BPH has just learnt of the passing of Stephen Herbert, an important historian of the motion picture, pre-cinema and photographic technology. Through his position at the BFI and Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI), and with his own imprint The Projection Box which he and his parner Mo Heard set up in 1994 Stephen undertook significant work in presenting new research and making moving picture technology accessible.
For many years he was the Magic Lantern Society's Research Officer and the driving force behind a series of publications, in collaboration with others, and usually published alongside the Society's convention. They remain important reference books. His Who's Who of Victorian Cinema ( print (1996) and online, with Luke McKernam) similarly was well-researched and filled a significant gap in knowledge.
Stephen was a consultant to the Dubai museum of the moving image, and worked for the Qatar Museums Authority when it was considering setting up a media museum. He was also an advisor to Kingston Museums for its Eadweard Muybridge collections.
His online websites, publications and articles and papers will remain an enduring legacy. he also worked closes with the late Gordon Trewinnard and the milestones in cinema history project was created replicas of key milestone cinemographic cameras from the first years of cinema.
See a BPH note on The Projection Box
Stephen's personal website is here
An obituary written Luke McKernan appeared in The Guardian on 22 September.
The Optilogue
A short bibliography and biographical details are here: https://lucerna.exeter.ac.uk/person/index.php?language=EN&id=6002387
Photo: Mo Heard, from The Optilogue
Comments
Sorry to read this. An interesting and knowledgeable man. Rest in Peace.
Sad news. We exchanged a few words and I found Stephen at all times a most pleasant man and an absolute expert in his field.