The recent national symposium of photography in Derby included Charlotte Cotton from the National Media Museum and Francis Hodgson the Financial Times photography critic as speakers. Although I wasn't able to attend there is a very informative blog report here which I would recommend reading: http://bridgetmckenzie.wordpress.com/2010/05/08/the-state-of-photography-and-cultural-policy/

I have extracted some of the blog here:

Charlotte Cotton is new creative director for the National Media Museum, leading on its new photography satellite at the Science Museum in London. She spent 12 years at the V&A where she was able to develop a curatorial narrative, within a fairly encyclopaedic museum. Then she went to Los Angeles to be the head of photography at LACMA, where she aimed to reinvigorate and broaden the programme. At LACMA she curated a project called Words Without Pictures which invited people in many different ways over one year to share views about photography, now in a book just published. She organised a great project called Field Guide allowing Machine Project to organise 10 hours of all kinds of marvellous activities. Here’s a free book to download from the event. She organised another project with a folk singer doing religious protest songs in front of religious artworks, and another project with the Fallen Fruit collective, who do things like gather fallen fruit and have communal jam-making sessions.

She saw this experience as really opening up her practice and not having to be so defensive about programming. She feels that photography is an incredibly pluralistic form, increasingly so in the digital age, and that big institutions couldn’t keep up with the mode of curating it requires. That’s why she left for LACMA to try these ‘happy’ projects. But now, she’s been attracted back to the National Media Museum because of the potential, that she doesn’t have to use guerilla tactics to try this exciting practice. She’s very perspicacious about museology and critical practice in curating, and listening to her I feel really excited about what she might achieve with the new London photography galleries. I applaud her view which is that rather than making learning complementary to display programming, the new approach is to foreground it. It’s really heartening to hear a curator say that.

The other talk that interested me was Francis Hodgson, the photography critic at the Financial Times (with whom I’m doing my session on climate change). His talk was provocative and a few people didn’t agree with him on a number of issues, especially on his view that photographers must be culturally literate about the artform. I was interested in his comments about the lack of co-ordination and policy overview by DCMS (and MLA, ACE etc) about collaborative acquisitions, digital strategy and programming. His focus here is on photography, seeing it as suffering through neglect. Of course, we know that the same lack of co-ordination happens across many other collection types, but it may be true that photography is a particular victim. From the audience in Charlotte Cotton’s talk, Francis asked her about the competition between the V&A as a national centre for photography collections with the new NMM photography galleries just over the road in Kensington. She doesn’t see it as a conflict at all but as a great opportunity. She feels it could help make national collections really national, and sees digitisation of the collections as playing a big role in aiding collaboration around a research-based community of enquiry. I think that’s the most positive way of tackling this problem.

However, in his opening keynote, Francis did speak convincingly and captivatingly about the importance of photography yet its dire state in the UK. This is a summary of pretty much everything he said, missing out a few extrapolations and lacking the articulacy of his expression:

He once said that photography was a practice that tried out new things and represented new things, before other cultural forms. That you could run up against new stuff, make images of novel things, without seeking to understand them. Photography doesn’t have so many priests and keepers as fine art, for example. It changed the way that imagery could have such currency in our wider world (not just in galleries or privileged spaces), and now other kinds of culture are following in its wake. Photographs are like soundbites, as they stay in the memory, and can be reused and circulated.

It is the originator of a way of thinking that other artforms have followed. However, there is a low level of intellectual dialogue between photographers and audiences, compared to more literary forms. He is shocked that professional photographers are illiterate in history of their own artform. It’s now questionable what remains in the very centre of photography. If we don’t know we share same definition of it then who is there to stand up for it? It’s hard to say what is intellectually and properly photographic. We used to define it by its machinery, by being made with a camera (which, by the way, belittled it). An example of what happens with this lack of clarity around what it is: That £20 million has been given to the British Library for digital archiving of digital visual culture, and not by the National Media Museum, who anyway have changed their name to leave out ‘photography’.

A photographer must ask: Is my work understandable for what it is by an audience that isn’t primed? If it isn’t for communication it isn’t photography. There are tiresome numbers of photographers who have nothing to say.
You must have a position about the imparting or receiving of ideas and information. Photography is wonderful but it is also a perfectly ordinary activity. Photographers think the analysis will take care of itself. If they do analyse they produce meaningless theoretical waffle. But images and their analysis must mean something to people. It is an ordinary activity but that doesn’t mean it has to be banal or of little value.

The state of the nation for the profession is dire. Work is declining. The UK reputation is on a steep downward curve. Systemically we don’t support photography anymore. Museums don’t do what they should do to support it despite new initiatives from Tate, NMM, the V&A and the British Library. Teaching programmes are very poor too. It’s a scandal that the British Library curator of photography, John Faulkner, has always had to get funding for his role and only for the first time now is he on the payroll. It is one of the major holding libraries of photography in the world (if you count the images in all its content, such as newspapers and magazines) but it has only one curator.

He now believes the Photographers Gallery should be closed. We need to put more resources into more regarded institutions that include photographs within their collections. The Imperial War Museum has a duty to accept all war photos, for example taken by soldiers, so it has more war photos then any other institution, but is shabbily underfunded in caring for them. The Porthcurno Museum of Telegraphy has photography collections but they are left to rot.

He told a story about 8 public museums competing to buy the same photographic items at Sothebys. Because of their competition the price went so high they left the country. Why not form a purchase partnership?

Photography education is a joke in this country. It’s popular, so is a way for universities to get punters in. It’s an easy degree to do and to suggest that standards are higher than they are. Shared cultural standards between education instutions is non existent. You don’t come out being culturally literate in photography. There is only one MA in UK where you can study the culture of photography.

Tate is now turning serious attention to photography. He is pleased about that but has doubts about how serious it is, or rather how authentic the commitment to photography is. Where has the policy come from to turn the tanker round, surely not a directive from DCMS, MLA or ACE. There is a pathetic failure of policy, leaving all institutions to do their own thing. Birmingham City Libraries are doing good things but this institutional framework will only work properly if it reflects what we demand.

He isn’t pessimistic about the change to digital. It’s a bit late to worry now. Old fashioned photographic skills will come back again, just not a mass medium. Photography has remained a producer-led industry compared to publishing or music. A cultural position around photography should primarily make a clear definition between a picture of something and a picture about something. This should be the marker around which we define quality. We have had a 50 year old emphasis on techne, and judged quality by technical adequacy.

The bookseller Quaritch and auction house Christie's have both published photographic book catalogues which include material of British interest. At Quaritch contact Lindsey Stewart (e: l.stewart@quaritch.com) and to view the Christie's e-catalogue click here.

The Department of Art History and Theory at the University of Essex in collaboration with the Tate invites applications for a fully-funded AHRC PhD studentship to commence October 2010. The topic for the doctoral research project is 'Photography as Art since the Sixties'.

The research topic concerns photography's recent history, notably, its transformation from anti-aesthetic, post-conceptual document to large scale pictorial art. It investigates what distinguishes photography as a mode of depiction and an artistic medium, particularly in light of recent artists' use of digital technologies.

The research has immediate practical implications as it will inform interpretation of the Tate's existing collection and shape future acquisitions. The research will be supervised by Prof Margaret Iversen at Essex and Dr. Simon Baker, Curator of Photography, Tate.

The award pays tuition fees and a maintenance grant each year for a maximum of three years of full-time doctoral study (subject to evidence of satisfactory progress) and is available to UK/EU students first registering to undertake a research degree in September 2010.

Further information about the Research Project: 'Photography as Art since the Sixties' can be found on the departmental web pages at http://www.essex.ac.uk/arthistory/.

For information about the Tate, please visit: http://www.tate.org.uk/

Preliminary inquiries may be addressed to Professor Margaret Iversen at the University of Essex: miversen@essex.ac.uk.

Please contact Myra Offord, the Graduate Administrator for application forms.

E mofford@essex.ac.uk

T 01206 872953

Closing date: 14 June 2010

Interview date: week beginning 24 June 2010

The National Media Museum, Bradord, is looking for a cataloguer to work full-time for 16 weeks to help transfer information and images of objects from the collections onto a website which will showcase thier world class collections. As a member of the National Media Museum Project Team, you will ensure that object data is delivered on time and to a high quality to meet the needs of this project. This involves documenting up to 40,000 objects from iBase, enhancing object records and supporting authorities in the museum object database (MIMSY XG) in line with cataloguing standards and guidelines.

Required Skills:

To succeed in this role you will need to be able to demonstrate that you can check and create accurate object records and deliver high volume, high quality object cataloguing to very specific deadlines. You will be a real team player, with excellent communication skills and a flexible approach to your work. A knowledge of and an interest in the history of photography, cinematography and new media would be fantastic, but the ability to plan and schedule work to ensure timely delivery is key.

The Museum:

Award winning, visionary and truly unique, the National Media Museum embraces photography, film, television, radio and the web. Part of the NMSI family of museums, we aim to engage, inspire and educate through comprehensive collections, innovative education programmes and a powerful yet sensitive approach to contemporary issues.

Application Instructions:

To apply, please email your CV, together with a covering letter explaining clearly how you meet all our stated requirements, to recruitment@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

We regret that we can only respond to successful applicants. No agencies.

Closing date: 9th May 2010

Interview date: Thursday 20th May 2010

We are an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all sections of the community in which we work. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people and we guarantee interviews to suitably qualified disabled applicants.

In a ceremony at Kensal Green cemetery today, Saturday, 1 May 2010, Frederick Scott Archer was honoured with the unveiling of a plaque on his grave. In addition, those present were able to see for the first time a surviving link to Archer with the re-erection of the original head stone recording his death that had long been lost. Also, John Brewer announced that photo-historians had incorrectly recorded Archer's death as 2 May 1857 when, in fact, he had died on 1 May 1857.

The event was organised by a group of artists called The Collodion Collective who started work on a plan to honour Archer and to put a headstone on his grave. Money was raised through the publication of a book World Wet Plate Collodion Day 2009. The group arranged a demonstration of the collodion process after the plaque unveiling and organised an exhibition of modern wet-collodion images on glass and on paper.

Brewer while researching Archer went back to his original death certificate to discover the correct date of his death. A number of historians including Helmut Gernsheim had relied on incorrect contemporary reports of his death was they incorrect ascribed to 2 May. The newly located headstone also correctly records Archer's date of death.

Archer by all accounts was buried in an unmarked grave but his death was subsequently recorded on the headstone of his sister, Sarah and brother, James who were all buried in the same plot. The headstone was hidden by vegetation and removed and was only discovered close by the plot as plans for the commemoration were made. It confirms Archer's correct date of death and his siblings.

The headstone reads: The Sacred to the Memory of Sarah Archer who died 3rd Decr 1839 aged 24 years. Also of James Archer and brother of the above and third surviving son of Thos. Archer, formerly of Hertford, who died March 17th 1819 aged 36 years. Also Fredk. Scott Archer, brother of the above, 105 Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, who died May 1st 1857 in his 44th year.

Finally, as I walked through the cemetary I spotted memorials to another photographic notable, the society portrait photographer Alexander Bassano (10 May 1829–21 October 1913)...

Michael Pritchard

The Victoria & Albert Museum's Photography Gallery's annual redisplay opens from 30 April 2010 and features many recent acquisitions. Accompanying this is The Other Britain Revisited: Photographs from New Society.

More here: www.vam.ac.uk/photography

Amateur Photographer magazine reports that election rules mean that the National Media Museum is barred from saying whether it fears government cutbacks may scupper its plan to open a base in London.

The NMM, which is Britain's flagship photography museum, has yet to confirm whether it has been granted government funding for the project which is expected to see the creation of 1500m2 of exhibition galleries at a location in the capital yet to be named.

In the run up to the election it is not yet clear where precisely an incoming government will cut spending in order to tackle the huge budget deficit.

Asked whether any government cuts would delay or curtail the project altogether, a spokesman for the Bradford-based museum remained tight-lipped, telling us that it is bound by strict guidelines issued by the Cabinet Office during the election period.

He told Amateur Photographer: 'This means we cannot comment on anything that could be interpreted as making a political statement or relates to governance and financially related issues until after the election.'

See the full report here

Working closely with the Senior Project Manager, you’ll lead internal and external stakeholders to ensure major projects are completed on time and budget. Whether managing external supplier contracts, overseeing the CDM process or co-ordinating the delivery of work packages, you’ll inspire project teams to buy into our vision and deliver a great standard of work.

Coming from a similar role, you’ll already have experience of working with major funding bodies, managing budgets of £2million+ and complex stakeholder management. You’ll be a PRINCE2 qualified practitioner trained in NEBOSH and CDM too, with a good grasp of contract management, change management and risk management. If you can add the leadership, communication and interpersonal skills to manage a multi-disciplinary team, you’ll make a huge impact here.

The National Museum of Science and Industry aims to continually improve its cultural offering through exciting and ambitious projects, such as the Science Museum’s forthcoming climate science gallery, the creation of a dedicated Internet Gallery at the National Media Museum and NRM+, the multi-million pound regeneration of the National Railway Museum’s Great Hall. Based at the National Media Museum, you’ll manage the successful delivery of major projects like these across all our sites, helping us offer an even better experience to visitors.

The National Museum of Science and Industry is a respected family of museums, which includes the Science Museum in London and Swindon, the National Media Museum in Bradford and the National Railway Museum in York and Shildon. Together, we aim to become the most admired museum in the world.

To apply, please send your full CV and covering letter, clearly explaining how your skills and experience meet our requirements, to: recruitment@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

We regret that we can only respond to successful applicants.

No agencies please.

More here: http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/job/987913/major-projects-manager?RSSSearch=0&gusrc=gu_jobs_box_Media&link=Media_jbx_vac&INTCMP=ILCJOBTXT259

De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, is currently recruiting students for the second year of its innovative MA programme in photographic history. The course offers a one-year full-time or two-year part-time programme of study and provides a series of modules ranging from photography and theory to practical work in photographic archives. The first year attract an international intake of students and the course has been widely acknowledged as the best in the field.

This course is dedicated to the study and focusing on the important technological, visual and historical material which makes it an interdisciplinary subject. It aims to help students develop the necessary critical tools to research photography history, and provides access to primary materials through visits to local, regional and national archives and collections. The course is part of an active research community and benefits from visiting subject specialists and opportunities provided by course partners which include the National Media Museum, Bradford, Birmingham Central Library, the British Library and the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Some further information about the teaching methods used can be found here: DMU HoPP.pdf

The course is for students from a variety of disciplines including conservation students, archivists, historians of science and those from various fields of visual studies, for instance visual anthropology, photography or art history. The MA Photography History and Practice is delivered on a full-time weekly basis, over three semesters and includes workshops, lectures, seminars and practical sessions, with written and oral assessments, and a dissertation, or part-time over two years.

Potential students also have the opportunity to apply for a Wilson Fellowship which provides a scholarship of £5,000. Applications for the bursary close on 1 August 2010. This scholarship is available to one student entering the M.A. Photographic History and Practice in September 2010. Funding has been made available by The Wilson Fellowship in Photographic History, and can be used towards tuition fees and other programme-related costs. Click here to link to a PDF giving further information about the Fellowship.

For more information about the course click here or contact the Course Leader: Dr Kelley Wilder by email at: kwilder@dmu.ac.uk or telephone: +44 (0)116 207 8865.

Web Content Co coordinator £22,500, Bradford. Fixed term until 1st April 2012. Award winning, visionary and truly unique, the National Media Museum embraces photography, film, television, radio and the web. Part of the NMSI family of museums, with a world-leading online presence, we aim to engage, inspire and educate through comprehensive collections, innovative education programmes and a powerful yet sensitive approach to contemporary issues.

We are looking for a Web Content Coordinator to bring our websites alive with dynamic, engaging and audience-focused content.

Coming from a similar role, you're an expert at writing punchy and eye-catching web copy for a wide range of audiences, copy-editing content from other sources, and updating sites using content management systems. An organised and tenacious team player with extensive experience of supporting and working with stakeholders, you have a solid mastery of basic HTML and web technologies, simple image manipulation skills and an understanding of social media and its implications. Above all, you know how to make web content contribute to a fantastic user experience, and have the creativity and drive to make our web presence stand out from the crowd.

To apply, please send your full CV and covering letter to: recruitment@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

Closing date: 25th April 2010

We regret that we can only respond to successful applicants.

No agencies please.

We are an equal opportunities employer

Man and Cameraman is a project to conserve, catalogue, digitise and promote the photographic collection of George Bernard Shaw. Shaw collected around 16,000 photographs taken by himself and others and these will be fully investigated for the first time to reveal Shaw's activities and the evolution of photographic processes. Bernard Shaw was not only a prolific playwright, writer and social-political commentator and thinker but an avid amateur photographer: taking and collecting images from the 1860s until his death in 1950.

Shaw left his paper and photographic archives to London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the British Library and his home (Shaw's Corner, Hertfordshire) to National Trust (NT), it is here the photographs were initially housed before being transferred to LSE. Thus the project extends his desire to open up his collections to researchers and interested parties.

Photography lets us peer into the past and Shaw's photographs give us an informal view into his circle including writers, reformers, actors and actresses. Photographs show us how places used to look and what people did in their private lives - they inform our knowledge of society and its famous personalities: revealing the heritage of us all. Shaw's images include informal prints of people such as: Auguste Rodin; Augustus John; Beatrice and Sidney Webb; Harley Granville-Barker; and Lilliah MaCarthy. They offer a glimpse into the early 20th century theatre and film and include images of stars of Shaw productions such as Vivian Leigh as well as visuals of sets.

Now photography is regarded as an artistic form but in Shaw's time it was not, the collection lets us see how photographers were pushing the boundaries and using it in experimental and artistic ways. Shaw played with light and perspective to advance his craft. He also wrote on the subject for example, reviewing early photography shows.

The project partners (LSE and the National Trust) have worked with free-lance conservators, staff and volunteers to dust and re-house the photographs in high-purity storage materials. Shaw's photographic albums have been conserved in a specialist studio to repair damage and will be photographed so people can look through them. As well as prints there are about 8,000 negatives, these are particularly fragile as they degrade in even moderate conditions. They will be sealed in special bags and frozen to halt their deterioration.

Work on cataloguing the 16,000 photographs and digitising 8,000 photographs and all the negatives is now underway and this will let people know what the collection contains. Cataloguing can also reveal stories behind the images as each one is researched. Digitising will provide virtual access to those images taken by Shaw and those out of copyright ensuring their long-term preservation and revealing for the first time Shaw's photographic legacy to the nation and providing a window into his world.

For more information click here.

Our aim is to create a museum that engages people as it evolves. Our membership scheme is an exciting part of that vision. Your role is to implement a marketing strategy that promotes Museum membership and encourages our audience to be a part of our future. Through a combination of literature, events and local business liaison, you will help to attract a diverse membership base, grow membership levels and, ultimately, generate maximum income for the Museum.

Experience of marketing practices in a similar sector is essential, including direct marketing and print production. You must be adept at using databases and your administrative skills will be exceptional, with strong attention to detail. Flexible and adaptable, you will be comfortable liaising with a wide range of people: members of the public, internal and external stakeholders.

This is an opportunity to help grow the Museum’s reputation, build a loyal audience and ensure that we enjoy a profitable, prosperous future.

For more details click here.

Hours: 35 per week

We regret that we can only respond to successful applicants. No agencies please. We are an equal opportunities employer.

Closing Date: 19th April 2010

Interview date: 26th April 2010

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

BPH reported that the Culture Minister had placed an export bar on a Fenton orientialist photograph sold at at auction. The Art Newspaper reports that the National Media Museum in Bradford, Britain’s main collection of photography, hopes to raise the money, and a spokeswoman told us it is “assessing potential funding opportunities”.

Pasha and Bayadère was staged in Fenton’s London studio, with the photographer posing as a pasha (Ottoman official) watching a bayadère (dancing girl). The role of the musician was taken by Frank Dillon, an artist friend of Fenton. The photograph passed to one of Dillon’s descendants, and it has just been sold privately to a foreign buyer for £109,000. An export licence is being deferred until 1 May, to enable a UK buyer to match the price, and this period could be extended for a further three months. Only one other example of this important Orientalist photograph survives, which was bought by the Getty Museum in 1984.

Photographs are only occasionally subject to UK export licence deferral (they have to be over 50 years old and worth above £12,160 before this can be considered). In one case a vintage photograph which did not have an export licence was exported illegally. Alice wearing a Garland, by Charles Dodgson (the writer Lewis Carroll), was sold for £55,000 in 2001 and then illegally shipped to the United States. The UK authorities would welcome information on its present whereabouts.

Last year BPH reported that Derek Wood's excellent website dealing with his publications and research was to close early in 2010 (click here to see the original posting). Derek Wood has emailed to say that the 'Midley History of early Photography' will now continue to be permanently available. The British Library has archived it at the UK Webarchive and it can be found here: http://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20100311230213/http://www.midley.co.uk/:

The archiving has been done well without any missing pages, images or links. It will continue to be live at the original address until July.

The Midley site also had a subdomain, 'Midley Search39 on History of Photography' ( http://search39.midley.co.uk/ ) intended to provide a way of making a single search over approximately thirty-nine websites judged by Wood to be of high value for the history of photography. Sadly, that will go off line in July. The UK WebArchive have rightly decided, that as 'Search39' depended on an external service, that it was not appropriate to archive it along with the main www.midley.co.uk site. However, all is not lost, for the Midley Search39 facility will remain available at least for several, or many, years at a Google Custom Search engine (CSE) page at
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=015777431052609043336%3Apoauettouhg

This is excellent news. As anyone who has read Derek Wood's published papers and research notes knows they remain key texts for their respective subjects. Their continued availability outside of their original publications is to be warmly welcomed.

A draft guide has been published to the photographers and collections of photographs held by the National Monuments Record at English Heritage. The guide has been compiled by Ian Leith and is intended to help users with the new EH Archives website: see www.englishheritagearchives.org.uk

A copy of the guide can be Archilist 2010.03.24 FINAL 01.doc.

The shortlisted titles for the Best Photography Book are:

• Oil by Edward Burtynsky (Steidl)
• Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans by Robert Frank, edited by Sarah Greenough (Steidl)
• Paul Graham by Paul Graham (Steidl)
• Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and ’70s by Ryūichi Kaneko and Ivan Vartanian (Aperture Foundation)

The shortlisted titles for the Best Moving Image Book are:

• The Tactile Eye by Jennifer M. Barker (University of California Press)
• Being Hal Ashby: The Life of a Hollywood Rebel by Nick Dawson (The University Press of Kentucky)
• Eisenstein on the Audiovisual by Robert Robertson (I. B. Tauris)
• The New Yorker Theater by Toby Talbot (Columbia University Press)
• Michael Haneke’s Cinema by Catherine Wheatley (Berghahn Books)

Over 150 titles were submitted across the two categories for the awards, which have been narrowed down to a final nine books by the two judging panels chaired by Philippe Garner (Photography) and Francine Stock (Moving Image). The judges were looking for clearly written, well illustrated works, which make a significant contribution to the understanding of photography and/or the moving image.

The photography shortlist includes: an essay by Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, chronicling the infrastructure of the oil industry and the implications of our dependence on the fuel; an expanded re-issue of legendary photographer Robert Frank’s seminal work The Americans; a retrospective of Paul Graham, the pioneering UK photographer and winner of the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2009; a survey of the Japanese photographic print culture of the 60s and 70s, which has since had a profound influence on photographic publishing worldwide.

Philippe Garner comments:

The field was strong and the excellent shortlist reflects a wide range of approaches. They include: single-minded and engaging investigations of sometimes very narrow topics, made riveting by the passion of the authors; excellent monographs on or by photographers from all areas of photographic practice; and a number of quirky, category-defying projects.

The moving image shortlist includes: Jennifer M. Barker’s theory that the connection between film and viewer goes beyond the visual and aural, to become something visceral; a portrait of the life of the underappreciated rebel 1970s Hollywood Director, Hal Ashby; Robert Robertson’s revealing exploration of Eisenstein’s ideas about the audiovisual in cinema; memoirs by Toby Talbot, co-owner of Manhattan’s influential home of art-house film, the New Yorker Theatre; the first English language analysis of the films of Austrian Director, Michael Haneke, by UK film critic Catherine Wheatley.

Francine Stock comments:

The books that impressed us above all were the ones that inspired a deeper love of film. The shortlisted authors each combined passion and original research in a format that suited their subject. Whether it was intimate memoir, biography, history, critique or a call for a radical new understanding of the way we experience cinema, these books were both focussed and involving.