Blogs

Julia Winckler presents a contextual biography of Austrian-British émigré photographer Wolf Suschitzky and discusses his photographic legacy, providing new insights into the photographer’s extensive visual archive (at the FOTOHOF>archiv in Salzburg). Suschitzky’s life extended across a period of enormous political, social and cultural upheaval and the presentation foregrounds the strength and ongoing relevance of his photographic work, focusing on the recent Suschitzky monograph: Exile and Journeys (published by FOTOHOF Editions to accompany a comprehensive photography retrospective in Monschau, Germany, Autumn 2025).  Suschitzky’s photographs ‘hold up a mirror’ to society, resisting over-simplification and reflecting reality refracted through his considered, hopeful perspective, in which social critique is imbued with a sense that change is possible.

Dr Julia Winckler is a photographer, researcher and Principal Lecturer in the College of Creativity, Technology and Society, University of Brighton. Julia has over 25 years’ experience in developing international projects that bridge photographic and archival research, and has exhibited and published widely on memory and migration narratives, contested topographies and émigré photographers, including Edith Tudor Hart. An expert on the work of Tudor Hart’s brother Wolf Suschitzky, she has written extensively on his many contributions to the field of photography in Britain. 

'Holding up a mirror to life': The Photography of Wolf Suschitzky (1912–2016)
21 October 2026, 1800-1930 (BST)
London, Room 261, Second Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, and livestreamed
Details: https://www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/holding-mirror-life-photography-wolf-suschitzky-1912-2016

The Liszt Institute is hosting an exhibition featuring a a new selection of works by Czech-born British photojournalist, John Sadovy (1925-2010) showing the 1956 Hungarian uprising. Sadovy was on assignment to cover the events of the revolution by Life magazine as a freelance photojournalist in Budapest. Having spent only four days in Hungary between the 29 October and the 1 November, primarily in Budapest and also at the Hungarian-Austrian border, he produced nearly 700 photographs.

Sadovy’s photographs were published in Life magazine on the 12 November 1956 and distributed internationally, soon after earning him wide international acclaim, including the prestigious 1957 Robert Capa Gold Medal, The Art Directors’ Club Medal, The National Press Photographers’ Association, and Encyclopedia Britannica. His images capture the dramatic violence of the Revolution, while depicting the atmosphere, the faces, unfolding events, and the stories of everyday lives on the street, with empathy and clarity.

The exhibition has been produced in collaboration with John Sadovy Estate Collection and Sadovy’s daughters, Yvonne Sadovy de Mitcheson and Liza Jane Sadovy. 

On the evening of 22 October there will be a panel discussion featuring Dr Yvonne Sadovy de Mitcheson, one of Sadovy’s daughters; Dr Max Houghton, writer, curator and Course Leader of the MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography programme at London College of Communication; Eva Norton, historian and educator; and Botond Zákonyi, Director of the Liszt Institute, Hungarian Cultural Centre London.

The panel will explore the role of photojournalism in shaping collective memory and public understanding of historic events. Focusing on Sadovy’s iconic photographs of the brief uprising, the discussion will consider how press images can preserve events that might otherwise be forgotten or distorted for political purposes. Together, the exhibition and panel will highlight the enduring significance of photojournalism within a contemporary context, while reflecting on the power of images to document history and influence public perception.

The Hungarian Uprising 1956. Narratives Beyond the Frame. New Selection of the works of John Sadovy
22 October-4 November, Monday - Friday, 1100-1800
Liszt Institute, Hungarian Cultural Centre
17-19 Cockspur St, London SW1Y 5BL
The panel discuss is free and can be booked here. The exhibition is free to visit. 

To celebrate the 2026 Photography Book Awards, KKF is delighted to be presenting our annual photobook symposium in partnership with the V&A Museum. The programme includes presentations by prizewinner Sasha Kurmaz, shortlisted artist Janet Delaney and Lewis Chaplin (founder of publisher Loose Joints), who designed and published Hoda Afshar’s book ‘The Fold’.

As of 1 January 2027, the German Documentation Center for Art History – Bildarchiv Foto Marburg (DDK) will offer an annual fellowship for doctoral researchers in photography for the first time. The research fellowship supports early-career scholars and provides close links to both the Dr. Rolf H. Krauss Research Library and the DDK’s activities as a research center at Marburg University.

In 2016, the DDK acquired a remarkable collection: the Bibliothek zur Photographie, Collection Dr. H. Krauss', an extensive specialist library covering photography, photographic technology and photographic art. The collection comprises approximately 16,000 individual titles, spanning the early history of the medium to the present day. It was assembled by the renowned Stuttgart-based photography scholar and collector Dr. Rolf H. Krauss (1930-2021). The acquisition was funded by the Hessian Cultural Foundation.

Today, the collection, together with the Photography Section of Marburg University’s Library of Art and Cultural Studies, forms the Dr. Rolf H. Krauss Research Library, which is part of the University Library. The holdings are systematically arranged, catalogued electronically and searchable via the University Library catalogue. In 2025, the Research Library moved, together with the DDK, into the new research building at Pilgrimstein 14, which was officially inaugurated in 2026.

With the Research Library now accessible in the new building, the DDK is establishing a new funding opportunity: the Dr. Rolf H. Krauss Fellowship for Photography Research supports international doctoral researchers in completing their dissertations. It is aimed at researchers whose doctoral projects are at an advanced stage and is awarded once a year by an expert committee. The fellowship provides a monthly stipend of €1,300, supplemented by an allowance of €103 for research-related expenses.

The fellowship also offers excellent conditions for further research. Fellows are provided with a workspace at the DDK, close to the Research Library, and have access to all the resources of the Marburg University Library. They can also exchange ideas with the DDK research team and attend academic events, including lecture series and research colloquia. Fellows are welcome to contribute to these events with presentations of their own research.

Applications for the 2027 fellowship must be submitted by 31 October 2026. Application documents must be sent exclusively in electronic form as PDF files to the DDK office at: annette.merte@uni-marburg.de.

Further information about the call for applications and detailed application guidelines can be found on the DDK website. Contact for Enquiries: Prof. Dr. Hubert Locher, Director, German Documentation Center for Art History – Bildarchiv Foto Marburg, Marburg University, Phone: +49 6421 28-24324, Email: locher@staff.uni-marburg.de

https://www.uni-marburg.de/de/aktuelles/news/2026/neues-stipendium-fuer-promovierende-in-der-fotoforschung

https://www.uni-marburg.de/de/fotomarburg/ueberuns/stellenangebote

https://www.uni-marburg.de/de/fotomarburg/aktuelles_unterlagen/krauss-stipendium_visual_final_261009.pdf

A remarkable collection of photograph albums have gone on display at Belton Estate near Grantham. Crafting Memory: Marian's Photograph Albums offers a rare opportunity to see original albums and photographs created and compiled by Lady Marian Alford (1817-88) during the 1860s, and are being shown publicly in the house for the first time.

The exhibition includes a wide range of photographs from Marian's collections, ranging from luxurious studio portraiture and encounters with royals to playful scenes created with family and friends. They offer personal insights into a 19th-century home and the personal relationships, stories and artistic interests which shaped Marian and her family’s lives. Anna Sparham, Curator of Photography at the National Trust, said: ‘When encountering one of these incredible albums a few years ago I became fixated with their rich contents and yearned to know more about Marian’s network – which photographers were involved in making some of these images and what might the family relationship be to them? Who did Marian compile her albums for and how we can we share them today as they carry both photographic significance but also so many relatable qualities in their focus on friends, family and preserving memories.’ 

Visitors are invited to immerse themselves in the experience and craft of album making. As well as original historic albums, photographs and other collection items, Crafting Memory uses film, animation and sound to bring to life their contents and contexts. Photographs and details from the albums are digitally projected onto the ceiling of the exhibition room, and visitors can learn about their photographers including Camille Silvy and Alice Kerr.

Anna continued: ‘We hold thousands of photograph albums across our places and I’m so keen for these to be far more explored and made accessible. Trying out ways to enable such engagement within our historic houses is exciting and I’ve long been wanting to show such potential through projection and sound. Hopefully people feel inspired by photography and the act of album making, and either sit down to reflect on their own images and maybe kickstart a desire to compile their own albums, or go home and start to think about those images which mean the most to them.’  

There is space to reflect and respond to Marian’s collections, encouraging visitors to think about how they would select and display images from their phones in a physical format. At special crafting stations, inspiration can be taken from the unique shapes Marian uses in her albums to create personal miniature versions and contribute to a large-scale album installation.

The exhibition is kindly supported by CEWE as part of their partnership with the National Trust, supporting the Trust's work to catalogue and curate the photography collections in its care. Visitors to Crafting Memory can claim five free photo prints from a CEWE Photostation at the end of the exhibition, enabling them to follow in Marian’s footsteps and start creating albums at home.

Crafting Memory: Marian's Photograph Albums
Belton Estate is open every day except Christmas Day from 9.30am to 5.30pm until November when opening hours will change to 10am to 4pm. The house is open from 11am to 3.30pm and will be closing from Monday 2 to Friday 27 November for its festive makeover. The exhibition will remain open throughout the Christmas period. More information can be found at nationaltrust.org.uk/Belton.

Hello!  Karen Vandermeulen here from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I am not actually sure this would be the correct historical site for my inquiry, but I will post and you can let me know.   I sincerely appreciate your time.

I am working on my husband’s genealogy, particularly his great grandfather, Isidore Joseph Breda, born 1881 in Mira, Venice, Italy.  At some point he came to Belgium, where he married and was the proprietor of a highly regarded hotel/restaurant named Le Regal in Westende, Belgium in the 1930-40’s.

However, we know that he also worked for or with Crosse and Blackwell in some capacity, which is how I arrived at connecting to you in Britain.  I have a very unique photo of him looking very official which is stamped on the reverse with “Graphic Photo Union”, 200 Grays Inn Road, London. 

Given the photographer and the theme, I wonder if it could have been taken at some official event that may have been covered by the press.

I am very keen to learn about it and more about “Chef”, so if you might be able to point me in a direction, I would be very grateful.

Thank you kindly,

Karen Vandermeulen

Back in 2024 BPH noted that the Bodleian had acquired work from the Handsworth Self Portrait project and earlier this year reported the death of Brian Homer one of the three originators behind the project. Of the three photographers who conceived the project only Derek Bishton remains with us. John Reardon died in 2018. The project remains one of the most significant documentary and community photography projects of the late 1970s/80s.  

Now, in collaboration with Dewi Lewis Publishing, this extraordinary project is being brought back as a limited hardback edition. The book will comprise 176 pages, printed by EBS in Verona, and will feature more than 170 duotone images, carefully reproduced to honour the integrity and texture of the original works.

To give a sense of the significance of the project curator Zelda Cheatle writes: “This is not simply a reissue. It is an act of preservation and recognition. These portraits still belong to Handsworth and they still matter. By supporting this project, you are helping to ensure that this vital record of people, place and a pivotal moment in British history continues to be seen, understood and valued for generations to come" and Dr Mark Sealy, Director of Autograph, notes “I’ve loved the Handsworth Self Portraits from the first time I saw them in that early edition of Ten.8. They are right up there in my top ten photographic projects of all time, a wonderful example of community empowerment that has inspired so many other artists dealing with issues around representation and power. So happy this book has finally made it.”. 

The Kickstarter is seeking £10,000 to ensure the publication goes ahead and at the time of writing has secured £7,164. 

To read more and support the publication click here.  

As part of France's commemoration of the bicentennial of photography publishers have produced a number of books linked to the event and the French Ministry of Culture and the National Book Centre (CNL) have also supported a number directly. These have been published, or will appear during 2026-2027. A short selection of interest to BPH are highlighted below: 

• 900 x Bayard. Hippolyte Bayard in the collections of the French Photographic Society (SFP). 

  By Éléonore Challine and Paul-Louis Roubert, and published by Éditions Macula. This book, which reproduces some 900 images held at the French Photographic Society in Paris, is the first monograph on Hippolyte Bayard (1801-1887), inventor and pioneer of photography. Although cited in all histories of the medium, Bayard remains relatively unknown. 

• Camera Luminaria, the photographic collection of the Château d'Eau. The first French public institution dedicated to photography (1974), develops exhibitions, a collection, and supports photobooks. After fifty years, it brings together more than 600 artists and 5,000 works. For its bicentenary, a book published by Bec en l'air features a critical and insightful analysis by historian Nathalie Boulouch.

• Photograph Hunters: A history of collectors from 1839 to 1969. 

  By Anne de Mondenard and Michel Guerrin, and published by Atelier EXB. This book explores the essential role of collectors in the cultural and artistic recognition of photography, from the creation of the process to the present day, and recounts the context in which they assembled their collections. Through the lens of this subject, never before addressed in its entirety, this book allows us to understand, on the one hand, how the history of photography has unfolded, and on the other hand, highlights the emergence of the collector figure from the very invention of the medium and its major impact on the development of taste for photography.

• Collecting Tombstones. By André Chabot and published by Éditions Païen. This photographic work, drawn from the vast collection of André Chabot (more than 250,000 photographs taken in over 70 countries since 1972), is the second bilingual edition, published for the Bicentennial. It explores funerary art from the 19th century to the present day through cemeteries, mausoleums, sculptures, and architecture.

• Two Centuries of Photographs. Knowing, recognizing, preserving. By Bertrand Lavédrine with the collaboration of Jean-Paul Gandolfo, and published by the Committee for Historical and Scientific Works (CTHS). This book aims to provide the means to identify photographic prints in order to better preserve them, and presents a novel methodology for classification and naming. Richly illustrated, it details the various processes from the earliest techniques to the latest digital advances, including the rarest, with a clear, concise, and accessible overview of essential knowledge and recent developments concerning the production, identification, and preservation of photographs from the past and present.

• Of Bitumen and Light- Studies on the Nicéphore Niépce Museum.  By Léo Decoularé-Delafontaine (Texts by Joan Fontcuberta and Sylvain Besson) and published by Editions 77. "Of Bitumen and Light" is a photographic project by Léo Decoularé-Delafontaine that oscillates between an inventory of the collections of the Nicéphore Niépce Museum, a post-photographic reinterpretation, a report on the museum, and a tribute to the inventor of photography. 

• The Ghosts of Nadar.  By David Le Bozec and Pierre-Roland Saint-Dizier, and published by Glénat. Paris, 1862. In his studio on the Boulevard des Capucines, the renowned photographer Nadar is confronted with the deaths of those whose portraits he is taking. This graphic novel, supported by the Heritage and Photography Media Library and the French Photographic Society, takes the reader into the heart of an investigation bordering on the fantastical, amidst photographic trickery, séances, and killer ghosts. It offers an opportunity to discover the uses of photography in the 19th century and its innovations.

• Crossing the World. The photographic turning point of the 1867 Universal Exhibition.  Edited by Marie-Eve Bouillon and Daniel Foliard, and published by Éditions de l'Université Paris Cité in the Longue Vue Collection. In the last third of the 19th century, the rise of photography took a decisive turn. The Universal Exhibition of 1867 is a testament to this. An event of exceptional scale, it attracted over nine million visitors and contributed to the development of photography in all its forms: scientific, industrial, documentary, and artistic. Offering an unprecedented exploration of the archives of this gigantic event, this book also provides an immersive reading experience thanks to 3D photographs of the exhibition, viewable with 3D glasses.

And there are many others covering historical, biographic and contemporary photography. 

Explore the full list here: https://bicentenairephotographie.culture.gouv.fr/programmation/publications

This event celebrates the publication of Dr Flora Dunster’s Hurled Towards the Future: Lesbian Photography and Queer Imagination in 1980s London (Paul Mellon Centre 2026). 

Hurled Towards the Future is the first art-historical account of photography from London’s lesbian sex-radical scene. It explores how lesbian photographers in late 1980s and early 1990s London worked within a climate of resistance and possibility to imagine - and create - a queer future. Focusing on the work of Tessa Boffin and Del LaGrace Volcano, this book argues that, through their photography, these artists made a critical contribution to the reclamation of 'queer' as both a political identification and an aesthetic practice. 

Following a lecture, Flora will be joined in conversation by Dr Laura Guy. 

This event is organised by Dr Catherine Grant, Reader and Vice-Dean for Education, Courtauld Institute of Art.

Hurled Towards the Future: Lesbian Photography and Queer Imagination in 1980s London
Dr Flora Dunster
15 October 2026, 1800-1930
Free, Vernon Square Campus, Lecture Theatre 2
Details and register here

In 1925, The Victoria and Albert Museum initiated ‘a new type of publication’: a series of sixpenny picture booklets devoted to various categories of museum object called, appropriately, ‘The Small Picture Books’. Between the first publication – on English Alabasters in 1925 – and 1938 there were 55 titles in all, selling in their hundreds of thousands. In a combination of excellent museum black and white photography and good rotogravure printing, these small books aimed to please and inform in equal measure.

In this talk, Professor Edwards will discuss the surprisingly contemporary-feeling aspirations for these modest books – communicating museum collections and enabling access to them. They were carried by the quality of their photography and their printing, as is so much museum publishing today. As material objects, from paper and typography to photographic printing, they were reflective of the museum’s ethos and its ways of connecting with its audiences. Professor Edwards will explore three themes that weave their way round these small books: questions of identity, especially a clear agenda for a national narrative of art and design; questions of scale and miniaturisation as an encapsulation of museum riches; and questions of consumption – the ways that these books were represented and used. At the heart were photography and printing that made objects legible.

This is the fourth lecture in the Richard Benson Lecture in the Reproduced Image series, hosted by Richard Ovenden OBE. A drinks reception will follow this event.

Speakers

Professor Elizabeth Edwards FBA is a visual and historical anthropologist. She is Professor Emerita of Photographic History, De Montfort University, has Honorary Professorships at University College London, and University of Durham and is Research Affiliate at ISCA, University of Oxford. From 2016–22 she was Andrew W. Mellon Professor at the V&A, London. Her recent books are The Camera as Historian: Amateur Photographers and Historical Imagination (2012), Photographs and the Practice of History (2022) and the co-edited What Photographs Do: the making and remaking of museum cultures (2022). She is currently finishing on a book on photographs and ambient historical imaginations – which includes many museum photographs.

Richard Ovenden OBE is Bodley’s Librarian and the Helen Hamlyn Director of the University of Oxford Libraries, and is responsible for their strategic oversight. He holds these posts alongside his role as Head of Gardens, Libraries & Museums (GLAM), University of Oxford. He has published widely on the history of collecting, the history of photography and on professional concerns of the library, archive, and information world.

2026 Richard Benson Lecture in the Reproduced Image. ‘A new type of publication’: photography, the museum and the educational souvenir 
Professor Elizabeth Edwards FBA
29 October 2026 at 1700, followed by a drinks reception
Free, Bodleian Library, Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre
Details and booking here

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2027,  we invite scholars, practitioners, and enthusiasts to submit abstracts for participation as speakers, or panelists in a free, online, global, 24-hour online, free symposium dedicated to celebrating the contributions of women to the medium of photography from photography’s announcement in 1839 to contemporary practitioners in 2024. This unique event aims to highlight the diverse and impactful work of women and female-identifying photographers, and those working with photography, across all cultures and time zones.

We seek 18-minute papers and/or proposed 45-60-minute panel discussions that explore a broad range of topics related to women’s contributions to photography. These may include but are not limited to:

• Historical and contemporary profiles of influential and under-appreciated women photographers.
• The impact of gender on photographic practice and representation.
• The role of women in shaping the photographic medium or its exhibition.
• Cross-cultural perspectives on women’s contributions to photography.
• Challenges and achievements of women photographers in various global contexts.
• Where does the project of increasing visibility stand now, and where should it go next?

Our goal is to foster a rich, international dialogue that underscores the significant yet often overlooked achievements of women in the field and discusses/plans the next steps to achieving a greater presence for them. Presentations will be pre-recorded to ensure uniform sound quality and to free speakers to respond to questions during their talks/panels. The conference follows on previous editions in 2025 and 2026, which offered a truly global exchange of ideas.

To participate:
Please submit a 300-word abstract outlining your proposed paper by 15 October 2026.
Abstracts should be submitted to Google Forms here: https://forms.gle/EfLxvb7kTaP9XmYa8. The submission form will ask for the name for all speakers, affiliation/s (if applicable), time zone of anticipated residence on International Women’s Day, and a brief (150-word) biography. Selected papers will be notified by 1 November 2026, and detailed guidelines for presentations/recordings will be provided.

We encourage contributions from diverse perspectives and regions to create a comprehensive and inclusive representation of women in photography.

Join us in celebrating the vibrant and transformative work of women photographers worldwide!

Convenors: Kris Belden-Adams, PhD, Associate Professor of Art History, Texas A&M University; Dr. Gretchen Gasterland-Gustafsson, Professor, Minneapolis College of Art & Design; Damon Stanek, Lecturer, Minneapolis College of Art & Design

Call For Papers: Women in Photography: A free 24-Hour Online Conference-a-thon Celebrating International Women’s Day, March 6, 2027
Call for papers - closes 15 October 2026
Notification of acceptance - 1 November 2026
Conference-a-thon - 6 March 2027, starting at 12:01 UTC (International Date Line)

AntiquarianAuctions is offering a copy of Samuel Palmer Chapman's Stolen Minutes with the Muses, printed for private circulation, in 1877. The book is illustrated with a tipped-in albumen portrait of the author by his son. What makes this book of particular interest, other than the fact only three other copies have been traced, is that Samual Chapman was a professional phootgrapher in Swansea from 1860 and his son, Henry Alfred Chapman, also joined the business.

The book includes a poem titled Photography, an epigram ‘Sent to a Young Lady with my Carte [i.e. cdv], which she had requested to have' and an advertisement in which the author runs down the portrait work of an unnamed photographic rival whilst praising the work of ‘Chapman and Co.’  who ‘felt they well could depend / That merit would meet his reward in the end'. 

Samuel Palmer CHAPMAN (1809-1895, poet & photographer). Stolen Minutes with the Muses. Poems. [No place, but Swansea, or Bristol?]: ‘Printed for Private Circulation’, 1877. Octavo. Pp. [iii-]iv-xviii; [1-]4-266 + a small format errata slip facing p. [3]. Mounted photographic portrait frontispiece of the author by his son, Henry Alfred Chapman.

Provenance: author’s presentation copy given to a relative (the ‘ghost’ of the inscription on the removed free endpaper can be read [in part] on the back of the frontispiece ‘Presented by the Author to his / ….. Chapman…/ … / … 1877’).

It is estimated at $250-350, with a reserve at $100. 

Details: https://antiquarianauctions.com/bids/stolen-minutes-with-the-muses-poems

London's V&A Museum has acquired a self-portrait of Maria ‘Mia’ Jackson (1818-1892), née Pattle; 1818–92), one of six sisters of Julia Margaret Cameron. It was purchased from descendants of Julia along with a second ambrotype of a South Asian women. The collodion positive on glass, or ambrotype, is dated to c.1858 and offers the tantalising suggestion that photography amongst the Pattle sisters was not confined only to Julia. As V&A curator Marta Weiss notes the self-portrait 'also invites broader reconsideration of artistic exchange within an exceptionally creative family.' The portrait places the camera centre stage with Mia off to one side, with a male figure next to the camera. All are reflected in an arch-topped dressing table mirror.  

The purchase of Mia's portrait, along with that of the South Asian woman, was funded by the V&A Americas Foundation through the generosity of Michael G. and C. Jane Wilson. 

The portrait and its wider significance is discussed in an article by V&A curator Marta Weiss in the current issue of the Burlington Magazine.

Read more here: Marta Weiss, 'Through the looking glass: a self-portrait by Mia Jackson, Julia Margaret Cameron’s sister', The Burlington Magazine, October 2026, Vol. 168 / No. 1483. Available to read open access.

The photograph is recorded on the V&A's online collection here: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1810666/self-portrait-by-maria-mia-photograph-maria-jackson/ and the South Asian woman here

Image: Self-portrait, by Mia Jackson. c.1858. Collodion positive on glass, 9.4 by 7.9 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Photography, from Fox Talbot to the 21st century, is the theme of the first part of Dominic Winter’s auction on Wednesday 7 October.

A highlight is a partially completed photograph album that comes by descent from the family of Mary Ryan. Found begging with her mother at Putney, Julia Margaret Cameron took young Mary into her Freshwater household, where she went on to become one of Cameron’s most photographed muses. The album features three known photographs by Cameron – Annie Philpot (‘my first success’), a portrait of Henry Taylor and a tableau of ‘The May Queen’, featuring Mary Ryan. There are two further photographs attributed to Cameron, the first the face of a young man believed to be Charlie Hay Cameron, the other more speculatively attributed to Cameron, showing Mary Ryan in a gown, (the same one she is seen wearing in the Romeo and Juliet photographs, with her fiancé/husband Sir Henry Cotton in 1867), in an intimate and relaxed pose with another unidentified young woman.

A personal album of Frederick Hollyer provides another sale highpoint. Containing 106 platinum print portraits of notable people of the day, c. 1870s/1890s, the sitters include William Morris, May Morris, Aubrey Beardsley, Edward Burne-Jones, Ellen Terry, Thomas Hardy, George Frederic Watts, Beatrice and Sidney Webb, J. M. Barrie, Walter Crane, Andrew Lang, Jean Sibelius, and many others. The album with Hollyer’s name and addressed stamped to the upper cover comes by descent from the family of his much younger second wife Eleanor Hollyer.

 Other notable photography lots include a rare group of four rare dilute albumen prints of British royalty by Leonida Caldesi, 1857, an assisted self-portrait of Lewis Carroll, 1875, an archive of 120 photographs showing the construction of the Forth Bridge, 1884-1886, and a group of 6 wood-framed dry-plate collodion glass lantern slides by brothers James and Robert Mudd of Manchester, c. 1857-1861. From the 20th century is a group of photographs relating to the Palestine Emergency of 1947, and an album of 101 platinum prints of Moscow and environs, from the early 1900s.

The photography theme continues with the Andrew Farmer North Devon Collection, the largest such collection in private hands. Andrew was a noted collector of North Devon imagery for over 40 years, with a particular interest in Lynton and Lynmouth. Across the 57 lots are tens of thousands of images, comprising photographs, stereoviews, postcards, watercolours, drawings and prints. Prized above all is a rare personal album by early West Country photographer John Wheeley Gough Gutch, containing 25 lightly albumenised salt prints of Lynmouth, from July & August 1856.

The second half of the 288-lot sale comprises postcards, posters, autographs, documents and related paper ephemera.

Digital catalogues in various formats are available on the website www.dominicwinter.co.uk.
Public viewing daily on Monday/Tuesday 5/6 October, 9.30-5.30, and day of sale from 9am; all other times by appointment.
For further information and enquiries please contact Chris Albury chris@dominicwinter.co.uk | 01285 860006
Dominic Winter Auctioneers, Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 5UQ

The latest Source magazine has arrived. Of particular note for BPH, John Duncan writes that aerial images of Ireland are to be digitised. The Royal Irish Academy has secured funding to digitise 1567 prints and negatives from Cambridge University's Collection of Aerial Photographs made in Ireland between 1951 and 1973. The full collection will be released and made available by May 2027. 

Elsewhere Richard West interviews the historian Edward Madigan regarding the IWM project to collect material relating to the British experience of the Irish War of Independence. Julia Sauter reports that Photo Museum Ireland has secured full museum accreditation. It is the first institution in Ireland dedicated to comtemporary photography to do so. 

See Source here: https://www.source.ie/index.php

Liverpool's Open Eye Gallery is seeking a permanent curator. Open Eye Gallery’s curator will embrace co-authorship as an approach to their practice. We are looking for someone who can work effectively with our arts, academic, community and other partners to create, share and champion photography. 

They will lead our programme of cultural exchange, forming relationships with emerging and established artists and photography sector partners to shape the landscape of photography, and be at the cutting edge of research and discussion. They will also contribute to our partnerships with universities.

This varied, hands-on role provides opportunities to explore and experiment with curation and co-curation models. It also provides the chance to shape the next generation of practitioners, and the role of photography within people’s lives for the years to come. 

2027 is our 50th anniversary, providing our new curator with the opportunity to work with multiple photography sector leaders and key partners in an exciting year for the organisation.

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Curator will hold responsibility for the overall management of the exhibitions programme, including administration and delivery, and the line management of the Programme Assistants. The Curator will also work with technicians to oversee the safe installation of exhibitions, and the correct handling and condition-checking of artworks. Contributing to fundraising, partnership development and budget management, the curator will work closely with other members of the team to ensure the smooth running of the gallery and its programme.

We are looking for an ambitious, creative, energetic team player with the ability to work flexibly and concurrently on various projects. The successful candidate will have a minimum of 3 years’ experience in organising and delivering exhibitions with a proven record of excellence, and an understanding of the needs and perspectives of a diverse range of audiences.

Details and information back here: https://openeye.org.uk/work-with-us-curator/

The Photographic History Research Centre, Leicester, is pleased to announce the second year of its Research Seminars in Photographic Cultures and Heritage, a free, online series of talks and discussions exploring photography’s intersections with politics, technology, culture, and heritage. Building on the first year of the series, the seminars continue to explore the rich and evolving field of photographic cultures and heritage, bringing together researchers, practitioners, and third-sector professionals to examine photography as a cultural artefact, historical record, and dynamic form of communication.

With a focus on critical methodologies, material practices, and diverse global perspectives, the series engages with themes including archival ethics, Indigenous and everyday photography, technological change, memory and identity, and the politics of visual representation, dissemination, and perception.

We are pleased to present four talks as part of the Semester One 2026/27 programme:

8 October 2026, 5.30pm – Dr Carolin Görgen (Sorbonne Université / HDEA / Institut Universitaire de France), “The California Camera Club: Collective Visions in the Making of the American West”.

19 November 2026, 5.30pm – Dr Véra Léon (CY Paris University, France), “Feminisms of Paper: Photography and Feminist Movements of the 1970s–80s”.

19 November 2026, 6.30pm – PHRC’s Visiting Scholar Showcase: PhD Candidate Valéria Bláha (Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic), “Photographic Archive as Anticipatory System: Making Heritage for Alternative Futures”.

3 December 2026, 5.30pm – Dr Hanin Hannouch (Weltmuseum Wien, Austria), “Housing Privileges: Tassilo Adam’s Autochrome of the Bosscha Residence in Indonesia circa 1920”.

The seminars will be held online via Microsoft Teams and are free of charge.
Details and link for each event to book: https://photographichistory.wordpress.com/2026/09/24/research-seminars-in-photographic-cultures-and-heritage-semester-one-2026-27/

Image credit: Tassilo Adam, Study of a European Residence, ca. 1921, Autochrome, 13 × 18 cm. Weltmuseum Wien © KHM-Museumsverband.

Display practices have increasingly embraced public engagement and archival afterlives, foregrounding the politics of lived spaces: who gains access, which voices are heard, and why. Participation, spectatorship, screen cultures and mass media have played fluctuating, and at times contradictory, roles in shaping these dynamics. Our digital traces, both intentional and beyond our control, have compelled artists to confront a fractured yet expanding common ground of contemporary discourse.

This talk examines the Alkazi Foundation's image-oriented projects, as well as allied curatorial ventures that interrogate the stakes of autonomy and freedom at this moment of catalysing public movements, particularly in relation to the Indian subcontinent. If the constriction of (artistic or any other) voice inevitably precedes future silencing, what cultural mandates do the images we share and circulate carry? What symbolic or social weight must they bear?

Rahaab Allana is Curator and Publisher at the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, New Delhi, Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society (UK), and was honorary Research Associate in the Department of Visual Anthropology at University College London. A leading voice in South Asian photography and visual culture, he has curated exhibitions, commissioned publications and delivered talks internationally. Founder of ASAP | art, a pioneering platform for South Asian visual practitioners, Allana has edited critical volumes Unframed (HarperCollins India/Alkazi Foundation, 2023) and Another Lens (Tulika Books/West Heavens, 2024) on lens-based practices and image histories. He was recently awarded Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Government of France.

CREAM Presents Rahaab Allana
The Unpredictable Commons
Autonomy and Exhibitionary Practice | The Alkazi Foundation
Thursday, 8 October, 6–7:30pm
Fyvie Hall, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street W1B 2HW
Click here to book a place

Image: Rada Akbar, ‘Between Expired Places’, 2025, Installation view from Displacement, Serendipity Arts Festival 2025, Goa. Photograph: Philippe Calia and Sunil Thakkar