Christopher Penn writes...There is an interesting and beautifully displayed exhibition of photography - largely portraiture - from India in the nineteenth century running now in the Art Library for Photography in Berlin. Among other works it includes four Samuel Bournes, nine Bourne and Shepherds and eight Penns including 'Toda Man (Nicholas/Penn 48)' and 'Toda Woman (Nicholas/Penn 49)', as you will also see in the photo here. Some of the attributions are a bit weak, including three other Penns and two photographs attributed to Nicholas; but that is a small criticism of the first exhibition to dig deep into the extensive collection of ethnographic prints in Berlin.

The fine catalogue, in which a large number of the photographs are reproduced, includes an article by John Falconer, based he says on early research, which provides a good lead into the exhibition, and other articles largely related to the colonial theme.  The exhibition is well worth a visit.

The exhibition runs until 21st October.

Museum für Fotografie, Berlin
Fri 20 July - Sun 21 October 2012

http://www.smb.museum/smb/standorte/index.php?p=2&objID=6124&n=12

The Colonial Eye.
Early Portrait Photography in India

One of the world's most comprehensive and significant collections of portrait photography from India is on exhibit for the first time. The collection was originally thought to be lost during World War II, only gradually returning to Berlin's National Museums beginning in the 1990s.

Now, around 300 photographs from the second half of the nineteenth century offer a comprehensive overview of portrait photography from the Indian subcontinent. In addition to pictures by renowned photographers and studios such as Samuel Bourne, Sheperd & Robertson, A.T.W. Penn, and John Burke, works by lesser known artists are also on display. Popular and unexpectedly diverse ethnographic photography of the time stands in contrast to stylised street shots of artisans, as well as portraits of nobility, including Islamic princes and princesses, Maharajas, and clan leaders, taken in their own palaces or in artfully set studio scenes. 

One unifying aspect of many early portraits is a particularly European view - "The Colonial Eye". In the second half of the nineteenth century, in the name of science and colonialism, the land and its inhabitants were to be apprehended through observation and cataloguing, analysation and measurement. The fascination with India was especially evoked by the strange-looking indigenous peoples and the caste-system, as well as the splendour of the Indian nobility and the austere life of ascetics. 

Photo: Christopher Penn with two of his ancestor's photographs in the exhibition.

The National Media Museum held a conference in 2010 to present new research into three Niépce plates dating from c1826 from The Royal Photographic Society's Collection which is held at the museum (see: http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/events/niepce-in-europe) The conference revealed new information about the plates and through scientific analysis by the Getty Conservation Institute began to explain the origins of the plates and how they were made.

The museum, with conservator Susie Clark and the GCI, has developed an oxygen-free display case and special lighting which will allow the plates to be shown to the public. The prototype case which is being funded by The Society, was shown to it recently.

The finished case, along with the conference proceedings, should be ready early in 2013.

Image: Philippa Wright, Curator of Photographs and conservator Susie Clark with the prototype case.   

Americas through a lens are images from The National Archive's Colonial Office's Photographic Collection and include some of the earliest known photographic depictions of Canada dating back to the 1850s. Some of the images have accompanying background information to give them context. The photographs have been uploaded to the photo-sharing website Flickr so that they can be tagged and comments and suggestions added to help improve the descriptions.

The latest online release of pictures from the Colonial Office collection follows the successful launch last year of Africa through a lens - an online showcase for the African images in the collection. The project was inspired by Project Naming, a Library and Archives Canada (LAC) initiative to help identify Inuit portrayed in its own photographic collection.

Halfway to Paradise will explore the exceptional work of Harry Hammond, the music photographer who documented the emergence of Rock ‘n’ Roll music in post-war Britain. From Roy Orbison and Ella Fitzgerald to Cliff Richard and Shirley Bassey, the display will feature more than 60 portraits, behind the scenes and performance shots of leading musicians in the 1950s and 1960s.

The display will be drawn from the V&A’s collection and will provide an insight into the change in musical tastes over the two decades following the war. Hammond’s photographs will chronicle the jazz and big band musicians of the early 1950s such as Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday, American Rock ‘n’ Roll stars visiting Britain including Little Richard, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, through to the early breakthroughs of British rock such as the Animals and the Beatles in the 1960s.

Hammond also documented the development of music television in the 1950s and his behind the scenes coverage of the entertainment shows Sunday Night at the (London) Palladium, Oh Boy! and Juke Box Jury will be on show. The display will also be accompanied by a soundtrack of hit songs by the musicians featured in Hammond’s portraits.

Born in the East End of London, Harry Hammond began his career as a society portrait photographer and on joining the RAF during the Second World War, served as a reconnaissance photographer. On his return to London he resumed his interest in photographing people concentrating primarily on the music industry.

By the end of the 1940s, he was providing images for the music press, photographing recording sessions, live performances and capturing the energy of Denmark Street - the home of London’s music industry. In 1952, the music magazine New Musical Express (NME) launched and Hammond became one of its primary photographers, taking some of the most famous images of the era and setting the standard of pop photography for following generations.

• Halfway to Paradise: The Birth of British Rock, Photographs by Harry Hammond will be on display at the V&A in the Theatre & Performance Galleries, Room 104.

• FREE ADMISSION

• Open from 13 October 2012 – 3 March 2013 

• The Museum is open daily 10:00 – 17:45 and until 22:00 every Friday

A book of the same title, Halfway to Paradise: The Birth of British Rock, by Alwyn W Turner will be re-launched in September 2012 by V&A Publishing (£20 hardback). 

Photo: Cliff Richard, 1954, Harry Hammond Archive

De Montfort University is pleased to announce the availability of one Wilson Fellowship for its MA in Photographic History and Practice. The Fellowship offers £5,000 toward the defrayal of tuition and other costs related to the MA, and is open to all students UK, EU and International.

To apply for the Wilson Fellowship, please submit your CV and a piece of recent writing on photographic history no longer than 10,000 words, in English, to the Programme Leader by August 15. For applications to the MA, please contact Student Recruitment at the Faculty of Art and Design at artanddesign@dmu.ac.uk or apply online at ukpass.ac.uk. For questions about the MA programme or the Wilson Fellowship please contact Programme Leader, Dr Kelley Wilder at kwilder@dmu.ac.uk.

The MA in Photographic History and Practice is the first course of its kind in the UK. It lays the foundations for understanding the social and cultural scope of photographic history and provides the tools to carry out the independent research in this larger context, working in particular from primary source material. We work with the collections of the National Media Museum, Bradford, the Central Library, Birmingham, the British Library and private collections throughout Britain. Students handle photographic material, learn analogue photographic processes, write history from objects in collections, compare historical photographic movements, and debate the canon of photographic history. They also learn about digital preservation and access issues through practical design projects involving Website and database design.

Research Methods are a core component, providing students with essential handling, writing, critical thinking, digitizing and presentation skills needed for MA and Research level work. Modules encourage independent critical thinking in history writing, introduce students to methodologies commonly encountered in photographic history, and set the students on a course for finding their own MA dissertation topic. Students receive expert advice on the thesis topic of their choosing, which is written in the summer months and submitted in September, one year after the course begins, in the case of full time study, or two years in the case of part‐time.

For further details on the course and application process, please download a course brochure from the web site.

Mark Haworth-Booth, the former curator of photography at the V&A Museum was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the Arts on 19 July. The award was made in recognition of his scholarship in photography over a sustained period. 

See: http://newsevents.arts.ac.uk/lcc/ and http://newsevents.arts.ac.uk/category/audience/

One of modern photography’s great names - largely unknown by the wider public - will be giving a public lecture on behalf of The Royal Photographic Society in September. The Royal Photographic Society in partnership with the National Media Museum, will present Steve Sasson: Disruptive Innovation: The Story of the First Digital Camera at London’s Science Museum on 10 September 2012.

Steve Sasson is credited with inventing the digital camera creating the first digital camera prototype in 1975 for the Eastman Kodak Company. In an illustrated and entertaining lecture Steve will be discussing how the concept was demonstrated within Kodak,  subsequent technical innovations with megapixel imagers, image compression products in the mid-1980s, and the early commercialization of professional and consumer digital still cameras in the early 1990s. The internal reaction to these developments will be highlighted.

It is the first time that Sasson has spoken in public in the United Kingdom.

The event is co-hosted by The Royal Photographic Society's Historical Group and the lecture continues The Society’s Hurter & Driffield Memorial Lecture series which began in 1918.

It will take place on Monday, 10 September 2012, at 7pm at the Science Museum,  Fellows Room, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD. Cost £8. See: www.rps.org/sasson    Early booking is advised as places are limited.

Iamge: Steve Sasson with his prototype digital camera. Photo: Steve Kelly. 

In conjunction with an exhibition at the British Library on Collecting the Olympic Games Bob Wilcock is giving a talk on 1908 Marathon, the greatest race of the twentieth century, with an overview of the London 1908 games. It is illustrated with press cuttings, postcards, and private photos. Many of the images have rarely been seen since they were first taken.

The free exhibition, organised by the British Library and the International Olympic Committee, with members from the Society of Olympic Collectors, also contains some photographic images. It runs from 25 July until 9 September at the British Library.

Details of the exhibition and events, including the talk by Bob Wilcock amongst others, can be found here: http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/olympex2012/index.html

This Thursday sees the closing party for the 2012 London Festival of Photography. As part of the event there will be a fundraising auction of prints from some very well known names. The money raised will be used to support the 2013 festival. Details of the event can be found here: http://www.lfph.org/diary/best-of-the-festival-fundraising-auction and the auction catalogue is available here: http://www.lfph.org/downloads/Auction_list_2012.pdf

Photo: Ed Burtynsky from his oil series and included in the auction. 

Hands On Pictures has recently updated its list of 2012 workshops. Of particular interest is the 21 and 22 September workshop on the development of photography from Niepce's first ideas to the daguerreotype process. This will be a practical demonstration workshop leading on to a hands-on workshop. It will be given by David Burder who is one of the world's leading daguerreotypists.

See: www.hands-on-pictures.com. The workshops are summarised below:

WORKSHOPS 2012

Workshops at Hands-On Pictures in Richmond & Photofusion in Brixton

Perhaps the widest Choice of Alternative Photography Workshops in the world...

Bromoil 28 & 29 June & 27 and 28 October,  Terry King

Salt, Albumen and Van Dyke (brown prints) on 20,21 & 22 July, Terry King

Platinum Printing using film negatives on 7 & 8 July, Terry King

Cyanotype and Cyanotype Rex 12 & 13 July and 16 & 17 October and Terry King

Platinum at Photofusion, one day, 22 July, Terry King

Gum Bichromate (multicolour) 25 & 26 July & 1 & 2 August, 26 & 27 September Terry King

Gum at Photofusion, one-day, 29 July .

Platinum using digital negatives 4 & 5 August  Peter Moseley and Terry king

Pinhole 14,15 & 16 August  Derek Reay

Photoscreen 21 & 22 August, Brian Whitehead

Carbon 3,4 & 5 September Peter Moseley

Retouching analogue prints 11 & 12 September,  Kevin O’Neill,

3D Photography  18 August  David Burder

Niepce to Daguerre 21 & 22 September, David Burder

Polymer Gravure 30/31 August and 14 & 15 September, Peter Moseley

Mezzotint 18 & 19 September, Brian Whitehead

Multicolour gum 26 & 27 September, Terry King

Copper Plate Gravure 1,2 & 3, October, Peter Moseley

Wedgwood and Asphaltum 9 & 10 October, Terry King

Demonstration materials are included in the cost. Due to the high cost of some materials (e.g. platinum), an extra material fee may be applicable.

Timeline of Historical Film Colors is a database  compiled by Barbara Flueckiger, professor of film studies at the University of Zurich, in partnership with the Institute for the Performing Arts and Film, Zurich University of the Arts. It is based on her research at Harvard University in the framework of her project Film History Re-mastered. It is a work in progress and during the Summer of 2012, Barbara Flueckiger will add detailed pages for individual processes, see a first version for the Handschiegl process. Please report errors or suggestions.

See: http://zauberklang.ch/colorsys.php

This exhibition using the juxtaposition of 140 old and new photographs of the Great Wall shows an authentic portrayal of one of the great wonders of the world. Using images taken by archaeologists, geographers, travellers and enthusiasts over the last 140 years - both Chinese and from the West - it shows the wall and watch towers then and now allowing the viewer to grasp the enormity of this feat of human architecture.

Between 2001 and 2011 volunteers led by Zhang Baotian began to research and collect old photographs of the Great Wall while taking modern images from the old locations. This labour of love, trekking the whole length of the wall on foot and literally feeling the greatness of this magnificent ancient structure, resulted in the material for this unique exhibition.

The Great Wall became of interest for photographers in the 1880’s with the use of the newly invented camera. The new technology attracted a succession of pioneering photographers including George Ernest Morrison from Britain, William Edgar Geil from the USA and Sha Fei from China recording for its history, charm and physical presence for later generations.

With a theme of remembrance of the Great Wall and displayed in three parts;  Tracing Back, Keeping the invaders off and Everlasting Project the exhibition juxtaposed the ‘then and now’ location photographs with a time difference of 100 years reminding us of the vivid history of one of the most impressive and historic human structures.

There is no doubt of the importance of the Great Wall to the soul of the Chinese nation and in bringing the exhibition the London Olympics PPMG not only highlights this magnificent structure but reminds us that we now need to be concerned for its preservation for future generations.

This concern has been taken up by Li Xue, Vice President of PPMG, who has curated this exhibition. It has therefore been the pleasure of the Phoenix Publishing and Media Group to support the establishment and research of the Great Wall Centre in China to spread the knowledge of this magnificent human achievement.

In the UK, PPMG is also proud to acknowledge the support of The Hadrian’s Wall Trust in staging this exhibition and looks forward to collaborating with the Trust to further world interest in both structures and celebrate both their awards of World Heritage Sites.

Central Hall Westminster, London, SW1H 9NH. Until Friday 4^th August 2012   Free Entrance            

Sponsored by Phoenix Publishing & Media Group, CHINA

On 17^th Aug the exhibition moves to Charing Cross Library, London, WC2H 0HF until 17^th Sept

The Science Museum Group Annual Report and Accounts 2011−2012 has been published. Of particular interest to BPH readers will be the sections dealing with the National Media Museum. Some of the highlight facts are: 

• Another significant collaboration within the Group during the year has been the ongoing development of Media Space. This gallery, based in the Science Museum and showcasing both National Media Museum (NMeM) and Science Museum collections, will provide a space for the exhibition of visual media, surrounded by cultural spaces for exploring, discussing, testing and exhibiting creative technologies. Coordination of the Media Space programme between London and Bradford will need to be carefully managed in order to get maximum benefit for both Museums.

• The NMeM welcomed 488,000 visitors 3% down against 2010–11 and 24% lower than the five-year average. The Museum saw a slight increase in general visitors over the year compared to 2010–11 and the overall reduction was mainly caused by a big drop in people coming to watch full-length IMAX films.
  We also enhanced access to our collections and knowledge through the launch of a new website for our online magazine, Archive.

• Virgin Media partnership: This year we were excited to receive confirmation of a major new partnership between the NMeM and Virgin Media, for Media Space.

• At the NMeM the volunteer programme continues to grow. We now have 66 volunteers who contributed 4100 hours of their time. Roles included the provision of a valuable research service for visitors through the Library project, facilitating the weekly senior screening film discussions and assisting with our programmed events and film festivals

The full report and detail can be found here: http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc1213/hc03/0382/0382.pdf

The National Media Museum is seeking internal applicants for the postion of Senior Marketing Executive. The post holder will make a significant contribution to the realisation of our ambition of becoming the best Museum Group in the world. They will work with the Communications Manager to develop strategy which has innovation and visitor insight right at its heart. They will devise and deliver integrated comms campaigns that have a strong digital bias which when combined with traditional activity will exceed targets whilst enhancing the reputation of the Museum. For the majority of campaigns they will provide the Marketing component but for smaller campaigns they’d fulfil all elements of the Comms Mix. They will take specific responsibility for the Museum’s digital comms strategy.

KEY DELIVERABLES /ACCOUNTABILITIES

1.      Work with the Marketing Exec to develop and execute the Museum’s marketing strategy. The strategy should have a heavy digital element and be: based on visitor insight, innovative, creative and fully integrated with the whole comms mix.

2.      Work independently and with colleagues to develop effective and integrated campaigns which have a strong digital bias that drive physical and online visitation. Taking the lead as Campaign Manager when appropriate.

3.      Line-manages the Marketing Executive and takes responsibility for the delivery of their business and personal development objectives with particular attention to the ‘One Film’ revenue targets.

4.      Take a lead role in working with the PR, web and research teams to ensure plans are integrated and on-message.

5.      To carry out routine administrative tasks required of the post

6.      Proactively develop excellent relationships with Museum staff and build an informed knowledge of the Museum, its intellectual territory and the sector.

7.      To deputise for the Communications Manager as and when necessary

8.      Make regular contributions to the Museum’s social media platforms.

9.      Act as Brand Guardian ensuring that all communications, activity, processes and the physical appearance within and around the Museum is on brand.

10.  Manages campaign budgets and timing schedules ensuring that all activity is delivered on time, on budget and compliant with NMSI Finance guidelines.

11.  To ensure you have the product necessary to pique both the interest of visitors and the media you will use your influencing skills to shape a cultural programme that is worthy of a ‘National Museum’, on brand and in line with our audience priorities.

12.  Take care of your personal health and safety and that of others and report any health and safety concerns. Ensure proactive compliance with NMSI H&S Policies, including risk assessments and implementing safe systems of work.

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS & CONTACTS

Internal

• They will report into the Comms Manager of the NationalMediaMuseum
• Collaborate with colleagues across the Museum to develop high profile comms campaigns and promotional initiatives and ensure relevant sign-off. This will particularly involve colleagues in the Cultural Programme, Film, Exhibitions teams, Design, Learning, Curators, Web, Development but also colleagues from right across the organisation.
• Work closely and share experiences with other Comms Team colleagues from across the Group e.g. those in sister Museums, the Visitor Insight Team and the Digital Marketing Manager.

External

• Partners e.g. Welcome to Yorkshire, Yorkshire Attractions Group, Bradford Council, BBC Big Screen and Sponsors
• Agencies – Media buying, Creative, Digital

Line management and budget responsibility

Directly line manages: 1 person, the Marketing Exec.

Budget holder of: will vary from campaign to campaign, unlikely to exceed £100k per campaign.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Experience

• Solid grounding in a marketing role with experience of digital, ideally within the arts, heritage or leisure sectors.
• Experience of working closely with a Media Relations team with some direct Press experience.
• Experience of mentoring or line managing staff
• Practical experience of formulating and delivering integrated communications campaigns and managing budgets.
• Project management experience with a track record for effectively delivering multiple projects at one time in a busy environment.
• Track record of achieving significant results through digital channels.
• Experience of working within a complex, matrix layered and multi stakeholder organisation.
• Proven experience of influencing the cultural offer through visitor insight, brand and audience priorities.

Skills knowledge and relevant qualifications

• Confident and articulate with strong analytical and strategic skills
• Educated to degree level or with a relevant Comms qualification or demonstrated experience.
• Knowledge of a wide range of marketing techniques and concepts with specific emphasis on digital skills, and the ability to apply these selectively to comms plans and campaigns
• Proven ability to manage relationships across a large organisation and with third party partners/suppliers.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to plan and prioritise complex and competing workloads under budget, resource and time pressures.
• A proven ability of managing budgets/financial management processes
• Up to speed with the latest thinking in communications, paying particular attention to the latest trends and innovations in digital media.

Behaviours

• Exceptional team player with the confidence and integrity to earn internal team confidence quickly.
• Single minded, results driven with a track record of relentless delivery.
• Creative with the ability to think laterally.
• Highly motivated, solutions focused, identifies and deals with obstacles to success, not deterred by setbacks.
• Takes pride in delivering work of high standard.
• Prioritises objectives and plans work, flexible and uses initiative.
• Flexibility to work occasional unsocial hours.

Scope for impact

The main aim of the post holder is to raise the profile of the Museum through the development and implementation of high profile and creative comms campaigns that generate visits to the Museum, its festivals and to the Cinema offer. In some cases they’ll deliver the campaign in its entirety e.g. the whole mix. However, for larger campaigns they’ll focus on the Marketing component only. They’ll be specifically responsible for the Museum’s digital comms strategy. This activity will enable us to meet our targets whilst enhancing the reputation of the Museum and the strength of the brand.

• Visitor numbers – Delivery of budgeted visitor numbers will lead to us achieving commercial targets and more positive relationships with sponsors, partners and the DCMS.
• Brand – Delivery of a consistently strong brand underpins the successful delivery of our business plans.
• Onsite sales – Delivery of budgeted onsite revenue will contribute to the successful trading of NMSI Enterprises which in turn makes more cash available to NMSI.

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.
• This role is subject to a Disclosure Scotland basic criminal record check 
  
  Closing date is 26th July 2012
  
  INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

Details: http://tinyurl.com/cs8twjy

This project is a collaboration between scholars at the University of Bristol, University of Lincoln, the Institut d'Asie Orientale and TGE-Adonis this project aims to locate, archive, and disseminate photographs from the substantial holdings of images of modern China held mostly in private hands overseas. These are often of even greater historic interest than might ordinarily be the case, as the destruction of materials inside China in war and revolution in the twentieth century, and especially during the 1966-69 Cultural Revolution, means that there is a relative dearth today of accessible photographic records in China itself. 

Turmoil in China, and emigration from the country, also led to the development of a large Chinese diaspora. Moreover, thousands of foreigners lived and worked in China between the 1840s and the 1950s, and many thousands more visited for longer or shorter periods. Chinese emigrants, foreign expatriates and visitors alike took, bought or otherwise acquired photographs. Many of these are in libraries and collections in the West, and in addition our research in modern Chinese history has led us to many interesting private collections. Images from private and public collections are available here.

The project held an exhibition and published a companoion book, Picturing China 1870-1950: Photographs from British Collections (Chinese Maritime Customs Project Occasional Papers No.1, 2007, ISSN: 1755-6643)

Visit the website here: http://hpc.vcea.net/

The BBC website carries news of a rising interest in China's photographic heritage. The article begins:  China's photographic record begins only in the 1970s because nearly all earlier pictures were destroyed. The ones that survived are mostly outside China, and a major effort is now under way to bring them together online, says Mary Ward-Lowery.

Twelve years ago a student from Peking University knocked on Robert Bickers' door.

He'd come, he said, to study Keats, but he knew Professor Bickers was a historian, a specialist in Sino-British relations at Bristol University.

The student had been given a travel grant to come to the UK, with specific instructions to find historical photographs of Peking University. "Because we don't have any," his Chinese professors told him.

Old photograph fever is currently sweeping China. A new and intense appetite for images of the country's past has resulted in a publishing phenomenon - sales of books of historical photographs have rocketed.

Such photographs are exceptionally rare in China. The turbulent history of the 20th Century meant that many archives were destroyed by war, invasion and revolution. Mao Zedong's government regarded the past as a "black" time, to be erased in favour of the New China. The Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s finished the job.

The full artcile can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18784990

Sotheby's is to offer an autograph letter from William Henry Fox Talbot, signed, in French to Antonion Bertolini, referring  to  the  latter's  Flora  Italica  and  discussing  some  specimens  he  has  collected. The letter will be sold on 10 July 2012 in London and is estimated at £4000-6000. The full catalogue entry can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/bny4b39

UPDATED: The lot sold for £11,250 including buyers premium.

The catalogue description and text is reported here:

TALBOT,  HENRY  FOX.  

AUTOGRAPH  LETTER  SIGNED,  IN  FRENCH,  TO  ANTONIO  BERTOLINI 

referring  to  the  latter's  Flora  Italica  and  discussing  some  specimens  he  has  collected,  2  pages,  4to,  Nice,  12  November  1833,  integral  address  leaf

[with:]  two  autograph  letters  signed  and  one  autograph  letter,  to  Robert  Hunt,  on  a  publication  in  the  Athenaeum  and  a  dispute  with  Dr  Woods  on  photographic  techniques,  6  pages,  8vo,  Lacock  Abbey,  23  December  1851  to  29  January  1852,  one  letter  incomplete  lacking  second  leaf;  [and:]  autograph  appointment  note  making  an  appointment  with  Dr  Buckland,  1  page,  8vo,  Angel  Hotel,  29  July;  and  with  one  later  letter

[also  with:]  Cros,  Charles.  Solution  Générale  du  Probléme  de  la  Photographie  des  Couleurs.  Paris:  Gauthier-Villars,  1869;  Essai  de  Théorie  Daguerrienne  et  Résultats  Pratiques.  Paris:  J.-B.  Gros,  1844;  A  Description  of  the  Instruments  employed  in  the  Gallery  of  Natural [also  with:]  Cros,  Charles.  Solution  Générale  du  Probléme  de  la  Photographie  des  Couleurs.  Paris:  Gauthier-Villars,  1869;  Essai  de  Théorie  Daguerrienne  et  Résultats  Pratiques.  Paris:  J.-B.  Gros,  1844;  A  Description  of  the  Instruments  employed  in  the  Gallery  of  Natural  Magic.  London:  G.H.  Davidson,  1839,  an  exhibition  catalogue  citing  the  "Ingenuity  of  M.  Daguerre  and  Mr.  H.  Fox  Talbot"  and  with  a  sonnet  in  praise  of  Fox  Talbot

LITERATURE
The Correspondence of Henry Fox Talbot (http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/project/project.html) includes a summary of the
letter to Bertolini and transcriptions of early drafts of the letters to Hunt, from Talbot's Letter Book.

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.