Photography from China Pre-1860, selected from the albums of Elizabeth Vacher, on show from 3 June to 27 September at Bath Royal Literary and Philosophical Institution, Bath.
See: http://www.brlsi.org/events-proceedings/events/2013-06-03/exhibition-capture-shadow
There will be a lecture on 3 July on The Scramble for China by Professor Robert Bickers and on 19 July on Photography in China by Michael Gray both at BRSLI.
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has said there was 'no question' of closing any of the Science Museum Group's three northern museums, including the National Media Museum. They had been under possible threat following an interview given by Ian Blatchford, head of the SMG, in which he suggested closure of one museum was likely if cuts from the government spending review were as expected.
The SMG, which also runs the Science Museum in London, said it had received 'overwhelming support' and would 'continue to do all we can to ensure that the museums remain open.' It said until confirmation of the funding package was received, it could not be certain 'about the level of structural deficit we face and which options will have to be considered.'
In an emergency Common debate Vaizey said: 'They [the SMG] asserted if there was a certain level of cuts they would have to look at closing one. They are not going to receive that level of cuts so there is no reason why any of these museums should close. Let's not beat about the bush - they won't close.'
Later in the debate, minister Ed Vaizey said it was up to Bradford Council to help breathe new life into the Media Museum, but he again vowed it would not close. He insisted he wanted to secure a vibrant long-term future for the attraction, not just apply a 'sticking plaster'.
He said Council chiefs – themselves facing further huge funding cuts – must find a way to turn around the museum’s fortunes, after a steep decline in visitor numbers. It is very important that the local council comes to the table and makes a very important contribution to the future of the National Media Museum.
Last week it was reported the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Treasury had agreed the department's spending would be cut by 8% for 2015-16. Arts and museums, it was reported, would share less of the burden with a 5% reduction.
The detail of the spending review will be announced next week.
The full emergency debate can be found here: NMeM%20Hansard.pdf.
This conference aims to provide a platform for an interdisciplinary debate questioning the meaning of the contemporary rural landscape seen through photography.
Over 40 academics and artists will present papers as part of panels discussing themes such as: the question of habits and conventions of looking at rural space, rural identity, the post-industrial rural and the differentiation between and meaning of rural and urban spaces.
What does it mean to live in rural space? Does or can photography shape our understanding of the rural? What does the rural realm mean to the urban population? How do we view and evaluate rural depictions within the context of the wider contemporary art world?
The conference schedule and booking information are available at: http://visualising-the-rural.blogspot.co.uk/
If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Dr Katrin Joost
Lecturer
University of Cumbria
01228 400300 ext. 8211
‘Pictures’ is a word that has become synonymous with photographs, encompassing vernacular uses of photography, as in the library of ‘pictures’ on our mobile phones, as well as in the sense of providing a true ‘picture of events’ in the journalist context. From the 1980s, photography as ‘picture’ acquired a very different meaning, and was associated with large-scale colour photographic prints, pioneered by such artists as Jean-Marc Bustamante. Simultaneously, pictorial values have been proclaimed crucial to asserting photography’s place in the museum as an object confident of its value as art. This panel examines the effect of these changes on the photographic practice, their effect on the curatorial practices and, more broadly, photography as a form of contemporary art.
The panel will be followed by a speaker-led seminar for which a place can be booked separately. The aim of the seminar is to enable participants to further explore and discuss the issues raised by the panel.
London, 22 June 2013, Tate Modern
See: http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/talks-and-lectures/photographspictures
Gerry Sutcliffe, Labour MP for Bradford South, and Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley have united to secure a Select Committee inquiry into the Science Museum’s threat to the National Media Museum.
Both Mr Sutcliffe and Mr Davies are members of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and jointly requested an urgent special inquiry into the Science Museum’s proposal to close one of its three museums in the North of England.
The Committee agreed to their request and it is now likely that the Select Committee will press the Science Museum and the Minister before Parliament’s Summer Recess in July.
Gerry Sutcliffe said: “The National Media Museum is crucial to Bradford and I am delighted that the Select Committee has agreed to our request to hold an inquiry into this issue. I very much hope that we can use this opportunity to block any plans to close the Museum”.
Philip Davies said “Gerry and I made the case that this was a vitally important issue for the Bradford district and for the North of England more widely and it is great our colleagues on the Select Committee have agreed that we can press the Science Museum and the Minister about these proposals and hopefully see them reversed. Gerry and I will continue to work together – along with other local MPs – to protect the best interests of the Bradford district”.
The Chairman of the Select Committee John Whittingdale, Conservative MP for Maldon, said “Both Gerry and Philip were very persuasive about both the importance of the National Media Museum to Bradford and of the need for an inquiry into this to be held as soon as possible, and the Committee therefore agreed with the request to look into this as soon as time allows”.
Hundreds of people have attended a rally today to save the National Media Museum in Bradford, the Bradford Telegraph and Argus reports. Speeches were made by Gerry Sutcliffe MP, George Galloway MP and Councillor David Green, Leader of Bradford Council. See: http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/10472838.Hundreds_gather_at_rally_to_pledge_their_support_for_National_Media_Museum/
Image: Bradford Telegraph & Argus
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
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:
Desirable:
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:
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 19th 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:
MPs unite in battle to save Media Museum |
Axe threat hangs over Bradford media museum |
UK's northern national science museums under threat |
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
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.
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 24th)
A photograph album compiled by Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879), one of the greatest photographers that Britain has ever produced, has had a temporary export bar placed on it to provide a last chance to raise the £121,250 needed to keep it in the UK. The album was sold at Sotheby's on 12 December 2012 (see: http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/auction-news-julia-margaret-cameron-g-f-watts-album-for-sale-at)
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey took the decision to defer granting an export licence for the photo album following a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA), administered by Arts Council England, on the grounds that it was of outstanding significance for the study of 19th century photography, and particularly that of Julia Margaret Cameron.
This album (known as the Signor 1857 album) is the earliest of eight recorded photographic albums assembled by Cameron in the period before she took up photography herself. Almost certainly compiled as a gift for her friend, the artist George Frederic Watts, the album anticipated the photographs she would later make with her own camera, mixing images of the famous with the familial to create a celebration of art, photography, family and friendship.
It contains 35 works by several different photographers, some of whose significance to the development of photography in the 19th century is increasingly being recognised, and is an important example of how photographs were embedded within avant-garde art-making of the day. In addition, it is a pivotal piece of evidence in explaining how Cameron, a middle-aged woman with no previous experience of visual art-making, became one of the most celebrated of photographers and illustrates Cameron’s increasing interest in the relationship between the fine arts and photography.
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said: "I sincerely hope that a UK buyer can be found for the Signor 1857 Album. It still holds many secrets and keeping it in the UK would allow further detailed study in the lead up to the bi-centenary of this incredibly talented photographer’s birth."
The decision on the export licence application for the photo album will be deferred for a period ending on 8 July 2013 inclusive. This period may be extended until 8 October 2013 inclusive if a serious intention to raise funds to purchase the photo album is made at the recommended price of £121,250.
Organisations or individuals interested in purchasing the photo album should contact RCEWA on 0845 300 6200.
