Blogs

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.

We’re looking for a Research Fellow in African Film and Visual History to join the international team responsible for the new research project The Uganda Film Unit Archive: Digitisation, Research and Restitution, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The project is led by Darren Newbury, Professor of Photographic History, School of Humanities and Social Science, University of Brighton and Richard Vokes, Professor of Anthropology and International Development, School of Social Sciences, University of Western Australia; and involves collaboration with the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation.

You will be working closely with Professor Newbury and Professor Vokes playing an important role in the content mapping of the digitised Uganda Film Unit archive and related archival and historical research; supporting fieldwork, data collection and analysis relating to the responses to the archival footage among Ugandan publics and communities; and disseminating the project findings through conference presentation and publication.

To be successful in this role, you should have:

• A PhD (or an equivalent level of professional experience) in an area of history, theory or practice central to the focus of the research project
• Experience of researching in African History/Studies, Film or Media History, Visual Anthropology, or Visual Culture Studies
• Sufficient, up to date breadth or depth of specialist knowledge in the discipline and of research methods and techniques to work within established research programmes
• Experience of data collection and data analysis (including visual data) and data management
• Evidence of commitment to engage in continuous professional development including knowledge of methods for data management
• Understanding of equality of opportunity, academic content and issues relating to student need and commitment to ethical research practices
• Competent and relevant IT skills, effective use of IT for research, and ideally teaching and learning purposes 

The appointment is for a fixed term (18.5 hours per week, 0.5 full time equivalent) with an ideal start date of 01/12/25 and an end date of 30/09/28.

Research Fellow in African Film and Visual History (0.5 full-time equivalent)
University of Brighton, School of Humanities and Social Science
Closes 28 October 2025
Details and apply here: https://jobs.brighton.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=HU3231-25-209