From its origins, both cinema and photography recorded the daily life bodies: workers leaving the factory, women dancing the serpentine dance, babies having breakfast, urban strollers or the bourgeois families’ portraits. The wonderful and strange capacity to offer a presence amplified the new forms of Modernity’s corporeal culture, and corporeality became one of the great issues for cinema and photography. Among the many bodies that began to appear in the images between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, we are interested in observing the sick bodies, both victims of physical and mental illnesses....

14th International Seminar on the Origins and History of Cinema
Visions of the sick body Physical and Mental Pathologies’ Representations in Photography and Early Cinema
Girona, 8 and 9 November 2023
cfp deadline 30 April 2023

Read more and details: https://www.girona.cat/shared/admin/docs/1/4/14seminari_call_for_papers.eng.pdf

The announcement of photography’s invention in January 1839, first in Paris and then in London, introduced a ‘new power’ into British life. This new power—the capacity to automatically capture the images created in a camera—was soon being used for every conceivable purpose.

A New Power traces the development and dissemination of photographic images within Britain during the medium’s first fifty years. Comprising over 160 items, the exhibition features not only early daguerreotypes and salted paper prints but also paintings, sculptural busts, periodicals, prints and even elements of the first computing engine, along with various kinds of copies of photographs used to illustrate newspapers and books. By showing how photography intersected with all aspects of a nascent modernity—including industrialisation, science, art, the role of women, celebrity culture, journalism, publishing, race, class, colonialism, and consumer capitalism—the exhibition reveals photography’s crucial role in making Britain the society it is today.

The exhibition’s curator, Geoffrey Batchen, is Professor of History of Art at the University of Oxford. A scholarly symposium responding to the exhibition will be held at the Bodleian Library on March 18.

A New Power. Photography in Britain 1800-1850
S T Lee Gallery, Weston Library, Oxford                                       
1 February 2023 – 7 May 2023
Free admission 
https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/a-new-power

A peak at the exhibition installation underway, courtesy of Geoff Batchen. 

The National Science and Media Museum is about to undergo a radical and ‘once-in-a-generation’ transformation ready to inspire millions of visitors to Bradford City of Culture in 2025. Huge changes will be delivered by December 2024, through a £6 million capital project called ‘Sound and Vision’, including two new galleries, a new passenger lift and improvements to the main entrance. 

To facilitate these works, the National Science and Media Museum has announced a period of temporary closure from June 2023 to summer 2024. The Sound and Vision Project will create two significant new galleries and increase the museum’s overall accessibility and relevance to key audiences.  

The galleries, accompanied by an engaging activity programme, will showcase key objects and stories from the museum’s world-class collections of photography, film, television, animation, video games and sound technologies. Thanks to National Lottery players, the project has been awarded initial funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to develop the transformational plans. The project also has support from the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund 2022-24 and Bradford Metropolitan District Council. 

When the museum opened in 1983, it was home to ‘the largest cinema screen in Britain’ and continues to run an IMAX and Pictureville Cinemas, which remains a big part of its visitor offer. During the closure period Pictureville Cinema and Bar will continue to operate, open seven days a week with an enhanced programme, as this has separate entrance arrangements and facilities. 

The museum already provides many opportunities to learn about the principles of light and sound. It is at the forefront of STEM education and communication thanks to Wonderlab, its passionate team of Explainers, collaborative work with schools, plus festivals and events that bring the collections to life. The development of the new galleries will transform the heart of the museum, updating core collections displays to increase their relevance to local communities and deliver fully on the Science Museum Group’s mission to inspire futures and ambition to be open for all. 

• The development will involve the complete remodelling of two floors of the building, opening up unused spaces and reimagining the display and interpretation of the core collections. 
• In addition to the new galleries, the project will see the ground floor of the museum  reconfigured, creating a new public space and an enhanced visitor welcome. 
• The installation of an additional passenger lift and the renovation of the existing lift will increase accessibility and enable all visitors to move around the building with ease. 
• The project has sustainability at its heart, with set goals around energy and carbon reduction, resource efficiency, responsible procurement and sourcing of products and services used in the gallery, alongside wellbeing, and community skills and engagement strategies. 
• The displays and interpretation will be informed by close consultation with local communities to ensure the museum’s relevance to visitors and engage underrepresented audiences.  
• The new galleries will ensure the museum’s position as a cultural cornerstone when Bradford becomes City of Culture in 2025 and will align with ambitions to harness young audiences and foster new creative opportunities across the district. 
• Sound and Vision also complements the city’s ambitious ten-year culture strategy Culture is our Plan and supports the wider region’s commitment to building a digital economy.  
• A vibrant activity plan sits alongside the development of the new galleries. It supports greater access, new employment and volunteering opportunities and is focused on enabling more people – irrespective of class, race, age, ability, gender or faith – to engage with the museum.  
• During the temporary closure period, a range of outreach activities with community groups and schools– in person and online – will enable audiences to stay in touch and track progress. 

The existing displays on levels three and five of the museum will gradually be removed from the beginning of February, so visitors are invited to come and say a temporary farewell to their favourite objects in the coming weeks. Wonderlab, the Kodak Gallery, Games Lounge and temporary exhibition space will remain open until the summer, with a dynamic public programme culminating in Bradford Science Festival 24 May – 4 June. 

In 2025, the city of Bradford expects to welcome visitors in unprecedented numbers. Thanks to this radical transformation, Bradford’s national museum will be a key attraction, inspiring wonder amongst audiences and ensuring its relevance for many years to come. 

Jo Quinton-Tulloch, the museum’s Director said: 

“This major investment in the museum will radically transform our visitor offer both in terms of content and accessibility. In the new galleries, visitors will be able to find stories that resonate with them, showing how all areas of our collections – from photography to gaming – are embedded in every aspect of our lives, and inspiring the next generation of creatives, inventors and scientists. During the period of museum closure, we look forward to welcoming cinema visitors and working with local residents to curate the new galleries. 

With the additional lift and revamped foyer, we will be able to welcome many more visitors, which will be vital as we approach Bradford’s year as City of Culture in 2025. The new permanent displays on levels three and five and the enhanced public space in our new foyer will futureproof Bradford’s national museum for decades to come.” 

Anne Jenkins, Executive Director of Business Delivery at The National Lottery Heritage Fund added: 
“We are delighted to be supporting the National Science and Media Museum to develop their ambitious plans to transform their site and make this national and local treasure one of the star attractions for City of Culture 2025. In addition, the museum’s commitment to community engagement and skills development ensures that the Sound and Vision Project will have a lasting and meaningful impact.” 

UPDATE 19 Jan 2023

The NS+MM and provided a statement on collection access: 

We are committed to facilitating research, and wherever practicable, access to the collections. We are still working through detailed plans for the temporary closure period but we can reassure you that the collections certainly won’t be inaccessible for the full closure period. Please keep up to date via our website and social media channels, and feel free to check in again nearer to the closure date if you need to plan ahead. You can contact our collections team here: Access to our collection | National Science and Media Museum

Details of the Sound and Vision project can be seen here: https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/about-us/sound-and-vision-project

Are you a Royal Photographic Society member?  Did you take first take photographs as a child or a teenager? Would you be happy to share your childhood memories and experiences with a researcher?

Annebella Pollen, Professor of Visual and Material Culture at University of Brighton, is conducting research about the history of photography by children, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, for a new book and exhibition.

If you would like to participate in this research by sharing your stories and perspectives, and perhaps also your photographs, please follow this link for more information, including a questionnaire and a consent form. 

https://brighton.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/rps-questionnaire-childhood-and-photography-memories-an-2

The announcement of photography’s invention in January 1839 introduced a ‘new power’ into British life that was soon exploited by those interested in commerce, science, culture, journalism and art. This day-long symposium considers how the first fifty years of photography in Britain intersected with the nation’s growing modernity, revealing photography’s crucial role in making Britain the society it is today.

A New Power: The symposium
Saturday 18 March 2023, 9.30am–5.40pm
Oxford: Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre, Weston Library
Free event, limited seating, booking required
Details and programme are here: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/mar23/a-new-power-symposium

Autograph is looking for an experienced curator to work on their contemporary exhibition programme which focuses strongly on photographic practice and to take lead responsibility for project managing touring and collection loans in the UK and abroad.

Based at Rivington Place, in Shoreditch, London which houses their two public project spaces, small scale screening facilities, a learning studio and their specialist photographic collection, you will:

• Develop and deliver selected aspects of Autograph’s artistic programme (which includes: exhibitions, publications, commissions, residencies, collection projects and digital programmes) taking lead responsibility for touring and loans.
• Provide logistical support coordinating and implementing all practical aspects of programming across exhibitions, UK and international touring, publications and projects on and off site.
• Assist with the development and promotion of Autograph’s photography collection.
• Contribute to an integrated, thematic approach to all programming with learning and engagement, digital engagement  and audience development colleagues.

You will work alongside one other Curator who leads on commissions and residencies to deliver Autograph's exhibition programme at their galleries in Rivington Place, and in a variety of other settings.

Autograph is looking for someone who identifies strongly with their values and mission, has extensive knowledge of contemporary exhibition practice and a particular interest in curating photography. You will need to be a strong communicator and an excellent project manager who is comfortable working with a wide range of partners, artists and interest groups, to deliver the responsibilities set out in this role.

To tie in with the Wilson Art Gallery and Museum's exhibition, Clear of People, is a symposium that explores artist perspectives on the consequences of military conflict in Eastern Europe. The event brings together a panel of acclaimed artists and academics who will discuss their work and research, including first-hand accounts of how artists are continuing to make work amidst the conflict in Ukraine.

Presentations come from from Michal Iwanowski (artist and Lecturer in Photography at Cardiff Metropolitan University), Claudia Heinermann (artist) and Anastasiya Afonina (Lecturer at Lviv Academy of Art), followed by a panel discussion chaired by Dr. Tom Allbeson (Senior Lecturer in Media History, School of Journalism, Media and Culture, Cardiff University). Through their work the speakers will draw on archival and personal accounts of both historical and present-day conflicts, giving voice to individuals and communities that have been impacted by war across generations.

Supported by Cardiff Metropolitan University and the Wilson Art Gallery and Museum, this event is part of the closing weekend of the exhibition, Clear of People, by Michal Iwanowski.

Symposium: It’s Personal: Artist Perspectives on the Consequences of Military Conflict
4 February 2023 from 1045-1530
The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum
Clarence Street
Cheltenham
GL50 3JT

Details of the event and exhibition are here: http://www.cheltenhammuseum.org.uk/event/its-personal-artist-perspectives-on-the-consequences-of-military-conflict/

Since its inception, photography has been used by the heritage sector to document and disseminate its historical and cultural assets with the aim of furthering study and enhancing scholarship. With the digital age comes new imaging technologies and methods such as multispectral imaging (MSI), reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) and photogrammetry or 3D imaging .

This lecture will consider these new technologies and their practical uses within the heritage sector and explore how they have been influenced directly from the ideas of early photographic pioneers such as Henry Fox Talbot and Sir John Herschel, to inform the work of exploratory technical researchers Hewlett Packard and NASA. It will draw on specific examples from the archives of the John Rylands Research Institute and Library (JRRIL) and the leading-edge technologies utilised by its Imaging Team.

Tony Richards is Senior Photographer at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester. He is currently the lead photographer for advanced imaging techniques. The JRRIL Imaging Team are at the forefront of supporting Digital Scholarship through the use of these advanced imaging techniques to inspire and support further research of Special Collections Library material. Tony is also a practitioner of historic photographic processes and is interested in how current digital methods influence his historical practice.​

Free: book here: https://events.rps.org/4LrdQ66/5a2N4L6Zyb9

The Wilson Bentley photographs of snowflakes held at the Natural History Museum have been digitised. An album of 355 of the original prints dating from 1885, by the man who came to be known as Snowflake Bentley was bought by London’s Natural History Museum in 1899, and the collection has now been digitised and made available to view online.

Details here: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jan/04/snowflake-bentleys-19th-century-images-of-snow-crystals-put-online

View online: https://nhm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?context=L&vid=44NHM_INST:44NHM_V1&docid=alma9915394302081

The annual Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards celebrate excellence in photography and moving image publishing. They recognise individuals who have made an outstanding or original contribution to the literature, art or practice of photography or the moving image. Two winning titles are selected: one in the field of photography and one in the field of the moving image. The author/s or editor/s of each winning book receive a £5,000 cash prize.

Submissions are welcome from publishers, authors, collectives and individuals self-publishing their work. There is no entry fee.

Details: https://kraszna-krausz.org.uk/book-awards/

The National Gallery is seeking a skilled Photographic Archive Assistant for 18 months to work on a large-scale project to digitise and audit Collection material in the National Gallery’s Photographic Archive. The project is delivered as part of the gallery’s Digital Dossier Programme (DDP), an ambitious research infrastructure and knowledge-enabling change programme that aims to make ‘everything we know about our pictures available to everyone’. 

Details: https://nationalgalleryjobs.ciphr-irecruit.com/templates/CIPHR/jobdetail_1651.aspx

The Curator of Astronomical Photographs, reporting to the Executive Director of the Harvard College Observatory, provides vision, leadership, advocacy, interpretation, and passion for the Observatory’s Astronomical Photographic Glass Plate Collection (Glass Plates). The Curator also serves as catalyst and coordinator of activities dedicated to connecting faculty, students, and an international community of scientists and researchers, to the Glass Plates to advance their scholarship and the mission of the HCO. The Curator will support conservation activities and advise on both short term and long term plans pertaining to stewardship of the Glass Plates. The Curator will be responsible for overseeing the work of LHTs and possibly Curatorial Assistants undertaking both physical and digital projects and will execute administrative tasks associated with daily operations of the Observatory Plate Stacks. 

The Curator will have enthusiasm and demonstrated ability in sharing and interpreting the Glass Plates for teaching purposes, in digital contexts, in publications, and through exhibitions and programming. The Curator will be adept in communicating the value and contemporary relevance of astronomical photography to experts and general audiences.  

The successful candidate will understand and appreciate the history of astronomy, particularly as it relates to optical observation methods and the roles that gender and care work have played in advancing the field; the ability to master over time all aspects of Glass Plate stewardship; enthusiasm for working with faculty and students; a proclivity for adopting new technologies and methods that will improve access to and use of the Glass Plates; and a collaborative and collegial outlook.

For more information see the full job posting:

https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Search/home/HomeWithPreLoad?partnerid=25240&siteid=5341&PageType=JobDetails&jobid=1980489

The V&A has announced that the second and final phase of the V&A’s Photography Centre will open 25 May 2023. Once open, the Photography Centre will become the largest space in the UK for a permanent photography collection, and the seven galleries – four of which will be new additions – will showcase the museum’s world-leading holdings and enable visitors to experience photography and its diverse histories in new ways. Phase One, Galleries 99 and 100, opened in 2018. 

The V&A has collected and exhibited photography since the founding of the museum in the 1850s, and today its collection is one of the largest and most varied in the world. Phase One of the museum’s Photography Centre opened in 2018, with three galleries designed by David Kohn. May 2023 sees the completion of the second and final phase of the Photography Centre with an additional four galleries, with base-build designed by Purcell, and fit-out designed by Gibson Thornley Architects.

Two of the new rooms will showcase global contemporary photography and cutting-edge commissions in rotating displays. The other new spaces – a room dedicated to photography and the book, and an interactive gallery about the history and use of the camera – will shine a light on the processes involved in photography, as well as the study and presentation of the medium. These new rooms join the three existing galleries, with two galleries for changing displays from the collection and a space dedicated to digital media, which will also present new content.

Highlights of the opening displays will include recent acquisitions exhibited at the museum for the first time, including works by Liz Johnson Artur, Sammy Baloji, Vera Lutter, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Tarrah Krajnak and Vasantha Yogananthan, as well as a monumental photographic sculpture by Noémie Goudal.  Two major new commissions supported by the Manitou Fund will also be unveiled, with a photographic series by leading Indian artist Gauri Gill, and a digital commission by British media artist Jake Elwes. The Manitou Fund has committed to funding six commissions for the Photography Centre, which will see a new print and digital commission in 2023, 2025 and 2027. On completion, the Photography Centre will also feature new, themed displays, presenting works from the 1840s to the present day, beginning with Energy: Sparks from the Collection, exploring how all photographs need some form of energy to exist, and a smaller display, How Not to Photograph a Bulldog, featuring dog photography manuals from the Royal Photographic Society Library. 

Marta Weiss, V&A Senior Curator of Photography and Lead Curator of Phase Two of the Photography Centre, said: “Photography lies at the heart of the V&A. The museum has collected photography since 1852 and continues to acquire the best of contemporary practice. As photography plays an ever-increasing role in all our lives, the expanded Photography Centre will be more relevant than ever. We look forward to welcoming visitors to explore the medium’s diverse histories and enjoy our world-leading collection.”

About the Photography Centre:

 Room 95

Inside the Camera

Room 95 will be an interactive gallery exploring how cameras work and how they are used, from the Victorian view camera to the first iPhone. The highlight will be a walk-in camera obscura, demonstrating the optical phenomenon that is the basis of how all cameras work. A timeline of cameras will show their evolution, with accompanying animations explaining the inner workings of these iconic devices.

Room 96

Room 97, The Parasol Foundation Gallery

Photography Now

Two new galleries will be dedicated to showcasing recent acquisitions of global contemporary photography, including special commissions. Highlights in the inaugural display will include works by Liz Johnson Artur, Sammy Baloji, Vera Lutter, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, and Vasantha Yogananthan, all acquired with the support of the V&A Photographs Acquisition Group. A series of self-portraits by Tarrah Krajnak, acquired with the support of The Parasol Foundation Trust, will also feature. A spectacular anamorphic sculpture by Noémie Goudal will bring photography off the wall to explore both geological time and the nature of perception.

A new commission, supported by the Manitou Fund, from leading Indian photographer Gauri Gill will also be unveiled. This new body of work depicts temporary architecture on the outskirts of Delhi, ingenuously constructed by farmers from repurposed materials. The makeshift dwellings housed farmers bringing their concerns from the village to the capital, in response to new laws that threatened their economic security.

 Room 98, The Kusuma Gallery

Photography and the Book

A flexible space dedicated to Photography and the Book will reflect how books have been a fundamental way of presenting photography since the 1840s. The Kusuma Gallery, which has been funded by The Kusuma Trust, will visibly house the extensive Royal Photographic Society (RPS) Library, following the transfer of the RPS Collection to the V&A in 2017. The RPS Library contains journals, books, pamphlets and manuals from all over the world, spanning topics from aerial photography to X-rays. More than 20,000 books, published over nearly 200 years, will be available to visitors by request, with a selection of browsing books on open shelves.

The Kusuma Gallery will also feature changing displays of photographic books, periodicals and archival material.  The first display will be How Not to Photograph a Bulldog, a light-hearted foray into one of the many topics covered by the photographic manuals in the RPS Library.

Films about the RPS Library and photographic processes will be shown on digital terminals for visitors to enjoy. This flexible space will also be used for teaching and other programming. 

 Room 99, The Modern Media Gallery

Digital Gallery

One of the three Phase One galleries, The Modern Media Gallery continues to be dedicated to digital media, challenging definitions of what photography is and generating questions around the use of photography today. The gallery will showcase a new digital commission by Jake Elwes, supported by the Manitou Fund.

Room 100, The Bern and Ronny Schwartz Gallery

Room 101, The Sir Elton John and David Furnish Gallery

Photography 1840s-Now

Developed during Phase One of the Photography Centre, these galleries will be entirely rehung for the 2023 opening. A new display, Energy: Sparks from the Collection, will explore the diverse kinds of energy in photography – both the hidden processes intrinsic to creating a picture, and the subjects in front of a camera. Featuring works from the 1840s through to the present day, it will demonstrate how, from the advent of photography, power in all its diverse forms has sparked the imaginations of photographers.

Situated in the V&A’s Northeast Quarter, the Photography Centre reclaims the beauty of seven original 19th-century picture galleries, restoring them to their original glory and purpose. Planned in two phases, the Centre is part of the V&A’s FuturePlan development programme to revitalise the museum’s public spaces through contemporary design and the restoration of original features.

Beyond the physical gallery spaces, a key focus for photography at the V&A is research and the development of new sector-leading initiatives. A major strand is The Parasol Foundation Women in Photography Project, established in 2021 to support women in photography. Led by the inaugural Parasol Foundation Curator of Women in Photography, Fiona Rogers, and funded by Ms. Ruth Monicka Parasol and The Parasol Foundation Trust, the Project encompasses a curatorial post alongside acquisitions, research, education and public displays. The Project’s first acquisition by Tarrah Krajnak will be included in the opening display at the V&A. Also in May 2023, five winners of the inaugural V&A Parasol Foundation Prize for Women in Photography will be exhibited at Peckham 24 – south London’s vibrant three-day contemporary photography festival. The prize is dedicated to supporting and championing the work of women in contemporary photography and will run for three years.

The V&A is also delighted to announce additional support from The Bern Schwartz Family Foundation. Alongside significant funding of Phase Two of the Photography Centre, the Foundation has generously extended their commitment to a series of two-year Fellowships in photography for early-career curators until 2028. The V&A is pleased to announce the appointment of Mary Phan as the second Curatorial Fellow in Photography, supported by The Bern Schwartz Family Foundation, who will be in post until 2024.

The Photography Centre is being made possible by Sir Elton John and David Furnish, The Kusuma Trust, The Bern Schwartz Family Foundation, The Parasol Foundation Trust, Modern Media, Shao Zhong Art Foundation and many other generous supporters.

The Guardian newspaper has reported that the largest photography library in Africa has opened in Ghana’s capital, Accra, showcasing the work of the continent and diaspora’s forgotten, established and emerging talent.

Founded by Ghanaian photographer and film-maker Paul Ninson, the Dikan Center houses more than 30,000 books he has collected. The first of its kind in Ghana, a photo studio and classrooms provide space for workshops while a fellowship programme is aimed at African documentarians and visual artists. An exhibition space will host regular shows, the first of which is Ahennie, a series by the late Ghanaian documentary photographer Emmanuel Bobbie (also known as Bob Pixel), who died in 2021.

Read the full piece here: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/dec/20/africas-biggest-photography-library-opens-in-ghana-accra-dikan-center

The Dikan Center website is here https://www.dikancenter.org/ and notes: 

Dikan is a Ghana-based non-profit organization committed to visual education through the advancement of visual storytelling. We also work to increase public access to the art of photography. Dikan will be the first photo library established in Ghana, and currently has in stock of more than 30,000 photography and film books with special collection of photo books of Africa.

Our objective is to inspire, train and support photographers and filmmakers in Ghana and Africa as a whole. Dikan aims to make visual education accessible to everyone, promoting public awareness of photography through educational outreach, immersive workshops, online education, studios and events.

138 glass plate negatives by Alvin Langdon Coburn held at the John Rylands Library, Manchester, have been digitised. The negatives are on deposit from a  private collector. 

Details of the Coburn material held at the JRL is available here: https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/special-collections/exploring/a-to-z/detail/?mms_id=992983876703501631

The British Film Institute (BFI) has played a vital role in shaping British cinema, launching the careers of countless filmmakers. It began financing productions in the 1950s, allocating state funding for film until the establishment of the UK Film Council (UKFC) in 2000. These developments coincided with significant social change in Britain, especially for women in the immediate post-war decades and via the emergence of the second-wave feminist movement in the 1960s.

Building on recent work in feminist British film history, and in collaboration with Dr Josephine Botting, Curator of Fiction Film at the BFI, this project will focus for the first time on the women filmmakers who were funded by the BFI’s production schemes, to examine how women’s films were shaped by the BFI's funding and its institutional barriers.

This unique lens will enable the researcher to develop a historiographical framework with which to explore the various obstacles faced by women filmmakers during this period, and how they intersected with other factors such as class, race, and disability (Crenshaw 1991).

The project will focus on the following key research questions:

1. How did women filmmakers navigate the male-administered funding streams and oversight of the BFI Production Board?
2. In what ways did these women’s interests, aesthetic concerns, and choice of medium differ from their BFI-funded male counterparts, and how did this change across the funding period?
3. To what extent did the BFI’s funding choices influence the direction of women’s filmmaking in Britain, and how can this be situated within the historical, socio-cultural, and economic context of the time?

To answer these questions, the doctoral researcher will be encouraged to develop a creative methodology, combining skills of archival research, interviews, and media practice, to produce a thesis that explores ways in which multimedia responses (eg. data visualisation, video essays, podcasts, augmented reality) can inform the interpretation of the work in the BFI’s collection. The core research will be based on an analysis of the BFI National Archive’s holdings of the 82 BFI-funded titles directed by women between 1952-2000, when state funding was transferred to the UKFC. This period includes work by renowned filmmakers Sally Potter, Gurinder Chadha and Ngozi Onwurah, through to lesser-known productions such as The First Step (Felicity Gray, 1961) and Short Vision (Joan Foldes, 1956). The project will be augmented by research into a selection of BFI-funded productions since 2011 (when it resumed responsibility for film financing), providing opportunities for comparisons between women’s experiences in the 20th century and in recent years.                                                                                                                                                                                     

 By researching this material, the project aims to:

• Develop a historiographical framework for evaluating the relationship between women filmmakers' state-funded artistic production
• Explore multimedia responses to the material, to offer original ways of analysing how gendered working environments and practices have produced, framed, and influenced filmmaking in Britain
• Identify key titles for digitisation (or re-digitisation into modern formats) alongside other contextual materials, for production as a public-facing national cinema touring programme, Blu-ray boxset or BFIPlayer collection.

This CDA is funded by the TECHNE DTP partnership - led by Royal Holloway

For details on how to submit an application, please visit our webpage .

Recent challenges such as the climate crisis have pushed the field to consider how photography shapes and is shaped by the environment. From the mining of natural resources to the effects of mass digital storage, the environmental impact of photography is at the forefront of discussions in photography research, education and practice. For this conference, we would like speakers to reconsider the history of photography using the environment, broadly understood, as a departing point. What kind of histories can be written about photography in its environment? Would it be useful to understand photography as an environment? We look for papers that not only examine photography from the point of view of current environmental concerns, but also, how photographic practices, images and archives have developed in relation to natural, industrial and other environments. By centering the environment as an analytical category, we hope to discuss the ways in which natural, colonial, personal, digital and other types of environments have shaped photography as well as how photographic histories can help to understand environmental histories.

We welcome 15-minutes papers on topics that address themes like (but not limited to):

• How exactly has photography participated in the construction and disruption of environments?
• What has been the environmental impact of the production, consumption, circulation and storage of photography, in the past as well as the present?
• Histories of environmentally friendly photography before the 21st century.
• How have distinct environmental conditions around the globe influenced photographic practices, the development of photographic processes, and the course of the history of photography more specifically?
• What contributions can the field of photographic history make to deepen understanding about the climate crisis?
• How can photographic historians draw on their knowledge and expertise to assist in nurturing care for the environment and its sustainability for future generations?

Please send paper proposals to phrc@dmu.ac.uk by 1 February 2023, embedding in the document your name, contact details, up to 5 keywords and institutional affiliation (when applicable).

Photography in its Environment
Photographic History Research Centre, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
12-13 June 2023
Hybrid (in person and online)
Follow on Twitter @PHRC_DeMontfort
Conference hashtag #PHRC23

Image:  Mark Kasumovic, Skipsea #2, inkjet print, 50 x 60 in, 2020

The National Portrait Gallery in London has announced that it will reopen its doors on 22 June 2023, following the most significant redevelopment in its history. Supported by longstanding supporter and Reopening Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills, visitors to the new National Portrait Gallery will experience a complete redisplay of the Collection, a transformational refurbishment of the building, as well as an enhanced welcome and greater access through the new Ross Place entrance. The re-opening exhibitions will include photography. 

The redevelopment project – titled Inspiring People – has included a comprehensive redisplay of the Gallery’s Collection from the Tudors to today, which will be displayed in beautifully refurbished galleries, and the restoration of the Grade I listed building and many historic features. The designs, by Jamie Fobert Architects working in partnership with Purcell, and thanks to the historic gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation, will incorporate the Blavatnik Wing, the entire first floor encompassing nine galleries, which will explore society and culture in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The designs will also see the return of the Gallery’s East Wing to public use as the Weston Wing, restoring original gallery spaces and creating new retail and catering facilities. The Gallery’s Ross Place entrance will create three new doors, converted from large windows, opening up the North Façade of the building in St Martin’s Place. A new Learning Centre will also welcome visitors of all ages with studios, breakout spaces, and high-quality facilities.

See:  www.npg.org.uk

Are you an enthusiastic and inspiring leader? Join our team and help deliver our mission, vision, values, and artistic programme. This role is an exciting opportunity to lead Photoworks in our next chapter, playing a key part in delivering the organisation’s ambitious plans for the future.

The Director will lead Photoworks in shaping the overall strategy, planning, policy and development of the organisation. Leading the strategic vision and artistic direction of the organisation including exhibitions, biennial festival, commissions, learning and engagement, publishing and digital content. 

About Photoworks

Photoworks champions photography for everyone. We are an international platform, global in reach, and have provided opportunities for artists and audiences since 1995. We do not have a physical venue, but our online channels are always open. Our programme brings new experiences to audiences and opens up new ways to encounter photography. Photoworks is a registered charity and the only organisation with a national remit for photography in England. Our work is supported by public funding through Arts Council England’s National Portfolio. 

Deadline for applications is 9am Monday, 9 January 2023.

Details: https://photoworks.org.uk/opportunities/were-hiring-director/

Photography has shaped the ways we imagine the recent past and how we experience life in the present day. The Photographic History MA will provide you with the skills needed to explore photographic materials, practices, processes, and critical field scholarship. Along the way, it will also equip you with real-world professional expertise through remote fieldwork experience at well-known photography organisations.

The internationally renowned teaching staff are based at the Photographic History Research Centre (PHRC), bringing with them outstanding links with major photographic collections, archives, galleries, and museums worldwide. Networking through vibrant research seminars, workshops, and conferences, you will gain an in-depth understanding of the relationship between photography, history, and culture, while enhancing your research skills and employability in the field.

Aimed at anyone with deep interest in photographic practice, communication media, visual history, or archival collections, the Photographic History MA will prepare you for further study and careers in the culture sector. We equally welcome per-module applications, an option especially suitable for field professionals and employers looking for Continuing Professional Development—CPD opportunities.

As this course is delivered online by distance learning, you will need access to the internet and a computer with software capable of reading and writing Rich Text Format documents, such as Microsoft Word.

Key features

• Flexible mode of delivery allows you to study around your job, family, and other commitments.
• Full-time, part-time, and per-module study options enable you to develop your studies at your own pace with ongoing support from our expert academic staff.
• Completing an independent project for an external photography organisation equips you with real-world professional skills and expertise.
• Focus on social and cultural photographic practices expands your knowledge of the cultural and social significance of photography throughout its history.
• Consideration of digital and analogue photography provides you with deep understanding about the changing socio-political role of photography and its cultural conception.
• Work alongside a renowned team of expert scholars from the Photographic History Research Centre (PHRC) and beyond.

Details: https://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/courses/postgraduate-courses/photographic-history-ma-degree/photographic-history-ma-degree.aspx