Royal Collection Trust is a department of the Royal Household and the only one that undertakes its activities without recourse to public funds.  It incorporates a charity regulated by the Charity Commission and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, The Royal Collection Trust, and its subsidiary trading company, Royal Collection Enterprises Limited. 

Royal Collection Trust is charged with the care and preservation of the Royal Collection and its presentation to the public.  The Royal Collection is one of the largest and most important art collections in the world.  It comprises almost all aspects of the fine and decorative arts and is spread among some thirteen royal residences and former residences across the UK.  At The Queen’s Galleries in London and Edinburgh and in the Drawings Gallery at Windsor Castle aspects of the Collection are displayed in a programme of temporary exhibitions.  Many works from the Collection are on long-term loan to institutions throughout the UK, and short-term loans are regularly made to exhibitions around the world as part of a commitment to broaden public access and to show parts of the Collection in new contexts.  The works of art in the Royal Collection are held by The Queen in trust for her successors and the nation.

Royal Collection Trust is responsible for the management and financial administration of the public opening of Buckingham Palace (including The Queen’s Gallery, the Royal Mews and Clarence House), Windsor Castle (including Frogmore House) and the Palace of Holyroodhouse (including The Queen’s Gallery).  The monies generated from admissions, and from associated commercial activities, are invested in the care and conservation of the Royal Collection and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.

The photograph collection is responsible for all photographic items in the Royal Collection, including photographic prints, negatives, films and photographic equipment – over 450,000 items in all. It consists of material from the 1840s to the present day, including both official and personal photographs acquired by the royal family, including living members of the Royal Family. The collection also contains photographic material acquired by departments of the Royal Household. The collection is of international significance. The responsibilities of the collection include all matters relating to care, conservation, access and control of sensitive material, exhibitions, cataloguing, maintenance of records and research. The majority of the items are located at Windsor Castle, although there are photographs in all royal residences. It does not cover photographic material located in the Picture Library (although this material may at a later date be transferred to the photograph collection).

Reporting and Working Relationships

Reporting to the Senior Curator of Photographs, the post holder works closely with the Curatorial Teams from the Library and the Print Room as well as the Collections Information Assistants, the cataloguer, and all volunteer and work experience staff.  

Externally, the post holder will have contact with museum and gallery curators, media (press & broadcast), researchers, and members of the public.

Job Purpose

To support the Senior Curator of Photographs in the smooth running of the section, working closely with all Collections Information Assistants, the cataloguer, and all volunteer and work experience staff, being required to assist them on a day-to-day basis and to supervise them in the Senior Curator’s absence.

The post holder is responsible supporting the Senior Curator of Photographs in all matters relating to the care, custodial control, conservation, cataloguing, research and access in relation to photographs located in the occupied and unoccupied royal residences. 

Job Dimensions

The Curator of Photographs has no managerial or budgetary responsibilities.

Principal Accountabilities

• To ensure the proper custodial control, accommodation and conservation of this part of the Royal Collection
• To provide appropriate access to this part of the Collection, through visits, exhibitions, exhibition loans, publications or other means (both broadcast and new media) to this part of the Royal Collection
• To advise on acquisitions and commissions
• To liaise with curatorial staff from the Print Room, the Library and the conservation section and other staff on joint project work (this may include Health and Safety, environmental controls, cataloguing standards, loans, displays for Dine and Sleep and State Visits and other special group visits)
• To work with other sections within the Royal Collection and the Royal Household to ensure that the objectives of the collection and the household are advanced and implemented
• To ensure that environmental controls, custodial controls, storage, and all matters relating to the preservation of the collection are responsibly managed, including planning for the future
• To ensure that records pertaining to the photograph collection are properly maintained, and to contribute to the enhancement of those records (paper and electronic)

Decision Making Responsibilities

 The post holder is expected to resolve most issues within the photograph section and will have day-to-day independence for decision making but will refer complex issues to the Senior Curator of Photographs.

Practical Requirements

Principally based at Windsor Castle, the post holder will be contracted to work 37.5 hours a week, Monday to Friday, 0900-1730. However, due to the nature of the role they will frequently be required to travel and work at other locations and to be flexible regarding working hours.

Person Specification (Skills, Experience & Competencies)

Essential:

• A sound understanding of photographic history and processes from 1839 to the present day
• Previous curatorial experience
• A good understanding of modern conservation practice in relation to photography
• A degree in the history of art or a related subject
• General knowledge of 19th- and 20th-century British and European history and history of art
• An eye for detail and extremely high standards of presentation
• Sound judgement about the appropriateness of loan requests and the ability to handle sensitive issues with care and diplomacy
• Outstanding communication skills and the ability to represent the Royal Collection Trust with credibility and authority both internally and externally
• The ability to prepare text for publication to international academic standards
• Experience of proposing and preparing exhibitions
• Advanced IT skills (including MS Office)
• The ability to work under pressure, particularly due to the public-facing nature of many of the responsibilities

 Desirable:

• A postgraduate degree in a relevant subject
• Experience in proposing and curating exhibitions
• A valid UK/EU driving licence
• A working knowledge of one or more major European language (specifically French, Italian or German)

Closing date: 21 June 2013.

See: http://tinyurl.com/p9mqfjc

Applications are invited for an AHRC-funded PhD working on Media and the First World War. This studentship is one of eight fully-funded awards made by the newly-established Collaborative Doctoral Partnership managed by the Science Museum Group. The project will be supervised by Professors Jo Fox and Jonathan Long (Durham University) and Colin Harding and Michael Terwey (National Media Museum). The studentship, which is funded for three years full-time equivalent, will begin in September 2013. It will cover tuition fees at home/EU rate and provide a maintenance award at RCUK rates (currently £13726 per annum).

The Studentship

This project will explore the ways in which the contemporary British experience of the First World War was shaped by the visual media and material culture. Britons on the home front learned about events of the War through newspaper reporting and photography, through newsreels and film, through art and through gossip, and through material manifestations of the conflict that circulated in British society. Yet despite its highly mediated nature, contemporary Britons’ understanding of the war was radically different from how the conflict would be represented by later historians. This project seeks to re-cast the history of public engagement with the conflict by addressing the following questions:

• What media were dominant in shaping the public’s consciousness of the conduct and progress of the war, and how did these media interact at a grass-roots level?
• How were ‘standard’ media representations of the war projected, and how did they correlate with non-standard representations, such as those found in material culture or in cultural artefacts produced ‘from below’?
• How were these representations experienced and consumed by the public?
• What counter-discourses were in circulation (e.g. gossip and rumour)? How did they circulate? And to what extent and to what purpose were they propagated by the media?
• How does the understanding of the War by Britons on the home front compare with 21st-century public understanding of these events?

The project will draw extensively on the world class collections National Media Museum, home to the National Photography collection. In particular the Royal Photographic Society Collection, the Horace Nicholls collection, the Charles Urban archive and the Daily Herald Archive are relevant to this project.

How to Apply

Applicants should have a good undergraduate degree and a master’s qualification in history, visual culture, or other relevant discipline, and will need to satisfy AHRC academic and residency eligibility criteria (see Annex A of the Student Funding Guide: http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Student-Funding-Guide.pdf).

Applicants should submit a short curriculum vitae and a brief letter outlining qualifications for the studentship in the form of a single Word file no more than three pages in total. The names and contact details of two academic referees should also be supplied. Applications should be sent to June Hedley (june.hedley@dur.ac.uk) no later than 12 June 2013.

Interviews will be held in the National Media Museum, Bradford, on 19^th June

For further information, please contact Colin Harding at the National Media Museum (Colin.Harding@NationalMediaMuseum.org.uk).

Richly illustrated with over 140 images, The Photograph and The Collection: Creation, Preservation, Presentation provides a comprehensive overview of the innovative - sometimes challenging and controversial - ways in which photographic collections are being created, preserved, analysed and presented today. 

In 21 chapters and over 550 pages, a distinguished range of international contributors - which includes curators, archivists, librarians, academics, researchers and photographers - present a rich variety of perspectives which help illuminate the wide and complex range of issues involved.

The book's scope is extensive, ranging from the creation and preservation of new digital collections, through the conservation of historic collections, to the analysis and understanding of individual collections large and small - from the thousands of images in major public collections, to the individual photographic album containing a dozen images. 

The Photograph and The Collection will be of value to both curators and conservators of art and historical collections of images; and to archivists, librarians and others with a responsibility for, or interest in, photographic collections, both historic and contemporary.

Save over 15% with our Early-Bird, Pre-Publication Rate!

Order The Photograph and The Collection today and you'll automatically save over 15% on either the paperback or hardback editions! Plus you'll be among the first to receive your copy of the book on publication on 17 June.

This special offer is only available from the MuseumsEtc website, where you'll also find full details of the book's content: www.museumsetc.com/products/photo_collection

The announcement of the outcome of the government's spending review on 26 June is likely to bring further cuts to the Science Museum Group which includes Bradford's National Media Museum. A petition has been launched against closure at: http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-the-national-media-museum-bradford 

The media has flagged all options being on the table from the return of admission charges - despite this being contrary to government policy - to the merger or closure of one of the Group's northern-based museums with the National Media Museum being the most likely candidate. Ian Blatchford, Director of SMG has also flagged closure of one of the Group's museums as an option. The SMG faces a significant deficit from 2014 which is likely to be exacerbated by a further reduction in its grant-in-aid from central government. 

The NMeM is seen as a key player in the regeneration of Bradford's city centre and the city council has been vocal in its support for it. It has proposed that financial responsibility for the museum is moved from the DCMS to the Department for Business. 

The museum has undertaken a significant restructuring including major staff losses over the past year and any further reduction in funding would inevitably further impact on the museum's activities. 

This morning, Ian Blatchford, Director and Chief Executive, Science Museum Group spoke at a press conference organised by the Science Media Centre and Campaign for Science and Engineering at the Wellcome Trust, London, on why the science budget be protected in the forthcoming Spending Review. He said: 

"In the past four years, we have dealt with a 25 per cent real terms cut in funding when the science base, funded by a different Government Department, has had to cope with a 10 per cent cut. We are investigating a range of options but if an additional 10 per cent cut is made when the spending review is announced at the end of this month, there would be little choice other than to close one of our museums, since our structural (year on year) deficit would rise from £2 million to £6 million. Cuts at this level will mean that we will again need to make savings across the whole Group, this includes the Science Museum in London and each of our sister museums in the north. I would rather have three world class museums than four mediocre museums.  I should add that charging is not on the agenda because Government policy precludes it.’

More information: 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/three-national-museums-face-prospect-of-charging-for-entry--and-theyre-all-in-the-north-8644531.html

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/10462689.Bradford___s_National_Media_Museum_boss_to_talk_about_cuts/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/political-science/2013/jun/06/science-museum-group-manchester-london?INTCMP=SRCH

Barbara Flueckiger, Professor, University of Zurich writes...I'm very excited to launch my new Timeline of Historical Film Colors today: http://zauberklang.ch/filmcolors/ With many scans from vintage prints, downloads, quotes, filmographies etc.  

The new concept allows researchers, archivists, film historians, and film restoration experts to insert texts, images, links, or downloads directly, so that the database will grow steadily. Since its online publication one year ago more than 20.000 visitors from 120 countries have accessed the database. I have received an overwhelming response from all over the world.

Half of the web development was covered by my crowd-funding campaign www.indiegogo.com/colorprocesses. I doubled this amount with my private means. Very recently, the University of Zurich and Swiss National Science Foundation have supported the data management with a significant contribution. I would like to thank all of you for your generous support, and I'm looking forward to receiving your feedback.

And please spread the word...

Barbara Flückiger

http://www.film.uzh.ch/team/people/flueckiger.html

Photography is widely associated with truthfulness yet it has also been employed throughout its history as a means of telling stories and evoking the imaginary. This display includes photographs by some of the most influential contemporary artists working in this vein, such as Gregory Crewdson, Duane Michals and Cindy Sherman, alongside examples by 19th-century practitioners including Julia Margaret Cameron, Clementina Lady Hawarden and Oscar Gustav Rejlander.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

See: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/making-it-up-photographic-fictions/

Image: Untitled - May 1997, Hannah Starkey, 1997, Museum no. E.491-1998. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London / Hannah Starkey

In France, around 1860, from the loins of a traditional national fascination with all things diabolical, was born a new sensation – a series of visionary dioramas depicting life in a strange parallel universe called ENFER – Hell – communicated to an eager audience by means of stereoscopic cards, to be viewed in the stereoscopes which had already become popular in the 1850s.

The definitive book - both of illustrations and research is now available for pre-order and is due for release on 10 October 2013. Diableries, Stereoscopic Adventures in Hell from Brian May, Denis Pellerin and Paula Fleming.

See: http://www.diableries.co.uk/

John Stauffer is co-editing a book, Picturing Frederick Douglass:  The Most Photographed American in the Nineteenth Century. He has discovered that there are more separate poses of Douglass than of Lincoln and of other contemporaries (not counting, for example Twain, who was a generation younger).  

In his search through archives there is a black hole in the British Isles.  So far he has not found a single photograph of Douglass in British archives. This is strange as Douglass sat for his photograph whenever he could, and was beloved by the British during his stays in 1845-47, 1859-60, and during brief subsequent visits.  

He would welcome news of any images made by British studios. 

Contact: John Stauffer, Professor of English, History of American Civilization and African and African American Studies, Harvard University. Tel: +1 617-642-7108 (cell) or email: johnwstauffer@gmail.com

and post a comment here.

In a landmark partnership, Impressions Gallery is depositing its archive with the National Media Museum. It will become part of the National Photography Collection, where it will be titled as  'Impressions Gallery Archive' and receive the highest standards of collections management. It is believed to be the first time a publicly funded photography gallery will have its archive cared for and made accessible by a national institution. It joins The Royal Photographic Society Collection and other notable collections housed and managed by the museum. 

Impressions Gallery, one of the oldest and most respected venues for contemporary photography in Europe, has accumulated an unrivalled collection of archival materials and photographic work since its inception in 1972. The aim of the partnership with National Media Museum is to make this rich period of British photographic exhibiting history available to curators, scholars, photographers and the wider public.

The National Media Museum is home to 3.5 million items of historical significance including one of the finest photographic collections in the world.  With an active programme of collections management, exhibitions, loans to peer institutions and an international reputation, the National Media Museum is the ideal partner to continue and develop the Impressions Gallery’s collection for the future, and make it available to the public.

Impressions Gallery is known for its directional role in the photography world, recognising and supporting photographers in the early stages of their careers such as Martin Parr, whose first show was staged at the gallery in 1972. Impressions has consistently set critical agendas by commissioning and showing work that addresses (sometimes controversial) issues of politics, race, gender and identity. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the gallery was the first in the UK to show photographic work responding to the AIDS crisis, and led the field in showing new work using then-emerging technologies of video and digital media.

Director of Impressions Gallery Anne McNeill said, ‘Impressions Gallery has played an incisive role in expanding people’s perceptions and understanding of photography. To coincide with achieving our milestone 40th anniversary, we are delighted to realise the next steps in the development and long term preservation of our archival materials’.

Jo Quinton-Tulloch, Head of National Media Museum said, ‘Naturally, the Museum is thrilled to be able to secure such an important archive and collection of photography – one which not only records and evidences the considerable contribution of Impressions Gallery over the past 40 years and counting, but which also further enhances the National Photography Collection’

This is the second major collaboration for the two Bradford-based photography venues, following the successful launch of the inaugural photography festival Ways of Looking in 2011. The Chairman of Impressions Gallery Board of Trustees Darryn Hedges said, ‘This exciting project demonstrates Impressions’ ongoing commitment to making Bradford known as the UK destination for photography’.

The museum has not yet commented upon whether opening hours at its Insight facility will be extended to support the likely interest in the Impressions archive or whether it will expand its curatorial staff to support access to the material and facilitate the 'highest standards' of collections management. The museum has lost curatorial staff in recent months and opening hours at Insight have been reduced in recent years limiting access to researchers. 

Charlotte Cotton and members of Ph: The Photography Research Network will discuss ideas emerging out of Either/And (www.eitherand.org) , a collaboration between the National Media Museum and Ph.

Either/And has been devised as an online framework in which to debate and share perspectives on photography’s place in contemporary culture. Commissioned essays, interviews, images and films are published on the website on a weekly basis, which serve as the catalyst for online public discussion. Material from the project will form the basis of a printed publication next year.

This Research Seminar has been scheduled to mark the half-way point in the tenure of Ph as Guest Editors of Either/And. It will provide an opportunity for Either/And contributors past, present and future to consider the conditions of photography today.

Charlotte Cotton is a curator and writer. Previously held positions include Creative Director of Media Space, Director of the Wallis Anneberg Department of Photographs, LACMA and Curator of Photographs at the Victorian and Albert Museum. She is the author of The Photograph as Contemporary Art (2004) and founder of Words Without Pictures (2009-9) and EitherAnd.org (2012-3).

Ph: The Photography Research Network was established in 2010 as an inter-disciplinary research forum for early career scholars working in the field of photography. Ph currently consists of more than thirty researchers drawn from twenty UK universities. It was initially funded by the AHRC as part of its Beyond Text scheme. See www.ph-research.co.uk.

Thursday 6 June 2013 

18.00, Research Forum South Room, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN

Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution is exhibiting prints of some of the Reverend Francis Lockey’s photographs, taken between 1849 and 1861, at the Central Library, Bath, between the 20-25 May.

Copies of Shadows and Light. Bath in Camera 1849-1861. Early Rare Photographs, compiled by David McLaughlin and Michael Gray will be on sale.

For more on Lockey see: http://www.brlsi.org/node/18262

Image: Weirs south of Argyle Bridge, Bath ca.1853-61.

Two important daguerreotypes showing Antoine Claudet and his son F J Claudet are being offered by Special Auction Services on Thursday, 16 May on behalf of a descendent of the family.

Antoine Claudet was an important daguerreotypist and photographic scientist from 1839 until his death in 1867 his portrait, although undated appears to be one of the earliest known. F J Claudet, his son, ran his own photographic studio in London. 

For more information see: http://www.specialauctionservices.com/large/me150513/page26.html

The portrait sold for 30,000 GBP (see¨: http://www.specialauctionservices.com/large/me150513/index.html)

The draft programme for De Montfort University's Workers and Consumers: The photographic industry 1860-1950 conference which takes place from 24-25 June 2013 has been announced. The history of photography has largely been dominated by concerns about aesthetic production and its political framings. Such ‘art historical’ approaches have marginalised the study of the economic base of the medium manifested through a developing photographic industry, its related trades and its mass consumers. 

Work is now emerging in this field, scattered across a number of disciplines: history, anthropology and history of science in particular. While there has been extensive research on both the politics and the affective qualities of popular photography, family albums, for instance, the missing component in the analysis is often a detailed and empirically informed understanding of the social and economic conditions of product development, labour forces, marketing and consumer demand.

This two-day conference aims to bring together a critical mass of research in this area, to explore the state of play in this overlooked but crucial aspect of history of photography, and to suggest new directions for research in the economic, business and industrial history of photography. The conference will explore the period 1860-1950: from the rise of a clearly defined photographic industry, which had a profound effect on the practices and thus social functions of photography, to the expansion of mass colour technologies.

Opening Keynote Speaker: 

Professor Steve Edwards (Open University) Working Lives in Photography

Draft Programme available at:  http://www.dmu.ac.uk/research/research-faculties-and-institutes/art-design-humanities/phrc/photographic-history-research-centre-phrc.aspx

Register On-line at http://store.dmu.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&catid=74&modid=1&prodid=0&deptid=0&prodvarid=180

£55  (Full price 2 days)

£30  (Full price day ticket)

£25 (Students, Unwaged and Retired rate, 2 days )

£15 (Students, Unwaged and Retired rate – day ticket) Note: evidence of concession may be required.

£38 Conference Dinner, including wine  (Case Restaurant, Leicester, June 24^th)

The Daguerreian Society will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in Bry-sur-Marne and Paris between 9-14 October 2013. Speakers include: Dr Dusan Stulik, Professor François Brunet, Dominique de Font-Réaulx, D.E.A., and Herman Maes, Daguerreobase Project.

The City of Bry, and its Mayor Jean-Pierre Spilbauer, have invited members of the Daguerreian Society (and interested friends) to witness the results of a six-year restoration project bringing Daguerre's last surviving Diorama painting back to life. The Diorama is a large-scale painting with illusionary effects that seem to magically transform the small church in Bry into a cathedral.

Other events include the first exhibition of photographs ever held in Daguerre's mansion in Bry. This exhibit features more than 70 American portrait daguerreotypes from the collection of Daguerreian Society member Wm. B. Becker, Director of the online American Museum of Photography. The exhibition in Daguerre's mansion continues at the Musée Gatien-Bonnet in the nearby city of Lagny-sur-Marne. Here, images from the daguerreotype period and later works through the year 1900 show the evolution of portrait photography in America.

All details are at: http://daguerre.org/symposia/symposium2013.php

In 1862 Albert, Prince of Wales, toured the Middle East. At the time it was still predominantly controlled by the Ottoman Empire. As he travelled, his photographer Francis Bedford kept a detailed photographic record of the trip. In this series John McCarthy revisits the scenes of Bedford's photographs - Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Greece. He considers how the immediate physical, political and social landscape has evolved during the intervening 150 years.

Some of Bedford's photographs are of widely known locations - the Pyramids at Giza, the Mount of Olives, the temples at Baalbek, the Acropolis - others are of remote hilltops and apparently random buildings, scenes without any obvious significance. Both however hold fascinating and unexpected tales and insight.

The series will reflect on the rise and fall of empires - the Ottoman, British and French all play their part in these stories. They are now all gone, but the world's powers still seek to influence the politics of the region.

This radio series coincides with a major exhibition of Bedford's photographs by the Royal Collection, currently showing at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

Presenter: John McCarthy, the programme also features Dr Sophie Gordon, curator of photographs from the Royal Collection. 

See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s8vwf The programme will be available on the BBC iPlayer after transmission. 

The Yorkshire Post has interviewed Greg Hobson, curator of photographs, at the National Media Museum, Bardford about the collections housed there. The film also shows Brian Liddey, curator of collections access .

See: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/the-arts/art/moments-in-time-precious-archive-puts-world-of-our-forefathers-back-into-focus-1-5624872

The National Portrait Gallery in London has launched a series of weekly blogs from members of staff. One of the first deals with the Bassano studio. See: http://www.npg.org.uk/blog/bassano-the-man-himself.php It is written by photographs cataloguer, Constantia Nicolaides.  

Image: Queen Alexandra by Alexander Bassano, 5 May 1881, NPG x137324

Edinburgh and Boston-based publisher MuseumsEtc has launched new editions of two classic books on photography, newly-designed and typeset to be accessible for a contemporary audience. Both highly readable, they provide fresh and fascinating insights into the complex photographic practices - and society - of the Victorian period. A History and Handbook of Photography was first published in 1876, and The Photographic Studios of Europe in1882.

John Thomson, editor of A History and Handbook of Photography, is renowned for his photobook Street Life in London, “a pioneering work of social documentation [and] one of the most significant photobooks in the medium’s history” (The Photobook: A History, Parr & Badger, Phaidon 2004). In a career which also included a series of outstanding photographic portfolios - shot in challenging conditions - documenting life, landscape and architecture in the Far East, followed by a successful studio portraiture business in London, Thomson also took time to translate from the French and edit this edition from the original of Gaston Tissandier.

The Photographic Studios of Europe by H Baden Pritchard (“a distinguished name in photography” - Mark Haworth-Booth) is the only detailed account available of working practices and conditions in the studios of the leading photographers of the Victorian period. Revealing, surprising, perceptive and authoritative, this first-hand report is based on seeing scores of photographers and their workshops in action. The result is fascinating and valuable both as a social historical record and as a classic of photographic literature.

Read more here: http://museumsetc.com/products/studios and http://museumsetc.com/products/thomson

A reception was held at Daunt Books, Marylebone High Street, London, last night for Roger Watson and Helen Rappaport's book Capturing the Light. The well-researched and written book tells the story of Daguerre and Talbot as they developed and launched their distinctive photographic processes in 1839. Published by Pan Macmillan the book is eminently readable and comes highly recommended. 

Images: right: Roger Watson holds a copy of his book; below: Helen Rappaport and Roger Watson. © Michael Pritchard 

See: 

http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/capturing-the-light-in-2013

http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/publication-capturing-the-light-fiction