London's excellent and little known Cinema Museum is holding a special evening event on 12 July celebrating the Hollywood movie still. Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe… It is through the eye of the stills camera that we experience and recall some of the cinema’s most memorable events and faces.

Joel W. Finler traces the origin of stills photography during the silent era and the early development of the star system, through to the rise of the giant studios in the 1930s and their eventual decline, focusing on the photographers, the stars they photographed, and key films and filmmakers. The evening will include rare and unusual stills from Finler’s own collection, not only portraits and scene stills but also production shots, behind-the-scenes photos, poster art, calendar art, photo collages and trick shots, together with images showing the stars’ private lives and special events in Hollywood. In addition there will be some fascinating insights into unfinished projects and changed film endings.

This event coincides with the publication of a lavishly illustrated new edition of Joel’s book Hollywood Movie Stills: Art and Technique in the Golden Age of the Studios, published by Titan Books; signed copies will be available.

• ”A delightful book filled with little-known facts about the evolution of movie stills and enough rare photos to keep one smiling” (American Cinematographer)
• “More than just another selection of gorgeous films stills, this offers a comprehensive survey of the studio photographer’s craft” (Premiere)
• “Unlike most photo books, Hollywood Movie Stills actually has a text worth reading, filled as it is with acute observations” (New York Magazine)

Thu 12 Jul 2012 @ 19:30 · See: http://www.cinemamuseum.org.uk/topics/events/

Doors open at 18.30 for a 19.30 start, and the event is expected to end at 22.30. Refreshments will be available.

A PhD thesis examining the growth of British photographic manufacturing and retailing between 1839 and 1914 has won the Association of Business Historian's 2012 Coleman Prize for the best PhD in business history. Named in honour of the British Business Historian Donald Coleman, the prize is awarded annually to recognise excellence in new research in the field and is open internationally.

Michael Pritchard's PhD thesis was undertaken at De Montfort University between 2007 and 2010 under the supervision of Professor Roger Taylor. A revised version of the thesis will be appearing in book form. 

As in past years BPH is able to report the latest Association of Leading Visitor Attractions visitor numbers survey (see: http://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423&year=2011). The National Media Museum, Bradford, saw visitors of 446,668 a fall of 7.6% compared to 2010.

In summary recent visitor numbers for the museum have been: 

2011 - 486,668

2010 - 526,914

2009 - 613,923

The National Museum of Science and Industry's Annual Report for 2011 reports an attendance for 2010-11 of 502,000 visitors, 19% down against 2009–10 and 25% lower than the five-year average. The Report comments: 'The reduction was mainly due to a big drop in people watching full-length IMAX films (partly because of the films available but also because there was a month-long closure of IMAX following the discovery of a leaking roof), continuing disruption in the city centre with the construction of a new city centre park and some exceptionally warm weather in the spring. However, it also brings into sharp relief the need to make improvements to the day-today programme and to accelerate the refreshing of galleries.' See: http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc1012/hc12/1238/1238.pdf

The numbers for 2012 should see an improvement with the opening of the Life Online gallery and more accessible and critically acclaimed exhibitions notably In the Blink of an Eye (extended until 14 October 2012). In addition the issues cited as reasons for the decline over 2010-11 have all been resolved.

The decline in visitor numbers suggests that the new Head of museum with her senior management team will need to focus on the Bradford site as well as the new London Media Space presence which is due to open in March 2013.

Olympics Through Media traces the evolution of the modern Olympics through the development of photography and motion pictures from the eighteenth century to today has opened in Doha. The exhibition, organised to coincide with the 30th Olympiad in London, and is a collaboration between the Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum and the Qatar Museums Authority’s Media Collections department.

Around 200 exhibits including a series of rare archive documentaries and films of the Olympic Games since 1896 as well as a collection of media equipment used in those days to capture sporting events and activities during Olympics, are being featured in the exhibition. The exhibition also include historical Olympic objects, photographs and photographic equipment and other visual imagery to place sports and media in a broader context.

All of the historical artifacts and visual materials being showcased at the exhibition were sourced from the collection of the Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum as well as the QMA’s media collection.

Despite that both the modern Olympic Games and motion pictures emerged in 1896, the synergy between the Olympic games and the media did not grow into worldwide phenomena it is today until the advent of television. The Olympic Through Media exhibition showcases milestones of co-evolution of Olympics and media such as the first Olympic Games that were broadcast on coloured television in Mexico City in 1968 and the first Olympic Games that utilised the Internet in Atlanta 1996.

Major exhibits being featured include one of the last 10 surviving first motion picture machine Kinetoscope invented by William Kennedy Laurie Dickson and Thomas Alva Edison and manufactured by Edison Manufacturing Company, US in 1894. The machine numbered 141 was one of the 50 such machines shipped to London in September 1894 and was used to capture the first and oldest motion picture made in 1894, which lasted only 20 seconds.

Among other exhibits are: Cinematographe – the first cinema/movie theatre through a projector by Auguste and Louis Lumiere; early motion picture projector; first television set from 1930, world’s first TV journal (1928); Leica Rifle camera outfit – rangefinder camera; first polaroid camera; valve table radion (1952); miniature speed graphic (1946).

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum director Dr Christian Wacker described the exhibition as first of its kind in the world, which is bringing stories from the two fields of media and sports together. “The exhibition tells new storyline never been told before and the information they contain can’t be found elsewhere as the materials are researched and developed by the team in Qatar,” he noted.

The exhibition will open daily before and after the month of Ramadan from 9am-12pm and 5pm -10pm. 
On Fridays timings are from 7pm-12am. During Ramadan timings are 9am to 12pm and 7pm to 12 am from Saturday to Thursday and from 7 pm to 12 am on Friday.  

Admission to the exhibition held at QMA Gallery, Building 10, Katara Cultural Village and educational activities is free

This is an exciting opportunity for a talented Press Officer, with proven contacts from within the arts media, to join the Press team in one of the world's most prestigious museums, the Science Museum in London. Our enthusiastic and committed Press team is constantly devising new, innovative ways to promote the Museum, its exhibitions and programmes. We create campaigns that not only win awards, but attract visitors and reflect the cutting-edge nature of this high-profile national institution.

You will develop and implement an integrated communications campaign for Media Space, an iconic new space in the Science Museum opening in spring 2013. Showcasing the world leading collection of the National Media Museum and the innovative Science Museum contemporary arts programme, the space includes a temporary exhibition space which will hold a charged offer as well as a constantly changing free offer.

In addition to your extensive contacts, you will bring substantial experience working within an arts-focused cultural environment. You must also be able to demonstrate experience managing the reputation of an organisation.

You’ll be able use your creativity and enthusiasm to the full - researching, structuring and managing Press and PR campaigns, building and maintaining strong relationships with the media, and proactively seeking opportunities to increase on and off line media coverage of the Museum’s activities. With proven journalism, PR or communications experience, you’ve got the writing, communication, planning, persuasion and “selling in” skills necessary to get first-rate PR campaigns up and running.

Evening and weekend work will occasionally be required as part of your core hours.

We offer excellent benefits. These include 25 days’ annual leave pro rata, BUPA dental and medical cover and a generous company pension scheme.

This role will be offered on a two-year fixed-term contract.
Closes Midnight 9th July

PLEASE NOTE: Interviews will be conducted on 17th July and you must be available to attend if shortlisted.Application Instructions:For the full job description and to apply, please visit www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/jobs

BPH has learnt that a major private collection of early photography - perhaps the world's best - is to be transferred to an institution. After briefly blogging this earlier today BPH was asked to remove the posting until the official announcement is made. Needless to say it is good news in that such a major collection will be preserved and made accessible. The collection owner describes the venue as "a wonderful home".

Watch this space!  

The 'world first photograph' will be loaned, along with 119 other images and photography-related items from the Harry Ransom Center’s Gernsheim collection, to the Reiss Engelhorn Museum in Mannheim, Germany, for the exhibition The Birth of Photography-Highlights of the Helmut Gernsheim Collection. The exhibition will run from September 9 through January 6, 2013.

The First Photograph has been removed from display at the Ransom Center to be prepared for its departure in July. The First Photograph will be back on display at the Ransom Center in February 2013.

The First Photograph was acquired by the Ransom Center as part of the Gernsheim collection from Helmut and Alison Gernsheim in 1963. Taken in 1826 or 1827, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce’s View from the Window at Le Gras depicts the view from an upstairs window at Niépce’s estate, Le Gras, which is in the Burgundy region of France. Niépce’s photograph represents the foundation of today’s photography, film, and other media arts.

The First Photograph forms the cornerstone of Helmut Gernsheim’s photographic collection, which was the largest in the world when the Ransom Center acquired it in 1963. The Gernsheim collection is one of the seminal collections in the United States of the history of photography and contains an unparalleled range of more than 35,000 images. Its encyclopedic scope—as well as the expertise with which the Gernsheims assembled the collection — makes the Gernsheim collection one of the world’s premier sources for the study and appreciation of photography

In 2002, the Forum International Photographie at the Reiss Engelhorn Museum acquired Gernsheim’s later collection of contemporary photography, along with his own photographs and archive. For the first time in half a century, major portions of both Gernsheim collections are being reunited: the historical material housed in the Ransom Center and the contemporary collection in the Forum International Photographie at the Reiss Engelhorn Museum.

While the First Photograph is on loan, the photographic print View from the Window at Le Gras, 1826, 2009 by Adam Schreiber will occupy the display in the Ransom Center’s lobby. The photograph depicts the Niepce plate in situ in the museum display, as photographed by Schreiber in 2009. Schreiber is a member of the Lakes Were Rivers artist collective, a group of artists who work primarily in photography and video. In summer 2013, the Ransom Center will host an exhibition in which members of the collective will display their original works paired with Ransom Center collection material that inspired them.

The European Centre for Photographic Research (eCPR), Newport, is offering two PhD studentships in conjunction with other partners: 

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru-National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, is offering one PhD studentship full-time maintenance grant of £13,590 plus tuition fees from September 2012 for up to 3 years. The studentship is designed to support research undertaken within the photographic collections of the Library in relation to eCPR’s research strands.

The Library has extensive photographic holdings particular to the social documentary of Wales ranging from pioneering experiments in the medium during the 1840s and 50s, to date. It is expected that the successful candidate’s research will contribute to the interpretation, cataloguing and digitisation of the Library's extensive collections. Candidates for the studentship should have strong interests in the multiple currency of photographs within libraries and have already undertaken work in museums, libraries or archives at post-graduate level. An interest in either: photographic histories and wider visual cultures of Wales, curating, photography and the book, digitisation, and the representation of nationhood would be advantageous.

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales offers one 3-year full-time PhD studentship of £13,590 per year, plus tuition fees, from September 2012. The project will link key strands within eCPR’s research expertise to the historical photographic collections of the Museum. With the support of a major gift from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the Museum has recently begun a significant programme of research, digitisation and public dissemination centred on a wealth of hitherto unresearched historic photographic holdings. The successful candidate’s research will contribute to the interpretation, cataloguing and digitisation of this diverse and unique resource.

Candidates for the studentship should have strong interests in the evolving and shifting status of photographs within museums as art, artefact and document, and experience of postgraduate-level work in museums or archives. An interest in either: photographic histories and wider visual cultures of Wales, curating, photography and The Museum, digitisation, and the representation of nationhood would be advantageous.

Further details of eCPR’s research activity can be found here: www.newport.ac.uk/research/ResearchGroups/ecpr
The successful candidates will be expected to submit a completed PhD by the end of the award period in September
2015. There will be need for extensive work on site in both the Library and the Museum and to participate in eCPR’s research community. A willingness to engage with the Welsh language would also be welcome.

The doctoral supervisory team will include: Russell Roberts (russell.roberts@newport.ac.uk), Mark Durden and Ian Walker.

Application deadline: extended to 31 July 2012

Applications should be in the form of a single document (Word or PDF) including:
- CV
- Statement of proposed research (max 1,000 words)
- Personal statement on how the proposed research relates to your previous experience and
interests (max 500 words)
Please note only shortlisted candidates will be notified and interviews are expected to take place in
July
Applications should be sent via email to: Joan Fothergill – joan.fothergill@newport.ac.uk

English Heritage has launched a four year project aimed at conserving 95,000 of the oldest and most valuable photographs in the Aerofilms collection, those dating from 1919 to 1953.  Once conserved, they’ll be scanned into digital format and made available online for everyone to see.

The new Britain from Above website was launched in June 2012 with thousands of images online. The website will give users the opportunity to share and record  memories of the places shown and to help English Heritage identify some of the locations and buildings.

The project will finish at the end of 2014.

See: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/archives-and-collections/nmr/archives/photographs/aerofilms/ and http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/

The Royal Astronomical Society has announced the death of Peter Hingley, the Librarian at its Burlington House headquarters. Peter had an extraordinary knowledge of historical astronomical documents and will be missed by all who knew him. Although not a photographic historian per se Hingley had a detailed knowledge of photography and how it related to astronomy (see: http://www.ras.org.uk/library/images) along with personalities who straddled both disciplines. He published and lectured on early photography and astronomy.

See: http://www.ras.org.uk/news-and-press/219-news-2012/2138-peter-hingley-1951-2012

The Ransom Center has appointed Jessica S. McDonald, a curator of photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, as its new chief curator of photography. McDonald begins her position at the Ransom Center in September.

As the Nancy Inman and Marlene Nathan Meyerson Curator of Photography, McDonald will oversee a collection that spans from the world’s earliest-known photograph to prints from some of the great masters of the twenty-first century. The Center’s photography holdings include the Helmut and Alison Gernsheim collection, a seminal collection of the history of photography and one of the world’s premier sources for the study and appreciation of photography.

In addition to the history of photography, the Ransom Center’s photography collection focuses on photojournalism and documentary photography, with holdings of more than 5 million prints and negatives, supplemented by books, manuscripts, journals, and memorabilia of photographers.

“McDonald’s broad experiences —  from teaching to curatorial — confirmed that she can lead our photography department, build the collection, support research, and plan exhibitions,” said Ransom Center Director Thomas F. Staley. “The possibilities under her guidance are exciting.”

McDonald’s professional experience includes affiliations with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Visual Studies Workshop and George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. In 2011, McDonald received an Ansel Adams Research Fellowship from the Center for Creative Photography.

McDonald recently curated the exhibition Photography in Mexico: Selected Works from the Collections of SFMOMA and Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauserand edited the anthology Nathan Lyons: Selected Essays, Lectures, and Interviews, which University of Texas Press published in June.

Image: Jessica S. McDonald. © Caren Alpert Photography.

The Royal Collection is advertising for two new positions within the photograph collection: a Cataloguer (2 year contract), and a paid Curatorial Intern position (9 months). Details are currently live on the British Monarchy website, and can be accessed via this link: http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/about/working-for-us

The closing date for applications for both positions flexible.

Cataloguer

Location

Windsor Castle

Grade

24

Starting Salary

c. £19,436 per annum, plus benefits

Hours of work

35

Contract Type

Fixed-term

Position start date

10 Sep 2012

Position end date

9 Sep 2014

Curatorial Intern

Location

Windsor Castle

Starting Salary

£12,500.00 pro rata

Contract Type

Fixed-term

Position start date

8 Oct 2012

Position end date

6 Jul 2013

The British Library has secured the Dillwyn Llewelyn/Story-Maskelyne photographic archive which was offered to any United Kingdom institution under the government’s acceptance in lieu scheme.

The Dillwyn Llewelyn/Story-Maskelyne photographic archive is a significant addition to the Library’s collection and enhances and supports the 2006 donation of Talbot material by Petronella and Janet Burnett-Brown and other members of the Talbot Family Trust. The British Library has further enhanced its position as the leading centre for material relating to Talbot and his circle of early photographers.

The Dillwyn Llewelyn/Story-Maskelyne photographic archive, approx 164 early photographic prints in 5 photograph albums (including W.H. Fox Talbot, High Street Oxford), 50 glass negatives, the memoirs and journals of Thereza Story-Maskelyne in 10 volumes (the memoirs including a further 52 early photographs), photographic research papers of Nevil Story-Maskelyne in 2 portfolios, and related albums and papers.

John Dillwyn Llewelyn (1810-1882) initiated his first photographic experiments -- prompted by news of the activities of William Henry Fox Talbot (a cousin by marriage) -- at his house at Penlle’r-gaer (usually spelled Penllergare by the family), near Swansea, in February 1839, and daguerreotypes of his family and house survive from as early as the following year. He claimed (in a letter to Fox Talbot) to have been familiar with all the known photographic processes, and in 1856 announced his own innovation, the oxymel process, ‘a mixture of honey and vinegar, whereby the collodion plates of the period could be prepared some time before use and developed when the photographer returned home’ (ODNB). He was on the first council of the London Photographic Society, and was awarded a silver medal of honour at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855 for his instantaneous photographs.

The photograph albums in the archive not only provide an important, family collection of some of Dillwyn Llewelyn’s best-known images, but also demonstrate the extent to which the whole Dillwyn Llewelyn family and its wider offshoots participated in the experiments, either as subjects or as photographers: amongst the identified images are photographs by his sister, Mary Dillwyn, his son-in-law, the mineralogist Nevil Story-Maskelyne (grandson of the astronomer royal, whose photographs often depict the family house at Basset Down, Wiltshire), and at least three of his children.

Dillwyn Llewelyn’s daughter, Thereza Story-Maskelyne, was closely involved with his photographic activities, and was also an active amateur astronomer – both activities highly unusual for a woman of the period; she combined both fields in the pioneering telescopic photographs of the moon which she took with her father in the mid-1850s. Thereza’s memoirs and journals in the present archive are a rich source of information on her scientific career, and include not only an important series of photographic prints, but also her own watercolours of comets and other phenomena from the 1850s onwards.

The acquisition builds on an important earlier gift to the British Library of the work of Nevil Story-Maskelyne (1823-1911), which included paper negatives, salted paper and albumen prints, collodion on mica negatives and research papers on early photography. The additional material now acquired – which includes a series of Story-Maskelyne’s wet collodion negatives, as well as prints and other papers – brings together the largest surviving archive of the work of an important- if undeservedly little-known - photographer. The journals of his wife Thereza contain many references to the photographic practises of the Llewelyn and Story-Maskelyne families and will form a rich primary resource for the study of this formative period of British photography.

Images: from top:

1. Portrait (self-portrait?) of Nevil Story-Maskelyne, late 1840s (reproduction from the original calotype negative.
   
   
2. John Dillwyn Llewelyn, Thereza Llewelyn and dickies, mid-1850s (salted paper print).
   
   
3. John Dillwyn Llewelyn, Gipsies – Palmistry, mid-1850s (albumenised salted paper print
   
   
4. John Dullwyn Llewelyn, Costume of Glamorganshire, mid-1850s (albumenised salted paper print).
   
   

Courtesy: John Falconer / British Library

The British Library has secured the Dillwyn Llewelyn/Storey-Maskelyne photographic archive which was offered to any United Kingdom institution under the government’s acceptance in lieu scheme which enables taxpayers to transfer important works of art and other heritage objects into public ownership while paying Inheritance Tax, or one of its earlier forms. The taxpayer is given the full open market value of the item, which is then allocated to a public museum, archive or library.

The Dillwyn Llewelyn/Storey-Maskelyne photographic archive is a significant addition to the Library’s collection and enhances and supports the 2006 donation of Talbot material by Petronella and Janet Burnett-Brown and other members of the Talbot Family Trust. The British Library has further enhanced its position as the leading centre for material relating to Talbot and his circle of early photographers.

The Dillwyn Llewelyn/Storey-Maskelyne photographic archive, approx 164 early photographic prints in 5 photograph albums (including W.H. Fox Talbot, High Street Oxford), 50 glass negatives, the memoirs and journals of Thereza Story-Maskelyne in 10 volumes (the memoirs including a further 52 early photographs), photographic research papers of Nevil Story-Maskelyne in 2 portfolios, and related albums and papers.

John Dillwyn Llewelyn (1810-1882) initiated his first photographic experiments -- prompted by news of the activities of William Henry Fox Talbot (a cousin by marriage) -- at his house at Penlle’r-gaer (usually spelled Penllergare by the family), near Swansea, in February 1839, and daguerreotypes of his family and house survive from as early as the following year. He claimed (in a letter to Fox Talbot) to have been familiar with all the known photographic processes, and in 1856 announced his own innovation, the oxymel process, ‘a mixture of honey and vinegar, whereby the collodion plates of the period could be prepared some time before use and developed when the photographer returned home’ (ODNB). He was on the first council of the London Photographic Society, and was awarded a silver medal of honour at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855 for his instantaneous photographs.

The photograph albums and negatives in the archive not only provide an important, family collection of some of Dillwyn Llewelyn’s best-known images, but also demonstrate the extent to which the whole Dillwyn Llewelyn family and its wider offshoots participated in the experiments,

either as subjects or as photographers: amongst the identified images are photographs by his sister, Mary Dillwyn, his son-in-law, the mineralogist Nevil Story-Maskelyne (grandson of the astronomer royal, whose photographs often depict the family house at Basset Down, Wiltshire), and at least three of his children.

Dillwyn Llewelyn’s daughter, Thereza Story-Maskelyne, was closely involved with his photographic activities, and was also an active amateur astronomer – both activities highly unusual for a woman of the period; she combined both fields in the pioneering telescopic photographs of the moon which she took with her father in the mid-1850s. Thereza’s memoirs and journals in the present archive are a rich source of information on her scientific career, and include not only an important series of photographic prints, but also her own watercolours of comets and other phenomena from the 1850s onwards.

No wish or condition as to the permanent allocation of the photographic material had been expressed by the offerors.

Alfred Maudslay, Photography and the Mimetic Technologies of Archaeology: A Study in Method, Process and Effect / Photographic History Research Centre, De Montfort University, Leicester/ British Museum, London. An AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award studentship, starting October 2012,  covering stipend and tuition fee costs is offered within the Photographic History Research Centre (PHRC) in the Faculty of Art, Design and Humanities in collaboration with the British Museum.

The project addresses the practices of photography in relation to the task of documentation and recording in the field of Maya archaeology in the late 19th Century. Its focus is a series of 1513 photographs made by Alfred Maudslay in Mexico and Guatemala for thirteen years between 1881 and 1894, notably at Copán, Palenque, and Yaxchilán. The project will explore the ways in which Maudslay used photography to constitute the qualities of archaeological objectivity and observation, in the production of 'evidence' and archaeological knowledge. It will also explore how the established truth values of this mimetic technology were employed to fuel the burgeoning public interest in ancient archaeological sites and civilisations, establishing a broader visual rhetoric for the 'uncovering' of the Maya past. The project will also explore the methodological implications for a ‘photographic history’ approach to collections and institutions.

The focus will be on the British Museum’s outstanding collection of negatives, casts and paper squeezes made by Maudslay. The PhD studentship will be based at DMU’s  Photographic History Research Centre  (PHRC) within the Faculty of Art Design and Humanities. PHRC undertakes innovative research on photography and its practices from the early nineteenth century to the present day, and over a wide range of social and cultural processes, networks of photographic knowledge, science and technology, aesthetic, evidential and informational values and institutional practices.

Supervision will be available from Professor Elizabeth Edwards (DMU) and key members of British Museum staff who have active interests in photography, history, archaeology and collections history.  The studentship will be based at DMU Leicester, with extended London-based periods of study at the British Museum and related archives.  PHRC is a dynamic and growing research community. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the development of this community and that at the British Museum.

Candidates might come from a range of possible disciplines: archaeology (not necessarily Meso-American), art history, history of photography, science and technology studies, visual anthropology, and visual culture studies. A reading knowledge of Spanish would be an advantage.

For a more detailed description of the PHRC please visit our web site or contact Professor Edwards (eedwards@dmu.ac.uk) who will be happy to discuss the studentship further.

This research opportunity builds on DMU’s excellent past achievements and is looking forward to REF2014 and beyond. It will develop both the university’s and the British Museum’s research capacity into new and evolving areas of study, enhancing DMU’s national and international research partnerships.

Applications are invited from UK or eligible EU/overseas students  (see http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Documents/GuidetoStudentFunding.pdf Annex A) with a good first degree (First, 2:1 or equivalent) and MA in a relevant subject. The CDA scholarship is available for three years full-time study starting October 2012, providing a bursary for both maintenance  (currently c. £13,500) and fees.

To receive an application pack, please contact the Faculty Research Office via email at ADHresearch&innovation@dmu.ac.uk.  Completed applications should be returned together with a full CV, two supporting references, a statement explaining your interest in the project, and an example of your written work of c.3000 words.

Please quote ref: AHRC/CDA/PHRC12

CLOSING DATE: June 25^th 2012. Interview date: July 2^nd 2012

Media Space, delivered collaboratively by the Science Museum, London and the National Media Museum, Bradford, is the Science Museum’s new space for adults, opening in Spring 2013. It will present an engaging series of exhibitions, accompanied by a creative learning programme.

Media Space will allow audiences to explore old and new media across all technologies, their artistic and scientific outputs and implications, within a specially developed experimental gallery.

To support the development of this project, the museum is seeking a skilled and imaginative Audience and Programme Developer. 

9 month full-time fixed term contract. Freelance arrangements may also be considered.

Closing date Midnight Sunday 24 June  2012.  Interviews will be held at the Science Museum during week of 2nd July 2012.

Salary: £21,000 - £23,000 per annum pro rata

Purpose of the job

By conducting research into the needs, wants and expectations of the target audience, and building relationships with key organisations, institutions and individuals that reflect and engage them, you will develop and implement the creative learning programme for the first three seasons in Media Space.

The creative learning programme will focus particularly on engaging FE/HE students and their course leaders.

Key Deliverables/Accountabilities

1. An audience development strategy, based on evidence-based research, with which to build the FE/HE & culturally active independent adult audience, detailing the needs, wants and expectations of the target audience and the purposeful partnerships that form a route to this audience. This plan will be derived from face-to-face research, sectoral intelligence and desk-based findings
2. A fully-costed creative learning programme in support of the vision for Media Space, for the first three seasons, which would include main gallery exhibitions and studio/workshop displays, that has been shaped by the audience research conducted and delivers to the audience development strategy
3. Input into the decisions about the physical space and logistics in order to ensure that the spaces work for the audiences.
4. A costed plan for the resources necessary for the successful delivery of the creative learning programme over next 5 years, including existing Museum staff time and volunteers.
5. Develop a strong network, internally and externally, that increases the Museum’s knowledge of other sector-leading practice in the field of creative learning & programming for adults and initiates partnerships through which the future programme can be delivered.
6. To take care of 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

Behaviours

• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Anticipate/recognise changes in circumstances and able to respond quickly and effectively.
• Outcome-focussed
• Professional, with proven ability to work on own and with a broad range of people especially external partners. 
• Able to effectively create buy-in for work being conducted, good communication with different team members.
• Able to work on own and as part of a multi-disciplinary team

Skills, Knowledge and Relevant Qualifications

• Experience of devising engaging creative learning programmes for adult audiences
• Knowledge of creative learning programming by major cultural organisations
• A practical understanding of the principles of audience development, gained through professional work i.e. formulating plans, identifying objectives, engaging with target audiences.
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written
• Proven ability to devise and implement evaluation and research strategies
• Knowledge of policy and research in the fields of audience engagement; participation; museums & galleries; FE & HE; creative industries
• Understanding of how visitors learn in Museums and other free choice environments
• Understanding of audiences: their wants, needs, expectations

Working Relationships and Contacts

Internal

• With the Science Museum Head of Arts Projects and National Media Museum Curator of Photographs to ensure that that the creative learning programme fits with the overarching creative ethos of Media Space
• With the Project Leader and Head of Learning Resources & Outreach (line manager) to ensure planned programme can be resourced
• With the Head of Audience Research & Advocacy to ensure that the research strategy is robust and the resultant programme is suitable for target audience; and to ensure that learning is embedded in all aspects of the project
• With Head of Learning Resources & Outreach and Head of Audience Research & Advocacy to ensure learning input matches learning business plan and philosophy
• With the Project Leader to ensure high quality delivery on brief, on time and on budget
• With Project Leader to secure staff resource for activities
• With the project team and wider museum to share intelligence about targeted audience groups
• With web team and new media team to develop any digital activities
• With Marketing to develop a marketing strategy for the space
• With Finance/Management Accounts – to ensure effective use of resources
• With Learning Support Team Leader to agree logistics for group bookings

External

• To contribute to regular updates and reports to the gallery funders and other stakeholders
• With target audience and organisations/institutions that represent and engage them (e.g. independent adults; FE & HE sector; )
• To work with other major institutions that attract independent adult visitors, to explore potential collaboration
• With external contractors to deliver specified materials/workshops/learning products

Line Management and Budget Responsibility

Directly line manages: 0

Indirectly line manages: 0

Contractors/freelancers: 1-3 varying over the course of the project.

Scope for impact

• Media Space will be central to the strategy to grow the adult audience at the Science Museum and shape the perception of the Museum for these audiences
• Extending Science Museum reach and profile in engaging adults in a creative learning programme

Please note:

• This job description is not exhaustive and amendments and additions may be required in line with future changes in policy, regulation or organisational requirements, it will be reviewed on a regular basis.

Chiswick Auctions has a copy of Coburn's New York with a forward by H G Wells coming up on 12 June.  The detailed description is here: COBURN, Alvin Langdon (1882-1966, photographer). New York ... With a Foreword by H. G. Wells. London: Duckworth & Co., and New York: Brentano's, [1909]. Folio (408 x 308mm). Half title, 20 photogravure plates by Alvin Langdon Coburn, mounted on thick grey paper (some light spotting to text leaves, but photogravures unaffected). Original calf-backed grey paper boards, the upper cover lettered in gilt (some fading to gilt lettering, dampstain at corner, joints splitting, extremities rubbed), grey dust-jacket lettered in black (torn with some loss to backstrip). "The photogravures in this volume are from plates prepared by the artist, and printed under his personal supervision" (printed note beneath the List of Plates). "Posterity will owe much to Mr. Coburn, so that I hesitate to call the series of studies he has made of the beauty of contemporary cities the chief thing for which his memory will be honoured; but certainly his record of urban effects will be a greatly valued legacy" (from H. G. Wells' Foreword). The subjects of the photogravures are as folows: 1. The Metropolitan Tower. 2. Brooklyn Bridge, from a Roof-Top. 3. The Battery. 4. Williamsburg Bridge. 5. The Holland House. 6. Broadway at Night. 7. Brooklyn Bridge, from the River. 8. The Flat-Iron. 9. The Water Front. 10. The Singer Building, Noon. 11. The Ferry. 12. The Tunnel-Builders. 13. The Knickerbocker Trust Company. 14. The Chinese Quarter. 15. The Unfinished Bridge. 16. The Singer Building, Twilight. 17. The Stock Exchange. 18. Fifth Avenue, from The Regis. 19. The Sky-Line. 20. The Park Row Building. Truthful Lens 36.  Estimate: 5000-8000

For more information contact: http://www.chiswickauctions.co.uk/catalogues/as120612/page7.html

The imminent move of the city’s photographic archive to a new purpose-built facility provides a unique opportunity to reflect on the complex interrelationship between photography, the archive and the city. It is with this in mind, and informed by debates about the changing nature of photography in the digital age, that Birmingham City University and Birmingham Central Library are collaborating to present a series of free, public conversations with some of the world’s leading photographers, curators, historians and theorists of photography to share their ideas and experiences of working with photography and the archive in order to situate local debates in a global context.

Monday 25th June 2012, 6.00pm 
Library Theatre, off Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, B3 3HQ 
The Shadow of a Dark Horse in Low Light – Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin 

This talk will focus on the artists’ practice of working with and responding to historical photographs and collections. Broomberg and Chanarin explore the task of the artist to disturb the ordered categories of the archive, uncovering hidden gestures and narratives and reactivating cultural memory.

Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin are artists living and working in London. Their latest book War Primer 2 is published by MACK (2011). They teach at the School of Visual Arts in New York, are Visiting Fellows at the University of the Arts London and will be running a semester at ZHdK in Zurich this autumn.

Thursday 28th June 2012, 6.00pm 
Library Theatre, off Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, B3 3HQ 
On Becoming the Magnum Archive – Alison Nordström

The talk will examine the transition of the Magnum ‘picture library’ from its original status as a collec.on of images and a tool for doing business to a photographic ‘archive’ housed at the University of Texas. In doing so it tracks the parallel shift in thinking about photography that has taken place over recent decades, accompanied by the digital turn.

Alison Nordstrom is Curator of Photographs, George Eastman House, Museum of Photography and Film, Rochester, New York. She has curated over 100 exhibitions of photography including major surveys of landscape, portraiture, travel photographs and journalism.

Joining Alison to discuss the issues raised in her talk will be Nick Galvin, former Archive Director, Magnum Photos, London

This series is organised by the Birmingham Photography and Archive Research Group, BIAD, Birmingham City University in conjunction with the photography archives at Birmingham Central Library. Further talks in the series are planned for Autumn 2012.

The National Media Museum, Bradford, has appointed Jo Quinton-Tulloch as its Head of Museum. Jo Quinton-Tulloch is currently the Head of Exhibitions at the Science Museum in London. She will take up her post in Bradford in September 2012. Jo has worked in museums for 18 years and has a wealth of experience in establishing successful exhibitions and programmes at the Science Museum, and also at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, in Falmouth.

Making the announcement, Heather Mayfield, Deputy Director of the Science Museum, said: “I am delighted that Jo has agreed to take on this role, in London and Falmouth she has led the delivery of world class exhibitions and programmes working with audiences, artists and curators. I look forward to seeing her using the National Media Museum collections in new and exciting ways.”

Jo will focus on building on the National Media Museum’s cultural programme and reputation, ensuring future success by maximising the impact of its vibrant exhibitions, events and activities. Her priority will be to ensure optimum public access to the National Collections held and cared for in Bradford, through the Museum’s displays, digital delivery and research.

In addition she will work with the Science Museum and National Media Museum to deliver the upcoming £4 million Media Space project. The Media Space will see the two institutions join forces to launch a major new permanent gallery in the Science Museum alongside a unique shared exhibition programme in Spring 2013.

Jo said: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to work with such a significant collection and build on the existing programme to further establish the National Media Museum as an important cultural destination, locally and nationally. It’s a very exciting time to be part of the Museum and I’m looking forward to joining the team in September.”

The Head of Museum appointment has been made after Colin Philpott stepped down as Director of the National Media Museum following a senior level restructure of the parent organisation in December 2011.

Jo Quinton-Tulloch Biography

Jo Quinton-Tulloch has been Head of Exhibitions and Programmes at the Science Museum since 2004. During this time she has been responsible delivering exhibitions from small temporary shows such as Penicillin, to an up-grade of the Space gallery, through to the multi-million pound, award winningAtmosphere permanent gallery and associated climate changing programme.

Jo manages the innovative Art Programme which delivers artists’ projects in the Science Museum, including artist residencies and temporary exhibitions. She also oversees the programme of ‘Live Science’ activities which allow the public to meet scientists and take part in experiments on gallery, and the contemporary science team who deliver up-to-date news and programmes across many platforms.

Jo’s career in museums started when she joined the Science Museum as a part-time Explainer in 1994 while completing a Masters in Science Communication at Imperial College. During this time she was also a lecturer and joint course organiser for the Museum module of the MSc in Science Communication, Imperial College, and the Diploma in Science Communication, Birkbeck College.

She has worked at the Boston Museum of Science, USA, and between 2000 – 2004 she left the Science Museum to set up a brand new institution – the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. Jo was responsible for the development and delivery of all galleries at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, and also established a framework for the collections management, documentation and restoration programmes, as well as managing the delivery of the Education, Special Exhibition and Lecture Theatre programmes.

Jo completed the Museum Leadership Programme at the University of East Anglia in 2001 and is about to attend the Museum Leadership Course run by the Getty Foundation in USA.

Bonhams Oxford is offering part of the photography collection of Harry Wills who died in 2011 aged 90. Wills was born and raised in Birmingham and was one of the earliest collectors of photographs and photographic equipment in Britain. He was a founder member of The Royal Photographic Society's Historical Group in 1972 and part of the first generation of British collectors and photographic historians. Pete James paid generous tribute to Wills in his obituary published in the April 2012 RPS Journal.

Although the provenance of the material in the material is not given by Bonhams the lots includes much of early British and Birmingham photographic interest as well as some of Wills' own photography (shown right). The photographs include material from W H F Talbot, Samuel Smith, Harold White, an extensive collection of topographic albums, cartes de visite and ambrotypes as well as early and rare photographically illustrated books.

The sale begins at 10.30am on 26 June and is on view from 23-26 June. 

For more information about the lots see: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20138/

The fate of the rest of Wills' extensive photography collection and his equipment  collection has not been disclosed.