To mark what would have been photographer Mik Critchlow's 70th birthday on 7 March 2025, and two years since his passing, Woodhorn Museum in Northumberland has announced it will open a new gallery dedicated to the acclaimed photographer later this year. The Coal Town Collection will showcase more than 100 photographs from Critchlow’s Coal Town archive, which first went on display at Woodhorn Museum in November 2021. Chronicling the town and people of Ashington over four decades, ‘Coal Town’ provides a rare glimpse inside the town’s coalfield communities, and captures periods of major social, economic and political change in Northumberland. Critchlow personally selected each photograph from his archive for the original exhibition.

The Coal Town Collection will also feature personal items on loan from Critchlow’s family, including cameras he collected and used during his career, unseen photographs, and other personal ephemera that provide an insight into the man behind the camera.Mik's negatives and archive remains with his family. 

The new exhibition at Woodhorn Museum celebrates the legacy of Critchlow and his work, and the hugely important role he played in documenting the end of Northumberland’s mining history. Liz Ritson, Director of Programmes & Engagement at Woodhorn Museum, said: “With a career spanning almost 45 years, Mik’s work is one of the most important historical archives we have of the end of deep coal mining in Northumberland. It also captures the short and long-term impact of the industry’s closure on coalfield communities. His emotive and deeply personal photographs do more than capture a moment in time; they tell a story of the people and communities he was part of in the town of Ashington.

“Because of his close connections to the people he photographed, Mik was able to capture deeply personal moments in people’s lives. Throughout his career he sensitively documented moments of joy, sadness, and everyday life within the coalfield communities in Ashington. The new gallery celebrating his extraordinary body of work will give visitors to Woodhorn the opportunity to experience and enjoy his work, in Mik’s own words, “…back home where they all belong.”

Born and raised in Ashington, Mik Critchlow amassed an archive of over 50,000 pictures during his 44-year photography career. He began photographing the people and street life of his hometown in 1977 after seeing an exhibition by The Ashington Group (also known as the Pitmen Painters).

Part of a mining family, Mik often referred to coal as being ‘in our blood’. His family moved to Northumberland in the mid-1800s to work in the region’s coal mines. Mik’s grandfather worked at Woodhorn Colliery for 52 years, his father spent 45 years as a miner, and his two brothers also spent 25 years working underground. Mik died on his birthday  - 7 March 1955 -  aged 68 in Ashington, Northumberland.

Maureen Critchlow, Mik’s wife, said: “Mik saw the Coal Town exhibition as the culmination of his life’s work within the area. Even though he’d worked on many projects further afield, it was this one, spanning a period of over 40 years, that was most special to him. He had a deep understanding and empathy for the people who lived and worked in his home town.

“Mik had a longstanding association with Woodhorn Museum, having exhibited his work there many times over the years, and attending many a Miner’s Picnic day. The museum also holds a collection of his original exhibition prints from the 80s in its archive. He would have been honoured to have his work permanently housed in the museum to enable many more people to view it. It is fitting, therefore, for the anniversary of his 70th birthday to coincide with the announcement of the new Mik Critchlow gallery.”

Shona Brown, Mik’s daughter, added: “My Dad had an effortless ability to capture people’s emotions and personalities while simply going about their daily life. Quite often, when looking back on the mining era, it’s easy to automatically think of ‘the miners’ themselves, and not their families or the effects the devastating loss of the industry had on the wider community. The selected images were personally chosen by my Dad back in 2021, capturing community life over four decades and creating a breathtaking display. This permanent home of The Coal Town Collection will ensure not only that his legacy lives on, but also the memories and subjects in the images. It’s been a pleasure working closely with the talented team at Woodhorn Museum and I’m confident he would be delighted with the end result.”

Mik Critchlow’s work has also been exhibited and published by Side Gallery, Amber-Side Collection, Brunel University, Durham Art Gallery, Arts Council England, Northern Arts, British Journal of Photography, and Creative Camera. In 2019, his third solo book, Coal Town – which features a collection of images from the exhibition – was published.

Speaking about the Coal Town exhibition in 2021, Mik said: “For the past 44 years I have photographed the town, people and surrounding areas of Ashington, Northumberland, the town in which I was born, educated and still live. Ashington as a community owes its very existence to coal mining, and although the extraction of coal was the major dominant factor in their lives, miners and their families shared many interests. There was always a strong tradition of community life. People would often ask me, ‘Why are you photographing me? I’m not royalty’, and I would say, ‘you’re my royalty, you’re just as important’. I’ve always told people they’re important. I was photographing them for history really. After all these many years, I feel that I'm bringing these people back to life again, back home where they all belong." 

The Coal Town Collection will open at Woodhorn Museum in May 2025. The date will be announced shortly.

From 1 April 2025, North East Museums (formerly Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums) will manage Woodhorn Museum, Hexham Old Gaol and Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum on behalf of Northumberland County Council.

For more information about Woodhorn Museum visit: www.museumsnorthumberland.org.uk.

Images: © Mik Critchlow. Top: Mining apprentices with winding wheel, Ashington Colliery, 1981; Below: Miners coming off shift, Ashington Colliery, 1981. 

The landmark British photo-magazine, Picture Post (1938-57), was launched in the era of the Spanish Civil War and the Popular Front. Conceived for Hulton Press by Stefan Lorant (a Hungarian editor exiled from Nazi Germany), Picture Post had a transnational staff and a global outlook. It was the leading British example of an international phenomenon – the birth of photojournalism and the photo-essay. The equivalent of Life in the US and Paris-Match in France, the magazine achieved circulation figures of 1.7 million.

Before the establishment of large television audiences, the photographs published in this general readership magazine offered audiences a shared perspective on the UK and its place in the world. Picture Post reported extensively on the Second World War as it unfolded across the globe, as well as documenting both the Cold War and the wars of decolonization after 1945. It helped popularise a progressive attitude to society and politics, shaping the debate about postwar reconstruction and the establishment of the welfare state. Yet, its coverage also reflected sexist and racist ideas of the era, as well as patronizing or critical perspectives on disadvantaged communities and young adults.

To mark the opening of a major exhibition about Picture Post at Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales, we will be hosting a one-day public workshop that aims to bring together an international cohort of researchers, curators, archivists and librarians to discuss the development and impact of Picture Post.

We invite proposals for 15-minute papers or panels of 3 to 4 contributors. Please send a title, abstract (250 words) and short biography (150 words) to Tom Allbeson e: allbesont@cardiff.ac.uk.

We encourage contributors to engage with the multifaceted histories relating to the genesis, development and legacy of Picture Post. We are interested in a broad range of methodological approaches to the emergence of photojournalism and the photo-essay format pioneered by mid-century, general readership photo-magazines.

Picture Post (1938-57): Genesis, History & Legacy of a Photo-Magazine
One-day workshop, Cardiff, Friday, 13 June 2025

Deadline for CFP: Friday 14 March 2025
Programme announced: Friday 14 April 2025

Read the full call here (CFP - Picture Post Workshop, June 2025.pdf)

Organisers:
Dr Tom Allbeson, Reader in Media & Photographic History, Cardiff University, allbesont@cardiff.ac.uk
Dr Bronwen Colquhoun, Senior Curator of Photography, Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales, bronwen.colquhoun@museumwales.ac.uk 
The event is co-hosted by the Tom Hopkinson Centre for Media History (School of Journalism, Media & Culture, Cardiff University) and Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales. 

Do you have a broad knowledge of the history of photography and photographic technologies? Do you have the ability to research interesting stories in collections and then communicate this complex information to non-specialist audiences in an engaging way?

About us
The National Science and Media Museum holds internationally significant collections of photographic, film, television, sound and games technologies. In the photography and photographic collections alone, we care for millions of individual photographs and cameras, plus related technologies.

We are now recruiting for a Curator of Photography and Photographic Technology to join on a fixed-term, 12-month, maternity cover contract. This is a full-time role working 35 hours per week, based at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford with hybrid working also available.

About the role
The Curator of Photography and Photographic Technology is a key role within the museum’s curatorial team, working with and championing our world class collections of photography and photographic technology.

You will work with colleagues to understand, care for and facilitate access to our collections. This includes improving collections information and catalogue records, appraising and progressing potential acquisitions and undertaking collections reviews.

You will facilitate access to collections by responding to enquiries, developing content for displays, online content or in-person talks and tours, and by hosting research visitors. There is also scope for you to identify and develop your own project or specialisms within the period of this role. This might respond to recent or emerging technologies such as digital photo manipulation or generative AI, or it might respond to historic materials already held in the collection.

About you
Joining us, you will have a broad knowledge of the history of photography, of historical and contemporary photographic technologies and of their relationship to the wider history of science and technology. You will have good oral and written communication skills with experience of communicating complex information to non-specialist audiences, for example in exhibitions, articles, blogs, outreach or teaching.

Crucially, you will have good research skills which will enable you to find interesting stories related to our collection. You will be able to build relationships with internal/external peers, subject specialists and organisations and you will have a good understanding of collections management and curatorial procedures.

Curator of Photography and Photographic Technology
Bradford: National Sicence and Media Museum
Fixed term (12 months), maternity cover
Closes: 26 March 2025
Details here

The Hong Kong History Centre, based at the University of Bristol,put out a call for donations of historic materials, especially photographs, to its ‘Hong Kong Collection’, which is held in the University of Bristol Library’s Special Collections.

Established in 2022, and building on the previous seven years of successful work of the Hong Kong History Project at Bristol, the University’s Hong Kong History Centre is the only such research centre in the world. The Centre supports research on the history of Hong Kong and its peoples and provides public engagement and outreach, with the aim of raising public awareness of the history of Hong Kong and its global connections. The Centre leadership team consists of co-directors Dr Vivian Kong and Professor Robert Bickers, and Research Director Professor Ray Yep.

The Hong Kong Collection preserves materials with significant research value to the study of Hong Kong History. The collection contains archival materials in a wide range of physical and digital formats and media, in both English and Chinese. No other institution in Great Britain has the collection of material relating to Hong Kong’s history as a strategic priority. The photographic collection stands out as a highlight, offering a visual narrative of the evolving landscape and lives in Hong Kong across different periods. Our goal is to make these photographs freely accessible online internationally.

The Centre is seeking offers of donations of original photographs (loose or in albums), negatives, post cards, or magic lantern slides. It is looking for material that is likely to be of significant interest to scholars and students seeking to understand the diverse histories of Hong Kong. These could be small collections, or large ones; they could be rich in records of momentous events, or institutions, or rich in evidence of family life and social history. We are happy to hear about all sorts of materials, such as family letters, diaries, unpublished memoirs etc.

Professor Bickers was the founder of the Historical Photographs of China project which has now concluded, although the website remains live. 

Read more here: https://www.hkhistory.net/hphk-call/

Image:  Denis H Hazell, View from Victoria Peak, looking East towards Mount Parker, Hong Kong, 1924. https://hpcbristol.net/visual/Bk09-06. Courtesy: Historical Photographs of China. 

NEUMEISTER Münchener Kunstauktionshaus, in Munich, is offering a very early Richard Beard daguerreotype at auction on 19-20 March 2025. The subject is Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, founder of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Koháry. The prince and his family were visiting Queen Victoria and Prince Albert Windsor in January/February 1842 and it is possible that the daguerreotype was made during the visit. The daguerreotype is estimated at 350-500 Euro.

The lot description reads: 
Richard Beard and employees
1801 East Stonehouse, Devon - 1885 Hampstead
Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, founder of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Koháry
Inscribed "Beard / Patented" on the inner metal frame. Daguerreotype. Image size: 5 x 3.8 cm. Set in a red leather case. Damaged.

Ferdinand was the second son of Duke Franz Friedrich Anton of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1750-1806) and Countess Auguste Reuß zu Ebersdorf (1757-1831). In 1816 he married Countess Maria Antonie Gabriele Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya (1797 Budapest - 1862 Vienna), the heiress of the House of Koháry. The House of Saxe-Coburg-Koháry emerged from this marriage. The couple had four children, including Prince August (1818-1881), who would marry Princess Clémentine d'Orléans.

The daguerreotype technique was the first commercially usable photography process in the 19th century. It is named after the painter Louis Daguerre, who helped develop it. It was published in 1839. In England, Richard Beard became aware of the new technology and secured the patent for England and Wales. In 1841, he founded the first English photography studio. Most of the photographs taken in Beard's studio were taken by employees. In our case, the name of the metal frame also refers to this.

Provenance: Clémentine, née Princess of Orléans (1817-1907), to her son Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (1861-1948). Estate of Dr. Alexander Eugen, Duke of Württemberg (1933-2024).
Provenance: estate of Dr. Alexander Eugen, Duke of Württemberg (1933-2024).

March-Auction and Ducal Treasures – Noble Sale. From the House of Württemberg
19-20 March 2025
Lot 1243
See: https://www.neumeister.com/en/auctions/ducaltreasures/#c27751

There are a number of new displays and exhibitions in Edinburgh. At the National Gallery a new display within the Scottish galleries looks at textiles and fashion through a small selection of calotypes (positives and negatives) of Hill and Adamson. They highlight the remarkable skill of pioneering photographers Hill and Adamson in using the process to showcase the fashions of the 1840s. They embraced the technical challenge of photographing the varied textiles and fashions of the day. Still experimenting with the calotype process, they successfully reveal the delicate pattern on a pair of lace gloves, the rough wool of tartans and tweeds and the sheen of silk.

At the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG), an exhibition celebrates forty years of collecting photography. There are highlights from Scotland's world-class collection of over 55,000 photographs. Find famous faces, gems of early Scottish photography and new acquisitions which push the boundaries of photography. Arranged thematically - Portraiture, Experimentation, Documentary - the displays bring historical photography and contemporary photography together to hint at the breadth of the collection. Side panels note the need for inclusivity and ask visitors to recommend contemporary photographers whose work should be included in the collection, the other reminds us of the archive and a new acquisition (see below). 

Just opened in the King's Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse is Royal Portraits which was originally seen in London. In the balcony space and side gallery the exhibition feels smaller than that in London, but it focuses more directly on the photography with less contextual art. It's engaging, with work photography from Cecil Beaton to Leibowitz, and it shows how royalty has been pictured and used photography, and how they have been photographed has changed over the century.  

Stills gallery current student show is just about to end and a new exhibition from a Hayward touring show will be installed. The popular photobooth remains in situ.

The Annan Archive acquisition

The SNPG's 40th anniversary show teases visitors with a few objects from a very significant recent acquisition, the Annan Archive, This has recently been purchased from the Annan family, with the support of the Art Fund. The archive is extensive and covers both the family and the business of T & R Annan in which, of course, photography features strongly. One case in the exhibition, shows a sample of what is included with several of James Craig Annan's many exhibition medals, his notebook recording exhibition prints; an early ambrotype portrait of Thomas Annan, and his passport to Vienna where he met Karl Klič and negotiated the right to operate his printing process. These are just a very small sample of the entire archive.

During a recent visit, the Ben Harman and Louise Pearson, the photography curators, showed me an original collodion negative (one of a number) from Old Streets and Closes, Hill & Admson prints and negatives, D O Hill portrait sketches and examples of the firm's printing.

National Galleries Scotland and the Art Fund are due to make a formal announcement of the acquisition shortly, and the gallery will be appointing someone to work on the archive readying it for public access. It is very likely that an exhibition exploring the role the firm and the Annan family members played within photography, printing and within Scotland will be held in the future.

BPH will continue to follow work on the archive as it progresses. 

See: 
Hill & Adamson | Fashion & Textiles 1843–1848, until 8 June 2025
Celebrating 40 Years of Scotland’s Photography Collection, until 16 March 2025
Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography, until 7 September 2025
Stills - centre for photography

Photographs: Michael Pritchard

The National Galleries of Scotland have an exciting opportunity within our enthusiastic and dedicated Collection & Research team. We’re looking for a highly motivated and organised individual to assist colleagues in the Portraiture and Photography curatorial team with all aspects of curatorial work.

Do you have a strong interest in an art historical subject area related to the National Galleries of Scotland portrait and/or photography collections? Are you keen to develop your skills, knowledge and experience across a variety of curatorial activities? Do you have the ability to take the initiative together with proven experience of meeting deadlines? If so, we want to hear from you.

In this role you’ll assist with all aspects of curatorial work relating to the collection and programme associated with the Portraiture and Photography curatorial team. This will include assisting with the research, organisation, administration and delivery of exhibitions and collection displays; researching artworks in the collection and answering public enquiries. You’ll also facilitate access for visitors to view artworks not on display, support the acquisition programme and help to develop and create interpretation about the portrait and photography collections for our audiences. You’ll be guided and supported by the Portraiture and Photography curatorial team in carrying out the responsibilities of the role. 

Assistant Cuartor, Portraiture and Photography
Full-time and permanent
Sallary: £29,888-32,602, plus benefits
Hybrid/flexible working

Full details: https://ngs.ciphr-irecruit.com/Applicants/vacancy/296/Assistant-Curator-Portraiture-and-Photography
The closing date for applications is 12 noon on Monday, 10 March 2025.  

Lawrences Auctioneers is holding an auction of photographs as part of its sale of Books, Manuscripts & Photographs online on 7 March 2025. of particular note are prints from Martin Parr, Tessa Traegar, Peter Lavery and the late Brian Griffin. Historical prints include work from Madamae Yevonde, a topographical album and several lots of photographs from Pakistan and Nepal by Lt. Col R.B. Phayre MC, FWIPS.

Alongside these are several lots of journals and books, plus research files, from the late John L Wilson (see obituary here). These include publications (non-photographic) from William Henry Fox Talbot, a run of History of Photography and John's own meticulously researched PhD thesis The Photographically Illustrated Book 1840-1925: The Changing Response of the Line Artist and the Photographer to the Technical Developments in Photography, 2 Volumes, 1984-1987, and his The Literature of Photography 1839-1905 (unpublished). 

See more here

Image: lot 4070598. BRIAN GRIFFIN (BRITISH 1948-2024). Part of a a collection of fourteen photographs from the Work Series, 1986-87. 

How did the owners of the country house engage with photography in the 19th and early 20th centuries? Mainly using the example of the Pennymans from Ormesby Hall in Teesside, and with some examples from W W Winter Heritage Trust collection, Jonathan will explore how photographers were employed, photographs used in the house and photography became a hobby for many including the Pennymans.

Jonathan Wallis has worked in museums and heritage for over 30 years. He began his museum career as a conservator at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, later moving to a number of other museums before joining Derby Museums in 2001. After 17 years he left to work as a regional curator for the National Trust based in Yorkshire and the Northeast. Jonathan’s interests in collections are wide ranging – from British Bronze Age metalwork to Joseph Wright of Derby. His latest research explores the photographic history of a country house, Ormesby Hall, on the outskirts of Middlesbrough and Scarborough's Victorian photographic studios. He has been the Chair of the W W Winter Heritage Trust for the past seven years.

Bookings, by donation, will be shared between the W W Winter Heritage Trust and the Derbyshire Archaeological Society.

The W W Winter Lecture: Photography and the Country House
Jonathan Wallis
Online: 11 March 2025 at 1930-2100 (UTC)
By donation
Bookings here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-w-w-winter-lecture-photography-and-the-country-house-tickets-1077598228309?aff=oddtdtcreator

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam presents a one-day international symposium exploring the vital role of photojournalism and documentary photography in how we perceive our present, understand our past, and view the future. Future Memories brings together photographers, academics, and representatives from art and media institutions. Together, we will discuss the influence of conventions and tropes in visual culture, explore contemporary practices of photographers, curators and institutions, and examine how they perceive the evolving role of photography. The symposium is open to both professionals and the public.

The symposium can be followed physically in the Rijksmuseum and online. 

The price of the ticket includes full access to the Rijksmuseum, where you will have the opportunity to visit the exhibitions on display, including Carrie Mae Weems: Painting the Town, and American Photography. Refreshments and lunch will be provided.

Symposium: Future Memories | How Photography Shapes Our Understanding of the World
14 May 2025
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
Details, programe, and booking here

Studies in Photography is holding a major conference on Tuesday, 20 May 2025 in The Engine Shed, Stirling. The conference will explore how photography has shaped and recorded the urban architectural heritage of Scotland. By examining Scottish photography from the 1840s to the present day, architectural styles, photographic records, and the influence of new technologies, the conference will provide a comprehensive look at how cities and towns have been represented and perceived through the lens. Academics, students, architects, photographers, and cultural historians will gather to discuss how photography influences not only the perception of Scotland’s built environment but also the way our modern towns and cities are planned and designed.

Conference themes include: 

● How early photographers recorded urban buildings and spaces
● Documenting and preserving architectural heritage through photography
● Architectural styles and photographic representation – from medieval to modernism and beyond
● The cultural and social Impact of architectural photography
● Technological innovation in architectural photography

Speakers will be expected to deliver a 20-minute presentation and contribute to short Q&A sessions. We expect most presentations will be in-person but a small number of online speaking slots for speakers who are unable to attend will be available. If you would like to submit a paper or a topic to present on, please email a proposal to John Pelan. Proposals should include the topic of your presentation, a short biography of the presenter(s) and the name of your organisation (if applicable). Expressions should also indicate if you would like to present in person or online. Submissions should not exceed 500 words.

Shifting Perspectives: Scotland's Urban Architecture: Sciotland's Urban Architecture through the Lens 
20 May 2025
The Engine Shed, Stirling
cfp deadline: 24 March 2025
Conference: 20 March 2025
Contact: John Pelan, chair@studiesinphotography.com
Details: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wytb06U0xYsOozsTmnPw7Q6dTgBcwFWO/view

Supporters:
Historic Environment Scotland
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Scottish Council on Archives

Image: Giuseppe Milo, Riverside Museum Glasgow Scotland Black And White Architecture Photography, 2015, via Wikimedia Commons.

The National Trust have an exciting opportunity for an Assistant National Curator to join the National Trust on a 12-month fixed-term basis. In this role, you’ll work closely with our photography collections, helping to develop them while expanding knowledge, access, and engagement. You’ll support colleagues at several significant places and contribute to our partnership work, ensuring these remarkable collections are shared and appreciated by all.

What it's like to work here

Hansons Auctioneers have two lots of photographic interest in its next library auction, one from the 1870s and the other from the 1930s. Lot two is a group of sixty-five prints from Thomas Child. The prints show China during the late-Qing dynasty (1870-1880). The lot is estimated at £2000-4000. The description reads: 

Lot 2. CHILD, Thomas. Views of North China. EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY. A collection of 65 albumen prints ranging in size from 122mm x 187mm to 230mm x 343mm, 39 pasted on card album leaves, 26 loose or held in corner-mounts (i.e. not stuck down), 20 of the photographs bearing Thomas Child's signature in the negative and dated 1875-78, many accompanied by pasted captions & numbers, most images well-preserved, especially the loose examples, a few with creasing & wear, housed in a folio album bound in half crushed morocco, views include "Garden of Summer Palace, near Pekin", "White Cloud Temple, near Pekin", "Yuen-Ming-Yuen Palace, Pekin", "Ruins of Summer Palace, Pekin", "Camel-back Bridge, Pekin", "View of River from English Club, Shanghai", "The Bund, Shanghai", "Silver Island, Yang-tze-kiang River", "Tien-tsin, from River Pei-ho", "Steamer frozen in Peiho River", "Sedan-Chair and Bearers", several depicting mining operations, workers, incense & tea shops, street scenes, exteriors & interiors of temples, and others, plus one incongruous image of Llandudno. An important archive of early photography showing buildings and people in the Chinese city of Peking [now Beijing] during the late-Qing dynasty. [1870-80]

The preceeding lot includes an original glass plate negative by Hugh Cecil (1889-1974) of Edwards VIII in profile for the Royal Mint. With Edward's abidication in 1936 the coinage was scrapped.  The lot comes with provenance.

The Library Auction
Hanson Auctioneers
2-26 February 2025
Online
See lot 2 here and lot 1 here

The School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science, University of Leeds, and the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford, are offering a fully funded Collaborative Doctoral Award "Coaxing Nature to the Screen": Frank Percy Smith and the Transformations of British Natural History in the Pre-WWII Era of Technological Innovation and Mass Entertainment. 

In the 2020s, the world looks to David Attenborough to reveal the wonders of nature on the screen. But in the 1920s that position was held by the London-born amateur naturalist turned "kinematographic wizard" Frank Percy Smith (1880-1945). Drawing on little-explored archival holdings on Smith at the National Science and Media Museum, the project will use Smith's extraordinary career to open up new perspectives on how technological innovation - especially in the sound and vision technologies showcased in the Museum's new galleries - has transformed the knowledge, practice and personnel of British natural history in the long twentieth century.

The project is a historical inquiry into the remaking of British natural history in the wake of the new sound and vision technologies associated with cinema. It will be anchored in a study of the career of Frank Percy Smith, a pioneer of nature documentaries who invented several techniques (including time-lapse photography) that brought never-before-seen perspectives on the natural world to mass audiences. Without university training or credentials, Smith fought hard to be taken seriously for his contributions to natural knowledge while at the same time producing work with suffcient mass appeal to be commercially viable. Both sides of his achievement - and the tensions between them - are visible in the title of a full-page newspaper profile of him in 1936: "Coaxing Nature to the Screen: How Science is Wresting Secrets from Her."

• Open to all applicants (UK and international) for study on a full-time or part-time basis.
• Link to full project details here and details of the White Rose College of Arts & Humanities (WRoCAH) application process here.
• Deadline for applications: 12 noon (UK time) Wednesday 5th March 2025.

Lead supervisors:

• Prof. Gregory Radick, Centre for History and Philosophy of Science, School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science, University of Leeds
• Dr Annie Jamieson, National Science and Media Museum, Bradford — one of five museums comprising the national Science Museum Group

For more information see here

Photographs are mobile and malleable. They travel between people and places, change appearance and form, and traverse through different settings and environments. In image-led societies, photographs are often disrupted or removed from their original contexts to be repurposed by governments, institutions and researchers, as well as by artists, communities, campaigners, and many others. 

How, and to what ends, are these photographs being repurposed, and by whom? How does repurposing photographic materials impact social, cultural, and political phenomena? This conference aims to facilitate discussions on the reuse, recirculation, and transformation of photographs, and explore the ways in which they have been re-employed in both the contemporary and historical contexts. 

The perceived truthfulness of photography, shaped by specific historical conditions, operates within particular institutional practices and historical frameworks (Tagg, 1988). Photography functions as a cultural tool employed for diverse representational tasks (Sekula, 1984). While museums serve as one example of institutional uses of photography, others include the press, the state, civil society, medical institutions, and technological apparatuses. For example, photographs are used to assert perceived objectivity and authority over social and cultural interpretations (Stylianou-Lambert and Stylianou, 2014); explore representations and memories of working people (Adams Stein, 2016); and support political activism (Thomas, 2021).

Submission Topics

Papers may, but are not limited to, focus on the repurposing of photographs in connection with:

• exhibitions and collections in museums, archives, or galleries 
• news stories on television, online, or in print media
• interviews, focus groups, or research with vulnerable people 
• track changes to landscapes or human environments
• analysis of historical events, objects, or societies 
• community initiatives or institutional practices 
• the study of health issues, diseases, or medical treatments 
• examination of scientific technologies or instruments
• promotions of ideologies or policies 
• investigations of industrial processes or techniques
• social media content or AI systems

As a PhD-led conference, the event offers an opportunity to refine and reflect upon ongoing and emerging research. 

All speaker applicants must be postgraduate students (Masters and PhD), but can be at any stage of their postgraduate journey. 

Papers will be 15 minutes long and could be delivered either online or in person. Practice-based presentations, such as short films, practical demonstrations, or semi-interactive workshops, are also welcome.

Repurposing Photographic Materials: Transforming Social, Political, and Cultural Heritage
Hybrid conference: 7-8 July 2025
cfp deadline 30 April 2025
Details: https://studentphotocon2025.wordpress.com/call-for-papers/

Originally seen in London at the King's Gallery, Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography moves to Edinburgh and opens at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on 28 February. The exhibition charts the evolution of royal portrait photography from the 1920s to the present day, revealing the stories behind the creation of some of the most iconic images of the Royal Family.

Bringing together more than 90 photographic prints, proofs and documents from the Royal Collection and the Royal Archives, the exhibition – which follows a successful run in London – will also consider the artistic and technological advances in photography as it evolved into a recognised art form.

Alessandro Nasini, curator of Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography, said: ‘The Royal Collection holds some of the most enduring photographs ever taken of the Royal Family, each one captured by the most celebrated portrait photographers of the past hundred years – from Cecil Beaton and Norman Parkinson to Annie Leibovitz and Rankin.

‘Alongside these beautiful vintage prints, many of which are which are being shown in Scotland for the first time, we are excited to share archival correspondence, photographers’ handwritten annotations and unreleased proofs that lift the curtain on the process of commissioning, sitting for, and selecting royal portraits. We hope visitors will enjoy going behind the scenes to discover how these unforgettable royal images were made.’ 

Photographs taken to mark milestone birthdays of members of the Royal Family are among the star works in the exhibition, including images from the famed 1971 series taken by Norman Parkinson to mark Princess Anne's 21st birthday. The ‘coming of age’ portraits reveal a sophisticated and stylish woman as she interacts with her surroundings of the gardens of Frogmore House, or stands in front of a fantastical painted scene reminiscent of a Scottish landscape, featuring a galloping white unicorn bearing her royal standard. 

Another highlight will be a portrait of The King when Prince of Wales by Godfrey Argent, released to mark his 18th birthday in 1966. Taken in the library of Balmoral Castle, the photograph shows the young prince smiling while standing in a tweed jacket and a Balmoral tartan kilt.

Visitors will see glamourous images from the first half of the 20th century, taken by some of the most respected photographers of the era. All of the photographs in the exhibition are vintage prints – the original works produced by the photographer – and the earliest works date from the 1920s and 30s, the golden age of the society photographer. A highlight will be the earliest surviving photographic print of a member of the Royal Family to be produced in colour. Taken by Madame Yevonde, a pioneer of colour photography, the photograph shows Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (sister-in-law to King George VI and Edward VIII) on her wedding day in 1935.

Another example is an ethereal photograph of Queen Elizabeth II as a princess, taken by Yousuf Karsh in 1951. Arriving in Ottawa, Canada, in 1924 as a refugee from Armenia, Karsh went on to earn a worldwide reputation for his use of dramatic lighting and ability to capture his sitters' character and dignity.

In the mid-20th century, no royal photographer had a greater impact on shaping the monarchy’s public image than Cecil Beaton. The exhibition will present some of Beaton’s most memorable photographs, taken over six decades. These include Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s famed 1939 shoot in the Buckingham Palace Gardens, dressed in gowns designed by Norman Hartnell, and Beaton’s original Coronation portraits of Queen Elizabeth II – arguably the most prestigious photography commission of the century. 

Close relationships between royal sitters and photographers will unfold throughout the exhibition, seen most clearly through the lens of Lord Snowdon, born Antony Armstrong-Jones. One of the most sought-after photographers of the 1950s, Snowdon’s unpretentious style soon attracted the attention of the Royal Family, and he became a member of the family himself when he married Princess Margaret in 1960. His remarkably intimate portraits of the Princess, taken both before and during their marriage, hint at the depths of trust and collaboration between them. 

The bold and colourful later photographs in the exhibition will demonstrate the extraordinary variety, power, and at times playfulness of royal portrait photography over the past four decades. These works range from Andy Warhol’s diamond-dust-sprinkled screenprint of Queen Elizabeth II to well-known photographs by David Bailey, Nick Knight, Annie Leibovitz and more. The exhibition concludes with the official Coronation portraits taken by Hugo Burnand in May 2023.

Following a successful trial in 2024, The King’s Gallery will continue to offer £1 tickets to this exhibition for visitors receiving Universal Credit and other named benefits. Other concessionary rates are available, including discounted tickets for Young People, half-price entry for children (with under-fives free), and the option to convert standard tickets bought directly from Royal Collection Trust into a 1-Year Pass for unlimited re-entry for 12 months.

Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography
Edinburgh, The King’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse
28 February – 7 September 2025
See: https://www.rct.uk/collection/exhibitions/royal-portraits-a-century-of-photography/the-kings-gallery-palace-of-holyroodhouse

Image: (top) Cecil Beaton,Proofs from sitting with Queen Elizabeth,1939; (below, left) Madame Yevonde, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester on her wedding day, 1935,  © National Portrait Gallery.

In this talk Professor Michelle Henning will reread and contextualise Walter Benjamin’s “Work of Art” essay (1935-36) and his claims about how film and photography allowed humanity to  “experience its own destruction as an aesthetic pleasure of the first order.”  Benjamin was reflecting on a specific imperial war — when the Italian fascists pioneered new, brutal tactics of chemical warfare (ecocide / domicide) in the 1935-36 invasion of Ethiopia. Through the connections between photography and poison gas, the destruction of aura appears as racialized atmospheric violence.

The event is hosted by Photoecologies Study Group a new space for exploring the critical intersections of photographic practice, theory and philosophy. Scholars and artists from a range of backgrounds are invited to share their current research, approaching photomedia as an environmental, elemental and energetic assemblage.

Initiated by the journal Philosophy of Photography, the study group aims to:

• Create a space for researchers to share and discuss new and exploratory work related to photographic ecologies
• Develop alternative philosophical and critical perspectives on photography and ecology, past, present and future
• Foster interdisciplinarity, cross-pollination and hybrid frameworks of analysis
• Disentangle the complicity of photography with violent and extractive systems of capitalism and colonialism

The sessions will take place online. Each session will include a speaker (30-40 mins), a response (10 mins) and a group discussion (40 mins).

Photoecologies Study Group is organised by Alex Fletcher, Noa Levin and Rowan Lear.

Photography, Poison Gas and Aura
Michelle Henning, hosted by Photoecologies Study Group
Online, 25 February 2025, 1700-1830 (GMT)
Detail and registration here  

Michelle Henning is Chair in Photography and Media at the University of Liverpool and a writer and artist. Her next book  A Dirty History of Photography: Chemistry, Fog and Empire,  will be published by the University of Chicago Press in Fall 2025.

Autograph and Parse Journal present a new symposium examining ideas to rethink, reimagine and reshape the histories embedded in archival collections. We will consider how archival materials can be reactivated through diverse perspectives and disciplines, challenging dominant narratives. With a focus on decolonial and queer methodologies, this symposium will invite discussion on approaches that encourage a continual re-engagement with archives.

Encounters: Art, Power and Archives will highlight a broad range of voices, including artistic and scholarly research, creative and social projects, and provocations. Hosted in Autograph's galleries, the symposium will take place surrounded by exhibitions underscoring the critical role of archives.

Abi Morocco Photos: Spirit of Lagos is the first display of remarkable portraits from 1970s Lagos, possible through the ongoing efforts of the Lagos Studio Archives project, which aims to preserve and present the legacy of Nigerian studio photography. You will also see Rotimi Fani-Kayode: Staging Desire, the culmination of meticulous research into the artist’s archives, presenting never-before-seen works.

As this event takes place in the galleries, limited tickets are available to ensure the best experience for everyone. Autograph's events are popular and we recommend early booking. The ticket price includes lunch.

Encounters: Art, Power and Archive
18 March 2025 | 9:30am - 5:30pm
Autograph, Rivington Place, London. EC2A 3BA
Early bird tickets £25 / full price £40
Full details: https://autograph.org.uk/events/symposium-encounters-art-power-and-archives/?mc_cid=36cc6d0d73&mc_eid=b331f6dd6d

Image: Sasha Huber, Tailoring Freedom - Jack and Drana, daguerreotype, from the series Tailoring Freedom (2021-22), commemorating seven enslaved individuals, adopting art as a means to heal colonial traumas. Co-commissioned by Autograph. See: https://autograph.org.uk/commissions/sasha-huber-tailoring-freedom

This is an exciting opportunity to manage and enable the delivery of the Isca Photographic Project. Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, this innovative project will rescue, preserve, publicise and promote a unique and irreplaceable visual record of twentieth-century Exeter and its inhabitants. The Project Officer will co-ordinate and organise the activity detailed in the Project Plan, to ensure the different elements of the project are completed to a high standard, on time and within budget.  We are looking for a highly organised and flexible individual with proven project management experience, a passion for heritage and culture, and strong written, verbal and communication skills. 

The South West Heritage Trust is an independent charity which provides heritage services across Somerset and Devon. We run two Archive and Local Studies services and three museums, including the Museum of Somerset, and look after Somerset’s historic environment, including over 400 acres of historic landscapes.

For further information please contact Scott Pettitt (Head of Devon Archives & Local Studies) on 01392 888700 or at Scott.Pettitt@swheritage.org.uk.

Details of the role are here: https://swheritage.org.uk/isca-photographic-collection-project-officer/
Learn more about the Isca collection here: https://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/isca-photographic-collection-of-exeter-saved-by-178-579-grant

A unique and irreplaceable visual record of twentieth-century Exeter has been secured for the South West Heritage Trust thanks to a £178,579 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. A project is underway to conserve, catalogue and digitise the collection - and to make it available online and directly across the region.  

The Isca Photographic Collection Project will rescue and preserve 24,000 images depicting the city and its inhabitants during the first half of the twentieth century. The acetate negatives are suffering from vinegar syndrome; an irreversible chemical deterioration process that destroys the negative. The project to save the collection will digitise the images before they are lost forever, and make them available to researchers.

In the 1970s the Wykes archive was purchased by local photographer and historian Peter Thomas, who created the Isca Photographic Collection, supplementing Wykes’ work with other collections of local interest (including a photographic archive from the Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Hospital). Thomas added his own photographic work capturing Exeter’s story in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, notably 4,500 images recording the demolition and rebuilding of Exeter’s Princesshay Shopping Centre. 

The full collection of almost 50,000 images is mainly comprised of the life’s work of the Australian-born photographer Henry Wykes (1874-1964). Wykes opened his first studio in Exeter in 1914, quickly establishing himself as the city’s foremost photographer, a status he held until his retirement in 1962, by which time he was Britain’s oldest working photographer. Wykes’ images chart the growth of the city in the 1920s and ‘30s and the wartime carnage wrought by the devasting ‘Baedeker’ raids. The collection is also a uniquely personal record of the residents of Exeter with thousands of images of individual and family portraits. Many hundreds of other images document local residents at work and play in shops, factories, at weddings, sporting and other social events. It captures the lives of inhabitants of the city whose stories have too often remain unexplored, including those of the residents of St Loye’s College and School of Occupational Therapy, who navigated physical disabilities and learning difficulties.

The project to catalogue the images and make them available online will be supported by a team of volunteers. There will be an exhibition at Custom House in Exeter and community events will take place. The images will be used for reminiscence sessions in residential homes and for work in schools to raise environmental awareness.

See more here: https://swheritage.org.uk/news/isca-collection-of-photographs-saved/

The role of Isca Project Officer is also be advertised (closes 3 March 2025). See her: https://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/job-isca-photographic-collection-project-officer-closes-3-march-2

Image: Workers at the Bodleys Foundry on Commercial Road, Exeter.