Your recognised conservation qualification or similar experience will be supported by demonstrable skills in interventive and preventive museum conservation on a wide range of photographic materials, with an understanding of conservation and collections care for 3-d mixed media objects; including condition checking and documentation . You will be able to supervise volunteers and conservation interns and provide advice and support to colleagues working within the Curatorial, Corporate & Collections Information (Registration & Documentation) and Exhibitions teams. The role will also participate in the safe management of hazards within the collections, complying with current H&S regulations and in-house policies and safe working practices. You will have excellent interpersonal skills and be confident communicating with a wide range of people. You will have demonstrable skills in problem solving and prioritising, which will be supported by your previous experience within a museum or cultural heritage environment. You will be able to demonstrate the ability to plan and execute your own work programmes, provide statistics and promote high conservation and collections care standards with the ability to use Collections databases (eg: Mimsy XG) and practical expertise in object handling. CP/NMEM/NOV 12 - Conservator of Photographs
Click here for more or to apply
Application Details When you apply you will be asked to upload one document in Microsoft Word format which includes both your CV and a covering statement. In your covering statement please state why you feel you are suitable for this role? Please focus on the experience you consider to be most relevant to this role.
To preserve the photographic and film collections in the care of the National Media Museum using best professional practice to meet strategic and statutory requirements within the budget constraints of the organisation.
To undertake all aspects of interventive conservation on a wide range of photographic materials, including condition checking and documentation. Responsible for all aspects of preventive conservation work for all collections held by NMeM. To advise upon and ensure that deterioration throughout the collections is minimised through the relevant preventive conservation methods.
Ensuring that these tasks are carried out in a safe and secure manner to comply with current legislation and following best professional practice.
Key Deliverables/Accountabilities
1. To plan and execute a work programme of conservation of inventoried photographs in the collections based on conservation requests, projects, loan outs and renewals, acquisition requests, on time and to budget, complying with best professional practice and statutory requirements. 2. To manage, maintain and improve systems for preventive conservation at NMeM, including environmental monitoring and control, integrated pest management, condition surveys, storage surveys. Analyse the results and write an annual environmental report. Compile reports to advice on long term priorities and strategies highlighted from preventive work. Working together with conservators across the group to deliver annual KPI reports and to achieve best results. 3. To develop and deliver collections care training to other SMG staff and volunteers in object handling and the fundamentals of preventive conservation; and other training as identified with line manager. 4. To advise line manager and other appropriate colleagues (eg curatorial/registration) on conservation issues connected with photographic material under treatment to ensure that projects are completed on time and to professional standards. To advise line manager and other appropriate colleagues on conservation issues with all other collection materials that require specific specialist conservation. 5. Prepare condition and treatment reports (with annotated images) for photographic material and other collection objects conserved and input this information into MIMSY XG database following CCI and Science Museum conservation documentation guidelines. Prepare condition and display/storage recommendation reports for loans and new acquisitions. 6. To participate in safe management and awareness of hazards within the collections; complying with current H&S regulations, in-house policies and safe working practices in the Conservation lab, galleries and object stores. 7. To maintain and develop professional knowledge and expertise in conservation and collection care related to the NMeM's collections. 8. To plan and prioritise work programmes for students, mentoring and monitoring quality of output, and developing practical knowledge and skills to ensure that best practice is passed on to future staff. 9. To undertake the general administration of the Conservation lab, to ensure that this is done in an environmentally sound and economical manner. 10. To participate in public events where appropriate to raise awareness and provide public insight into work of Conservation and Collections Care. 11. Manage external specialists and contracts for specific conservation projects outside the expertise of the post holder, eg remedial object conservation. This could include conservation colleagues in other Group museums. 12. Support colleagues with emergency planning and salvage with particular input regarding the Collections 13. Under supervision to undertake basic conservation research projects on specific areas of the collections or types of objects to extend knowledge of the whole team. 14. Take care of your personal health and safety and that of others and report any health and safety concerns. Ensure proactive compliance with SMG H&S Policies, including risk assessments and implementing safe systems of work.
Working Relationships and Contacts
Line Management and Budget Responsibility
Candidate Profile Experience
Skills, Knowledge and Relevant Qualifications
Behaviours
o Good team worker who demonstrates and encourages positive approaches, seeks to resolve issues and conflicts, focuses on win-win outcomes, actively champions the team; motivates others and enthusiastically shares knowledge & expertise.
o Actively seeks information, prioritises and uses time efficiently, thinks several steps ahead, seeks tasks, responsibilities & challenges, spots & rectifies errors, works smartly, builds in contingencies, self-starts, anticipates issues, proactively identifies areas for cost efficiency, actively seeks and responds to feedback, multi-tasks effectively,
o Reacts positively to change and uncertainty, prevents problem re-occurrence, continually seeks improvement, thinks ‘outside the box’, seizes opportunities to be creative, develops processes, systems & solutions; Networks extensively; Explores root cause of problem
o Proactively helps, understands customers and acts to meet their needs, enthuses about the product or service or working collaboratively with non specialist audiences in developing cultural offers, goes the extra mile, answers all questions & provides additional information
Scope for Impact
Please note:
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Michael Pritchard's Posts (3137)
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Anne McNeill, Director, Impressions Gallery and Brian Liddy, Curator of Collections Access, National Media Museum will discuss the gallery's role in British photography and its connections with the museum's photographic archive. The Gallery has its own extensive - and important - photography archive which dates back to its founding in 1972.
The event will take place at Insight at the National Media Museum's Collections & Research Centre and will provide an opportunity to view original photographs from the museum’s collection.
This event is free, but please book in advance as places are limited on 01274 737843 or email: enquiries@impressions-gallery.com
After Archive Connections you are also welcome to attend the Directors Talk at Impressions Gallery at 3.30pm and view our 40th anniversary exhibitions Roads to Wigan Pier and The Way We Were.
Saturday 8 December 2012, 2.00pm to 3.00pm
See:http://www.impressions-gallery.com/events/event.php?id=221
The Reverend Dr John Wall MA FRPS died on 5 October 2012 aged 84 years. His funeral was held in Kirkbymoorside on 16 October. John Wall compiled the pioneering Directory of British Photographic Collections which was published by The Royal Photographic Society’s National Photographic Record and Heinemann in 1977.
John Wall was born in Middlesborough in the North Riding of Yorkshire in 1928. From the age of three he lived in Darlington, County Durham where he attended Darlington Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. Later he attended Hartley-Victoria Theological College and Manchester University. He obtained a BD degree (London), an MA, Classics (Bristol) and a PhD in Medieval History (London).
After graduating in divinity Wall took pastoral charge of churches in Newcastle and Somerset. He entered the teaching profession in 1966 and became a principal lecturer and head of religious and social studies at Middleton St George College of Education in County Durham. Wall was an enthusiastic amateur photographer and joined the Royal Photographic Society. He gained his Associateship in 1966 and Fellowship in 1977.
His lasting legacy is the publication of the Directory of British Photographic Collections. This had its origins in a meeting held by the Society in March 1972. The idea of a National Register of Photographic Archives had been championed by Colin Osman for some years and this, under Wall’s efforts, was renamed the National Photographic Record and set up as a department of the Royal Photographic Society. (1) The NPR was supported by the Sunday Times and funded privately with some £16,000 raised to establish it. Wall became its leading advocate and, with a staff of four and four years, worked on the compilation of the Directory. The Directory aimed to collate basic information on photography collections in the United Kingdom and some 17,000 questionnaires were circulated with 1580 collections included in the book which was published in 1977. (2)
Following publication Wall continued to write and lecture extensively on photographic archives and related subjects. He gave The Peter Le Neve Foster lecture at the Royal Society of Arts in November 1982 titled ‘Towards a National Photographic Archive’ . (3)
Taking early retirement on account of his wife's incapacity, Wall retired to Kirkbymoorside, on account of its proximity to the North Yorks Moors Railway. His interests and hobbies included: steam railways; walking; coins and stamps; mazes; sundials; photography; medieval history and sculpture. In addition to the Directory he was the author of First in the World: The Stockton and Darlington Railway (Sutton Publishing, 2001); The Face of the Realm: Twentieth Century Coins of the United Kingdom: Their History and Design (Spink and Son, 2002) and well as articles and papers across all his interests.
Away from photography Wall was an active Methodist and a volunteer with the North Yorks Moors Railway. His wife, Betty, predeceased him and he had five children. Ruth, Michael, Antony, Mary and David.
Dr Michael Pritchard
(1). Colin Osman, ‘A National Register of Photographic Archives’, Newsletter of the Royal Photographic Society Historical Group, No. 1 (June 1972), p. 4.
(2). John Wall, ‘Recording Britain’s Photographic Heritage’, Transations Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society, vol. 78 (1984), pp. 16-17.
(3). John Wall, ‘Towards a National Photographic Archive’, Journal of the Royal Society of Arts
Vol. 131, No. 5318 (January 1983), pp. 70-86.
Bonhams is to sell Beatle George Harrison's Pentax S1a camera in an auction on 12 December 2012 in London. The camera has come from the Harrison family collection. Click here to see the full lot description. It is estimated at £5000-6000.
The BBC has today announced that it is gifting its collection of almost 1,000 historical objects to the National Media Museum as part of its celebrations to mark the 90th anniversary of the BBC.
This unique collection tells the story of British broadcasting, and specifically the BBC, from its earliest pioneering days in the 1920s right up to the present moment. The collection features important radio and television studio equipment used by the BBC over its 90-year history, plus production props, radio and television receivers, branding and merchandising objects.
A display of selected objects from the collection will open to the public at the National Media Museum, Bradford, on Wednesday 14 November - 90 years to the day since the BBC made its first radio broadcast.
The display will give people the opportunity to see some of the original artefacts that were used in the earliest years of the BBC, including seminal microphones such as one of the original Big Ben microphones used to capture the sounds of the bell in 1924; a nostalgic 'Lip microphone' dating from 1937, specially designed by the BBC to block background noise from sports commentary in the 1930s; and a famous 'biscuit tin' radio, dropped by parachute over occupied Europe during World War II and used by the resistance to tune into the secret 'personal messages' sent out over the BBC.
Other highlights from the collection, now incorporated into the Museum's National Television Collection, will feature in future displays. These include iconic objects such as an extremely rare Blattnerphone, the broadcast recording device which used steel tape to capture the voice of Neville Chamberlain as he announced the outbreak of World War II to the nation in 1939; the AXBT microphone, created by the BBC and now considered a design classic; and two original Emitron 405-line television cameras manufactured by EMI in 1936 and used at the BBC's television studios in London for the world’s first regular high-definition television service.
Robert Seatter, Head of BBC History, said:
"I know how absolutely fascinated audiences are to see the real objects that make broadcasting happen – whether it's that special microphone or the particular prop from a seminal TV show.
"I'm delighted that this BBC collection is being shared with the National Media Museum. I hope this donation will enable more people to connect with the history of the BBC, which of course is all our history."
Jo Quinton-Tulloch, Head of the National Media Museum, said:
"This generous and hugely significant gift will greatly enhance the National Television Collection held by the Museum, making it probably the best of its kind anywhere in the world. It also represents another major landmark in our flourishing partnership with the BBC."
Iain Logie Baird, Curator of Broadcast Culture at the National Media Museum said:
"This diverse collection of objects used by the BBC covers the evolution of public service broadcasting in this country, and celebrates the rich variety of programmes the BBC has produced over the decades. This collection will be a great asset to the Museum."
The BBC has gifted this collection to the National Media Museum in order to make it accessible to broadcast enthusiasts and the public in general through both temporary and permanent displays in the National Media Museum.
In another event marking the 90th anniversary, more than 55 BBC radio stations will come together for Radio Reunited – the first attempt at a simultaneous broadcast since what was then the British Broadcasting Company was formed in 1922. The broadcast will be live on the 14 November from the National Media Museum's sister museum - the Science Museum, now home to the original 2LO transmitter that made the first BBC broadcast on 14 November 1922. Part of the 2LO will feature in a new exhibition opening on the same day at the Science Museum that takes visitors back to the time of that first broadcast.
The National Media Museum is a longstanding partner of the BBC, the Museum has collaborated recently on a number of exhibitions and events, including the celebration of 25 years of popular TV soap EastEnders, the 75th anniversary of BBC high-definition (405-line) television last year, and the hugely successful exhibition marking 50 years of Blue Peter. This year, the Museum's Cubby Broccoli cinema was fitted to show the BBC's special Olympic coverage using Super Hi-Vision Ultra high-definition television, developed by Japanese broadcaster NHK, one of only three sites to do so in the UK.
www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/bbccollection
Image: Iain Logie Baird, curator of broadcast culture at the National Media Museum, holds a 1944 Marconi AXBT microphone
Martin Barnes, Senior Curator of Photographs at the Victoria & Albert Museum, will be at the Blau Gallery, London, on 22 November to talk about the history of how the museum’s collection was formed and how that set the pattern for current collecting. He will discuss the ‘collecting plan’ and recent collecting initiatives, as well as what catches his eye personally, what he sees too much of and avoids, and what he is looking for in excellent photography that is right for a museum.
Advance questions for Martin to address on the night of the talk are encouraged, and can be sent to mail@danielblau.com
This talk runs from 6:30 pm at 51 Hoxton Square, London N1 6PB.
Our talks are open to everyone. We recommend booking early to avoid disappointment, as numbers are limited. Tickets cost £6..Click here to book.
Image: Photographic Society exhibition at the South Kensington Museum, 1858.
For Michael Collins, one of the wonders of photography is that a photograph can record and show far more than could be observed at the time and occasion of the exposure. This is what he regards as the "long look" of photography. Moreover, he subscribes to the understanding that, subtly or otherwise, it will reveal the nature of the engagement between the photographer and the subject. In his Reference Works lecture, Michael Collins will discuss these principles, and relate how they inform his work on the Library of Birmingham Photography Project.
Michael Collins is an artist who has had his work exhibited widely in Britain and the USA. He is the author of "Record Pictures: Photographs from the Archives of the Institution of Civil Engineers" (Steidl 2004). His exhibition "Birmingham Site Specific: Factories" was held in Hockley in 2006.
The event is part of a series of Photographers Talks linked to REFERENCE WORKS, the Library of Birmingham Photography Project.
Tuesday 4 December 2012
2.00 - 3.30pm
Birmingham City University, Visual Communication, Gosta Green, Birmingham
Admission Free
At a ceremony on 3 November Oscar Gustave Rejlander's previously unmarked grave in Kensal Green cemetery had a new stone placed upon it just in time for the 200th anniversary of his birth in 2013.
The project has been fully funded from Woverhampton Photographic Society funds and from personal donations from members of WPS Historical Group.The project has taken two years to come to fruition, and the WPS is very grateful for the help and support it has received from staff at Kensal Green, and especially Joe Hughes from the Friends of Kensal Green. The memorial plaque was hand-carved and gilded by the sculptor David Kelly.
Details of the event were noted here: http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rejlander-to-be-honoured
Photos courtesy of Dr Donald Stewart FRPS
International submissions are invited to be included in a forthcoming book, to be published by MuseumsEtc in 2013. The book will bring together the varied ways in which reflexivity manifests itself within photography and the photograph. In this instance we are taking a broad approach to the term (as evidenced in the suggestions below), where “reflexivity” is used to describe:
- The methods and dialogues that practitioners use to interrogate their own work
- The manner in which these devices enable the photographer to engage in an exchange with the work of others and with the world around them
The publishers are seeking chapters that deal with a wide range of issues in relation to the principle of the reflexive photographer. This could encompass - but is not limited to - conceptual, cultural, historical and visual concerns relating to:
- The historical perspectives of reflexivity
- The photographer making visual work that is reflexive
- The photographer writing about and reflecting on their own work
- The use or affect that the materials of photography (the lens, the camera, etc.) have on reflexivity
- The photographer using notebooks and sketchbooks (or equivalent) as a reflexive tool
- The use or affect that different types of editing have on reflexivity
- The photographer writing about the work of others as a reflexive tool
- The analysis of seminal texts from key photographers
- The interview as a means to reveal reflexivity
- The examination of reflexivity where more than one practitioner is at work
- The use of the photograph as a form of life writing
- The use of reflexivity in the context of photography in the digital sphere
Additionally, they are interested in examining different formats for reflexivity:
- The book
- Correspondence
- The manifesto
- The blog
- The diary
- The travelogue
- The exhibition
- Exhibition commentary, interpretation and/or the exhibition catalogue
- The photo collective or group
This list is not exhaustive and proposals on other themes are welcomed.
Submissions
Proposals are welcomed from writers, academics, photographers, curators, artists and other visual practitioners.
Submitting a proposal
If you are interested in being considered as a contributor, please submit a proposal (using Microsoft Word) of between 300-500 words with a short biography and CV (which, combined, must not exceed two sides of paper). Should your proposal be accepted the length of a chapter will be 2000-6000 words or, if you are proposing a visual work, you will have between 6-8 pages. Please prepare your proposal with these parameters in mind. The work should not have been published elsewhere.
The deadline for submissions is 10 December 2012. Please email your proposal to books@museumsetc.com. If you have any queries please email Rosie Miller at r.miller@salford.ac.uk.
The book will be published in print and digital editions by MuseumsEtc in 2013. Contributors will receive a complimentary copy of the publication and a discount on more.
THE REFLEXIVE PHOTOGRAPHER
Edited by Rosie Miller, Jonathan Carson and Theresa Wilkie
(School of Art & Design, University of Salford, UK)
The Editors
Rosie Miller is a Lecturer and Critical & Contextual Studies Area Leader in the School of Art & Design, University of Salford, UK. Jonathan Carson is Associate Head (Academic) and Senior Lecturer in Critical & Contextual Studies in the School of Art & Design, University of Salford, UK. Theresa Wilkie is Director of Design & Culture and Senior Lecturer in Critical & Contextual Studies in the School of Art & Design, University of Salford, UK. All three previously edited Photography and the Artist’s Book (MuseumsEtc, 2012).
Deadline
ABSTRACTS DUE: 10 DECEMBER 2012
Completed papers are likely to be due for submission at the end of March 2013. The final submission date will be advised to successful contributors.
More information can be downloaded here.
The Photographic History Research Centre (PHRC) at De Montfort University is seeking a dynamic and committed photographic historian specialising in twentieth century photographic history to join their growing team of academic researchers and post graduate students. Candidates' research field will ideally relate to PHRC''s core research strands in global social and cultural practices of photography, photography and science, and the industrial and business history of photography. We welcome applications from candidates with backgrounds in cultural history, visual culture, art history, anthropology, history of science, museum studies or any other relevant field. The PHRC is a highly interdisciplinary research centre, with excellent links to national and international universities and cultural industry partners. A successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively as well as individually, promoting the field of photographic history.
The post-holder will contribute to the research culture of the PHRC and teaching of the MA in Photographic History and Practice. The post holder will also be expected to supervise PhD students in photographic history, engage with undergraduate and postgraduate programmes within the university, and be able to develop research projects, and develop and undertake viable grant funding applications.
De Montfort University, rated as one of the top ten creative universities in the UK, has a growing reputation as a world leader in photographic history. It works with a wide network of major museums, archives and libraries internationally. Its excellent research library in photography and photographic history supports both research and teaching and it hosts a growing number of digital resources for photographic history.
FACULTY OF ART, DESIGN AND HUMANITIES
Senior Research Fellow/Senior Lecturer Photographic History
Permanent, Grade G, full-time
£34,895 - £44,166 per annum
Closing date: 10 December 2012
More details: https://jobs.dmu.ac.uk/webrecruitment/Documents/7593.pdf
Join artists featured in the exhibition Light from the Middle East: New Photography for a virtual exhibition tour and conversation with Dr Marta Weiss (Curator of Photographs, V&A) and Dr Venetia Porter (Curator of Islamic and Modern Art, British Museum).
Artists participating in the discussion include: Manal Al-Dowayan, Jowhara AlSaud, Abdulnasser Gharem, Nermine Hammam, Taraneh Hemami, Khalil Joreige, John Jurayj, Sükran Moral, Waheeda Malullah,Youssef Nabil, Mitra Tabrizian and Newsha Tavakolian. Graphic designer Tarek Atrissi will also take part.
Light from the Middle East: New Photography, 13 November 2012–7 April 2013, is the first major exhibition of contemporary photography from and about the Middle East.
Light from the Middle East: Artists in Conversation
Tuesday 13 November, 15.30–17.00
Hochhauser Auditorium, Victoria and Albert Museum
Free, drop in
Image:
Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Wonder Beirut #13, 1997–2006
Courtesy of the artists and CRG Gallery, New York and In Situ / Fabienne Leclerc, Paris
Following on from BPH's exclusive posting, here, in early October and here in September the Science Museum has announced that Media Space, the new 1800m2 purpose-built venue at the Science Museum will open in June 2013 with a major exhibition featuring contemporary artists' responses to scientific photography from the last two centuries.
- Based on the 2nd floor of the Science Museum, Media Space, a £4m capital project, will comprise of a 500 m² exhibition space, a 290 m² flexible studio space for installations and events, and a café/bar.
- Media Space will showcase the National Photography Collection from the National Media Museum and use this as a starting point to explore, exhibit and discuss works by contemporary artists across a variety of disciplines.
- The first exhibition, Revelations: Experiments in Photography, will explore contemporary artists’ responses to scientific photography from 1850 to 1920.
Media Space will be based on the 2nd floor of the Science Museum and is a collaboration between the National Media Museum (Bradford), and the Science Museum (London), It will present two major exhibitions and a series of free installations in its studio space each year. The principal founding sponsor is Virgin Media and principal founding donor the Dana and Albert R Broccoli Foundation. The café/bar will be run by Benugo.
The first major exhibition in Media Space will be Revelations: Experiments in Photography, and the inaugural installation in the Virgin Media Studio space will be by digital art/design collective, Universal Everything. Hyundai Motor Company is Presenting Partner of the Universal Everything installation and further details will be announced in early 2013.
Revelations: Experiments in Photography will explore contemporary art photographers’ responses to scientific photography made between 1850 and 1920. The exhibition of nearly 80 works will draw upon important historical photographs from the collections of the National Media Museum and the Science Museum. Scientific photographs can have psychological and emotional power, revealing the world in new and surprising ways. The creation of these images and their dissemination among different audiences has changed over time as have their uses, impact and status.
The exhibition will include photographs made with the assistance of microscopes, telescopes and aircraft. It will look at the ways in which photography has opened new fields of vision, charted the effects of invisible energy, demonstrated the passage of time and captured moments too brief to be seen by the naked eye. It will include works by a broad spectrum of photographers including William Henry Fox Talbot, Joris Jansen. Eadweard Muybridge, Harold Edgerton, Sarah Pickering, Clare Strand, Etienne-Jules Marey and Hiroshi Sugimoto.
Hannah Redler has recently been appointed Head of Media Space and the Science Museum Arts Programme. First joining the Science Museum Group in 1998, Redler has been Head of Arts Programme at the Science Museum since 2004. Revelations is co-curated by Greg Hobson, Curator of Photographs from the National Media Museum along with Dr Ben Burbridge of the University of Sussex.
The capital cost of the project is £4 million and the funding has been raised from a combination of corporate sponsorship, private donations and fundraising initiatives. The Principal Founding Sponsor of Media Space is Virgin Media after whom the Studio will be named. Virgin Media has made this long term commitment, building on their current support for the National Media Museum, which includes the Bradford International Film Festival and the Life Online gallery; the sponsorship of Media Space is a further demonstration of this developing partnership. Source magazine reports that the anticipated visitor numbers for the first exhibition which will run from June to September is 80,000-100,000.
A major donor to the project is the Dana and Albert R Broccoli Foundation set up by the family of the late Bond producer ‘Cubby’. A photography auction at Christies in May 2012 raised £370,000 towards the project and the recent James Bond 50th Anniversary auction raised a further £47,000 through the sale of the Tom Ford dinner jacket worn by Daniel Craig in Skyfall. Media Space has also received generous support in the form of donations or artworks from a large number of individuals, companies and artists including Ed Burtynsky, Luc Delahaye, Rineke Dijkstra, Mary McCartney and Taryn Simon. The Science Museum Group has also invested significantly in the capital project.
Ian Blatchford, Director and Chief Executive of Science Museum Group, says, ‘Media Space is a project that is long overdue. The National Photography Collection ought to be widely known and exhibited because it really is astonishing in quality and scale. We hope to reach diverse audiences and the dynamic, innovative and compelling programme at Media Space will make this happen.’
Hannah Redler, Head of Media Space, says: ‘Media Space is a really exciting project that in many ways realises the original vision for South Kensington to be a place where the two cultures of art and science coincide. We’ve enjoyed a long history at Science Museum of bringing contemporary art interventions into our science galleries, but Media Space offers an unprecedented opportunity for our audiences to encounter photographers and artists’ own investigations into our collections.’
Luke Southern, Virgin Media’s Head of Brand Activation and Partnership says, ‘We’re immensely proud to support this incredible new exhibition space. Both the still and moving image can have a powerful impact on people so, whether online, on TV, in the cinema or in a gallery, we care passionately about bringing that to life in a positive way. Media Space will provide the perfect platform to champion and showcase emerging talent as well as established artists who will inspire every generation.’
Revelations: Experiments in Photography will run from June –September 2013. Further information will be announced in December. Gift Aid ticket price £6.60, standard ticket price £6.00. Media Space is based on the 2nd Floor of the Science Museum on Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD.
For more information see: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/mediaspace
This year marks the centenary of the study of photography at Newport. With a number of events, projects and activities planned to celebrate the long-standing reputation of this discipline at the institution, the University is proud to acknowledge the past, present and future of Photography at Newport through this landmark year of celebrations.
The Either/And symposium will examine the place of photography in contemporary culture. Speakers include: Professor Mark Durden, Ben Burbridge, Sarah James, Annabella Pollen and Liam Devlin. Tickets cost £10.00.
30 Nov 2012 / University of Wales, Newport City Campus
For more information visit: http://www.newport.ac.uk/
Photographers, curators and historians explore contemporary photographic practices and the post-industrial sublime on 16 and 17 November 2012. The symposium will look both forwards and backwards, surveying some of the territories of new photographic landscapes that have emerged since the late 1970s, and addressing the challenges facing photographers today.
Different archaeologies of practice, place and history will be discussed, with presentations from leading practitioners,
curators and academics. The symposium coincides with the exhibition Futureland Now: reflections on the post-industrial landscape, featuring the photographic and lens-based work of John Kippin and Chris Wainwright at the Laing Art Gallery until Sunday 20 January 2013.
Early-bird rate offer! Sign up by 31 October for £20/£10 (student/unwaged), following that attendance will be £30/£15. For more information, please visit www.northeastphoto.net or www.laingartgallery.org.uk or email: Amanda.ritson@sunderland.ac.uk
‘Off the shelf: the self and subjectivity in the artist’s book’ is an exhibition dedicated to various expressions of subjectivity in artist’s publications. It aims to bring together contributions from a variety of formats and editions that consider the self in the artist’s book.
The exhibition will focus on contemporary publications and welcomes submissions from a wide range of genres, including: handmade books, object-books, sculptural books, altered books, installation books, photobooks, photozines, print-on-demand books, zines, serial editions (artists’ magazines), multimedia books and ebooks. Potential topics might include, but are not limited to:
- Self-portraits as self-analysis
- Archival practices of the self
- Family albums and personal narratives
- Gender and feminist narratives
- Queer identities
- Auto-biography and fictional biographies
- Sexualities and space
- Performance of the self
- Travel book and diasporic strategies
To submit your book, visit the page
http://offdshelf.wordpress.com/submit
Books should be sent by Friday 19th November 2012.
OFF THE S{H}ELF: THE SELF AND SUBJECTIVITY IN THE ARTIST’S BOOK
OPEN CALL
http://offdshelf.wordpress.com/
7- 9 December 2012
Stockwell Studios
McCall Close, Jeffreys Road London SW46QU
Plymouth University has been awarded £9,950 from Arts Council England’s Grants for the Arts scheme towards an important research and development project which aims to ensure new work made by contemporary photographers has a life and legacy that can benefit future generations - the general public, researchers and students.
Led by photographer Jem Southam, Professor in the School of Art and Media at Plymouth University, the project will involve partners in Birmingham, Manchester and London and will be completed in March 2013.
Established and emerging photographers need to think about what future they want for their work, where it might go, who will have access to it, and how much contextual information should be kept and made available.
Key elements of the project include: research into models of good practice, consultation with photographers and the publication of case studies examining different approaches to the ways photographers plan and organise their work and its legacy. The research outcomes will be published on websites and in specialist media and feedback and information exchange will help shape the next phase of the project, including practical guidance for current and future generations of practitioners.
This research is part of a wider, pioneering research project which aims to develop a national strategy for the preservation and dissemination of the work and archives of critically-recognised photographers working from the 1970s to the present day. The ultimate strategy will be of relevance to photographers, collectors, collecting institutions and policy-makers, with the final outcomes having an impact on students, researchers, photographic practitioners and audiences well into the future.
Background
Independent photographic practice has developed significantly since the mid 1960s. Hundreds of photographers have made new work, frequently in the form of sustained series, which explores artistic as well as social, cultural and political issues, much supported through Arts Council and other public funds. The work has resulted in publications and exhibitions in public galleries, experienced by a wide range of audiences.
However, the extended value of this practice, whereby such work can contribute to a wide-ranging and powerful cultural and historical legacy for current and future audiences, has been neglected and is seriously under-developed.
What is the problem?
a) There are currently some 20,000 students studying degrees in photography and related courses in the UK at any one time. For those that plan to pursue photographic practice as a career, it is vital that consideration of the public legacy for their work is embedded in their developing professional practice. This does not happen at present, nor is there any guidance on how to address the issue.
b) Most of the work and archives of a generation of photographers who significantly developed and extended the practice of contemporary photography in Britain is held, in effect, in private ‘archives’ i.e. in the photographers’ own homes and studios, with little of the material publicly available for research or display;
c) Photographers’ archives contain valuable contextual material – negatives, contact sheets, work prints, correspondence, articles and reviews - which provide an important insight into the creative working processes of photographers – important for students, researchers, practitioners, historians now and in the future; this work is not adequately represented in public collections. Some public institutions have acquired important archives, but the approach is currently ad-hoc;
d) Many photographers themselves are at a loss to know how to deal with their archives and there is little information or guidance available to help them;
e) There is a widely held assumption that digitisation will provide all the answers to the storage and preservation of a photographic practice; however its durability is untested. There are already many people, not just within the artist community, who are sceptical about the longevity of digital storage;
f) Whilst a small number of national institutions are coordinating a strategy for collecting prints for their collections, no national strategy exists for collecting and making available photographers’ archives;
g) There currently exists no public forum in which to debate and share information on this subject in order to develop a strategic approach.
In October 2011 a study day brought together contributors from Tate, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Photographers’ Gallery, National Monuments Record, commercial galleries, photographers and academic institutions, including PARC (the Photography and the Archive Research Centre) at LCC, University of the Arts, London.
The discussions led to unanimous agreement that these were very important issues that needed attention. Also, they significantly informed us about the issues and challenges facing photographers and collecting institutions and helped determine our plans.
NOTES
Project partners
The Photography Research Group at Plymouth University, which includes: Jem Southam, photographer and Professor of Photography in the School of Art and Media (leading this project); writer and curator Liz Wells; writer, curator, former Director of Photoworks, David Chandler.
Birmingham Central Library, which holds one of the UK’s National Collections of Photography, led by Head of Photographs, Pete James. As well as holding extensive historic photographic collections, Birmingham Library actively collects contemporary photography, and has recently acquired the work and archives of established figures such as Paul Hill and John Blakemore.
Redeye, the Photography Network, a not-for-profit organisation set up to support photographers at every level, led by Director Paul Herrmann. Based in Manchester, UK, Redeye has subscribers and users across the UK and globally.
PARC (Photography and the Archive Research Centre), LCC, University of the Arts, London, led by writer and curator Professor Val Williams.
Dr. Jane Fletcher, photographer and Senior Lecturer, BA (Hons) Photography at the University of Derby. Jane formerly worked at the National Media Museum in Bradford.
Project coordinator/researcher
Val Millington is an experienced arts and cultural sector researcher and consultant. Now freelance, Val’s former roles include Director of Visual Arts and Crafts for South West Arts and Director of the National Federation of Artists Studio Providers. She was also Chair of the Board of Spike Island in Bristol for six years.
Contact
Please email Val Millington for further information, or if you would like to keep in touch and receive project updates from time to time, including invitations to the consultation events we are planning in London, Manchester and Bristol in early 2013. Val Millington, tel: 01392 278293; m: 07778 922230; e: val.millington@lineone.net
At a special colloquium yesterday invited attendees previewed the National Gallery's new exhibition Seduced by Art and explored some of the images and the links between photography and art. The exhibition is the Gallery's first major photography show, despite a relationship with photography which goes back to the Gallery's Keeper and first Director Sir Charles Eastlake who was the first President of the Photographic Society of London. It hopes to attract 50,000 people to the exhibition.
This exhibition explores early photography from the thirty years from photography's announcement in 1839 to 1870 and the its most recent thirty years to 2012. Showing photographs from the mid-19th century and the most exciting contemporary photographs, alongside historical painting. It takes a provocative look at how photographers use fine art traditions, including Old Master painting, to explore and justify the possibilities of their art.
Work by leading photographers such as Martin Parr, Craigie Horsfield, Tom Hunter, Sam Taylor-Wood, Richard Billingham, Julia Margaret Cameron and Gustave Le Gray will be on display beside key paintings from the National Gallery collection.
The exhibition has been co-curated by Hope Kingsley from the WIlson Centre of Photography and Christopher Riopelle from the Gallery. As one delegate commented 'Hope is the only person with the knowledge and background to make such an exhibition, and to make it work so well'. The exhibition's thesis is explored in a coherent way and accessible way with appropriately chosen images from both mediums. The selected photographs and works of art help the curators make their points and the physical exhibition space is well used with the hanging and lighting used to give balance to the photography and paintings.Excellent use is made made of the doorways of the exhibition space to frame works beyond. The exhibition is a triumph in its conception and execution and, will be seen as a landmark exhibition. A catalogue is available at £19.95 (softback) or £30 (hardback).
The exhibition opens on 31 October until 20 January 2013. More information is here: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/seduced-by-art-photography-past-and-present
About the exhibition
Paintings and early and contemporary photographs are presented together according to traditional genres such as portraiture, still life, nudes and landscape, highlighting the universality of the themes and influences across all the works, both past and present.
Drawing attention to one particular and rich strand of photography’s history – that of the influence and inspiration of historical painting – the exhibition features pictures by the greatest British and French photographers alongside work by an international array of contemporary artists. It includes new photography and video specially commissioned for the exhibition and on public display for the first time, plus works rarely seen in the UK.
Exceptionally, three ‘interventions’ of contemporary photographs by Richard Billingham, Craigie Horsfield and Richard Learoyd will be displayed within the Gallery’s collection, juxtaposed with great 19th-century paintings by Constable,Degas and Ingres.
Works on display
The show includes almost 90 photographs alongside selected paintings from the National Gallery’s collection. Key photographs will come from the Wilson Centre for Photography, Tate, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Media Museum in Bradford, Fundació La Caixa in Spain, and direct from the photographers themselves.
Travelling exhibition
The exhibition will travel to CaixaForum Barcelona (21 February 2013 – 19 May 2013) and CaixaForum Madrid (19 June 2013 – 15 September 2013).
Paintings and early and contemporary photographs are presented together according to traditional genres such as portraiture, still life, nudes and landscape, highlighting the universality of the themes and influences across all the works, both past and present.
Drawing attention to one particular and rich strand of photography’s history – that of the influence and inspiration of historical painting – the exhibition features pictures by the greatest British and French photographers alongside work by an international array of contemporary artists. It includes new photography and video specially commissioned for the exhibition and on public display for the first time, plus works rarely seen in the UK.
Exceptionally, three ‘interventions’ of contemporary photographs by Richard Billingham, Craigie Horsfield and Richard Learoy are displayed within the Gallery’s collection, juxtaposed with great 19th-century paintings by Constable,Degas and Ingres.
In 2013 Wolverhampton Photographic Society will be celebrating its 125th anniversary and the 200th anniversary of its most famous photographer's birth, Oscar Gustave Rejlander (1813-1875). To celebrate this a commemorative plaque will be laid on Rejlander's unmarked grave in Kensal Green Cemetery (http://www.kensalgreencemetery.com) on Saturday, 3 November 2012.
The project has been fully funded from WPS funds and from personal donations from members of WPS Historical Group.The project has taken two years to come to fruition, and the WPS is very grateful for the help and support it has received from staff at Kensal Green, and especially Joe Hughes from the Friends of Kensal Green. The memorial plaque was hand-carved and gilded by the sculptor David Kelly.
Everyone is invited to attend a short ceremony to mark the laying of this plaque at 12 noon on Saturday 3rd November 2012. The event will start at the Anglican Chapel, Kensal Green Cemetery, and then proceed to Rejlander's grave for the formal laying of the commemorative plaque. Afterwards it will move to the Dissenter's Chapel for refreshments. The event will end at around 1.30pm.
Booking is Essential. If you wish to attend, please email: d.h.kingston@yahoo.co.uk
Postscript
After the event why not pay homage to Frederick Scott Archer who's grave is also in the cemetery (http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/wet-plate-collodion). There are also plenty of other photography related individuals 'resting' there...
Pete James, Head of Photographs at Birmingham Central Library talks to Andrew Lacon and Stuart Whipps about the work they are making for REFERENCE WORKS: the Library of Birmingham Photography Project. The project, Birmingham’s largest photography commission, sees four photographers and four students/graduates from Birmingham City University making creative responses to the existing and new library building. The discussion will outline the scope of the commission; describe the process of making new work and the vital role of the Library’s nationally and internationally significant collections at the heart of the new iconic cultural institution.
The event is the first in a series of Photographers Talks linked to REFERENCE WORKS, the Library of Birmingham Photography Project.
Thursday 1 November 2012
6.00 – 7.30pm
Library Theatre, off Chamberlain Square, Birmingham B3 3HQ
Admission Free
Photography The Whole Story concentrates on the pictures and stories behind them. In a world where billions of snapshots are taken every year, why are some photographers and their works considered so significant?
People have always tried to capture moments as images and over the centuries it was the task of artists to select subjects and set them down, but in 1839 a new medium appeared: photography. Originally messy and time-consuming, the photograph rapidly evolved to become a means of capturing the world 'in the blink of an eye'.
If you love photography and would like to know more, Photography: The Whole Story is a celebration of the most inspiring photographs that have come from this very modern medium. Illustrated, in-depth essays cover every photographic genre, from early portraits and tableaux to the digital montages, split-second sports images and conceptual photographs of today.
The book begins with a succinct overview of photography, placing it in the context of the social and cultural developments that have taken place since its arrival. The book then traces chronologically the rapid evolution of photographic style, period by period and movement by movement.
The ideas and works of key photographers are assessed to reveal what motivated them and what each was striving to achieve. Detailed cultural and individual artist timelines clarify historical context.
Supporting each essay are close analyses of key works that single out the characteristics of each period – such as use of colour and visual metaphor, quirks of composition and technical innovations – enabling us to grasp each work’s full meaning. Here are the tiny but telling details of social portraits; the stark, graphic qualities of urban landscapes; the erotic, or the undertones of nude studies; and the humour, anger or pathos of conceptual works.
- ISBN 9780500290453
- 24.50 x 17.50 cm
- Flexibound PLC (with jacket)
- 576pp
- With over 1000 colour illustrations
- First published 2012
- £19.95
See: http://www.thamesandhudson.com/Photography_The_Whole_Story/9780500290453
