George Szirtes reads his award-winning memoir about his mother, Magda. Her turbulent life reflects the drama of the 20th century.

She survived incarceration in two different concentration camps during the Second World War and then settled in Hungary - but fled with her family in 1956. Arriving as a refugee in London, serious illness forced her to abandon professional photography and to live at home as a housewife, where she began the process of “Englishing” her family.

The Photographer at Sixteen reveals a life told backwards, from the depths of Magda’s final days to her girlhood as an ambitious photographer in Budapest. The woman who emerges is beautiful, energetic, direct, warm and passionate. It is a book born of curiosity, of guilt, and of love.

With thanks to Colin Ford CBE for highlighting this broadcast

The Photographer at Sixteen - George Szirtes
BBC Radio 4 from 15 March and then for four further episodes daily and on BBC Sounds 
See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000t418/episodes/guide

The Guardian newspaper has reported that the E Chambré Hardman studio negatives in Liverpool is deteriorating. It noted: The National Trust faces a “race against time” to save a historic collection of previously unseen photographs before they deteriorate.

Renowned Liverpool photographer Edward Chambré Hardman’s collection of 140,000 prints and negatives passed to the National Trust, along with his house, in 2003 but some negatives were found to be “actively deteriorating and emitting toxic gases”.

The under-threat prints were not properly conserved by Hardman at his studio on Rodney Street in the Georgian quarter of Liverpool and initial inspections revealed serious problems in the way some items had been stored.

Read the full story here: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/mar/03/edward-chambre-hardman-national-trust-in-race-against-time-to-save-liverpool-photographers-archive

Photographs: © Michael Pritchard. The Chambré Hardman House and darkroom. 

This workshop, led by Almudena Romero, will give you detailed knowledge on chlorophyll printing (and on other sustainable photographic methods), including the science behind the process, tips and recommendations, info on suppliers,  process steps and troubleshooting techniques, to help you to make great chlorophyll prints from home. 

Starting with an introduction to a range of sustainable, yet little-known, early (1840s) photographic techniques, this workshop thoroughly explains sustainable photographic processes' history, science and practice. 

Get to play with photography in an unusual and environmentally friendly manner and produce beautiful image-objects for your home and friends.

See more and book here. 

When Anna Bertha Röntgen first glanced at the radiographic picture of her hand she is supposed to have said “I have seen my death!” and refused to take part in any similar experiments. In a brief time however, this new way of seeing the body forever altered the landscape of both popular culture and the visual arts.

This talk explores how X-rays and other medical imaging techniques have had their diagnostic capacity repurposed and subverted, becoming an integral part of experimental artistic practices. It follows a historical trajectory, from the early works of the avant-garde to contemporary interdisciplinary projects and artist residences within imaging facilities. It discusses the interactions between artists and medical practitioners, as well as its impact on viewers of the general public: what changed from the time Mikhail Larionov and Francis Picabia were engaging in explorations of the radiographic gaze? How is the meeting point of art, medical science and technology framed in the works of contemporary artists such as Matthew Cox, Mona Hatoum and Paulina Siniatkina? The talk will also highlight lesser known creations and initiatives from the former Eastern bloc, highlighting X-ray depictions and the medical gaze as part of the state apparatus, through the works of artists such as A.I. Kurnakov, Morozov Anatoly Alekseevich, Obrosov Igor Pavlovich and Levichev Yuri Ivanovich.

Looking Inwards: The Role of Medical Imaging Technology in 20th and 21st Century Visual Art

Tuesday 16 March  1-2pm (UK time) on Zoom.

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/91441604082

Meeting ID: 914 4160 4082

Passcode: 195522

See: https://chstmphdblog.wordpress.com/lunchtime-seminars/

William Van Sommer (1859–1941) was a little-known amateur photographer who left behind a unique collection of images of his local Surrey landscape and favourite gardens in colour.

He took his pictures in an era when gardens were known for their waves of colour – for the contrasting shades of their rock gardens and the vibrant hues of their herbaceous borders. Yet the Edwardian garden was seldom captured in colour photography at the time.

Van Sommer’s beautiful ‘autochrome’ pictures provide a rare glimpse of the colours of these gardens of the past. Read on to discover some of the earliest colour images of the great outdoors including the first known colour photographs of RHS Wisley.

Read more about him and see his autochromes here: https://www.rhs.org.uk/digital-collections/william-van-sommer

If anyone has more information about Van Sommer and his photography feel free to contact Sarah McDonald, Heritage Collections Manager at the RHS. 

The exhibition has been created by RHS Lindley Library. Based at the Royal Horticultural Society’s headquarters at Vincent Square in London, the Lindley Library holds a world-class collection of horticultural books, journals and botanical art.

The University of West of England's Centre for Fine Print Research in Bristol is running a series of photographic process workshops aimed at, amongst others, artists, designers, craftspeople, communicators, photographers, teachers and managers. CPD courses offer the opportunity for professional updating, learning new skills and techniques, and for intellectual stimulus. 

They will run in the summer of 2021 and cover early photographic printing processes, photogravure, platinum/palladium and preparing digital negatives, and are led by Dr Peter Moseley

Find out more and book here: https://rps.org/CFPR

Image: Dr Peter Moseley

An auction house has asked for identification of a photograph which will be offered at auction on 13 April 2021. There are two photographs in the lot. The photograph which has an unidentified photographer is a portrait of Julia Prinsep Stephen, née Jackson.

The other print shows Mary Louisa Fisher and Julia Prinsep Stephen (both née Jackson), and is attributed to James Mudd or Joseph Cundall. 

Any attributions - ideally with sources - would be welcome. 

This blog, published in 2020 looks at - and identifies - many of the photographers represented in this important art library. Much loved and perused by staff, students, and the general public in the know, the Conway Library is a collection of 9764 red boxes containing brown manila folders. The photographs glued on the brown manila mounts are black and white original prints showing places of architectural notice, often in painstaking detail. The variety, detail and beauty of the photographs, as well as the value of this research resource are well documented in this blog.

The list of photographers tells a completely new story about the library. No longer simply the story of the initial collectors, this is now also the story of the hundreds of people – students, staff or independent supporters – who donated the images.

Read the blog, see the list of photographers represented, and share your own knowledge: http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2020/06/30/who-made-the-conway-library/

The inaugural exhibition in the Chau Chak Wing Museum’s photography gallery examines the first photographic studios in New South Wales, Australia and the characters who ran them. The way we visualise much of the 19th century is framed by the work of commercial photographic studios. The new technology of photography, invented in 1839, led to the rise of these new businesses which found commercial opportunities in sales of photographs, especially portraits. The Business of Photography turns the lens onto the commercial studio, exploring the stories behind particular New South Wales photographers. Original photographs drawn from the Macleay Collection of historic photography are featured.

A supporting online/in-person event is: 

Art UK is holding a conference as the culmination of nearly four years' work to digitise thousands of sculptures across the UK, held in collections and seen in public spaces.

There will be talks from Art UK staff on sculpture digitisation, our learning and engagement programme and new sculpture discoveries through Art Detective. We will share best practice on photography of sculpture, running community engagement events and delivering innovative activities for schools, plus lectures on the historical photography of sculpture.

Talks from curators, art historians and learning professionals will consider public sculpture, innovative learning programmes, diversity and colonialism, and new discoveries in sculpture and sculptor research. These include presentations from our project partners VocalEyes, CultureStreet, the Royal Society of Sculptors and the Royal Photographic Society.

The conference's keynote session will see artist Jeremy Deller in conversation with renowned Classicist and Art UK Patron Mary Beard, as they discuss their views on public art in the UK. The discussion will touch on how they feel about the debate around contentious statues and their removal, and their thoughts on the role of art and sculpture in our public spaces.

Rediscovering our sculpture
11 and 12 March 2021
Free registration

See more: https://artuk.org/about/sculpture-conference

Prospect magazine has a feature by Emma Hartley which poses the question why were women photographers overlooked in the recent Netflix film The Dig. The photography of Mercie Lack and Barbara Wagstaff who documented the excavation at Sutton Hoo was removed and their roles replaced by a male photographer.  Separately  the role of Wagstaff has been largely overlooked in favour of Lack and it was only recently that her birth and death dates were known. 

Read more here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/arts-and-books/why-does-netflixs-the-dig-exclude-the-women-who-photographed-sutton-hoo

Image: The long boat discovered at Sutton Hoo as photographed by Barbara Wagstaff. Credit: The British Museum

Bonhams auction of Fine Books and Manuscripts on 31 March 2021 includes a copy of Reports of the Juries (1851-52) which is illustrated with 154 calotypes. The set of four volumes in an edition of approximately 130.   It is estimated at £15,000-20,000. 

See more here: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26772/lot/8/

The British Film Institute is seeking a Curatorial Specialist to join the BFI’s Curatorial department on a fixed term basis until March 2022 to work on the Heritage 2022 project; digitising 100,000 video works from the collections of the BFI and partner archives in order to preserve the collections for future generations.

Key Responsibilities 

• Work with curators and curatorial archivists to process video material to support delivery of the BFI’s Heritage 22 programme, identifying and inspecting materials in order to advise on conservation need. Ensure that materials are accurately described and documented on the BFI’s documentation system.
• Bring an understanding of the history of film, television and the moving image to support curatorial archivists in recommending preservation and conservation workflows for video and other archive materials as part of the Heritage 22 programme. In consultation with curators, assign and amend preservation status applied to holdings and update the Collections Information Database (CID).
• Use the Collections Information Database (CID) tool to accurately catalogue archive materials to internationally agreed standards and undertake materials research for programming, conservation or preservation. Use spreadsheets and information databases to bulk import or export metadata describing the collections.
• Research the BFI National Archive using the Collections Information Database (CID) to identify best materials for potential curatorial programmes.

See more and apply here: https://bfijobsandopportunities.bfi.org.uk/

A call for papers has been made by Museu del Cinema, The Department of History & History of Art at the University of Girona and the Ministry Project “Virtual worlds in early cinema: devices, aesthetics and audiences”. The organisers are seeking papers that respond to: 

Topic A: Virtual worlds in early cinema: devices, aesthetics and audiences
- Media archaeology. The archaeological study of the devices previous or contemporary to the cinematograph might be helpful to introduce the History of cinema inside a much broader process, focused on the evolution of visual devices, screens and projection/audition systems.
- The viewer experience in the face of the visual spectacles. In order to comprehend the devices’ impact. It is fundamental to know which was the audience experience in front of the images.
- Virtual experiences on early films. Another research path might draw from the period existing films, in order to check how new sensorial ways are glimpsed in them. The idea of considering early cinema films as spaces to the visual attraction can lead us to consider the realist simulation effects that they gather.
- Immersive spectacles and virtualization. The study of leisure spaces from them past reflects the existence of hybrid spectacle systems, between cinema, theatre, magic lantern which proposed specific forms of exhibition and enhanced theatre viewer immersion in possible worlds.
- Bridges between the past and the development of virtual technology in the present. It is possible to establish a thinking that carries out a revision of the past through a double logic based on the analysis of the re-use by the new technologies of pre-existing techniques and other based on the aesthetic reflection around virtuality modes in the present and its connection with other aesthetic achievements that were developed in a moment of transformation and reuse of the means of communication.
Topic B: pre-cinema and early cinema
- Presentation of works in progress on pre-cinema or cinema until 1915.

Deadline for papers: 5 May 2021
Conference 20 and 21 October 2021. 

See more here: https://www.girona.cat/shared/admin/docs/c/a/call_for_papers.eng.pdf

St Andrews University is offering a MLitt in History of Photography. The course provides a range of innovative modules that cover areas from the origins of photography to contemporary practices and debates, including modernist art photography, documentary approaches, photographic collections, and technological advances up to the digital era. 

The MLitt in History of Photography is a taught postgraduate programme run by the School of Art History. The MLitt offers a unique opportunity to study the history of photography as a specialised field of research. Highlights include:

• This innovative degree is inspired by the important role played by St Andrews in the early history of the most influential visual medium of the modern era.
• Students are introduced to the theoretical and methodological challenges and debates that photography’s multiple functions and contexts have provoked since its invention.
• Classes make full use of the outstanding photographic collections of Special Collections, University Library and associated photographic archives.
• Small class sizes prioritise discussion with peers and interaction with the tutor.
• Students may apply to take part in exchange programmes at our partner institutions.

Course starts 6 September 2021. Applications by 11 August 2021 at the latest. 

Read more here: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/art-history/history-photography-mlitt/#d.en.93814

The Horner Collection is a group of over 1000 photographs which were taken by the Horner photography studio in Settle for three generations from 1864 to 1960. Their photographs capture the changing faces and places of Settle and the surrounding areas for nearly a hundred years.

The Museum of North Craven Life is crowdfunding to secure the collection, digitise and preserve it in Settle where the studio was located. The collection includes many original glass plate negatives which will need careful conservation and storage.

The museum has secured a £1500 grant from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund and needs to match this and pay for transport and associated costs. So far it has raised £3145 of £4000.

See more and lend your support here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/horner-collection

In December 1920, in the aftermath of the first world war photographs appeared in a London magazine which apparently proved the existence of fairies. Embraced by believers, dissected by sceptics, and sprinkled with celebrity by Arthur Conan Doyle, the Cottingley Fairy Photographs fascinated everyone.

One hundred years later, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh, has collaborated with young people living in Edinburgh to reflect on image-making and image-faking. Their work is shown here, alongside artists and photographers who engage with the legacy of the Cottingley Fairies.

See: https://stills.org/exhibitions/photographing-fairies/

The Scottish Council on Archives Preservation Committee has announced its first webinar in its latest series: Focus on Photography. From identifying photographic type and how to care for them to dating images through fashion, these sessions will explore many different aspects of managing photographs in archive collections. Designed for archivists and anyone with photographs in their collection, the webinars will give practical advice from experts, and offer guidance on caring, storing, and cataloguing items.

Each session will take place on Zoom and run for around thirty minutes, featuring a short presentation with plenty of opportunity for your questions. We are delighted to be working with Susie Clark, photographic conservator, for our initial workshops.

Session One: Getting to Grips with Your Photographic Collection

Wednesday 24 February, 12:00-12:30

This session will provide an outline of the ways in which you might divide up photographic collections, whether into positives and negatives, black and white and colour, or by subject matter, format, or materials, and why each may be relevant.

Registration is free, via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/141270769675

other events can be seen here: https://www.scottisharchives.org.uk/events/

Susie Clark ACR ICON is an accredited Photographic Conservator and Consultant with many years of experience. She has worked for a large number of institutions, organizations and private individuals in Britain and abroad. She was the recipient of the Museums and Galleries Commission Jerwood Conservation Award for Research and Innovation for her work on the conservation of wet collodion positives. She was also the conservator for the Collaborative Research Project between the National Science and Media Museum and the Getty Conservation Institute looking at characteristics of different photographic processes. She has taught for many organizations and written for many publications. She is currently Assistant Co-ordinator for the ICOM-CC Photographic Materials Group and a committee member of the York Consortium for Conservation and Craftmanship which provides bursaries. She was previously a committee member of the Film and Sound Group of the Society of Archivists. She was recently an Honorary Teaching Fellow for the Centre for Archive and Information Studies at the University of Dundee.

The Florentine has announced that: the Alinari Archive, with its over five million items from the 1840s to the present day, was purchased by the Region of Tuscany at the end of 2019 and now has a new home. It is now under the management of the new Alinari Foundation (Fondazione Alinari), which has the scope of conserving and promoting the archive. The foundation announced its new home - the historic Villa Fabbricotti or Arcipressi, in Florence - and plans for the future, including a museum, although the location has yet to be determined.

Read the full piece here: https://www.theflorentine.net/2021/02/16/new-alinari-foundation/

After the success of last year’s inaugural 'Sessions on the History of Stereoscopic Photography' held virtually at the 3D-Con (annual conference), the National Stereoscopic Association is again seeking papers on the history of stereography for its second annual “Sessions.”

We seek presentations on any aspect of stereo-media from the inception of stereoscopic photography to contemporary virtual and augmented reality. Topics include but are not limited to: historical and archival discoveries; studies on collecting and the culture of stereography; marketing and incorporation; intersectionality; immersive media, interactivity and performance; stereoscopic perception; 3D cinema and virtual reality; instrumentality and simulation. Papers on topics from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century are invited. The conference will be held in 3D on zoom.

The National Stereoscopic Association’s
Sessions on the History of Stereoscopic Photography
a virtual conference of the 47^th 3D-Con 
August 12, 2021
Deadline for abstracts: May 15, 2021.

Please send an abstract of 500 words, a biography of 250 words, and an information sheet found at:  https://3d-con.com/files/2020NSASessionsCallforPapersSessions.docx

email to: Melody Davis, davism6@sage.edu

Notification of acceptance by May 31, 2021.  Digital images will be expected by July 16, 2021.