David Burder FRPS, FBIPP, BSc, has one place left on his very special, hands-on, workshop on 6 April in his North London studio. David will take participants through the many aspects (some safe, some dangerous), of Daguerreotype imaging, the cameras and actual hands-on production of an actual Daguerreotype image. It will be a very interactive experience with course members taking away up to three Daguerreotypes made on the day. Stereo Dags will also be demonstrated. This is a rare opportunity to work with a Daguerreotypist.
The cost for the day will be £350. The workshop will take place at David’s studio in North London. Contact David@3Dimages.co.uk for further information and for Workshop booking.
David is Director of 3D Images Ltd in London, and holder of a dozen 3D imaging patents. He is a Fellow Of The Royal Photographic Society, and a previous recipient of several RPS awards, including The RPS Saxby award for 3D imaging.
David is one of only a handful of practising Daguerreoptypists/ lecturers and has appeared on BBC TV, as well as in in The Guinness book of records, for creating the Worlds largest Daguerreotype. (having first had to build a 2 metre tall camera to house the 24x48 inch plate holder.)
He also created the worlds first 3D Lenticular “Dag”, as well as re-discovering the fabled true colour Daguerreotype process, which basically re-writes the early history of colour imaging. David has given several “live, hands-on” demonstrations of this procedure at several RPS events.
As he wrote in The Daguerrian Annual, “in making Daguerreotypes, I have created many smells and met many new friends”.
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The Bradford Telegraph and Argus reports that the future of the National Media Museum is once again under threat - only eight months after government ministers declared it had been 'saved'. According to the newspaper the museum faces a potentially devastating £900,000 budget shortfall, an inquiry by MPs has been told, after fresh Government funding cuts.
Now the renewed threat to the museum has triggered an appeal for help to the Treasury from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which is alarmed by the second crisis.
The T&A has also been told independently that the museum is seriously concerned about a 'big chunk of money' to be found, although closure is not being discussed.
Read the T&A's full report here and the T&S's editorial demanding that government minister Ed Vaizey government backs up its support from last summer with real leadership.
The intersection of photography and war encompasses a broad and complex field. Yet conceptually, “war photography” is often restricted to the activities of photojournalists producing aesthetically compelling images used to humanitarian ends. Scholars have primarily focused on issues of veracity, iconicity, memory, affect and ethics. Insightful though this work is, we lack crucial information and critical reflection on fundamental questions regarding how commercial, tactical and personal factors have shaped the diverse terrain of images arising from all contexts of armed conflict.
The aim of this conference is to examine war photography in this expanded sense - that is, as the result of a nexus of pragmatic and strategic transactions and interactions concerning business, militarism and consumption.
We seek papers that address the ways in which issues of supply and demand have shaped the field of war photography, and how this field has articulated with other forms of industrialised and commercial activity. We invite scholars in a range of disciplines to reflect upon the relevance to war photography of commerce, industry, the military and marketing, as well as the role of workers, publishers, politicians, strategists, purchasers and consumers. Together, we endeavour to develop alternative methodological frameworks for approaching images of armed conflict, and to shift and expand thinking on the concept of war photography.
A range of historical periods, geographical regions and modes of conflict is# encouraged. Participants are invited to propose 20-minute papers on topics related to the theme The Business of War Photography, including but not limited to the following:
The photographic companies, entrepreneurs and workers serving markets created as a result of war
The requirements of military agencies and their involvement in photographic innovation through funding the development of military imaging technology
The role of the state in commissioning, shaping and circulating photographic images, and their relationship with foreign and domestic policy and military strategy
The marketing of photographic products and services to servicemen/women and civilians during wartime
The production and consumption of photographic merchandise (e.g. souvenirs, postcards)
The publication and dissemination of war images in the media, and the role of consumers, editors and advertisers in shaping content
The market for art photography deploying military imaging techniques or which critiques the role of photography in modern armed conflict
Submission details
We invite proposals of 300 words with a brief biographical note or 1-page CV by 1 March 2014. Applicants will be notified by Friday 14 March. Drafts of papers are due for circulation with co-panellists and chairs by Friday 27 June 2014.
It is envisaged that a selection of papers from the conference will be developed for publication as a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal. The conference organisers are currently discussing this possibility with the Editorial Board of the Journal of War & Culture Studies. Although this will not preclude selection to present at the conference, please state if your proposal has been previously published in any form.
The Business of War Photography
Producing and Consuming Images of Conflict
Durham University and Durham Light Infantry Museum and Art Gallery, UK
31 July to 1 August 2014
Organisers and partners
The Business of War Photography is co-convened by Dr. Tom Allbeson and Pippa Oldfield, Head of Programme at Impressions Gallery and Doctoral Fellow at Durham University. The conference is presented in association with the Centre for Arts and Visual Culture at Durham University, in partnership with Durham Light Infantry Museum and Art Gallery and Impressions Gallery, Bradford.
www.dur.ac.uk/cvac
www.durham.gov.uk/dli
www.impressions-gallery.com
Location
The conference will be held at Durham University, with opening papers and an evening reception at Durham Light Infantry Museum and Art Gallery, with the opportunity to view the photographic exhibition The Home Front by Melanie Friend, an Impressions Gallery Touring Exhibition curated by Pippa Oldfield.
www.melaniefriend.com
Information for delegates and speakers
Details of delegate fees, venues, and accommodation will be announced by 28 February 2014. Please note that we are unfortunately unable to meet participants’ and speakers’ costs. A limited number of delegate places will be offered to postgraduate attendees at concessionary rates.
Contact
Please submit proposals and enquiries to bwp.2014@durham.ac.uk.
The Scott Polar Research Institute has launched an appeal to save Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s ‘lost’ polar negatives. A last minute stay of execution means it now has until 25 March to save the negatives for the nation.Due to the overwhelming level of public support and assistance from public bodies and charities, The Scott Polar Research Institute has already raised a fifth of the purchase price of £275,000 in just six weeks.
Following careful negotiation, the vendors have agreed to extend the original deadline for the sale of these historic images. The Institute now has until 25 March to raise the necessary funds to purchase Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s rediscovered photographic negatives, taken in 1911 on the British Antarctic Expedition, for its Polar Museum.
As part of the Institute’s redoubling of efforts to secure the negatives, it has today launched a video of Britain's greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, giving his full support to the appeal and explaining the importance of preserving the negatives for the nation. Fiennes stresses the uniqueness of the negatives and their importance both to the national heritage and to research.
In the video, Sir Ranulph Fiennes says: “The negatives of Scott’s lost photographs are of major significance to the national heritage. Scott’s attainment of the South Pole and his subsequent death captured the public imagination on its discovery in 1913 and continues to exercise an extraordinary fascination. The negatives are a key component of the expedition’s material legacy as an object and as a collection in themselves. Although the Scott Polar Research Institute holds prints of a number of these photographs, acquiring the negatives is very important. They take us right back to the point of origin, a fact made all the more exciting given that the Institute also holds the camera on which they were taken. Unlike a print, of which any number can be made, the negatives are unique and would be a huge asset to the Institute.”
The extension to the deadline gives time to approach further funding bodies and private donors. The generosity of the public is vital in the race to ensure that the negatives remain available to all in perpetuity, for research and exhibition.
Julian Dowdeswell, Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute, said: “There has been an extraordinarily generous response to the appeal, proving how important Scott remains in the national imagination. Every donation, however small, brings us closer to reaching our goal of £275,000. With this new extension, I am confident we can raise the remaining funds to acquire the negatives.”
The Polar Museum needs to find a further £200,000 in the next three weeks to avoid the prospect of the 113 photographic negatives being sold at auction.
The negatives are a record of Scott’s earliest attempts - under the guidance of expedition photographer Herbert Ponting - through to his unparalleled images of his team on the Southern Journey. The force, control and beauty of his portraits and landscapes number them among some of the finest early images of the Antarctic.
The Polar Museum is already home to the remaining prints of Scott's photographs, Herbert Ponting’s glass plate negatives and Ponting’s presentation album from the same expedition. Added to that are the prints and albums of all the other expedition members equipped with a camera. Together, they form the most comprehensive photographic record of the expedition held anywhere in the world.
Anyone able to make a donation can do so here: http://bit.ly/1nWQz0k
Image: Pony camp, Camp 15. Ponies (left to right) Snippetts, Nobby, Michael and Jimmy Pigg, Great Ice Barrier, 19 November 1911; "Ponies tethered on the ice beside a man-made ice wall. Sledges in background." / Scott Polar Research Institute.
Photobook Bristol is a a weekend of events, talks and the opportunity to buy photobooks. It will kick off with a talk by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger, Not in Parr & Badger, and end with a panel discussion on the future of the photobook. In between there will be sessions on documentary photobooks, the Iberian photobook, self-publishing, and many individual talks.
Find out more here: http://www.photobookbristol.com/
The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation has revealed the shortlist for the 2014 Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards for photography and moving image books. BPH's two favourite titles from each short-list are in bold.
The KKF Book Awards are the UK’s leading prizes for books published in the field of photography and the moving image. The shortlisted books, which range from stunningly executed personal photography projects to academic books tackling previously unexplored topics, will now compete for a share of the £10,000 prize. The winners will be announced on 30 April at the Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony held in London.
Along with 14 highly commended titles across the two categories, the shortlisted books will be displayed at Somerset House, London from 1-18 May as part of the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition.
Best Photography Book Award
The shortlist, chosen by curator and critic Kate Bush (chair), FT Weekend Magazine Photo Editor Emma Bowkett and landscape photographer/ Head of Department, Fine Art Photography, Glasgow School of Art Thomas Joshua Cooper, is:
- History of Photography in China: Chinese Photographers 1844-1879 by Terry Bennett (Bernard Quaritch Ltd)
- The Enclave, Photographs by Richard Mosse, by Anna O'Sullivan and Jason Stearns (Aperture)
- Sergio Larrain: Vagabond Photographer by Agnès Sire and Gonzalo Leiva Quijada (Thames & Hudson)
The judges also recognised and highly commended the following titles:
- Afghan Box Camera by Lukas Birk and Sean Foley (Dewi Lewis Publishing)
- Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris by Sarah Kennel (University of Chicago Press)
- Davide Monteleone: SPASIBO by Galia Ackermann and Masha Gessen (Kehrer Verlag Heidelberg)
- Henk Wildschut: Food by Henk Wildschut (Post Editions)
- Philip-Lorca diCorcia: Hustlers by Philip-Lorca diCorcia (SteidlDangin)
- The Canaries by Thilde Jensen (LENA Publications)
- Twentieth-Century Color Photographs: Identification and Care by Sylvia Penichon (Getty Publications/Thames & Hudson)
Chair Kate Bush commented: “This award is unique in honouring every dimension of a photography book: its cultural originality and its intellectual contribution - as well as its artistic and design value. Our long and short lists reflect a year of vibrant international photography publishing. Thrilling monographs by rising young stars sit alongside works of scrupulous scholarship. Fresh approaches to classic bodies of photography - rediscovered for new generations – take their place beside vernacular imagery found in unexpected places. Art photography, photojournalism, documentary: the wide repertoire of current photographic culture is reflected in our shortlist this year, and each book on the list has surprised and impressed the judges in different ways.”
Best Moving Image Book Award
The jury - Dave Calhoun (chair), Global Film Editor for the Time Out Group, along with Sean Cubitt, Professor of Film and Television, Goldsmiths and Robert Rider, Head of Cinema at the Barbican – selected a shortlist comprising:
- Charles Urban: Pioneering the Non-Fiction Film in Britain and America, 1897 - 1925 by Luke McKernan (University of Exeter Press)
- Hollywood and Hitler, 1933-1939 by Thomas Doherty (Columbia University Press)
- Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation by Tom Sito (MIT Press)
The jury also recognised and highly commended the following titles:
- Cinematic Appeals: The Experience of New Movie Technologies by Ariel Rogers (Columbia University Press)
- Hollywood in the New Millennium by Tino Bailo (British Film Institute/Palgrave Macmillan Higher Education)
- Italian Silent Cinema: A Reader edited by Giorgio Bertellini (John Libbey Publishing Ltd., 2013)
- Seeing is Believing: The Politics of the Visual by Rod Stoneman (Black Dog Publishing)
- The Documentary Film Book by Brian Winston (British Film Institute/Palgrave Macmillan Higher Education)
- The Making of Return of the Jedi: The Definitive Story Behind the Film by J.W. Rinzler (Aurum Press Ltd)
- The World is Ever Changing by Nicolas Roeg (Faber & Faber)
On behalf of the judges, Chair Dave Calhoun commented: "The jury was impressed by the variety of submissions for the prize. The eligible books straddled a wide range of approaches to popular and academic writing and represented the pleasing breadth of current publishing on cinema, including memoirs, studies of individual films and filmmakers, explorations of national cinemas and insights into particular aspects of the filmmaking craft. Each of the three shortlisted books was superbly written and researched and offered new perspectives on cinema from very different angles.”
The restoration of the United Kingdom’s first cinema - located in the heart of London’s West End at the University of Westminster in Regent Street – has been given the green light by Westminster City Council, as the campaign to raise funds for the landmark project moves into its next phase.
The Regent Street Cinema is celebrated as the ‘Birthplace of British Cinema’ as it was used by pioneering filmmakers, the Lumière brothers, to perform their first ever moving picture show in the UK on the 21 February, 1896.
The project will see the preservation of the key architectural features of the Cinema from its 1920s heyday, combining the restored fabric with up-to-date technology, bringing it into the 21st century. Once completed, the iconic venue will house a 200-seat auditorium which will be open to the public and become a landmark destination for British film and a lively hub for University of Westminster students and external visitors including the local community and school children who will come to learn about the heritage and evolution of film and cinema. The restored Cinema’s programming will be distinctive and highly informed, combining cutting edge and experimental work with a stimulating mix of the best of current UK, independent British and World cinema, documentary films, retrospectives and classic repertory titles.
The design scheme for the restoration has been created by Tim Ronalds Architects, a practice that has experience of working with landmark theatre spaces, such as the Hackney Empire redevelopment and plans for Wilton’s Music Hall. Building work will commence in April 2014 and the opening of the Cinema is expected in April 2015.
A major campaign to raise money for the restoration project was publicly launched in March 2012 and the University is seeking additional supporters to be involved in this nationally important project. To date, the University of Westminster has secured two thirds of the £6 million needed to complete the restoration and reopen the Cinema. Generous major donors have so far included the Heritage Lottery Fund, Quintin Hogg Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation and Odeon. As part of the wider campaign the University has also secured donations to name over a quarter of the seats in the new Cinema and is aiming to have all 200 named by its supporters well ahead of the Cinema opening. The University previously received a £1 million donation from the MBI Al Jaber Foundation which was used to bring the Edwardian style Grand Entrance Hall at the Grade II listed campus back to life.
The Cinema project is being backed by some of the biggest names in the British film industry who sit on its advisory board. Tim Bevan, Co-Chair of Working Title Films (Rush, Les Misérables, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy), Asif Kapadia, film director and alumnus of University of Westminster (Senna, The Warrior, Far North), Paul Trijbits, Producer (Saving Mr. Banks, Jane Eyre, Tamara Drewe), and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (The Avengers, Anna Karenina, We Need to Talk About Kevin).
Professor Rikki Morgan-Tamosunas, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Westminster, said: “The Cinema holds a unique place in the history of filmmaking and cinema, and it is wonderful to see that 175 years since the founding of our institution, a new and exciting phase in its history will begin. When it re-opens, the Cinema will offer an outstanding venue in which to nurture future talent as well as provide a place where our students, alumni, industry professionals, and our community can come together and enjoy film and our shared Cinema heritage.”
Asif Kapadia, Film Director and University of Westminster alumnus says “I was proud to study Film, Video and Photographic Arts close to the location of the new Cinema at the Riding House St campus in the mid 90's, at the time we didn't have a dedicated cinema to screen our films. Over the years so many fantastic, iconic cinemas in the UK have closed down or been redeveloped, so this is a marvelous opportunity to restore a venue that played a vital role in the birth of cinema in the UK, and highlights the University’s history of innovation in education and learning. Bringing the Cinema back to life will benefit both current and future students and will provide a platform for independent cinema, short films, documentaries and emerging British talent in the heart of the West-End”
Sandi Toksvig OBE, a supporter of the Regent Street Cinema, says “This is the birthplace of Cinema, where it all started. How fantastic for young people to be able to showcase their work, here, alongside great professionals. This Cinema is a place where we can celebrate not just the past but the future. This is a significant building and it’s wonderful that so many who are passionate about Cinema, the history of film or who have a connection with the heritage and future of the University want to be a part of it.”
The University of Westminster is a leading global centre for excellence in the arts and film production. The restoration of the Regent Street Cinema reinforces the University’s international reputation for academic and practical teaching which boasts a number of Oscar and BAFTA winners among its alumni. The Act of Killing, Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer - a Reader at the Media, Arts and Design faculty of the University of Westminster - and produced by the University of Westminster's Professor Joram ten Brink, won an award at this year’s BAFTA ceremony for best documentary. University alumnus Yousif Al-Khalifa was also recognised with a BAFTA for co-directing the best British Short Animation film ‘Sleeping with the Fishes’.
Film students from the University will also have the opportunity to showcase their work in the heart of London’s vibrant West-End, which is something that no other University can offer. The University currently offers three courses which cover contemporary media practice and film and television production and a post-graduate MA in Film and Television.
For more information on the project please visit: www.birthplaceofcinema.com
The Birthplace of British Cinema - Lumière Brothers
The venue was chosen by the Lumière brothers because of the institution’s reputation as a leader in scientific experimentation and entertainment. The Grade II listed building is situated at 309 Regent Street and dates back to 1838. It was later used by the Polytechnic for a variety of film and theatrical performances and in the lead up to the First World War it was used with Government backing to show “Our Army and Our Navy” films.
More recently it has been used by the University of Westminster as a lecture theatre for students and an exhibition venue for public events.
Key University of Westminster alumni:
- Michael Winterbottom (The Look of Love, Jude, 9 Songs, The Killer Inside Me)
- Asif Kapadia (Senna, The Warrior, Far North)
- Seamus McGarvey (Atonement, We Need To Talk About Kevin, The Avengers)
- Lucia Zucchetti (The Rat Catcher, Merchant Of Venice, The Queen)
- Tony Grisoni (Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, Red Riding)
- Neal Purvis (Skyfall (Bond 2012), Johnny English Reborn, Let Him Have It)
- See more at: http://www.rps.org/news/2014/february/regent-street-cinema#sthash.WXFypBrH.dpuf
Alex. Keighley A Pioneer of the Pictorial Movement in Photography is a new book by Ray Vintner (ISBN 978-0-9927402-0-7, 186-pages, Linkhall Publications, 2013). The book is available from The Grove Bookshop, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, (e: info@grovebookshop.com or telephone 01943 609335) at a cost of £14 plus postage.
A PDF showing the contents page and foreword is here. There is no separate list of illustrations although the book is well illustrated in b/w and colour.
Sotheby's is to return to holding photograph auctions in London from May 2014. It moved photograph sales from London, where they had first started in 1971, to Paris in 2011 after a short hiatus. The last London sale had been held in Spring 2010. At the time Sotheby's claimed the move reflected market trends and the change made New York and Paris Sotheby's main centres for photographs.
Christie's also established a department in Paris but maintained auctions in London as well as New York. Sotheby's have held bi-annual sales in Paris in November and May in a department headed by Simone Klein, who joined the company in 2007 and oversaw the final sale of the celebrated Jammes collection in Paris the following year.
The newly formed London department will hold its first photographs auction in London on 7 May and will also hold a charity auction to support the acquisition of the Talbot for the Bodleian Library.
The Bodleian Library, Oxford, last night held a reception to thank supporters and donors who have helped it secure the Personal Archive of William Henry Fox Talbot. The event was held on the 214th birthday of Henry Talbot who was born on 11 February 1800.
The original public appeal also brought to light an collection of 42 photogenic drawings by Talbot which are now also in the library. Despite poor weather and flooding amongst the guests were Sir John and Lady Venables-Llewelyn, Hans P Kraus, Noel Chanan, along with individuals donors and library staff. Richard Ovenden, Interim Bodley's Librarian, and the driving force behind the acquisition was unable to attend through illness but was toasted at dinner.
The library has a small amount to find before an August deadline and will be holding a fundraising auction in conjunction with Sotheby's at the beginning of May. It has plans to digitise much of the archive and it will be made available to researchers and the public. Already part of it has been used to create new photographic arts work. Watch this space for more information.
Images: a small display of part the Talbot Archive at the Bodleian Library: © Michael Pritchard
Archives and Cultural Industries is a conference taking place from 11-15 October 2014 in Girona. One of the themes of the conference is: 1839-2014.175th Anniversary of Photography. Management, processing and dissemination of photographic and audiovisual heritage in the 21st century.
For more information visit the website: http://www.girona.cat/web/ica2014/eng/index.php
and http://www.girona.cat/web/ica2014/eng/comunicacions.php
The deadline for paper proposals is 28 February.
The Art Newspaper reports on a story that BPH carried last year. It notes that the world’s oldest photographic agency Fratelli Alinari, founded in Florence in 1852, is in danger of closing. On 22 November 2013, the Italian website www.patrimoniosos.it, whose remit is to safeguard the country’s cultural heritage, launched an appeal to help save it.
The appeal, signed by photographers, artists and academics—among them Gianni Berengo Gardin, Giovanna Calvenzi, Ester Coen, Mario Cresci, Mimmo Jodice, Bruno Toscano, and Roberta Valtorta—expresses concern that “the crisis threatening the management of Fratelli Alinari could lead to the dispersal of part of the collection, and to its transfer to individuals and organisations [in Italy] and abroad”.
These claims were largely denied by Claudio De Polo Saibanti, Alinari’s director.
Read the report here
The first monograph on Cyanotype by Dr Mike Ware (cover shown right) was published by the Science Museum of London in 1999, but has long been out of print, and only accessible as a digitized part-version online at Google Books. The book was devoted to the study of photographic printing in Prussian blue, engaging with its history, aesthetics, practice, conservation and chemistry. Now, in response to requests, Mike Ware has substantially restructured the text in a revised and extended edition that he has made freely available as a download from the World Wide Web as a 5.3 MB pdf:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/47727259/Cyanomicon.pdf
For the time being, it will remain largely unillustrated. With its 700+ references to the literature and the WWW, Mike hopes that it may serve as a useful resource for historians, curators and conservators of photographs, and for students of iron-based analogue imaging (siderotype). For others - photographic artists exploring cyanotype printmaking as an expressive medium - it includes full practical instruction in the modern process.
BBC TV's The One Show last night, 3 February 2014, had a five minute slot discussing the war photography and work of Roger Fenton.
It was introduced and presented by photographer Giles Duley who was injured in Afghanistan in 2011 after he stepped on an IED losing three limbs. Taking part was Professor Roger Taylor and the curator of Stonyhurst College which holds more than 100 original Fenton albumen prints.
At the end of the sequence, in the studio, modern wet-collodion photographer Tony Richards helped a presenter make a collodion plate.
The segment begins at 23m 01s,and Roger comes in at 24m 47s. It ends at 29m 17s. Giles Duley is presenting a public lecture talking about his career and work in Bath on 13 February. Tickets are available here.
The One Show programme is available on the BBC iPlayer for the next seven days here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03t6x1f/The_One_Show_03_02_2014/
Images: top: Roger Taylor and Giles Duley; below: Roger Taylor. Courtesy: BBC.
George Eastman House, Rochester, NY, has made changes to The Richard and Ronay Menschel Library - one of the world's greatest libraries dealing with photography and film. Long-standing librarian and curator Rachel Stuhlman has been made redundant after nearly thirty-years and she is is now Emeritus Librarian and Curator of Rare Books. There has been no wider reorganisation or other staff losses at GEH.
The change is part of a broader vision for the library at GEH over seen by Museum Director Bruce Barnes, Ph.D. In future the library will be managed by an experienced research librarian, who will focus on developing GEH's research resources and on the cataloguing and digitization of its world-class collection of books and manuscripts related to photography and cinema.
Barnes told BPH: 'We believe that this approach will better serve our institution’s curatorial and scholarly missions, as well as our commitment to enabling research by curators and scholars from around the world.' He added: 'Over the years, our collection of rare books, manuscripts, and artists’ books have played an important role in our institution, but we have rarely presented exhibitions in which the objects from our library collection are central. As we have built the curatorial and research staffs of our photography and moving image departments, it has become increasingly important that our library support these departments as effectively as possible'. A 2007 book Imagining Paradise showcased some of the treasures of the library.
The new librarian will report to Dr. Lisa Hostetler, Curator-in-Charge of our Department of Photography, with the aim of ensuring that a curatorial vision continues to guide the library and to facilitate closer coordination between the library and GEH's photography department. The library will also continue to support other curatorial departments, as well as visiting researchers.
The move is part of Barnes' broader vision for GEH to digitise the collections and to explore the existing collections for hidden treasures as it embarks on boosting its endowment from $35m to the $100m that will make it viable and allow it to be more proactive in its public programmes. Eastman House also added at the time of his appointment that it expected Barnes to create 'more worldwide traveling exhibitions and an enhanced virtual museum online.' Click here for more about Barnes and his plans, and click here for comment.
The library - one of the most important in the world for photography and film and is described by GEH as having 'the breadth and depth of coverage of all aspects in the history, aesthetics, and technology of photography' unmatched by any other, and 'it is only with a collection such as the Menschel Library’s that scholars can obtain a broad overview of the international development of photography while investigating special problems'.
Lawrences of Crewkerne is to offer an important Felice Beato album on 31 January 2014. The album contains 68 albumen prints of China and Japan, including views of North Peiho Fort, the Emperor's Palace and the Summer Palace, Peking, Hong Kong, Yedo and Yokohama, the first leaf signed in margin (vertically), 'No. 20 F. Beato', and a further ownership inscription, 'Capt. Dew, R.N. 1863' on endpaper, the majority of prints captioned in pencil on the mount, the majority mounted one per page, some damp-staining to upper margin, rarely affecting prints,contemporary soft boards of Japanese cloth, worn, 47 x 37 cm approx., c.1863-4. It is estimated at £50,000-70,000
UPDATE: The album sold for £145,000.
Provenance: Purchased from the photographer by Capt Roderick Dew, R.N. in 1863-64, thence by descent.
Footnote: Captain Roderick Dew, R.N., (2 July 1823-24 March 1869) is regarded as one of the great heroes of the Second Opium War.
The catalogue entry is available here: http://www.lawrences.co.uk/Catalogues/FS310114/page007.html
If you wish to examine this lot, viewing will be available at The Japanese Gallery, 66 Kensington Church Street, London W8 4BY on the 20th and 21st January 2014 between 10.00am and 5.00pm. Please ring Lawrences for further details.
The catalogue description notes:
Albums by Felice Beato that contain prints of both China and Japan are very rare. This example offers 23 views of China and 34 views of Japan, including 11 folding panoramas (inc. Hong Kong harbour, the aftermath of battle at the North Taku Fort, views of Yokohama, Yedo, etc.), 8 further prints of drawings by C. Wirgman and 3 portrait studies that include a PORTRAIT OF THE PURCHASER, CAPT. RODERICK DEW.
Felice Beato moved to Japan in 1863, placing this album among the very first his studio produced there. It seems likely that the purchaser, Capt. Roderick Dew, selected the prints personally, as they would seem to reflect his own military interests. In later albums, Beato preferred to select the content himself.
The prints comprise:
- i) Representatives of the United States of America, England and France, (titled L-R: [Gustave Duchese, Prince de] Bellacourt, Capt Roderick Dew, Col. James, Col. Hooper, Col. [Edward St.John] Neale, U.S. Minister), 167 x 144 mm;
- ii) Yokohama (folding six print panorama), 1675 x 247mm;
- iii) Gan Kiro, Yokohama, 291 x 229 mm;
- iv) Canal, Yokohama, 298 x 223 mm;
- v) Guard House, Yokohama, 293 x 242 mm;
- vi) Opposite Yokohama, 290 x 244 mm;
- vii) Beutin ?Sainia, Yokohama, 280 x 222 mm;
- viii) Beutin ?Saina, Yokohama, 280 x 225 mm, torn with slight loss;
- ix) The Bluff, Yokohama, 275 x 230 mm;
- x) Glimpse of Fujiyama, 273 x 226 mm;
- xi) Dai Butsu, Yokohama, 289 x 227 mm;
- xii) Dai Butsu, Yokohama, 289 x 227 mm ;
- xiii) Ball given by Netherlands Consul... Yokohama, September [...] 1863, copy of drawing by C. Wirgman, 272 x 190 mm;
- xiv) Attack on Richardson, September 13th 1862, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 257 x 196 mm;
- xv) Invasion of Japan, Ye Grand Army a landing... March '64, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 278 x 183 mm;
- xvi) Kawasaki Temple, (folding two print panorama), 532 x 219 mm;
- xvii) Kawasaki Temple, 290 x 242 mm;
- xviii) Panorama of Yeddo from Atago-Yama, (folding five print panorama), 1395 x 207 mm;
- xix) Palace of Arima, Yedo (folding three print panorama), 830 x 175 mm;
- xx) The Tycoons Palace, Yedo, (folding two print panorama), 546 x 217 mm;
- xxi) Etai Bashi, Yedo, (folding three print panorama), 818 x 210 mm;
- xxii) Entrance to the British Legation, Yedo, 277 x 229 mm;
- xxiii) British Legation, Yedo, 270 x 215 mm;
- xxiv) Spot where the sentries were murdered, British Legation, Yedo, 267 x 217 mm;
- xxv) American Legation, Yedo, 289 x 227 mm;
- xxvi) The Scene of the Murder of Major Baldwin... Kamakura Temple, (folding two print panorama), 453 x 286 mm, slight staining to upper edge;
- xxvii) American Legation, Yedo, 287 x 237 mm;
- xxviii) Dutch Legation, Yedo, 277 x 231 mm;
- xxix) Palace of Howokawa, 278 x 222 mm;
- xxx) Japanese Garden, Yedo, 278 x 230 mm;
- xxxi) Atago-Yama, Yedo, 286 x 230 mm;
- xxxii) Garden of Miyazaki on the Tokaido, 280 x 200 mm;
- xxxiii) Akabane, Yedo, 280 x 230 mm;
- xxxiv) Yakunins House, Yedo, 255 x 225 mm;
- xxxv) Japanese Garden, Yedo, 282 x 233 mm;
- xxxvi) Japanese girls, 250 x 168 mm, irregularly cropped;
- xxxvii) Josses, Yedo, 261 x 229 mm;
- xxxviii) Delenda est..., copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 266 x 202 mm;
- xxxix) Theatricals on board the 'Perseus', 1863, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 252 x 156 mm;
- xl) Anglo-Chinese Contingent, Ningbo, 1864, Sept, 203 x 130 mm;
- xli) As above, 237 x 141 mm;
- xlii) Granite Obalisque 70 feet high in Memoriam Capture of Ningbo, May 10 1862, 188 x 237 mm;
- xliii) ?Valubins, Paris, 1863, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 266 x 180 mm;
- xliv) London, 1863, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 263 x 198 mm;
- xlv) Sketch in Hong Kong, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 254 x 178 mm;
- xlvi) Spinning yarns on board the 'Bengal', 1863, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 243 x 177 mm;
- xlvii) Panorama of Hong Kong, (folding six print panorama), 1723 x 216 mm;
- xlviii) Pehtang Fort, 292 x 256 mm;
- xlix) Interior Pehtang Fort, (folding two print panorama), 584 x 241 mm;
- l) North Fort, Peiho, 300 x 254 mm;
- li) Abbatis North Fort, Peiho, 304 x 257 mm;
- lii) Angle of North Fort, Peiho, 302 x 255 mm;
- liii) Portraits of dead men. Interior of North Fort, Peiho, 291 x 245 mm, creased along one edge; liv) Portraits of dead men. Interior of North Fort, Peiho, 307 x 259 mm;
- lv) Portraits of dead men, Peiho Fort Interior, 303 x 256 mm ; lvi) Exterior of North Fort, Peiho, 300 x 249 mm;
- lvii) Interior of North Fort, Peiho, (folding four print panorama), 1175 x 231 mm;
- lviii) [Studio portrait of General Lord Clyde, Lt. General Sir Hope Grant and Lt. General Sir W. Mansfield], 148 x 171 mm;
- lix) [Studio portrait of Lt. General Sir Hope Grant] (loose), 146 x 174 mm;
- lx) Cavalier of North Fort, (folding two print panorama), 590 x 245 mm;
- lxi) Second Fort, Peiko, 305 x 257 mm;
- lxii) Chinese wooden ?yuns, Peiho, 293 x 260 mm;
- lxiii) Bridge Palu chian on which Brabazon was killed near Pekin, 305 x 261 mm;
- lxiv) Cemetery near Pekin, 306 x 245 mm;
- lxv) Pagoda near Tungchan, 285 x 229 mm, creased in upper left corner;
- lxvi) Emperor's Palace, Pekin, 307 x 251 mm;
- lxvii) Summer Palace, Pekin, 303 x 250 mm, creased on left, upper right corner with slight loss;
- lxviii) Near Pekin, 305 x 257 mm.
In May 1859, as part of a naval force under the Command of Sir James Hope, Dew participated in an attack on the North Taku Fort as Commander of HMS Nimrod. In a personal letter to an unknown recipient - apparently written from within the Peiho Fort - he describes the engagement, ‘At 10am yesterday we attacked the forts. Cormorant led on in splendid style for the North Forts & had almost passed the forts when the whole Chinese line of batteries opened - we weighed our anchor to advance into position amid a fearful hail of balls, all as luck would have it passing over … after the anchor was up we had to steam some distance before our guns would bear & then 6 shells plumped right into the Southern forts & exploded…’. He goes on to describe the destruction of the forts in some detail, ‘…I saw the poor devils carried out in a fearful state - many naked and quite black - the same in the forts I have not time to describe … the huge brass guns tumbled about + dented laying in a chaotic state amongst the debris of the earth works the dying and the dead…’ (ALS written Friday May 21 [1859], 5’ inside Pieho. Private collection).
In September 1859 Dew was appointed Captain of HMS Encounter. In 1862 Admiral Sir James Hope instructed Dew to proceed to Ningbo, now occupied by Taiping rebels who posed a threat to the Qing Dynasty and to British trade. After the failure of negotiations, Dew led a coalition of Chinese Imperial Troops, British and French forces in an attack on Ningbo. Running ladders against the ramparts, the first attempt was aborted due to a fierce enemy response. When a second attempt was made with the ladders, ‘…Kennedy, the first on his, was shot through the lungs; David Davis, who was foremost on the next, was shot through the head as, revolver in mouth, he topped the wall; and so Captain Dew himself was the first to gain a position on the rampart, which was soon passed by the greater part of his force…’. Subsequent to the success of this action, Captain Dew pushed forward to secure a large part of the surrounding region. Writing to Lucy Amphlett, he describes the scene, ‘Since we took Ningbo I have had one or two little brushes with them, + I firmly believe I have saved the lives + properties of some 100000 men women + children. Black smoke up country told us that the Rebels were at their old games. I went up the river in one of our gunboats … for ten miles the banks were one huge well-cultivated garden studded with villages. Suddenly on turning a corner of the river we came upon some 5000 rebels plundering + murdering … a few rounds of grape + shell sent the Army scampering up the hills + the people returned to their houses which in another ten minutes would have been burnt…’ (ALS from the Encounter May 27/62, Ningbo. Private collection).
After a successful series of actions that restored Imperial rule to the area, around April 1863 Dew and the HMS Encounter left for Yokohama, Japan. He was stationed there protecting British interests until early in 1864, when he left for Plymouth. It seems likely that he met Felice Beato during this period and compiled the present album as a record of his military service in China and Japan.
For his actions in the liberation of Ningbo - described at the time as ‘by far the best thing of the kind done either in China or elsewhere since the peace of 1815’ - Capt. Dew was recommended for the Victoria Cross and was awarded the Companion of the Order of Bath. In March 1865 he also received a Gold Medal of Merit from the Emperor of China, ‘…for his bravery and vigour when in command of the Imperial Troops, and those of England and France, at the capture of Ningbo, and the subsequent recovery from the Tai-Pings of the entire province of Che Kiang…’ He died in Lisbon on March 24th 1869, while in Command of HMS Northumberland
First Person Plural is a symposium to be held at the Science Museum on Saturday 1 March. The event is being presented in collaboration with Film and Video Umbrella and is one of a number of events linked to Media Space's Only in England.
Curated and introduced by Steven Bode, Director of Film and Video Umbrella, the symposium looks back on the influential legacy of Tony Ray-Jones, whilst also looking ahead to the future. When Ray-Jones was taking the iconic photographs that made his name in the late 1960s, he did so to chronicle and celebrate the particular eccentricities and social rituals of the English, which he feared were at risk of disappearing. In the increasingly globalised world of the early 21st century, are there equivalent expressions of cultural identity, or equally idiosyncratic social rituals and behaviours that modern life seems to be passing by - and who are the contemporary artists and photographers recording them? In the age of the ‘selfie’ and social media, might it be the figure of the photographer, as observer and recorder of social change, that is becoming passé, destined to be replaced by a new type of collective ‘portrait’ formed from the aggregation and analysis of big data?
Confirmed speakers include the artists Natasha Caruana, Adam Broomberg, Oliver Chanarin, Julie Henry and Lucy Kimbell, theorist and critic Sean Cubitt and writer, lecturer and curator Julian Stallabrass.
Date: Saturday 1 March 2014
Time: 11am - 5.30pm (Only in England viewing 9.30 – 10.45am)
Image credit: Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, The Brothers Non-Collaborative Portraiture, 2013 © Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin
January 2014 – Save Photo Limited have discovered what may be the earliest surviving original images of Winston Churchill. They were discovered in the Hills and Saunders Harrow Collection, which they were contracted to digitise, conserve and catalogue for the private owner. The collection was found in poor condition in the dairy barn of a farm outside Cirencester in 2012. The private owner and Save Photo rescued the collection and relocated it to a secure and climate controlled storage at Save Photo’s headquarters in Warwickshire. Save Photo are carefully cleaning, cataloguing, storing and digitising the images for future digital consumers to enjoy.
For over 90 years, between 1860 and 1970, Hills and Saunders, photographers by Royal Appointment, captured memorable images of Harrow schoolboys, their families and the beautiful surrounds of this prestigious institution. This collection, of over 90,000 glass plate negatives, is possibly the largest surviving archive of its kind in the world. The Collection includes every member of staff, pupil and sporting team from Harrow School between 1860 and 1965. Glass plates rarely survive due to their fragile nature and other top public schools are known to have sold off or disposed of their plates.
Lizzie Davies, Save Photo’s archivist, discovered the seven images of Winston Churchill whilst she was matching individual pupils to the photographic plates using the original photographers’ ledgers and documentation.
Seven plates have been discovered that show Winston Churchill aged between 13 and 17, during his four years at Harrow School as part of The Head Master’s House between 1889 and 1892, under House Master Reverend Welldon. Six are from The Head Master’s House ‘Welldon’ group photographs and one photograph features him in the Harrow School Rifle Corp. In The Head Master’s House group photographs Winston Churchill is depicted through his years alternating between unhappiness and contentedness, reflecting the statesman’s varied attitude towards his school years - though he didn’t excel at school, he revisited Harrow many times. One can see his schoolboy maturation during his years at Harrow, moving from the front to the back row. He can also be seen dressed in military garb with the rifle Corp, having joined very early on. One can see a keen alertness in his expression pointing towards his illustrious military career ahead.
Peter Boswell, Managing Director of Save Photo comments ‘Save Photo Limited has been very privileged to work with such a unique collection of historical significance. Our team have been working on an intensive programme of conservation and archiving. We have been lovingly inspecting each photographic plate to ensure it is carefully cleaned, recorded and stored in high quality archival sleeves. With the First World War centenary events beginning this year, I am delighted that we have been able to add these amazing lost images to the portfolio of known Churchill images’.
The Winston Churchill plates that form part of the Hills and Saunders Harrow Collection will be offered for sale at auction later this year, details to be announced by the Private Owner in due course.
See: www.savephoto.com
The Science Museum is seeking a highly-motivated, enthusiastic and experienced Paper or Photographic conservator to provide conservation support in the development and delivery of exhibitions in our new Media Space Gallery.
Media Space is an exciting new exhibition space in the Science Museum. It will showcase the National Photography Collection held by the National Media Museum in Bradford through a series of major exhibitions. A collaboration between the Science Museum and the National Media Museum, Media Space will also invite photographers, artists and the creative industries to respond to the wider collections of the Science Museum Group to explore visual media, technology and
science. The first of the major photographic exhibitions opened in September 2013; “Only in England with photographs by Martin Parr and Tony Ray-Jones.
Using your demonstrable experience in conservation of paper items and your excellent communication skills you will be working with the conservator at the National Media Museum to conserve and mount, condition report, pack and unpack, install and decant exhibitions in the 500m² gallery space. There will be two major exhibitions per year, one being installed in April and one in September.
This part time fixed term role will be for approximately 50 days per year (depending on salary) with work centred around the install and decant dates. These dates will be discussed in detail during the interview. Some travel to the National Media Museum will be required. You will need to be aware of hazard management procedures associated with historical objects and have a good knowledge of Health and Safety, including safe use of chemicals for lab safety and collections management.
Working days: This part time role is for approximately 50 days per year centred on the installation and decants dates of the exhibition. The exact dates where you will be required to work will be available in advance and peak times will be September and April.
See: http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/media/job-pdfs/job-4167.pdf
As reported here previously The Royal Photographic Society has digitised the Photographic Journal / RPS Journal from 1853 to 2012 and made it available free of charge to the public. It is now accessible through the RPS website at www.rps.org/archive
BPH understands that other Society publications including The Year's Photography and published membership lists from 1853-1949 may be made available in a similar way in the future, subject to funding.
Enquiries by email to: director@rps.org
