, a master photographer, all discussed at length.   Each and every one of the books on this list is a winner for this judging panel.”

Best Moving Image Book Award

Chaired by BFI Creative Director Heather Stewart, the Moving Image panel was completed by Nev Pierce, Editor-at-Large, Empire magazine and Dr. Julian Petley, Professor of Screen Media, Brunel University.   The panel chose:

Shortlist - from which one winner will be chosen

• 39 Steps to the Genius of Hitchcock by James Bell, editor (British Film Institute)
• First Films of the Holocaust: Soviet Cinema and the Genocide of the Jews, 1938-46 by Jeremy Hicks (University of Pittsburgh Press)
• Hollywood Costume by Deborah Nadoolman Landis (V&A Publishing)

Longlist

·         Audiences: Defining and Interpreting Screen Entertainment Reception by Ian Christie, ed. (Amsterdam University Press)

·         The James Bond Archives by Paul Duncan (Taschen)

·         Ealing Revisited by Mark Duguid et al (British Film Institute)

·         The Art and Making of the Dark Knight Trilogy by Jody Duncan Jesser and Jannine Pourroy (Abrams)

·         Behind the Scenes at the BBFC: Film Classification from the Silver Screen to the Gilded Age by Edward Lamberti (Palgrave Macmillan)

·         The Cinema of Tarkovsky: Labyrinths of Space and Time by Nariman Skakov (I.B. Tauris)

·         Publisher Ilex for the 2012 books from their series Filmcraft: Costume Design, Production Design, Editing, Cinematography, Directing

Talking about the books, Heather Stewart commented: “The standard of the ten publications on the list was as high as ever, and the shortlisting of the top three was extremely difficult”. 

The 20 short and long listed photography and moving image books will be displayed at Somerset House, London from 26 April – 12 May as part of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition.

The Best Photography Book and Best Moving Image Book winners will be announced on 25 April as part of the Sony World Photography Awards Gala Ceremony at The Hilton, London.  The Photography and Moving Image winners will share £10,000 in prize money."

On the same night, the National Media Museum First Book Award, in partnership with MACK, will be announced.  The award supports the production of a book of previously unpublished work and is supported by the Wilson Centre for Photography, the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation, the John Kobal Foundation and Pierre Brahm.

Outstanding Contribution to Publishing

In recognition of his championing of both photography and moving image books, the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation is delighted to announce Thomas Neurath as the recipient of its Outstanding Contribution to Publishing award.

Thomas Neurath, Chairman of Thames & Hudson, one of a handful of still independent medium-to-large size British publishers, has been personally in charge of the programme of photography titles at the company since the 1960's when he first worked with such eminent practitioners as Brassai and Cartier-Bresson.  Soon thereafter T&H was introducing American photographers including Penn, Avedon and Bruce Davidson to book collectors and other enthusiasts outside the U.S.A.

Pioneering historians of the genre such as Helmut Gernsheim found a sympathetic publishing home at T&H as do figures from the art and museum world for whom photography has been and is a significant medium of their artistic practice - Richard Long, Sophie Ristelhueber, David Hockney and Sean Scully to cite some names.

Thames & Hudson issues some 180 new visual titles each year.  Photo-agencies such as Magnum, major magazine groups including Condé Nast, the contemporary gallery scene, collaborations with fellow publishers such as Robert Delpire or Gerhard Steidl and wherever possible direct working relationships with the photographers continue to contribute to this programme. "Concerned and passionate publishers" is how Martine Franck described the Neurath family and Thames and Hudson on the occasion of its 60th anniversary.

Upon awarding Neurath with this prize Michael G Wilson, Chair of the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation comments: “Thomas Neurath's passion for books, artists and ideas is evidenced by the incredible range of photographic and moving image titles in the Thames and Hudson catalogue.  The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation is pleased to honour Mr. Neurath for his long-standing commitment to producing excellent and innovative titles across the breadth and depth of publishing on lens-based media."

Neurath is the third recipient of the KKF Outstanding Contribution to Publishing award.  Gerhard Steidl received the award in its inaugural year, 2011, followed by Dewi Lewis in 2012.

The British Journal of Photography reports on the use of Flickr as tool by museums and archives. It quotes Emma Thom, senior web content co-ordinator at the National Media Museum (NMM) in Bradford...

The Commons has expanded the concept of what a museum is. “It used to be the case that museums were seen as four walls – and it’s great if people want to come and look at what we’ve got – but this is an opportunity to take the museum to other people. We’re taking an integrated approach, working with curators and collections teams, to have a stronger web presence, linking our postings to The Commons to our programmes.”

The “no known copyright restrictions” category devised to cover postings to The Commons might have rung alarm bells in the minds of some rights holders, particularly those campaigning against the Orphan Works proposals contained in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill making its way through the British Parliament.

But, according to Thom, copyright issues have not had a big impact on what the NMM is able to do. “Our emphasis is on sharing pictures that are copyright-free – that is what The Commons is all about – and we have thousands of photographs that are out of copyright.” The same is true for many of the other member institutions, with large numbers of images out of copyright or – as is the case of the National Archives (which has some six million) and the Library of Congress – with collections that are largely Government-generated and covered by Crown Copyright or its US equivalent.

The National Media Museum's FLickr stream is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmediamuseum/

Read more: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/report/2250132/shared-history-the-commons-initiative-celebrates-its-fifth-anniversary#ixzz2O8wziiya 

The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions has released its 2012 numbers. The National Media Museum, Bradford, shows a small increase in numbers which reflects the opening of new galleries. In 2012 the museum received 504000 visitors compared to 486668 in 2011. 

The chart shows the 2008-2012 ALVA numbers for the museum.

Wesleyan University's Associate Professor Jennifer Tucker has been selected for a Fulbright-U.S. Scholar Award, through which she will spend eight months at the University of York in England from December.

Tucker is a historian of British science, technology and medicine, specializing in the study of the connections among British science, photography and the visual arts from 1850 to 1920. At the University of York, she will complete work on her second book, tentatively titled,Facing Facts: The Tichborne Cause Célèbre and the Rise of Modern Visual Evidence. She also plans to begin preliminary research toward her next book project, which will trace the social history of Victorian scientific and popular visual depictions of the ocean life before and after the HMS Challenger expedition (1872-1876), which laid foundations for the modern science of oceanography.

Tucker previously studied in England as a Marshall Scholar at the University of Cambridge. She received an M.Phil degree from the University of Cambridge in 1990.

As a Fulbright scholar, Tucker will finish the writing of her second book in conversation with members of the scholarly community in the University of York’s Department of History of Art. The book is the first historical account of the circulation of visual evidence (photos, engravings, cartoons, and newspaper illustrations) in the high-profile 19th century trials of Arthur Orton, a butcher from Australia who claimed to be Sir Roger Charles Tichborne, the missing heir to an aristocratic English estate.

“The Tichborne affair is best known today as a case of imposture, identity, and disputed inheritance that attracted strong working class support and led to the dissolution of the Court of Chancery in 1875. My study will show that the Tichborne affair was also an overlooked landmark in the history of Victorian visual culture,” Tucker wrote in her application for the Fulbright Scholarship.

At York, Tucker also will begin preliminary research for her next major book project using photographic archives in York and the National Media Museum in Bradford and, she hopes, materials from the London Stereoscopic Company in the private collection of guitarist and songwriter, Brian May, from the British rock band, Queen.

“The University of York has remarkable intellectual and archival resources related to my scholarly projects and core teaching interests. In addition to the University’s extraordinary expertise in 19th century British history of art and visual culture and related fields, it is within an hour of the leading archive for British photographic history, the National Media Museum in Bradford: home to the National Photography, Cinematography, Television and New Media Collections,” Tucker writes in her application. “The National Media Museum is a vast repository of primary and archival materials that are invaluable for the 19th century photographic historian, including thousands of historical photographs, specimens of photographic processes from 1839 to the present, camera technologies, and rare surviving 19th century photographic journals, letters and photographic studio records.”

Read more here: http://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2013/03/11/tuckerfulbright/

Scotland-based Elmwood has been selected to carry out fit out works for Media Space at the London Science Museum.

The new galleries are the result of a collaboration between the National Media Museum in Bradford and the London Science Museum, and will include 500 sq m of temporary exhibition space, a 290 sq m flexible studio space for installations and events, and a café bar area designed to take the venue from day into night.

Work is already underway on the new venue. Says Contracts Director Stewart Arnott: “Elmwood has been contracted to carry out the enabling and shellworks for the new venue, ranging from M&E installation, air handling plant, and power and data installation, through to joinery, bespoke furniture, floor and wall finishes, lighting and graphics.

“Each element has to be carried out with sensitivity to the live environment and in accordance with strict criteria. So we’re working extremely closely with both the client and design team to ensure we bring the project in on time, within budget and to a flawless finish.”

Once complete, Media Space is expected to host two major exhibitions and a series of installations and events each year.

See: http://www.elmwoods.com/news/new-newspage-12/

Image: Kate Elliott / Science Museum

In 1862, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) was sent on a four-month educational tour of the Middle East, accompanied by the British photographer Francis Bedford (1815-94). This exhibition documents his journey through the work of Bedford, the first photographer to travel on a royal tour. It explores the cultural and political significance Victorian Britain attached to the region, which was then as complex and contested as it remains today. 

In 1922, an appeal went out from the Royal Photographic Society to suitably recognise the inventor of photography, William Henry Fox Talbot.  Many photographers were happy to join in the subscription and more than £200 was raised (equivalent to about £10,000 today).  In September 1924 the bronze and marble memorial was unveiled in the library of the Society’s headquarters, 35 Russell Square (near the British Museum).  It was crafted by George Hawkings, a monumental sculptor then based in Shepherds Bush, London.  He was President of the Hampshire House Photographic Society, a pioneer in the use of colour photography, and a fine worker in photogravure.  When he died in 1937, he merited a full page obituary in The Photographic Journal.

below: from the British Journal of Photography – the size of the memorial is not recorded 

In 1938, the Society realised that it was losing its lease on Russell Square and sought out a new home, finally settling on an address in Princes Gate.  The move was accomplished early in 1939 and by July the Society’s former quarters had been demolished.

Astonishingly, the last record of the Talbot memorial that I have been able to trace was a proud mention in Hawkings’s 1937 obituary.  Even though 1939 celebrated the centenary of photography, and Miss Matilda Talbot spoke to the Society about her grandfather, nothing was said about moving the memorial.  It would seem astonishing that such a recent and popular piece of history would have been left behind that year – it would not have been difficult or expensive to move – yet nobody that I have spoken to who was familiar with Princes Gate or any of the subsequent Society headquarters has any memory of it.  No published mention of it has been traced after the 1937 obituary.

If anyone has any information on the fate of this memorial, it would be appreciated.  If anyone spots any published reference to it after 1937, that could be very helpful.

many thanks

Larry J Schaaf

right: what was left of the Society’s Russell Square headquarters by July 1939 – BJP

March at the History and Theory of Photography Research Centre:

Seminar:

Louise Purbrick, 'Traces of Nitrate: Archives and Landscapes between Britain and Chile'

Monday, 11 March, 6-7.30pm, Keynes Library (Room 114), 

School of Arts, Birkbeck, 43 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PD

This seminar is related to the exhibition Traces of Nitrate: Some Documents

11-15 March 2013, Pelz Room, School of Arts, Birkbeck, 43 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PD

An exhibition of the photographic work in progress of the AHRC funded Traces of Nitrate project developed at the University of Brighton by Ignacio Acosta, Louise Purbrick and Xavier Ribas 

(http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/traces-of-nitrate)

Gallery Talk

Traces of Nitrate: Mining history and photography between Britain and Chile

Friday, 15 March, 1-2 pm, Pelz Room, School of Arts, Birkbeck, 43 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PD

History and Theory of Photography Reading Group.

On 18 March 2013, 6-7:30 pm, we'll discuss the first chapter 'Sacred Monuments of the Nation's Growth and Hope' and the last 'Afterlives and Legacies' from Elizabeth Edwards, The Camera as Historian: Amateur Photographers and Historical Imagination, 1885-1918 (Duke University Press, 2012). Room 112, School of Arts, Birkbeck, 43 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PD

Forthcoming events in May (all in the School of Art, 43 Gordon Square)

01/05/13 - Next reading group, the text will be decided in March, let us know if you have any requests, room 112. 

08/05/13 - Seminar: Graham Smith, 'Rauschenberg's use of photographs in his Combines of the 1950s', Keynes Library.

09/05/13 - Seminar: Magnus Bremmer, 'The Making of a Cloud Observer: On the 19th Century Photographic Cloud-Atlas', Keynes Library.

All our events are free and open to all. Details on 

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/arts/our-research/centres/photography

Further information and images on our blog:

http://photographyresearchcentre.blogspot.co.uk/

Patrizia Di Bello (Dr),

Senior Lecturer, History and Theory of Photography

Birkbeck, University of London,

www.bbk.ac.uk/art-history

The advancement of photo-historical research by prospective curators from the Netherlands or abroad using the original photographs in the National Photo Collection in the Rijksmuseum.

The Manfred & Hanna Heiting Fund enables the Rijksmuseum to award two scholarships every year. The aim of this postgraduate scholarship is to stimulate photo-historical research of the highest quality. The research must result in an article in the field of classical photography. It should be related to the original objects in the extensive and important collection of the Rijksmuseum, and where possible to objects in other collections. This could be an in-depth study of one photograph or photo book and/or its distribution; on a series of photographs or part of an oeuvre; on the aesthetic or technical aspects of photography; on the wider context of a photo book or album; or on combinations of art-historical research and research on materials and techniques . The international research bursary is for a period of 6 months. The researcher will work independently and will be allocated a place in the reading room of the Rijksprentenkabinet (Print Room) and have access to all the museum’s collections and library.

Subject: Call for applicants, Manfred and Hanna Heiting Fund: Photo-historical Research Programme, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam announces the research programme for photo-historical Research in the Print Room of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. Funding for this project has been provided by the Manfred and Hanna Heiting Fund: two grants per annum, for the duration 6 months per grant, over a new period of 5 years.

Aim: to research subject(s) – photographs (19th, as well as 20th century photography), series, photo books, albums- in the National Photo-collection at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.

Requirements for applicants: Talented post-graduates in Art History or the History of Photography.

Required result: a paper or an article, to be submitted, resulting in a publication in the series Rijksmuseum Studies in Photography.

Starting : We want to start summer 2013  in the premises of the Print Room/Library/ of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. Applicants can work in the Study Room of the Print Room of the Rijksmuseum.

Advertisement: The advertisement is attached to this mail. Proposals to be written in English!

Closing date for proposals : 15^th of May  https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/organisation/vacancies/manfred-and-hanna-heiting-scholarship

The National Media Museum has launched a series of 90 second video bites. In the first of the series Colin Harding talks about Francis Bedford.

See: http://nationalmediamuseum.tumblr.com/post/44300693721/francis-bedford-in-90-seconds

The sad news has reached BPH that Professor Margaret Harker Farrand died on 16 February 2013 aged 93. According to Margaret's solicitor she was 'ready to go'. The funeral will take place at 11am on Monday, 11 March, at St Bartholomew Church, Egdean, near Pulborough, East Sussex, RH20 1JU. 

Margaret  was a respected architectural and commercial photographer, a photographic historian and author, an educator at the Regent Street Poly (now the University of Westminster) where she became a Professor and important to The Royal Photographic Society and its collection over many years. She joined The Society in 1941 and became its first woman President serving 1958-60.  

Margaret was also active with the Institute of British Photographers, now the BIPP, the European Society for the History of Photography and many other bodies. 

A fuller obituary will be published here shortly.  

The RPS has published an obituary here: http://www.rps.org/news/detail/society_news/obituary_-_margaret_harker-farrand_1920-2013) and an extensive obituary will appear in The Society's April Journal.

Images: right Margaret Harker, 1952. Courtesy the archive of Dr S D Jouhar FRPS FPSA; below: with RPS Presidents c.1960

On Wednesday, 6 March Professor Ute Eskildsen, former Director and Head of Photography at Museum Folkwang, Essen, will explore the documentary aspects of the Krupp archive and trace how certain images were used and distributed. Close inspection of such photographs reveals that they are never simple documents of industrial interests alone.

Drawing on the rich industrial heritage of the Ruhr Valley, with its obvious parallels with the industrialisation of the south Wales valleys, this lecture forms part of a series accompanying a project by Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales to work on its rich and diverse historic photographic collections – a project made possible through a major gift from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Ute Eskildsen was until recently Acting Director and Head of Photography at the Museum Folkwang, Essen.See: http://www.goethe.de/kue/bku/kur/kur/ag/esk/enindex.htm

In partnership with the eCPR, at University of Wales Newport, the lecture series will reflect the exciting work that Amgueddfa Cymru is undertaking from 2012 to 2015.

For further partner details visit: www.newport.ac.uk/research/ResearchGroups/ecpr/Pages/eCPR.aspx

www.museumwales.ac.uk

Wednesday, 6 March 2013 at 5.45pm

The event is FREE but booking is essential as places are limited. To reserve your place, please email:
Historic.Photography@museumwales.ac.uk with your name and contact telephone number.

Image: Wheel tyres being moved by hand, Krupp Works Essen, 28. Oct. 1899. Courtesy of Historisches Archiv Krupp, Essen

Dr Anthony H Cooper writes...The British Geological Survey National Archive of Geological Photographs “GeoScenic” is online, but may not be a resource that members have come across. The collection includes over 50,000 photographs dating back to around 1850 with around 30,000 GeoScience images and 20,000 special collection images. They can be searched using subject browsing, or the advanced search that allows date ranges to be specified. There is also a map browser for geographically located images. Many of the geological photographs are records of the landscape and industry dating from the present back to the late 18^th Century.

It can be accessed at:

http://geoscenic.bgs.ac.uk/asset-bank/action/viewHome and images 1000 x 1000px may be downloaded without charge for non-commercial use. 

Of particular interest to British Photographic History are the special collections, many of which have been donated to the Survey and are listed below with the number of photographs in each shown in parentheses. Included among them are the collection of Survey staff photographs includes many notable geologists, amongst them: John Phillips, T.H.Huxley, Sir Robert Impey Muchision, Sir Archibold Geike and Henry Thomas De La Beche. The Leeds Cave Club collection charts early underground exploration while the Teale collection of photographs illustrate the Africa of the 1900-1930’s as encountered by some of the first geologists to survey those parts.

I highlight this collection to the membership and suggest that perhaps a link to the National Archive of Geological Photographs could be added to the quick resources listing.

Special collections:

•                Dr. R. Kidston Carboniferous fossil plants (3618)

•                H.W. Haywood, Leeds Cave Club (633)

•                British Science Association (BAAS) (6936)

•                Vesuvius - historical images (37)

•                Henry Mowbray Cadell archives (532)

•                1936 Royal Society expedition to Montserrat - The A.G. MacGregor archive (338)

•                W.J. Reynolds Collection (181)

•                Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street, London. c1855 -1900. GSM.MG.E.5 (45)

•                Survey staff photographs. Geological Survey and Museum and Royal School of Mines, 1850-1910. IGS1.639 (138)

•                J.V. Stephens Italy collection taken during the Second World War (170)

•                Mount Etna eruption 1892 (9)

•                F.W. Harmer collection, East Anglia (45)

•                George Scott Johnstone collection - Scottish mountains (1893)

•                E.O. Teale photograph collection 1900s-1930s (mostly Africa) (421)

Image: W. Norrie, Ross of Mull (looking through Nun's Cave), 1890

The London Stereoscopic Company has launched the first set of facsimile French Diableries cards…..with more to come.  The scenes depicted in these Diableries were made in clay, on a table-top, with amazing skill, by a small bunch of gifted sculptors, and then photographed with a stereo camera. The resulting stereo pair of prints was made on thin albumen paper, and water-colours were applied - not to the front surface, as in the case of normal stereo cards - but to the back of the prints. The eyes of each skeleton were then pricked out with a sharp instrument, and small pieces of red gel, or blobs of reddened varnish, were applied to the back of the pricked holes. Behind this pair of prints was added a layer of tissue paper, which hid the 'works' to the rear surface of the view. The print and the backing tissue were then mounted together, sandwiched between two cardboard frames - each with twin cut-out 'windows' for the prints, and the whole was glued together to make a French Tissue stereo card.

The cards, called 'Diableries' (which translates roughly as 'Devilments') depict a whole imaginary underworld, populated by devils, satyrs and skeletons which are very much alive and, for the most part, having fun. The cards are works of art in themselves, and are known as FRENCH TISSUES, constructed in a special way to enable them to be viewed (in a stereoscope) illuminated from the front, for a normal 'day' appearance in monochrome, or illuminated from the back, transforming the view into a 'night' scene, in which hidden colours magically appear, and the eyes of the skeletons leap out in red, in a most macabre way!

These facsimile cards, loving restored and created by Brian May – where does he find the time? – are quite magical, even down to the glowing red eyes which glint menacingly in the light.

For further details and how to order the cards and accompanying “Owl” stereoscope, see the London Stereoscopic Company website http://www.londonstereo.com/index.html

The 24th International Congress of History of Science, Technology and Medicine (iCHSTM 2013), to be held in Manchester, UK from Sunday 21 to Sunday 28 July, contains a number of sessions dealing with photography and science within an historical context. Registration is now open. Go to <http://www.ichstm2013.com/registration/> and follow the link to open the registration form. Registration will be available at the early discounted rate until Sunday 14 April, and at a higher rate until Monday 1 July, which is the final deadline.

The first draft listing of of pre-arranged symposia, including individual abstracts for around 1100 papers, is now available and can be seen at http://www.ichstm2013.com/programme/guide/. 

The strand Visual Sciences includes: