De Montfort University's Photographic History Research Centre's free seminar programme for Spring 2012 has been announced: 

RESEARCH SEMINARS IN CULTURES OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Spring 2012

Tuesdays 4 – 6pm

Edith Murphy Building 5.15

De Montfort University, Leicester

January 17^th

Simon Fleury (Victoria and Albert Museum)

‘Positive Negative: a work in progress'

 February 14^th

Dr Kris Juncker (Photographic History Research Centre, DMU)

‘Photographs of the Crossroads: Afro-Cuban Spiritism before the Revolution’

 March 6^th

Beatriz Pichel (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

‘Death that matters: Bodies and Masculinity in French Photography during the First World War’

All welcome, no need to book, just turn up.

Any queries, please contact the convener: Dr Kelley Wilder, Photographic History Research Centre (kwilder@dmu.ac.uk) 

A previously unknown cache of of photographs showing the construction of London's Tower Bridge in 1892 has been discovered the Mail online reports. The unique pictures, dating back to 1892, document the construction the iconic bridge, which at the time was a landmark feat of engineering nicknamed ‘The Wonder Bridge’.

The discarded pictures, which were retrieved by a caretaker who was looking after a building being turned into flats in 2006, have spent the last five years in a carrier bag underneath his bed.

For the full report see: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2067581/Stripped-youve-seen-Pictures-Tower-Bridge-construction-dumped-skip.html

Janet Mary Burnett Brown the great, great, granddaughter of William Henry Fox Talbot and the last of the Talbot family to live at Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, Talbot's home  died peacefully on Wednesday 14th December 2011, aged 84. The funeral service will take place at St Cyriac's, Lacock on Thursday 29 December at 2.30pm. No flowers but donations to St Cyriac's Church, Lacock PCC.

The Times newspaper carried a death notice on 21 December. 

The UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper made the British Photographic History blog one of its photography websites for the week of 17 October 2011. Click here to see more. BPH is not a commercial site and relies on its contributors to make it a success. Thank you to everyone who is signed up or posted material over the past year.  

The Guardian blog noting Colin Philpott's departure from the National Media Museum in April also quotes the British Journal Photography's freedom of information request: of a draft budget of £4 million, only £405,835 had so far been spent. 

Colin Philpott is to step down as Director of the National Media Museum in the Spring. He has decided he wants the opportunity to pursue long term and creative projects beyond the National Media Museum which include the publication of a book in Autumn next year. 

Colin has been Director of the National Media Museum since 2004. During this time a number of major festivals, schemes and developments have taken place, including the renaming of the Museum as the National Media Museum, launch of the City of Film with UNESCO, the opening of the state-of-the-artExperience TV gallery and the imminent opening of Life Online - the world’s first museum gallery about the history and impact of the internet which is due to open in March next year.

He said: "I have loved working at the National Media Museum, however I now want to advance my career in other ways. I have a number of creative projects I want to develop and I am looking forward to pursuing other opportunities. I look forward to witnessing the Museum’s continuing success in the future."

Colin’s announcement is part of a reorganisation at the senior levels of the National Museum of Science and Industry (NMSI). NMSI is the parent group to which the National Media Museum belongs, along with the National Railway Museum, the Science Museum and MOSI – the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester – which is to join the group in the New Year.

The reorganisation of the NMSI is focused on further developing closer links with the Science Museum. As a result, there will no longer be a Director-level role at the National Media Museum. A newly created position of Head of the National Media Museum will report into the Deputy Director of the Science Museum. The change is a down-grading of the position within NMSI and had been resisted in the past. 

Ian Blatchford, Director of NMSI said: "Colin has done a fantastic job at the National Media Museum and I thoroughly value his contribution. The new Head of the Museum will continue to work with the NMSI Executive Board and we are fully committed to the development of the National Media Museum in the years ahead."

Colin will be leaving at the end of April once the new Life Online gallery has opened and the new-style Bradford International Film Festival in Partnership with Virgin Media (taking place from 19th -29th of April) has been delivered.

The Guardian is also carrying the story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2011/dec/15/bradford-museums-nmm-colin-philpott-bradford-york-nmr

An interview with John Myers, discussing his photography practice from the 1970s and the current Middle England exhibition at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham - with thanks to Pete James for the information.

John Myers - Middle England from Ikon Gallery on Vimeo.

Photographs by two of Britain’s most accomplished photographers of the nineteenth century: Roger Fenton (1819-69) and Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79) are on display at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter, from 15 December to 1 April 2012. Some were commissioned by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, others purchased directly from the photographer.  Together they demonstrate the royal couple’s involvement in the early photographic world.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were enthusiastic patrons of photography.  Between 1842, when the first photograph was taken of a member of the royal family and 1861 when Prince Albert died, the couple amassed a collection of works by the leading photographers of the day.  After Prince Albert’s death, Queen Victoria continued collecting.  By the time of her death in 1901 the collection was estimated at 20,000 photographs.

Victoria and Albert’s patronage helped foster this new art form.  They attended exhibitions, became patrons of the newly established Photographic Society of London, commissioned portraits and purchased the work of British photographers.  Queen Victoria preferred portraits, while Prince Albert acquired topographical views and fine art photographs. 

The exhibition is accompanied by a book by Sophie Gordon Roger Fenton & Julia Margaret Cameron: Early British Photographs from the Royal Collection.

The photographs have been generously lent by HM The Queen from the Royal Collection.

See: http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/microsites/fentoncameron/

As Assistant Exhibition Organiser for The National Media Museum, you will assist with the management and organization of the practical and administrative aspects of our temporary exhibitions programme. You will be part of a team that, each year, delivers content for up to six temporary exhibitions, six displays, one semi-permanent exhibition and all associated web content, multi-media and interactive exhibits. So over the course of the contract, there’s lots to get involved in.

Ideally, you will have a background in the museum or cultural sector, including collections management. If you come from a different sector, you must have outstanding project management skills with demonstrable proof that you can co-ordinate events, manage transport and delivery issues, organise essential documentation and communicate project requirements to colleagues, designers, drivers and contractors.

Award winning, visionary and truly unique, The National Media Museum embraces photography, film, television, radio and the web. It aims to engage, inspire and educate through comprehensive collections, innovative education programmes and a powerful yet sensitive approach to contemporary issues.

Together, the Science Museum, The National Railway Museum and The National Media Museum form a unique family of museums with a vision to provide outstanding visitor experiences. We aim to engage and inspire diverse audiences, while at the same time rewarding and developing the people who contribute to our success.

For a full job description please email recruitment@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

Closing date: Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

Assistant Exhibition Organiser

Fixed Term Contract (until end Oct 2012), Maternity Cover

£16,606 - £18,000

National Media Museum, Bradford

Full-time 36 hours per week, office hours

The Directory was created by the Photography and the Archive Research Centre, University of the Arts London, London College of Communication, to help researchers to look for photographs relating to their interests. The project is led by Val Williams, and its researcher, since 2004, is Bob Pullen.

The Directory is a portal to Institutions in the UK, and provides information and contact details of publicly accessible photographic collections. It is a constantly developing resource of information on photographic collections, and its value and significance as a research tool will steadily increase as institutions add their collections to it. While the internet is a powerful resource bringing a wealth of information onto to your screen, there is no substitute for visiting institutions, talking to those responsible for collections, and actually holding photographs in your hands.

It is searchable by a number of fields. 

The project updates John Wall's Directory of British Photographic Collections, (National Photographic Record/Royal Photographic Society, Heinemann, 1977)

See: http://www.directoryphotographiccollectionsuk.org

A Sutton panoramic camera negative believed to show Dunolly, Australia, c.1862, is being offered at auction on 11 December 2011. The negative is one from a group that was discovered some years ago. The camera and other negatives were previously sold at Christie's. See: http://leonardjoel.com.au/lot_details.php?lot=227246&auction=229# for more information. 

The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation, in partnership with the World Photography Organisation, is looking for the Best Photography Book and Best Moving Image Book of the year. A £10,000 prize will be split between the winners of each category who'll be announced at the Sony World Photography Awards ceremony on 26 April 2012.

The judging panel for the Best Photography Book Award will be chaired by Lindsey Stewart, Bernard Quaritch gallerist and historical photography expert. The photography panel is completed by Gerry Badger, author and winner of the 2007 Kraszna-Krausz Book Award for his work The Photobook: A History, Volumes 1 and 2 (Phaidon, 2004 & 2006) and the photographer Jem Southam.

See: http://www.kraszna-krausz.org.uk/ for details of submissions which are due by Wednesday 30 November 2011. 

The auction of printed books at Christie’s South Kensington on 28 November includes about 90 lots of photobooks, among them fine photobooks from the collection of Bob and Laurence Calle (lots 371-443); the 72 lots include a remarkably fresh, unrestored copy of Moi Ver’s Paris from the collection of its publisher and in the original glassine jacket (lot 419); an excellent copy of Man Ray’s Photographies inscribed to Bob Calle (lot 418); the first American edition of Robert Frank’s The Americans (lot 397) in a very good dust-jacket; and many other masterpieces in the field. Other consignments include a pristine copy of Alvarez Bravo’s Fotografias (lot 356); an original Cecil Beaton scrapbook (lot 357); the first edition of Ruscha’s 26 Gasoline Stations (lot 363); a unique copy of The Art of Edward Weston (lot 369); the rare slipcased version of Bruce Weber’s O Rio de Janeiro, and others.

Christie's Fine Printed Books including Photobooks from the Calle Collection

Monday 28 November 2011, South Kensington

See: http://www.christies.com/lotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5505099

Under Eagle Eyes: Lithographs, Drawings and Photographs from the Prussian Expedition to Japan, 1860-61. Edited by Sebastian Dobson & Sven Saaler, with contributions by Nakai Akio, Peter Pantzer, Veit Hammer, Timon Screech, Sebastian Dobson & Sven Saaler.

In the roll call of Western nations that participated in the “re-opening” of Japan in the last years of the Shogunate, the Kingdom of Prussia has long been marginalised. The Prussian Expedition to Japan of 1860-61 still receives little scholarly attention outside Germany and Japan, and even among German and Japanese scholars investigation into Count Friedrich zu Eulenburg’s mission has focused almost entirely on the diplomatic negotiations which eventually led to the signing of a Prussian-Japanese treaty in Edo in 1861, an event currently being celebrated in its 150th anniversary year as the beginning of German-Japanese relations.

However, as contemporaries observed, this was no ordinary expedition. Eulenburg’s civilian staff consisted not only of four diplomats, but also of four scientists, two artists and one photographer, all of whom made use of an unexpected five-month stay in Edo to examine and record a country still little-known in Europe. This book seeks to reconstruct the scientific and artistic legacies of Eulenburg’s expedition, much of which either languished in obscurity or was even believed to have been lost. In particular, the iconography of the Prussian Expedition, consisting of photographs, lithographs and work in more traditional media, is presented here for the first time.

The book will be launched on 1 December 2011 at Daiwa Foundation Japan House, 6:00 – 7:00pm, followed by a drinks reception to 8:00pm. See: http://www.dajf.org.uk/event/under-eagle-eyes-lithographs-drawings-and-photographs-from-the-prussian-expedition-to-japan-1860-61

Dr J H Robbins writes...Readers may be interested to know that a Victorian Scrap Album has been identified as belonging to Major-General Richard Clement Moody RE (previously Colonel) who had a significant role in British Columbia in the years 1858-1863. Bought in the 1970s in Dorchester, England, this has just been identified as belonging to Col Richard Clement Moody RE. The Royal Engineers are widely recognised as being amongst the pioneers of photography 

Background:

In around 1859, Col. R.C. Moody, commander of the Columbia detachment of the Royal Engineers based at New Westminster, had his portrait taken with an unidentified Aboriginal. The photographer was probably Lt. Arthur Reid Lempriere RE, who was in charge of photography for the detachment. This image and two others including a portrait of the same Aboriginal that appear to have been taken at the same time; form part of a large number of photographs, many captioned in pencil as well as others from British Columbia and a pencil drawing of Moody's house dated 1863 and signed by Henry Pering Pellew Crease.There are also pictures of houses lived in or visited by the Moody family in England, a Grand Tour of Loire Valley châteaux, Brittany Costumes, Brussels and Bologna. It seems probable that Moody took at least some of the photographs himself, although others like the two hand coloured prints entitled Japanese Dancing Girls, and a Japanese Priest as well as those from France and Italy have been purchased or collected. A photograph (circa 1859) of the people involved in the Boundary Commission survey to establish the 49th parallel has the name of Colonel Moody on the reverse.

Two pictures from the album and some more information can be seen at https://sites.google.com/site/moodyalbum/ 

The pictures here are: top: a portrait of an unknown First Nations man.; below: Portraits, Moody is on left in photo, his companion is believed to be Captain Luard RE. 

Greater China Photographic Society aims to unite the efforts of cultural enthusiasts, scholars, photographers and photographic followers of the art of photography, for all people of the world who love Chinese Culture. Our mission is to promote the photographic arts, Chinese culture and charity for the benefit of Society and the World. Our vision is to create unlimited new vistas.

This new appointment of Chief Executive Office Worldwide of the Greater China Photographic Society (GCPS) is located in Hong Kong and is available immediately.

1. The post is for a creative person well acquainted with the photographic arts who could promote opportunities between the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States and, with or without support, with China (Mainland and Taiwan). They would be well acquainted with the photographic venues of the world including museums and galleries. He/she must be willing to travel, especially throughout China. Additionally, the person would be expected to design and run photographic courses/workshops/, photographic events and.

2. The successful candidate will be from a photographic or similar media background with appropriate academic qualifications and distinctions. He/she will demonstrate exceptional management and communication skills. The fluency of English to a good standard is required plus Mandarin and /or Cantonese would be an advantage.

 The First Contract will be of 6-12 months duration, offering a salary of HK$30,000- (approximately sterling pound 2,400- or USD3,900-)/month plus quarter allowance of HK10,000- (Pound 8,000- or USD 1,300-). For information, if the applicant have no other Hong Kong income, Annual Salary Tax is about HK$33,000- for single and HK$15,000- for married. The GCPS would pay one round trip air ticket between UK, USA or Europe Airport and Hong Kong.

 For further information regarding this post contact The President.  Applications in confidence should be sent by email to adm@gcpshk.com or by letter to Suite 5401, Central Plaza, No. 18 Harbour Road, Hong Kong and consist in the form of a full curriculum vitae, supporting letter and names of two referees. The closing date for applications is 20 January 2012

James Garfinkle advises...After 31 years of being the custodian of Mathew Brady's Studio Wet-Plate Camera, I have decided to let another person or institution have the pleasure of owning 'the most iconic piece of photographic Americana.' The camera was used to take portraits of Lincoln and other notables in the Civil War period.

Its provenance is unmatched: Meserve / Kunhardt collection, then at auction at Christie's in 1980, to me.  Two owners in about 100 years.  The serial number on lens matches that in Brady's bankruptcy filing, included with the lot. The camera has a reserve of $25,000. 

It was most recently displayed at the 'Lincoln in New York' exhibition at the New-York Historical Society.

The sale is Wednesday, November 30th in Dallas. James Garfinkel can be reached at: jamesgarfinkel@gmail.com. The sale is part of a Heritage Auctions Americana sale. More details here: http://historical.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=6066&lotNo=38365

St Andrews University is advertising two jobs for a Photographic Golf Collection Project Curator and a Photographic Golf Collection Digitisation Officer. The role requirements are: 

Photographic Golf Collection Project Curator - JC1049

Department of Special Collections, University Library, £24,370 - £29,099 per annum, Start: February 2012, Fixed term 4 years, Hours of work - 36.25 per week

We are seeking an individual to fulfil the role of Photographic Golf Collection Project Curator in support of the digitising, cataloguing and exhibition of an extensive golf photography collection over the period of four years from February 2012 to December 2015.   

Within a dynamic department during a time of exciting change, you will work under the direction of the Photographic Archivist. You will be responsible for the systematic cataloguing, intellectual arrangement, interpretation and exhibition of over 200,000 images on the subject of golf. This collection is the work of Lawrence Levy.  In direct support of the promotional and fundraising ambitions of the University, you will curate a series of high-calibre photographic exhibitions which represent the collection’s unique documentation of golf’s history from 1978 to 1994. As part of an externally funded project, you will directly contribute to the creation of access and awareness to an unsurpassed collection of great scale and cultural significance whose character is tied to St Andrews’ place in the world as the home of golf.   

For further details about the project and post please contact Marc Boulay, the Photographic Archivist for the Department of Special Collections via email at mdab@st-andrews.ac.uk or by telephone at 44 (0)1334 462326.

Photographic Golf Collection Digitisation Officer - SB1059

University Library, Department of Special Collections, £17,179 - £19,822 per annum, Start: January 2012 or as soon as possible thereafter, Fixed Term: 4 years

The University of St Andrews Library Department of Special Collections is seeking 1 full-time or 2 part-time (one full-time equivalent) staff to fulfill the role of Photographic Golf Collection Digitisation Officer in support of the digitising, archiving, and physical preservation of an extensive golf photography collection over the period of four years from January 2012 to December 2015. 

Within a dynamic department during a time of exciting change, the post-holder(s) will work under the direction of the Photographic Archivist. They will be responsible for the systematic preventive conservation, digitisation, physical arrangement, and electronic record creation of over 200,000 images on the subject of golf. As part of an externally-funded project, the post-holder(s) will directly contribute to the creation of access and awareness to an unsurpassed collection of great scale and cultural significance whose character is tied to St Andrews’ place in the world as the home of golf. 

For further details about the project and post please contact Marc Boulay, the Photographic Archivist for the Department of Special Collections via email at mdab@st-andrews.ac.uk or by telephone at 44 (0)1334 462326.    

Ref No: SB1059
Closing Date: 8 December 2011

Fuller details are here: https://www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/login.aspx?enc=vDVLPY6BrOnmx9szwB5icMU/Bp97ap1BlI/jb0LhRYVeoh/cn5bYgvW+9EbbSw7a

Auction house Christie's has set a new world record price of $4,338,500 (£2.7 million) for a photograph in an auction in New York. Andreas Gursky's Rhein II was sold on 8 November. The price overtakes the previous record for a Cindy Sherman 1981 print.

The Christie's catalogue entry can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/d7ugw9l

Photograph © Andreas Gursky, Rhein II, 1991. 

Due for release on 2 February 2012 is Professor Elizabeth Edwards' new book: The Camera as Historian: Amateur Photographers and Historical Imagination, 1885-1918 published by Duke University Press. The book's synopsis reads: 

In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth, hundreds of amateur photographers took part in the photographic survey movement in England. They sought to record the material remains of the English past so that it might be preserved for future generations. In The Camera as Historian, the groundbreaking historical and visual anthropologist Elizabeth Edwards works with an archive of nearly 55,000 photographs taken by 1000 photographers, mostly unknown until now. She approaches the survey movement and its social and material practices ethnographically. Considering how the amateur photographers understood the value of their project, Edwards links the surveys to the rise of popular photography, concepts of leisure, and understandings of the local and the national. Her examination of how the photographers negotiated between scientific objectivity and aesthetic responses to the past leads her to argue that the survey movement was as concerned with the conditions of its own modernity and the creation of an archive for an anticipated future as it was nostalgic about the imagined past. Including more than 120 duotone images, The Camera as Historianoffers new perspectives on the forces that shaped Victorian and Edwardian Britain, as well as contemporary debates about cultural identity, nationality, empire, material practices, and art.

About The Author

For more information: http://www.dukeupress.edu/Catalog/ViewProduct.php?productid=17745