The National Archives is currently recruiting to a student placement project at The National Archives of the UK focused on the work of African photographers in our collections. The 3-month (or part-time equivalent) placement offers the opportunity to do research, work with our award-winning Education team to produce a resource for UK schools, and funds and mentorship to develop wider engagement activities. Deadline 5pm UTC, 24 November for Expressions of Interest.
Project description
The National Archives holds vast collections of 19th and 20th-century photographs, most significantly the Colonial Office photographic collection (CO 1069) and the Copyright collection (COPY 1). While these collections are known to contain photographs by African photographers, these creators are rarely individually identified in the collections. Awareness of and public engagement with this material is currently extremely limited.
The placement is three months full-time, or part-time equivalent, ending in August 2027. A proportion of this will need to be done onsite at Kew, London.
Activities include:
The placement has three main phases that offer the opportunity for mentoring in a range of skills relevant to careers in heritage:
- Identifying photographs in the collections that were produced by African photographers and researching their context and history
- Working with The National Archives’ Education team on a teaching resource for school students
- An opportunity to engage wider audiences with the work, e.g. through blogs, social media, talks and/or community engagement activities.
More details about the placement are available here: Illuminating the work of African... - The National Archives
More general information about our student placement scheme are available here: Student placements and fellowships - The National Archives
Please note: This student placement is open to any master's and doctoral students with the right to work in the UK, but only to those who are fully funded and whose funding includes a specific allowance for placements. Unfortunately this restriction applies to all our student placement opportunities.
Illuminating the work of African photographers in The National Archives' collections
Student placement project
Deadline for expressions of interest: 24 November 2026 (1700)
If you have any questions about eligibility and experience, the timing of the placement or other issues ahead of submitting an expression of interest, please contact research@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
