The V&A has created a range of PhD placements based in collections departments, archives, the National Art Library, research, and collections care and access to support the professional development of PhD researchers across the UK and internationally. In addition to on-the-job experience and mentoring from supervisors, PhD placement students will have access to the Museum’s wider range of workshops, talks and postgraduate training opportunities, alongside a training package designed for the PhD placement cohort. Depending on the project, placements may combine onsite and remote work, with the exact working pattern agreed between the student and placement supervisors.

This placement will explore the V&A’s collection of photographs documenting the construction of the 1862 Exhibition building, designed by Captain Francis Fowke and formerly located on the site now occupied by the Natural History Museum and Science Museum. The collection includes approximately 260 photographs, comprising images commissioned by the Department of Science and Art during construction and photographs of the completed building contained within Spackmann’s scrapbook. These materials provide a valuable resource for understanding the technical and social history of the building but remain relatively understudied.

The placement researcher will investigate the potential of the photographic collection through close analysis and primary and secondary source research. Working with V&A researchers and curators, the student will explore the construction process, architectural techniques, and social history documented by the photographs, including evidence of labour practices, prefabrication, and the role of the Royal Engineers. The project may also consider the potential for visual or 3D reconstruction of the building and will contribute to the V&A’s understanding and future public presentation of this important collection.

V&A PhD Placement – A Visual Narrative: Photography and the Construction of the 1862 Building
Apply immediately - no set expiry date
No salary
Supported by Simona Valeriani, Ella Ravilious, and Patrizia Di Bello
See details here

Dimbola Museum and Gallery, the former home of Julia Margaret Cameron in Freshwater, Isle of Wight, has renamed its main gallery space the Colin Ford Gallery. In a ceremony at the end of a two-day convening celebrating and exploring Cameron, her life and work, Sue Grayson Ford, Colin's widow, spoke about Colin's legacy and involvement with Cameron and inveiled the name plaque that will be installed in the gallery.

Colin Ford CBE was the first Head of the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television and a scholar of Cameron. He had supported the setting up of Dimbola as a permanent museum celebrating Cameron and her circle, and co-authored the Julia Maragaret catalogue raisonné. Colin died in December 2025. 

See the Dimbola website here

Images: © Michael Pritchard

Coinciding with the major exhibition The Joseph Hage Aaronson & Bremen Exhibition: Hepworth in Colour in the Courtauld’s Denise Coates Exhibition Galleries, this display brings together a remarkable group of photographs of Barbara Hepworth (1903–1975) and Ben Nicholson’s (1894–1982) shared London studio at 7 The Mall, Hampstead, taken in the early 1930s by the fine art photographer Paul Laib (1869–1958).

The photographs, which are held in the Courtauld’s collection, are among the most evocative and iconic studio images taken in Britain during the 20th century. As well as portraits and exquisite photographs of individual artworks, the images show their studio populated with sculptures, paintings and prints, carefully arranged side by side with carving tools, plants and other objects. The display has been curated by Gerlind May and Chloe Nahum. 

This display will offer a captivating insight into Hepworth and Nicholson’s London studio environment, which they occupied until moving to Cornwall in 1939, and which was the setting for a period of intense collaboration and experimentation for the two artists. It will also shine new light on Paul Laib, who photographed the work of many eminent British artists in the first half of the twentieth century.

Hepworth and Nicholson: The Hampstead Studio Photographs
6 June – 4 October 2026
Courtauld Gallery, Project Space, Floor 2
See: https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/hepworth-and-nicholson-the-hampstead-studio-photographs/

alongside the display read an accompanying blog post: In the studio with Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson which discusses the photographs. 

Image: Paul Laib (1869-1958), The studio at 7 The Mall with various works by Ben Nicholson, June 1933. Modern gelatin silver print from the original glass plate negative. The de Laszlo Collection of Paul Laib Negatives, Courtauld Institute of Art. Ben Nicholson © All rights reserved, DACS; Paul Laib © The de Laszlo Foundation

The Hardmans’ Liverpool - A Legacy in Light: from Street to Studio invites audiences to experience Liverpool in the early to mid‑twentieth century through the photographic eyes of Edward Chambré and Margaret Hardman. See the city represented via evocative scenes before and after the Second World War. Everyday moments and familiar locations are elevated through an artistic play of composition, angle, light and shadow. As Margaret herself poetically wrote of one major Liverpool landmark ‘I know and love you in a thousand lights’.

From busy streets to serene studio sittings – this same creativity was applied to the Hardmans’ commercial portraiture, produced in their studios on Bold Street and later at 59 Rodney Street. Here they welcomed thousands of Liverpudlians and visitors to the city, photographing young children, newly-weds, artists, actors, soldiers, families and even pets to name a few. The studio took on particular significance during the Second World War, when portraiture of men and women in service – and the loved ones they left behind – played an important role in sustaining morale and supporting the war effort. Together with their photography documenting life beyond the studio, these works reflect the Hardmans’ exceptional vision of – and deep connection to – Liverpool.

The selected content on display, ranging from original photographic prints to letters and medals, is drawn from the National Trust’s vast Hardmans’ archive on deposit at Liverpool Central Library. The contribution of volunteers is reflected in the presentation of works recently conserved by them and staff over the course of several conservation projects – all supporting increased access and ongoing research into the Hardmans’ legacy. Additional material from the Hardmans’ House, including two of the photographers’ personal cameras, further enriches the exhibition.

Cultural Heritage Curator Amy Carney states “The Hardmans’ photographs have helped to shape how Liverpool is seen, remembered and understood today. Visitors are invited to consider their own relationship with the city, as well as with photography and memory itself.”

Enhancing this contemplation is the inclusion of images by Liverpool-based photographer and darkroom educator Rachel Brewster-Wright, founder of Little Vintage Photography. Commissioned to document The Hardmans House at 59 Rodney Street and to create new mini portraits of people posing in the historic Hardmans’ studio setting today, these prints instantly blend nostalgia with the present-day. National Curator of Photography, Anna Sparham, reflects how “They echo a shared desire to preserve meaningful moments – something that Chambré and Margaret’s customers sought, and successfully found, in their enduring and deeply relatable photographs of people and place”.

A further opportunity to experience being photographed in the original studio of The Hardmans’ House is available to book online, with sessions taking place on 26 August in collaboration with Little Vintage Photography. Free, limited sessions available. A guided Photo Walk between The Hardmans’ House and Liverpool Central Library is also programmed for 10 September.

In generous collaboration with Liverpool Central Library and supported by photo printing expert CEWE and Little Vintage Photography

The Hardmans’ Liverpool.  A Legacy in Light: from Street to Studio
5 June-28 September 2026
Hornby Library, Liverpool Central Library

Images: (Top): National Trust/capture Robert Thrift; (Below): © National Trust/Jayne Knight

The Curatorial Fellowship in Photography, supported by The Bern Schwartz Family Foundation is an opportunity to further develop expertise in the history of photography by researching the collections of the V&A, while gaining vital curatorial experience working in a museum. The Curatorial Fellow will divide their time between key curatorial duties and pursuing an independent research project, which may relate to portraiture, colour photography or photographic processes, all areas of interest to the American photographer Bern Schwartz and The Bern Schwartz Family Foundation. The topic and scope of the project will be agreed at the start of the fellowship, depending on the Fellow’s expertise and the priorities of the Photography Section.

Details and apply: https://vam.current-vacancies.com/Jobs/Advert/4213163?cid=3279&rsid=24732&js=0&LinkType=1&FromSearch=False

Birkbeck and MuseumsEtc warmly invite BPH readers to join them for the launch of an important new trilogy of publications by Jo Spence and Terry Dennett, featuring previously unpublished and unknown images, interviews and texts. Please join us for the book launch of these new, groundbreaking publications.

The event will also celebrate the 92nd anniversary of Jo Spence’ birth and raise a toast to Jo Spence and Terry Dennett’s legacies as part of the exhibition "‘The Project Remains Incomplete": Jo Spence, Curated by Terry Dennett' a, 2008 show Terry Dennett took to Finland, and restaged by a curatorial team from Birkbeck, led by Patrizia Di Bello at Peltz Gallery, London.  

In short talks, Patrizia di Bello, Birkbeck University, Shirley Read & Graeme Farnell (MuseumsEtc), Julia Winckler, (Series Advisory Editor, University of Brighton) and Andrew Dewdney (Series contributor), will introduce the new trilogy, followed by Q&A and tributes.  

‘I would like my life to be celebrated on my Birthdays (June 15th)’ / Jo Spence, 11 January 1992, in her notes ‘Thoughts on Dying (Being Constructive)’

Monday, 15 June, 18:00 – 20:00
Peltz Gallery, 43 Gordon Square London WC1H 0PD
RSVP to launch@museumsetc.com

See more: https://www.bbk.ac.uk/research/centres/peltz-gallery and https://museumsetc.com/

Brighton's first photographer, William Constable, was commemorated with a blue heritage plaque at the site of his studio, 57 Marine Parade. Constable was a Beard licensee and operated the daguerreotype process from late 1841 making it one of the first studios in Britain. The plaque was unveuiled on Friday by Claire Constable, William's great, great, great niece and biographer, and the historian Philippe Garner. Members of the extended Constable family, Brighton's blue plaque committee, and other guests were also present. 

Separately, work has been undertaken by Professor Annebella Pollen and two of her PhD students Sally Jones and Sylvie Jane Lewis, from the University of Brighton, alongside Shannon Perich of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The museum owns 130 of Constable's daguerreotypes made between 1841 and 1861, donated by the collector Albert Boni (1892-1981) who purchased the Constable Collection from Parke-Bernet auction house in 1970. They were given to the museum in 1972 as part of a large group of photographic materials.

A digitisation project along with new research will go live in the summer. BPH will report further when the project goes live. 

The research was part of a AHRC Techne / Smithsonian Virtual Placements programme to research the photographer’s history, his contributions to the field and to Brighton, to improve museum’s catalogue records. 

See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93xx23l9z3o

Claire's multi-volume series on the Constable family is out of print. The volume dealing with William is The Constables of Brighton and Reigate: William - the Photographer, Clair - the Town Clerk, (Book Guild Publishing Ltd, 2005,  ISBN 13: 9781846240058).

Image: (top): Philippe Garner and Claire Constable unveil the plaque to William. © Michael Pritchard; (right) The University of Brighton team with Philippe and Claire. © Michael Pritchard; (left): Portrait of Leone Glukman, William Constable and Clair James Grece. Daguerreotype by William Constable. c.1841-1850. PG 71 22 125.  Credit: Courtesy of Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. William Constable (centre) poses for a portrait with his friend and fellow daguerreotypist Leone Glukman (above), and his nephew, Clair James Grece (below). Constable used a rotating platform in his photographic studio at 57 Marine Parade to maximise the available natural light. This portrait shows the rotating platform in use.  

A former furniture store will become Bermondsey 223, run by the team behind Peckham 24, in what is claimed to become the UK's first public venue wholly dedicated to new talent in contemporary photography.The space is situated in The Blue Market, Southwark Park Road, London, SE16, in one of South London's historic working-class communities. The building which was acquired by Southwark Council in 2018 has been empty since then and will be fully refurbished by Ark Build plc. Construction started in March ready for handover in late 2026, with a programme set to begin in 2027. Peckham 24 was appointed in 2025. 

Cllr John Batteson, Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, Jobs and Business, said:  'This latest step towards completing our very own photography-based arts centre in Bermondsey is exciting for the whole community. It will provide a creative space and cultural hub in a much-loved location in The Blue for everyone to access and enjoy. I look forward to Ark Build delivering a space that reflects that excitement and community feeling and we’re really pleased to have them on board for this project.'

As well as developing and incubating new talent, Bermondsey 223's social purpose will be to increase the presence of working class youth in the arts and make art accessible to all.  The fully refurbished building is situated in one of South London's most historic working-class communities. As well as developing and incubating new talent, its social purpose will be to increase the presence of working class youth in the arts and make art accessible to all. It will house: 

• A world-class cultural venue for contemporary photography and visual culture
• A public gallery and screening space 
• A year round programme of free exhibitions and events
• A community driven learning programme 
• A working community of affordable artist studios and creative workspaces

• A photo studio and event space for hire

The ground floor will feature a large public exhibition space and dedicated screening room, with a programme of four major exhibitions per year. All exhibitions will be free to enter. Also on the ground floor: a professional photography studio for hire and a flexible multipurpose space for artist talks, workshops, late-night openings, and community events. The first floor will be home to up to ten artist studios and creative workspaces, some of which will be subsidised as part of Bermondsey 223’s artist development programme. Subject to build specification, the venue will also offer rooftop access for photography shoots.

The learning and participation programme will span three areas: artist development (residencies, mentoring, work experience and employability pathways for emerging photographers and curators), youth education (after-school and summer photography clubs, multi-media skills training, curated exhibitions of young people’s work) and community programmes (including a Senior Photo Club addressing social isolation, a community archive project, and lifelong learning for local residents). The social context is stark. Fewer than one in ten arts workers in the UK have working-class roots — a figure that falls even lower in parts of London (Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, 2024). Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has pledged to ensure that 'creativity can be explored by all and not just the privileged few'. Bermondsey 223 is built to be part of that answer.

Alongside new artistic commissions, artists and collaborators from previous editions of Peckham 24 have been invited back to show how their practice has developed since they first exhibited with the festival — a living retrospective of a decade’s work and a tribute to the community the festival has helped to build.

Bermondsey 223 has been developed by the team behind Peckham 24, London's independent satellite event to Photo London which started in 2016. The new venue will be committed to supporting the careers of emerging talent in photography and to arts education in the local community.  Simon Bishop and Vivienne Gamble, Co-Directors P24 Photo CIC  commented: “For ten years, Peckham 24 has created career-defining moments for photographers who would otherwise have struggled to find a platform. Bermondsey 223 means we can now do that not just for three days in May, but every week of the year.”

Outreach activities are expected to start in the summer, in advance of the building opening. A nationwide Open Call for new UK talent to exhibit in the inaugural programme at Bermondsey 223 launched at Peckham 24. The P24 X Hahnemühle Spotlight Series will be a major new talent programme, offering much-needed exhibition and mentoring opportunities for graduates of university photography programmes around the UK, as well as opportunities for self-taught artists to access a platform to help develop successful artistic careers.

P24 Photo Ltd is a community interest company incorporated on 7 May 2025. Its two directors are Simon Bishop and Vivienne Gamble. 

Sign up for updated and see: https://www.bermondsey223.com/

Image: (left, top): 223 Southwark Park Road, courtesy Southwark News; (right and lower, left): visualisations of the new gallery space. 

Edinburgh's Lyon and Turnbull auction house has five lots of books relating to T & R Annan from the estate of the late Eric Sloane. Amongst the lots is a first edition of Glasgow Improvements Act 1866. Photographs of Streets, Closes, etc. taken 1868-71, with albumen prints (estimate £10,000-15,000). The photographer Thomas Annan, who had a studio in the city and who specialised in architectural photography, was appointed to record, between 1868 and 1871, the character and conditions of the area prior to demolition.A few copies (probably around 4-8 volumes) of 31 albumen prints from Annan's original negatives were collected together for the City Improvement Trust in c. 1871. Bound in green morocco leather, the album bore Glasgow’s coat of arms with the motto ‘Let Glasgow Flourish.’ These copies were probably distributed to members of the delegation, led by Lord Provost Blackie, which included Glasgow’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr William Tennant Gairdner, and John Carrick, which had visited the Continent in early 1866 to see examples of slum clearances and rebuilding in European cities. 

Other lots include: The Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry First edition,1870, one of 120 copies only (estimate £400-600), Memorials of the Old College of Glasgow, first edition, 1871 (estimate £400-600), and University of Glasgow Old and New, 1891, one of 50 deluxe copies on large paper (estimate £500-800).

Books & Manuscripts auction
16 June 2026
Lyon and Turnbull, Ediburgh
See: https://www.lyonandturnbull.com/auctions/books-and-manuscripts-905 (search Annan)

From 12 July to 27 September, Blenheim Palace will be showcasing a major photography exhibition, Life Through a Royal Lens, which explores the British Royal Family’s enduring relationship with the camera; from the reign of Queen Victoria right through to the present day. The display of over 100 of the most iconic royal photographs can be enjoyed in the Long Library, the largest room in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which will be transformed into a gallery. Alongside iconic photographs will be intimate images which share a glimpse of the Royal Family off duty.

The exhibition features images by pioneering Victorian photographers, modern royal portraitists like Cecil Beaton, Marcus Adams, Annie Leibovitz, and Rankin, as well as photos taken by Royal Family members themselves. Highlights include the last public photograph of Queen Elizabeth II and portraits from the first three years of King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s reign, including Josh Shinner’s recent image of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and their children.

Life Through a Royal Lens has been curated by Historic Royal Palaces – the independent charity that cares for Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London, Kensington Palace and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens – and is toured by Nomad Exhibitions.

To coincide with Life Through a Royal Lens, visitors are invited to step into the opulent State Rooms for daily tours at 12pm (12 July-27 September) led by a costumed guide, to give insight into the 300 year history of Blenheim Palace. Here, guests will also have the opportunity to see the Green Drawing Room dressed with a regal dining table, set up in preparation for a visit from the monarchy. The dining table setting design is to mark 130 years since the Prince & Princess of Wales visited Blenheim Palace.

The royal theme will continue to the Life Below Stairs, an immersive experience which offers a unique glimpse into the 1890s, showcasing the hard work and camaraderie of the Blenheim Palace team as they prepared for a royal visit, taking inspiration from the real-life event.

Life through a Royal Lens
12 July-27 Septemvber 2026
Blenheim Palace, Woodstock OX20 1PS
See more and purchase tickets visit www.blenheimpalace.com/whats-on/events/life-through-a-royal-lens/

Image: The Duke and Duchess of Windsor late in their marriage portraying a happy life with a jovial pug. © Royal Collection Enterprises Ltd 2025 / Royal Collection Trust

Today we remember David Wrightson, MCD BArch DipConservation (IoAAS York) RIBA and Freeman of the City of London (1940-2026) — an architectural photographer, historian, and architect whose quiet mastery preserved a Malta that no longer exists, and whose images transformed documentation into art.

In October 1964, as a young architecture student on a one-year scholarship in Rome, David Wrightson arrived in Malta at a pivotal historical moment, just weeks after Malta’s Independence. Hand-picked by the renowned architectural historian and professor Quentin Hughes to photograph material for Quentin’s publication Fortress, Wrightson produced an extraordinary body of work that captured the islands with remarkable sensitivity, precision, and humanity.

What began as an academic photographic assignment evolved into one of the most important visual records of post-war Malta. Through his lens, fortified cities, baroque streetscapes, vernacular houses, fishing villages, churches, harbours, and everyday urban life were immortalised with an eye that instinctively understood architecture not merely as structure, but as atmosphere, memory, and lived experience.

His photographs for Quentin Hughes’s Fortress Malta remain invaluable historical documents, yet they are far more than archival records. Wrightson possessed a rare ability to balance geometry with emotion — the harsh Mediterranean light against golden limestone, the monumental against the intimate, the timelessness of bastions alongside fleeting moments of ordinary life.

That same timeless quality defined his celebrated black-and-white architectural photography for books such as Seaport, Architecture in Glasgow, and Inn Liverpool. In these works, Wrightson demonstrated an extraordinary sensitivity to urban form, texture, shadow, and scale. His monochrome images stripped architecture down to its essential character, revealing rhythm, proportion, and atmosphere with remarkable clarity. Whether documenting the dense Victorian fabric of Glasgow or the layered urban identity of Liverpool, his photographs transcended mere architectural record-making; they became studies in memory, permanence, and the evolving life of cities themselves. Even decades later, the images retain a striking contemporary power.

For half a century, the negatives from that 1964 journey remained largely unseen, quietly preserved by David.  He was very pleased that they were eventually repatriated to Malta. Their publication in 2024 as Malta Through the Lens – David Wrightson introduced a new generation to the extraordinary vision of a photographer who had unknowingly created an irreplaceable cultural treasure. The updated volume revealed over 150 photographs — many never before published — documenting a Malta suspended between tradition and modernity.

There is something profoundly moving about Wrightson’s work today. The Malta he photographed in 1964 changed immensely, and upon his only return to the Islands after sixty years to the day from 1964, his disappointment was palpable. His images now stand not only as works of photographic excellence, but as acts of preservation — safeguarding streets, skylines, textures, and ways of life that have since disappeared or dramatically changed.

Though David Wrightson described himself modestly as an 'enthusiastic amateur photographer', his work tells a different story. His photographs demonstrate the discipline of an architect, the patience of a documentarian, and the eye of a true artist. His legacy now forms an essential part of Malta’s visual and architectural heritage. David Wrightson gave Malta more than photographs, he gave it memory, and Malta will remember David Wrightson lovingly and gratefully in return.

Dr Charles Paul Azzopardi, FRPS

The Paul Mellon Centre has a number of photographic history-related events coming up - online and in person. They include: 

• Visualising the Commonwealth in Post-War Britain. Maryam Ohadi-Hamadani. 12 June 2026 - 1:00 – 2:00 pm. A light lunch and refreshments are provided at the event.
• Photo State: Experiments in Eaton-escence. Christopher Pinney. 19 June 2026 - 5:30 – 7:30 pm
• Ordinary Lives: Photographic Encounters with Black Victorians. Caroline Bressey. 26 June 2026 - 1:00 – 2:00 pm. A light lunch and refreshments are provided at the event.
• Writing the Object, Writing the World. Jennifer Raab. 1 July 2026 - 5:00 – 7:00 pm

See all forthcoming events here

Studies in Photography is publishing the latest scholarship from Sara Stevenson Hill and Adamson’s The Fisherwomen and Men of the Firth of Forth. This new volume brings together many previously unpublished photographs by the pioneering Scottish photographers David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, created in collaboration with Jessie Mann. Across 160 beautifully produced pages, the book reintroduces one of the most important bodies of work in the history of photography.

Focusing on the fishing communities of the Firth of Forth—especially the village of Newhaven—these images are widely regarded as the world’s first social documentary photographs. At their heart are the fisherwomen: strong, resilient, and central to the life and economy of their community. Their presence, alongside the fishermen, is captured with extraordinary sensitivity through the calotype process, whose soft tonalities give these portraits a timeless immediacy.

This publication restores balance to the historical narrative and invites a fresh encounter with images that continue to shape our understanding of photography today.

Hill and Adamson’s The Fisherwomen and Men of the Firth of Forth 
Sara Stevenson
Studies in Photography, 2026
£25, and use the BPH code for £5 off: H&A5
Available on pre-order, publication 11 May 2026
Details and order: https://studiesinphotography.com/collections/books/products/pre-order-hill-adamsons-fisherwomen-and-men-of-the-firth-of-forth

A set of limited edition Hill & Adamson prints is also available - click here.

Downloaded the information on the book and edition, including the BPH discount code in the PDF here:  BPH Final.pdf

In the V&A's continuing series of monthly blogs this latest post presents the archivist's view from Federica Beretta, the Royal Photographic Society Project Archivist. She reports on her progress unpacking and making sense of the documents, journals, correspondence and ephemera that make up the RPS Collection.

See:

2. Royal Photographic Society work in progress: the archivist’s perspective
1. Introducing the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) Project

Image: RPS ephemera: a collection of leaflets, private view cards and other documents from the early years to the 2000s. Image: Federica Beretta

In 1969, the Architectural Review magazine launched Manplan, a ground-breaking and often uncompromising assessment of Britain’s built environment at the end of the sixties. Photography lay at the heart of the series- through striking black and white reportage, Manplan revealed how architecture and urban planning shaped people’s daily lives, highlighting social issues that continue to be relevant today, such as inadequate housing, community, and loneliness.

Our touring exhibition Wide-Angle View brings this influential series to Liverpool, displaying over 80 original photographs capturing unique insights into society in the late 1960s. The exhibition features original work by renowned street photographers such as Ian Berry, Patrick Ward, and Tony Ray-Jones whose focus shifted to people and how they experience architecture rather than the buildings.  

Bold in tone and innovative in style, Manplan reframed conversations on urban development and brought attention to socially conscious design within the built environment. Combining pioneering graphic and print techniques with powerful photojournalism, the attention grabbing magazine sought to question and critique architectural ideas at the time.  

The Wide-Angle View exhibition reflects on its legacy and highlights the powerful role photography and design can still play in communicating and challenging over half a century on. 

Wide-Angle View: Architecture as social space in the Manplan series 1969 to 1970
Friday 10 July to Sunday 4 October 2026
Gallery 1, RIBA North, 21 Mann Island, Liverpool
Monday to Sunday, including bank holidays: 10am to 5.50pm
See RIBA North page and the Tate Liverpool website to plan your visit.

Image: Workers' housing in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with Dunston Power Station behind | Image: Tim Street-Porter | Credit: Architectural Press Archive / RIBA Collections

This new exhibition focuses on photographs and negatives in the Ashmolean, and as such features previously unseen photographs of India by Colonel Eugene Clutterbuck Impey (1830–1904). A member of the East India Company, Impey arrived in India in 1851 and took part in military actions during the Indian Uprising of 1857. After the British Crown took control in 1858 following the Uprising, he worked as a political agent until returning to Britain in 1878.  He was a member of the Amateur Photographic Association and exhibited his photography at the time. 

Impey’s photographs reflect British imperial interests, showcasing portraits of colonial officers and Indians, as well as staged scenes of daily life, clothing, religious sites, animals, and landscapes. These images often reinforced stereotypes with the aim to justify colonial efforts. Photography, which gained popularity after its debut in 1839, was used to highlight cultural differences. From the mid-1800s British officials documented various social groups in India, often categorising people by ethnicity.

The Impey collection includes 247 glass negatives preserved at the Ashmolean. New albumen prints for display have been made by Tim Pearse of Bristol's Negative Thinking darkroom. 

A book of the exhibition by Mallica Kumbera Landrus, Keeper of the Eastern Art Department in the Ashmolean Museum, and priced at £25 is also available. The publication presents a discussion of colonial India, as seen in the 19th century photographs of Colonel Eugene Clutterbuck Impey, a British soldier and administrator who was a member of the East India Company. Offering sight into the past and highlighting the political purposes of ethnographic photography in the context of the British Empire. 

Except for three brief articles, published between the 1980s and 1990s, this will be the first book length publication to consider Impey’s images of 19th century India. In the 19th century, photography and colonial ethnography were tools of British governance on the subcontinent. Colonial officers were asked to submit photographs on various subjects across India. Images of people, place and space was seen as useful surveillance documentation to observe, understand and control native communities. Eugene Clutterbuck Impey (1830-1904) arrived in India in 1851 and lived there until his retirement in 1878. He served as political agent at different posts across the country. The Eastern Art archives include over 250 negatives and photographs of Impey’s images of people, architectural sites, and landscapes.

Contributors to this publication are Marwa Ahmed, Geoffrey Batchen, Radhica Ganapathy, Julia A. B. Hegewald, Aparna Kumar, Dane Kennedy, Nayanika Mathur, Tim Pearse, Chaitanya Sambrani, Giles Tillotson.

Colonial views of India. Photographs by Eugene Clutterbuck Impey
Until 13 December 2026
Free, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
https://www.ashmolean.org/exhibition/colonial-views-of-india-impey-photographs

Image: Seated girl, 1858-1865.

A talented amateur photographer, William Jackson (1893-1966), was captivated by the dramatic compositions and subjects he found along the rivers Hull and Humber. Taken in the years 1933-1949 these striking images are a snapshot of a maritime landscape in transition.

Also on display will be a collection of original material relating to the photographer and his life.

Industrial River: The photographs of William Jackson
2 June-21 November, during History Centre opening hours
Hull History Centre, Worship St., Hull, HU2 8BG
Free, all welcome
See: https://www.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/current-events.aspx

The University of St Andrews Photographic collection has been recognised as one of National Significance by Museums and Galleries Scotland. With approximately 1.6 million photographs in a wide variety of formats – including negatives on glass and film, lantern slides, prints, postcards, transparencies and born-digital images – the University of St Andrews is also thought to be the oldest photography collecting institution in the world. The announcement coincides with the collection moving to its new home in the centre of St Andrews, where the entire collection will be more accessible to researchers and the wider public.

The roots of the collection began with certain members of the St Andrews Literary and Philosophical Society, who worked with the English inventor of photography to develop and perfect the first photographic processes on paper in the late 1830s. These early experiments with salted paper now extend to the latest digital printing processes.  

The collection covers subject areas from social documentary to Scottish landscape, travel and exploration. It is uniquely important due to its completeness, depth and rarity, and provides extensive documentation of the social and cultural transformation of Scotland and its forays into the world, for nearly two hundred years. 

The photography collection will shortly move to 87 North Street (between the Main Library and Art History buildings). With improved storage conditions and climate control the phootgraphy collections will have a dedicate research area to accommodate researchers and small groups. It will be the first time the photographic collection will be in one place and it will be situated within the context of the wider Scottish art collection.

Speaking to BPH, Laura Brown, curator, photography, said  “We look forward to welcoming photography students and researchers the collection’s new home at the end of the summer. I’m very much looking forward to supporting more in-depth, long-term research.” 

Dr Katie Eagleton, University Librarian and Director of Collections and Museums at the University of St Andrews, said: “St Andrews has been collecting photography since the early 1840s, and today this is one of the most important among the University’s collections. We are delighted that our nationally (and internationally) important collection has been recognised, and look forward to continuing to develop it in the years to come.”

Nationally Significant Collections are named once every three years by Museums Galleries Scotland on behalf of the Scottish government. Together, the collections tell the stories of Scotland’s rich culture and history.

Thhe photography collection includes early photography in Scotland – There are several pioneers of early photography represented in the collection including John Adamson (physician and chemist), Thomas Rodger (St Andrews first professional photographer), and the artistic powerhouse of David Octavious Hill and Robert Adamson (John’s younger brother). These early images are preserved in period albums, each unique in its own right and often displays a good sense of humour.  Scottish Landscape and Topography – Creating a continuous and comprehensive visual record of Scotland from the 1850’s to the present day, this part of the collection numbers well over 250,000 images. One of the highlights is the archive of botanist Robert Moyes Adam who, through his work at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, photographed some of the most remote areas of the country between 1901-1956. Scotland at Home and Abroad - This part of the collection, covers Scots who stayed home, or went abroad – alongside those who made work in Scotland and then left, or made Scotland their home – for a time or forever. It make up about half of the collection – a staggering 800,000 images. The collection shows how Scottish identity has been represented, questioned, and reshaped. It includes the complete archives of Lady Gillmore, Franki Raffles, and Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, plus smaller groups of works by Maud Sulter, Sekai Machache, David Peat, George M Cowie, and the Document Scotland collective.

Images: (top): The Jo Selje tanker ship prior to the launch, in Kvaerner Govan shipyard, in Glasgow, Scotland, by Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, 1993, JSH-N41_018_10A; (centre): The Sick Baby (Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair and Professor William Macdonald) ca. 1855, ALB-6-131; (below): Mingulay, Robert Moyes Adam, 1905, RMA-S-115 

As flagged earlier this year on BPH the ground-breaking Victorian photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron, has been commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque at her former London home in Belgravia. The plaque was unveiled on 12 May at 10 Chesham Place which was the first London residence of the woman who would go on to transform the art of photography. Born in Calcutta in 1815, Julia Margaret Cameron arrived in England in 1848, living at Chesham Place as she settled into London life after years in India. Although she did not take up photography until later, while living on the Isle of Wight, this early London home placed her at the heart of the capital’s cultural world and the social and intellectual networks that would come to shape her remarkable career. She died in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, in 1879. 

Rebecca Preston, Historian at English Heritage, said: “This plaque marks the place in London where Julia Margaret Cameron cultivated the creativity and connections that would later inform her work and provide many of her subjects Though she did not take up photography until her 49th year, Cameron went on to become one of its most original and influential pioneers, redefining what a photographic portrait could be.”

Jules Cameron, DJ, actor and presenter and great-granddaughter of Julia Margaret Cameron, said: “Julia Margaret Cameron saw photography not simply as a record, but as a way of revealing the soul. To have her honoured with a blue plaque feels like a quiet continuation of her work fixing her presence once more in light and memory. She wasn’t interested in perfection, but in truth, in feeling, in humanity. A blue plaque feels entirely fitting for someone so gloriously unconventional, and I think she would have absolutely loved it.”

Cameron is best known for the striking photographs of leading figures in Victorian society including fellow blue plaque recipients Alfred Tennyson, Charles Darwin, Ellen Terry and Marie Spartali Stillman, as well as imaginative allegorical scenes featuring members of her family and household. Rejecting the sharp focus favoured by many contemporaries, she instead embraced soft focus and long exposure to capture what she described as the “inner life” of her subjects.

Though often criticised in her lifetime, Cameron’s work gained recognition from Sir Henry Cole who bought photographs from her for what is now the V&A Museum. She has since secured her reputation as one of the most important figures in the history of photography. The house at Chesham Place, her first London base, marks the beginning of a journey that would lead her to redefine the medium and influence generations of photographers

Other notable photographers commemorated by the scheme include John Thomson, Christina Broom, Lee Miller, Bill Brandt and Cecil Beaton. 

The English Heritage London Blue Plaques scheme is generously supported by David Pearl and members of the public.

Images: © Michael Pritchard.  (Top): Jules Cameron unveils the plaque at 10 Chesham Place. (right): the blue plaque; (left): collodion photographer Magda Kuca makes a collodion portrait of Jules and Antonia Cameron with Andrew Graham-Dixon looking on;  (below): Speakers at the event (l-r) Hannah Starkey, Dr Marta Weiss, Tim Walker, and Andrew Graham-Dixon. 

A Blue Plaque to William Constable is to be unveiled in Brighton on the 29 May 2026 at 57 Marine Parade. The unveiling is scheduled for 1130 and attendees are asked to gather for 1115. Following the unveiling those attending are encouraged to go for a fish and chip lunch in the restaurant on Brighton's Palace Pier.

William Constable (1783-1861) was the first person to open a photographic portrait studio in Brighton. A 58-year-old inventor who had previously worked as a flour miller and high street draper, he had recently been employed as a land and road surveyor. Constable's Photographic Institution opened on Monday, 8 November 1841 at 57 Marine Parade, a large four-storey building situated on Brighton’s eastern seafront, at the corner of Atlingworth Street. Holding an exclusive licence from Richard Beard, Constable had a virtual monopoly in the production of photographic portraits in Brighton between November 1841 and 1851. He closed his studio at number 57 in 1854. 

Read more about William Constable here: https://victorianedwardianphotographersinbrightonhove.uk/brighton-photographers-1841-1860/ and see: Philippe Garner, 'William Constable. Brighton's First Photography', History of Photography, 15(3), Autumn 1991, 236-240.

Image: A daguerreotype portrait of William Constable. Courtesy of Philippe Garner.