The ‘long 19^th century’, identified in the West with the age of the rise of nation states, is also the century of the ‘invention’ and diffusion of photography, as well as the birth of modern archival science. Photography was soon placed at the service of the iconic needs of nation states. The photographic collections and archives, both public and private, founded between the second half of the 19^th and the beginning of the 20^th century, thus had the function of restoring and creating the fragmented image of the nation, on the one hand, and helping to construct the image of a nation, on the other. Yet the problem of the representation of the national identity is clearly not limited to this period. Following the Second World War, the subsequent disintegration of the world colonial system, and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the national question was once again placed at the centre of attention but now in a planetary dimension. The debate of the contemporary world is thus torn between globalization and forms of national, or even sub-national, particularism. It is also having to face the question of the proliferation of images in a globalized world, in the age of digital media and internet, with its simplification of production (or over-production) of images and access to them. Despite these changing historical conditions, however, photographs have continued, and will continue, to be gathered in collections and archives, with the aim of giving visual substance to the image world of the national identity, and contributing to its formation.

The conference is aimed at studying the relation between photography or photographic archives and the idea of nation, yet without focusing on single symbolic icons and considering instead the wider archival and sedimental dimension.

The conference forms part of a series of international meetings dedicated to photographic archives and the interaction between photography and the academic and scientific disciplines, with a particular focus on the history of art. After London (June 2009), Florence (October 2009) and New York (March 2011), the fourth meeting in the series will once again be held in Florence (October 27-29, 2011).

PHOTO ARCHIVES IV: THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE AND THE IDEA OF NATION

Programme

THURSDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2011

14.30: Alessandro Nova (Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz): Welcoming remarks

14.45: Costanza Caraffa (Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz), Tiziana Serena (Università degli Studi di Firenze): Introduction

15.00, Opening Keynote: Elizabeth Edwards (DeMontfort University, Leicester): The Invisibility of History: Photography, the Colonial, and the Refiguring of Nation

16.00: coffee break

16.30: Tiziana Serena (Università degli Studi di Firenze): Cultural Heritage, Nation, Italian State: Politics of the Photographic Archive between Centre and Periphery

17.15: Bernhard Jussen (Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt): Towards an Iconology of Medieval Studies: Approaches to the Pictorial Formation of Historical Knowledge in Modern Scholarship

19.00, Evening Keynote: Joan M. Schwartz (Queen's University, Kingston): Images and Imaginings: Photographs, Archives, and the Idea of Nation

FRIDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2011

9.30: Roberto Mancini (Università Iuav di Venezia): La fabbrica degli albanesi. Lo studio fotografico Marubi e la definizione della identità nazionale del ‘paese delle aquile’ tra età moderna e contemporanea

10.15: Ewa Manikowska (Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw): Turning local into universal. Museums, Photography and the Discovery of Poland’s Cultural Patrimony (1918-1939)

11.00: coffee break

11.30: Justin Carville (Dublin / Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Dun Laoghaire): Performing Ethnography/Projecting History: Photography, Archives, and Irish Cultural Nationalism

12.15: Josko Belamaric (Institut za povijest umjetnosti – Institute of Art History, Split, Croatia): Il ruolo della fotografia nel Kulturkampf attorno al 1900 in Dalmazia

lunch break

15.00: John Mraz (Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico / Princeton University): Archives & Icons: Constructing a Postrevolutionary Identity in Mexico

15.45: Julia Adeney Thomas (University of Notre Dame, Indiana): A War without Pictures: Japan's Official Photography Magazines as National Archive

16.30: coffee break

17.00: Pietro Clemente (Università degli Studi di Firenze): Resistenza, memoria e fotografia nei processi identitari dell’Italia postbellica

17.45: Rolf Sachsse (Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar): Microfilm Services and Their Application to Scholarly Study, Scientific Research, Education and Re-Education in the Post-War Period: a Draft Proposal by Lucia Moholy to the UNESCO Preparatory Commission, 1945, and its Prehistory in Modern Art

18.30: Patricia Hayes (University of Western Cape, South Africa): The 'struggle archive' and the Loss of the Subject: Portraits of Namibian Contract Workers by John Liebenberg, 1986

SATURDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2011

10.00: Martha A. Sandweiss (Princeton University): Majestic Landscapes and Disappearing Indians: Photography and the Invention of an American West

10.45: Martina Baleva (Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin): Von der fotografischen Inflation zur nationalen Revolution. Konstruktionen bulgarischer Nationalrevolutionäre im fotografischen Bild

11.30: coffee break

12.00: Lucie Ryzova (University of Oxford / Cairo): Mourning the Archive in Egypt: Vintage Photographs in the Age of Neoliberalism and Digital Reproduction

12.45: Round Table / Final Discussion

Organization: Costanza Caraffa (Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, caraffa@khi.fi.it)  and Tiziana Serena (Università degli Studi di Firenze, tiziana.serena@unifi.it)

Location: Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Max-Planck-Institut, Photothek, Via dei Servi 51, 50122 Florence

Contact: Maja Häderli (haederli@khi.fi.it)

BPH exclusively revealed that London's V&A Museum was to open a new photography gallery in October (see: http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/exclusive-vampa-to-open-new). The opening is scheduled for 25 October 2011.

A permanent new gallery to show highlights from the V&A’s internationally renowned collection of photographs will open this autumn, considerably extending the space dedicated to photographs at the Museum. The gallery will launch with a display of works by key figures of photographic history including Victorian portraits by Julia Margaret Cameron and significant works by Henri Cartier-Bresson,Man Ray, Alfred Stieglitz, Diane Arbus and Irving Penn.The gallery will chronicle the history of photography from its invention in 1839 up to the 1960s,after which developments in scale, concept and technology mark a shift in approach andappearance. The display will be re-curated every 18 months.

Temporary displays, primarily showcasing contemporary photography, will be shown in the V&A’s existing photographs gallery.A broad range of works will be displayed in the new gallery, including the oldest photographin the V&A collection, a daguerreotype from 1839 of Parliament Street from Trafalgar Square in London.

Other highlights will be an early botanical photograph created without a camera by Anna Atkins (1854); a dramatic seascape by Gustave Le Gray praised at the time for its technical and artistic accomplishment (1856); and a commanding portrait by Robert Howlett of Isambard Kingdom Brunel standing in front of the chains of The Great Eastern ship (1857). Laterworks on display will include Curtis Moffat’s camera-less photograph of a dragonfly (about 1925) influenced by Man Ray’s pioneering style and an astonishing scientific photograph by Harold Edgerton of the coronet formed by a single milk drop falling into liquid (1957).

There will also be two ‘In Focus’ sections, each featuring a photographer represented in depth in the V&A collection. The first will be dedicated to British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, who used long exposures and soft focus to create some of the most powerful portraitsof the 19th century. The second will present Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of the most influentialphotographers of the 20th century, who used a small hand-held camera to capture the extraordinary in the everyday.

In 1856, the V&A became the first museum to collect photographs and in 1858, was the first to exhibit them. The V&A is home to the UK’s national collection of the art of photography, one of the largest and most important in the world. The gallery, formerly a study space, is being designed by the V&A’s design department as part of the V&A’s FuturePlan to transform the Museum through new galleries and redisplays of itscollections. Architectural details will be restored, including ten magnificent semi-circular paintings, commissioned in the 1860s as part of the original decorative scheme, to illustrate the principles of art education and show the highest achievements from the history of art. 

Image: Julia Margaret Cameron, Circe, 1865.

These pictures of children from the 1950s and ‘60s, are a mere fraction of John Chillingworth’s work, but remain as fresh today as they were when picture magazines were at their zenith. In the 1950s John was a member of the ‘star’ team of photographic journalists whose images told stories for the seminal British picture magazine, Picture Post.  During the celebration of 150 years of photography, at the National Museum of Photography,Film and TV (now the National Media Museum), he was described as a ‘maker of photographic history’.

His earlier images, held by the London-based Getty Images-Hulton Archive, are still reproduced in publications around the world.  All are available to dedicated collectors of classic photography, both in the UK and abroad. “Like so many great British photographers,” says Matthew Butson, vice-president of London-based Getty Images/Hulton Archive, “the work of John Chillingworth deserves wider recognition today.”

Far from being a mere ‘journeyman’, John followed the path trodden by the great miniature camera pioneers and as he did so, helped bring a fresh dimension to the craft of ‘story-telling’ photography. It has been said that his way of seeing pictures influenced the visual development of subsequent generations of photographers.  ‘Memory Lane’ it may be for some and surprising to others, but each one of this selection of his images from around the world still has its own story to tell. 

The Innocence of Childhood Photographs by John Chillingworth Hon FRPS - 3rd October - 28th October 2011

Free Entry: Monday–Friday. 9.30–16.30

The Royal Photographic Society, Fenton House, 122 Wells Road, Bath BA2 3AH For further information please contact Lesley Goode.  01225 325720 lesley@rps.org.

Image: John Chillingworth, Whitechapel girl, London, 1953, Getty Images-Hulton Archive.

John's own website is at: www.johnchillingworth.co.uk

A small display featuring portraits of children by Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79), one of the most influential figures in early photography, opens at the Victoria and Albert Museum's Museum of Childhood, London on 15 October 2011. It closes on 13 February 2012

The images explore Cameron’s vision of childhood, in which children are sacred and the embodiment of innocence. She strove to establish photography as an art form, using soft focus and compositions inspired by Renaissance paintings, and incorporating the irregularities of early photographic processes in her pictures. In doing so, her portraits succeed in conveying the emotional and spiritual aura of the sitter. 

After the Museum of Children showing the exhibition will move to Cameron's former home, Dimbola, on the Isle of Wight which is dedicated to her life and is home to a gallery. 

Image: Florence [Fisher], Julia Margaret Cameron, 1872, from the V+A Collection.

For more information see: http://www.vam.ac.uk/moc/whats_on/exhibitions_and_displays/julia_margaret_cameron/index.html

The V+A has a small display running - curated by Marta Weiss - that explores photographs that make reference to themselves, other media and texts. It aims to demonstrate how such Postmodernist approaches to photography have persisted for over 30 years. Spanning the mid-1970s to the present day, it shows work by some of the most influential artists associated with Postmodernism, such as Cindy Sherman and Richard Prince, alongside more recent work by Anne Hardy, David Shrigley, Clare Strand and others.

The showing is show at the V+A in London until 27 November 2011 in Gallery 38A and admission is free.

See the links here for more information:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/signs-of-a-struggle-photography-in-the-wake-of-postmodernism/ 

and reviews:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/reviews/signs-of-a-struggle-vampa-london-2341103.html

http://www.timeout.com/london/art/event/235523/signs-of-a-struggle-photography-in-the-wake-of-postmodernism

http://i-donline.com/2011/08/say-cheese-in-a-postmodern-way/

Image:  Clare Strand, from the series Signs of a Struggle, 2002. Gelatin silver print.

The International Street Photography Award is looking for exceptional international photographers that display a unique style and depth of work in the genre of street photography. The genre crosses over into portraiture, documentary and art photography (see the 2011 finalists for inspiration and a guide to what defines street photography). The 2011 winners can be seen here: http://www.londonstreetphotographyfestival.org/gallery/international-street-photography-award

So what is street photography?: http://www.londonstreetphotographyfestival.org/what-is-street-photography  The London Street Photography Festival defines Street Photography as:“Candid photography which captures, explores or questions contemporary society and the relationships between individuals and their surroundings.”

Prizes and categories 

The international winner will receive £2,000 cash PLUS a solo exhibition in London PLUS an all-expenses paid trip to the exhibition launch and awards ceremony in London in June 2012 - total value £10,000. Selected finalists will be exhibited in the same gallery and one image from each entrant will be showcased in a digital display. The first 500 applicants will be automatically entered into a draw to win some fabulous prizes including: a signed print from one of the 2011 exhibitions, an Olympus PEN camera, £100 Blurb voucher, a Crumpler Muffin Top camera bag, photo-books by Magnum and Thames & Hudson. Categories include an overall winner, a runner up, and 10 finalists.

Entry fee

£30.00

• Participants from certain countries receive a 50% discount on the entrance fee.
• You can submit between 5 and 8 images within the fee.

• One image from ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS will be displayed on a large screen during the Awards exhibition and profiled (optional) on the LSPF website.



• ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS who enter will receive a £28.95 voucher to print their own book with Blurb, which expires on 31 March 2012.

• FEEDBACK: For an additional £15, LSPF can provide written feedback by an Award judge on your submissions. Choose the "Written Feedback" drop down when you submit your images to the Awards.

Register online

http://www.londonstreetphotographyfestival.org/competitions/international-award-2012/international-award-2012-info

Application deadline

05 January 2012

BPH recently took notice of a new photography festival based in Bradford (click to see the original posting). The Yorkshire Post carries an interview with Anne McNeill, the Director of Impressions Gallery, who co-founded and has been instrumental in driving the festival.

Part of the interview by Nick Ahad is shown below: 

McNeill has led a consortium which will create the city-wide festival showcasing the work of leading contemporary photographers in established venues, pop-up sites, and in public spaces around the city.

McNeill has high hopes for the festival. “We really do think Bradford can become the UK’s top destination for photography,” says McNeill.

You’d be forgiven for raising your eyebrows at this statement. That Bradford is beleaguered, there is no doubt. McNeill, who moved Impressions Gallery to the city from York, says it is time for a change in attitude when it comes to Bradford – and a city-wide, month-long photography festival can play a major part in achieving that.

“I think the reputation of Bradford is a misperception. People perceive Bradford as a certain thing, as a city on its uppers, but it has beautiful buildings, the university, it has been named the City of Film and it has this great swell of cultural activity happening all around the city.”

The seeds were sown for next month’s festival over a decade ago, when a similar photography festival took place across Yorkshire in 1998. A decade later, McNeill combined with Nicola Stephenson, director of Leeds based Culture Company to run another photography festival which ran in venues in Bradford and Leeds in 2008.

McNeill says: “Having a festival spread between two cities was confusing for visitors, who didn’t understand why or how a festival could run in two different places. We knew there was an impetus to do something like this, but realised the way to make the festival a success would be to have it based around a single city in and around the city centre.”

It was a good idea, clearly and a consortium was pulled together, with partners including Leeds Met and The National Media Museum. An application was made to the Arts Council, which stumped up £100,000 to fund the festival.

McNeill says it was enormously encouraging that, in a time of stringent cuts, the Arts Council had the faith in the project to invest such an amount.

With the funding in place, you’d be forgiven for thinking Leeds might be the obvious venue for a cultural event of this magnitude but, despite a number of Leeds-based companies involved in the consortium organising the festival, Bradford, it was agreed, with its history in photography and with a national museum dedicated to the art form, was the natural home for Ways of Looking.

The venues taking part include Gallery II, Impressions Gallery, National Media Museum, the Hungarian Cultural and Social Centre and there will be photographs on billboards around the city.

The quality of the artists taking part is impressive, with Turner Prize winners Douglas Gordon and Jeremy Deller, renowned Magnum photographer Donovan Wylie, and photographer Red Saunders all working to the festival theme of Evidence.

The full report and interview can be read here: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/the-arts/art/bradford_is_perfect_home_for_new_photo_festival_1_3804604

'

Image: Peasants Revolt 1381, 2010 by Red Saunders at Impressions Gallery.

Mention was made here of Tripe photographs being  offered by Bonhams. Sotheby's has now revealed that it will be offering an important cache of previously unseen Tripe material. 

Sotheby's London is pleased to announce that it will offer for sale a remarkable group of more than 220 newly-discovered photographs by Linnaeus Tripe depicting India and Burma in the mid-1850s, including 42 images of which no other prints are recorded, and five previously unknown photographs.

Tripe was one of the greatest photographers working in India in the 19th Century and this is the largest single collection of his photographs ever to have been offered for sale. Tripe’s Views of Mysore of 1854 (estimated at £100,000-200,000) and his Views of Burma of 1855 (estimated at £200,000-300,000*) are highlights of Sotheby’s Travel, Atlases, Maps and Natural History Sale on 15th November 2011.

These extraordinary photographs were presented by Tripe to the Governor-General of India, the 1st Marquess of Dalhousie, and have come by descent to the present owner. They have not been seen by scholars for 150 years and are being offered for sale for the first time.Sotheby’s Specialist Richard Fattorini said: “This is a ground-breaking discovery and represents the largest group of photographs by Linnaeus Tripe ever to be offered for sale. These rare and beautiful images, printed by Tripe from waxed paper negatives, will rewrite the scholarship on his work. The images are among the first photographs taken of Mysore and Rangoon. They were presented by Tripe to the 1st Marquess of Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India, who sent Tripe as part of the Mission to Ava in 1855 as an “Artist in Photography”.

The title was apt - Tripe was truly an artist in his medium, with an extraordinary compositional eye. Linnaeus Tripe (1822-1902) is one of the most important photographic innovators of the 19th century. His works are often stylised and his subtle use of light and shade remarkably accomplished. Tripe was also a master of photographic printing. He used albumenized paper and hyposulphite of gold as a toning agent, which gives his best preserved works a wonderfully rich violet hue. While on leave from the Army in December 1854, Tripe embarked on a private expedition from Bangalore, accompanied by fellow amateur photographer Dr A.C.B. Neill.

Tripe recorded a series of views of little-known Hindu and Jain temples in Mysore. The photographs in the series are the earliest views of India by Tripe to be recorded. These, and Dr Neil’s images, are the earliest photographs made of the sites. The set includes 56 albumen prints, of which nearly every image is signed by Tripe in ink. It contains 26 unique prints, including three previously unknown photographs for which the negatives have not survived. Of the remaining 30 prints, only one or two other prints by Tripe have been previously recorded. The only other set of Tripe’s Views of Mysore known to exist, but comprising just 22 prints, is held by the J. Paul Getty Museum in the United States of America.Colossal statue of Gantama, Amarapoora. In April 1855, Lord Dalhousie recommended that a political trip to Amerapoora (Amarapura), Burma, take place following the 1852 Anglo-Burmese War. An artist had been intended to accompany the group, but it was decided photography was a more suitable medium for accurate documentation of architecture and Tripe was employed on Lord Dalhousie’s recommendation.

This presentation set of 134 albumen prints including two 2-part folding panoramas, is the largest single group of Tripe’s Burma photographs and are among the first photographs taken in that country. They include wonderful images of religious and secular architecture in the capital, as well as palace remains at Ava and the remarkable Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon (pictured, page one).This unique set, of which nearly every image is signed by Tripe, contains 13 unique prints, including two newly discovered and previously unseen photographs for which the negatives have not survived. They are preserved in the original blue morocco presentation portfolio.Also in the sale is another group of 36 photographs of Burma by Tripe, from the same consignor, estimated at £40,000-60,000.

On October 17th 1874, Kingston born photographer Eadweard Muybridge shot dead the drama critic of The San Francisco Post, Harry Larkyns, with a single bullet from a Smith and Wesson No 2 revolver. A jury, convinced by lawyers under the patronage of railroad magnate Leland Stanford, acquitted him of “justifiable homicide” and Muybridge went on to photograph and publish his outstanding 1887 work “Animal Locomotion” in eleven volumes and 781 plates measuring 19 1/8 inches by 24 3/8, composed from over 20,000 gelatin dry plate individual glass negatives, printed as paper collotype photographs of men, women, children, horses, and other animals shot sequentially for the first time in stop motion and full photographic resolution.

Commissioned and organized by the University of Pennsylvania the work comprised: Vols. 1–2 Males (nude), Vols. 3–4 Females (nude), Vol. 5 Males (pelvic cloth), Vol 6 Females & Children (semi-nude and transparent drapery), Vol. 7 Males & Females (draped) & Miscellaneous Subjects, Vol 8 Abnormal Movements Males & Females (nude and semi-nude), Vol. 9 Horses, Vol. 10 Domestic Animals and Vol. 11 Wild Animals & Birds.

Muybridge’s plates were to be sold as full sets by subscription, in individual folders of an “Author’s Edition” of 20, and were also offered in a 100 – plate “Subscription” set where the buyer could choose plates from a prospectus. Copper collotype plates for the work were prepared by the Photo -Gravure Co. of New York City and the “Elephant Folio” books were printed by J.B. Lippincott of Philadelphia. Complete copies were sold for $500 unbound and $550 in leather. The attenuated version, bound in “full Russia leather” was priced at $100 plus + $1 per additional plate.

Only 47 complete sets of Animal Locomotion were ever completed on commission. Housed today in museums and libraries around the world, exhibited in galleries such as London’s Tate Britain, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, London’s Victoria & Albert, they have been described as ‘the eighth wonder of the world” for their analysis of human and animal movement in all its wonder and eccentricities.

“Muybridge’s Revolver” at London’s Horse Hospital (http://www.thehorsehospital.com/now/muybridge%e2%80%99s-revolver/) is a rare opportunity to re-examine Eadweard Muybridge’s “Animal Locomotion” in an “Author’s Edition” accompanied by a selection of projected animations taken from original plates, culminating on the 2nd October with a live performance finale installation to Muybridge’s moving images from sound archeologist Aleksander Kolkowski of the Recording Angels, accompanied by Marek Pytel’s film “Eadweard Muybridge” premiered in 2010 at the British Library. Also rare screenings of Thom Andersen’s “Eadweard Muybridge Zoopraxographer” (1974) on the 27th September, and a discussion evening on the 14th with renowned Muybridge and pre cinema chronophotographic specialist Stephen Herbert.

A selection of original “Animal Locomotion” plates on exhibition will be offered, framed, for purchase and a further 60 original plates, also framed, for sale by prospectus.

www.realityfilm.co.uk

I would draw reader's attention to the series of free photographic history seminars being held at the University of London on Saturdays between October and December: http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/xn/detail/2680769:Event:37545?xg_source=activity

For anyone based in the Midlands then there is a different series of free seminars being held at De Montfort University: http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/photo-history-seminar-series-in-leicester 

Explore the history of dogs in photography at the Kennel Club Art Gallery with a unique display of vintage images depicting man’s best friend from the 1850s to the 1950s. ‘Photography Going to the Dogs’ is the latest exhibition to come to the hidden Mayfair treasure, the Kennel Club Art Gallery. The charming exhibition will take visitors through 100 years of dog photography and explores the companionship between dogs and their owners from the Victorian era into the mid 20th century.

Images include historical photography from Crufts, Victorian cartes des visites, cabinet cards, original glass negatives and a collection of vintage cameras and stereoscopes will also be on display, along with images from the Libby Hall and Alan Cook collections.

Luisa Pontello, Assistant Collections Manager at the Kennel Club Gallery said: “We are looking forward to the exhibition, as there is simply no other like it. We believe that it will be fascinating for anyone with an interest in dogs or photography.

“Thanks to the invention of photography in the 19th Century, followed by a popular pastime for collecting postcards in the early 20th Century we are able to offer visitors a step back in time. Thanks to the Victorian public’s enthusiasm for photography and their clear love of dogs we have an absorbing exhibition we are delighted to open free of charge to the public.”

Opening Times
The exhibition will run until 13th January 2012. The Kennel Club Art Gallery is open Monday – Friday from 9.30am – 4.30pm by appointment only. Telephone 020 7518 1064 or e-mailartgallery@thekennelclub.org.uk to book an appointment.

Facebook Event for 'Photography Going to the Dogs'

See a few images from the collection on Flickr

The National Museum of Science and Industry's new head of commercial development sees the National Media Museum and its sister museums as 'gigantic gold mines' ripe for commercial development. At a time of museum staff redundancies and increasing pressures on hard-pressed curatorial teams the National Museum of Science and Industry has restructured and expanded its commercial development b2b team. 

Following the appointment of former Classic Media and Ragdoll executive, Anya Hollis as head of commercial development at the Science Museum, the nine-strong team has also added a further three managers. Carin Grix is senior licensing manager; Brenda Conway is senior creative manager; and Jeremiah Solak is senior image library manager. The NMSI group - which includes the Science Museum, The National Railway Museum and the National Media Museum - is also now looking for a senior licensing executive.

Hollis stated: "The museums really are gigantic gold mines. With only eight per cent of items on show at any one time, we have thousands of fascinating objects and images from which to build amazing licensing and publishing programmes. We have had huge success with the Science Museum and Flying Scotsman brands, and now with the new team in place, I am really looking forward to the coming months and the new developments we have planned for Brand Licensing Europe."

For the full report see: http://www.licensing.biz/news/7799/NMSI-reveals-new-structure

Leicester's De Montfort University Photographic History Research Centre is holding a series of seminars in Culture of Photography during the Autumn 2011 term on Tuesdays from 4–6pm in the Edith Murphy Building 1.08. Admission is free and open to anyone. The series comprises:

• October 18th. Professor Gillian Rose (Open University) ‘The question of method: where next for visual culture studies?'
• November 8th. Professor Darren Newbury (Birmingham Institute of Art and Design) 'Travelling Photographic Histories: From 1950s Cape Town to Britain, andBack'
• December 6th. Professor Patrizia Di Bello (Birkbeck College, University of London) ‘The ‘Camera-Medusa’: stereoscopic photographs of statuettes’ 

We are looking for a Curator to take responsibility for the BFI National Archive’s collection of posters, designs and museum objects. Working as part of the BFI curatorial team you will be required to document, develop, research and interpret the poster and designs collections, ensuring they are embedded within the cultural programme of the BFI.

You will have a strong knowledge of British film and television in both its historical and contemporary contexts. You should also have an interest in, and demonstrable knowledge of, 20th and 21st century British art and design, particularly as it relates to the film and television industries.

You will be educated to degree level or equivalent, with a recognised archive, museum or conservation qualification or equivalent experience.

You will be based at the John Paul Getty Conservation Centre, Berkhamsted but you will be required in central London on a regular basis.

You will enjoy benefits such as a final salary pension scheme, 28-33 days annual leave, tickets to BFI festivals and events plus many others.

Further details about the post (including an information pack) can be obtained by visiting www.bfi.org.uk/jobs or by email: jobs@bfi.org.uk.

The closing date for applications is 23 September 2011 Interviews will be held weeks commencing 3 October and 10 October 2011.

There is a case study of the National Media Museum's on-going marketing campaign by the creative team behind a recent series of posters. The idea was, in the words of the agency behind the campaign: 'Let the objects speak for themselves! By doing this, we were able to communicate the depth and variety on offer at the National Media Museum whilst also bringing out the stories to be found. The campaign was created to be engaging, through the use of stories and eye catching imagery, and also inspire visitors to find out more by actually visiting the museum itself, this was emphasised by use of the sign off strapline ‘Discover the full story at National Media Museum’

As they say the success of the campaign will be judged by any increase in visitor numbers which are due to be released shortly.

The full report can be found here: http://www.sumodesign.co.uk/work/campaign/national-media-museum.html 

In October 2010 the National Media Museum hosted the 'Niépce in England' Conference where they could announce and share with the photographic, conservation and scientific communities the ground breaking findings which had been discovered during the collaborative research partnership between the National Media Museum (NMeM) and the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI).

The aim of the project is to record the ‘signature’ of every photographic process and the variants throughout the history of photography. Within the National Photography Collection at the NMeM are three early examples of photography by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and there is no better place to start on a project than at the beginning.

This new research places Niépce in his rightful place within the history of photography as it revealed new exciting evidence about the examples of photography which Niépce had brought to England to show the Royal Society of London in 1827. Photo historians had always assumed, incorrectly, that the examples Niépce brought were examples of his Heliographic process. However, scientific analysis revealed that the NMeM has examples of three different photographic processes by Niépce.

Speaker: Philippa Wright from the National Media Museum, Bradford, 1pm on 14 October 2011 at the Royal Society.

Further details: http://royalsociety.org/events/Niepce-in-England/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Ni%C3%A9pce%20in%20England&utm_content=History%20of%20Science%20events&utm_campaign=Autumn%20events%202011

This is a free public lecture and all are welcome to attend, but prior booking is necessary.Reserve a place at this lecture.