January 2017 Blog Posts (18)

Books from the fourth printing are now available.  Demand for the book has been much greater than expected. Since it was first offered in October, 2016, three printings have been totally sold out. The quality of the books from the four printings are indistinguishable. I personally inspect, sign, pack, and ship each book.

I have accomplished my goal of placing books in…

Britain in Focus: A Photographic History is a major new exhibition at the National Media Museum, exploring the fascinating and remarkable history of British photography; from everyday snapshots to world-renowned iconic images. It partners a three-part documentary series on BBC4 with the same name presented by award-winning…

I am in the process of cataloguing a very large - c.4500 - collection of medium format negatives that, I believe, were taken by Mr. J. G. Combes of Lincoln, and have discovered one negative in particular that is puzzling me.

The image is that of two ladies, one seated, one standing, posing on a garden path at an address I believe to be in Lincoln, and which was taken…

Don't Fence Me In provides an entire career retrospective, made with the enthusiastic cooperation of Fay Godwin, filming from 2001 until 2005, which turned out to be the last five years of her life. She graduated from taking family snaps to documenting Camden social services, followed by a remarkable sequence of literary portraits, before moving on to landscape photography for a series of walkers' books which evolved into photographic collaborations with major writers, notably Ted…

Fay Godwin - The Drovers' Roads of Wales and other photographs is being shown as MOMA MACHYNLLETH opening at 11am on Saturday, 18 February 2017 and runs until 1st April, 2017. Also A Clearly Marked Path -…

This conference investigates photographs and photographic archives in relation to notions of place. In this context, place is used to explore both the physical location of a photograph or archive, as well as the place of photography as a discursive practice with regard to its value or significance as a method of viewing and conceiving the world. Photographs are mobile…

I am researching these two ambrotypes, recently acquired through eBay. They appear to be images of John Lee, Astronomer, Numismatist, 1858 and 1861, antiquarian, philosopher, et al. of Hartwell House, Buckinghamshire.

I can only find one actual photographic image of Dr. Lee, an apparent albumen, via the Science Photo Library…

This symposium marks the opening of ‘Usakos – Photographs Beyond Ruins: The Old Location albums, 1920s-1960s’, an exhibition at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, University of London. The exhibition centres on three private collections of historic photographs preserved and curated by four women residents of the former ‘Old Location’ in Usakos, an urban railway hub in…

A combination of technological, cultural, and economic factors during the “long” nineteenth century made images more readily available in a wider range of media than ever before. These transformations raised new questions about the ownership and use of images.

On This Date In Photography presents an event that happened, or is happening, on the date of posting. Journalistic, not necessarily academic, it aims to broaden the interests of devotees of photography, with some posts specifically on British photo history, others more wide ranging.

Written on the day, of the day, your news of upcoming items for potential content, or other input, is most welcome.

(It's a 'labour…

The redesigned Historical Photographs of China web site (https://www.hpcbristol.net/) has been re-launched and now contains over 10,500 images, including 1,400 recently added images from nine new collections.

 These including a large and diverse selection of photographs from Shanghai-based news photographer …

Two exhibitions at the Keswick Museum and Art Gallery, both about photography, complement each other.Lakeland Pioneers in Climbing and Photography: The Abraham Brothers looks at the work of George and Ashley Abraham and celebrates their work with a range of…

In Italy the phrase “Photographic double ground - Crozat System - Patented” is well known by professionals as well as by vintage and historycal photography lovers. Indeed, it is stamped on the back of hundreds of cartes de visite produced in Italy between the second half of the 1860s and the early Seventies. Nevertheless, the information about the procedure as well as the biography of its inventor have hardly been…

From the sepia-toned mass graves of the American Civil War to today’s drone shots of the destroyed Syrian city of Aleppo, war photographs have shaped and continue to inform our understanding of human conflict.  Far from neutral, war photographs challenge our sense of humanity in a complex exchange between ‘taking’ and ‘viewing’. Exploring this relationship through an…

The 'Crozat's Photographic System' in Ireland and in the UK,1864-1871. Irish and/or British researchers of the history of photography and collectors who want to share information about the spread of the 'Crozat's System' in Ireland and in the UK and/or photographs made…

You’re someone who’d love nothing more than to immerse themselves in The Hulton Archive. You’d thrive in a role where you can take a proactive approach to increasing its profile internally and externally. You’ll be establishing Getty Images as a recognised industry specialist in academic and museum circles as well as building increased awareness of our archive through…

The Manfred & Hanna Heiting Fonds/Rijksmuseum Fonds enables the Rijksmuseum to annually award two postgraduate Fellowships that stimulate outstanding object-based, photo-historical research by prospective curators from the Netherlands or abroad. Fellowships are awarded for a six-month period.

The focus of research should be related to the…

I am seeking information about this quarter-plate ambrotype of a young lad. There appears to be an etched signature above his left arm. Constant? 

Although this was bought in the UK, I suppose it might be French.

Does anyone recognize this signature?

Many thanks,

David McGreevy…