Blogs

Well after a long gestation period the new exhibition I've been curating at the State Library of New South Wales has opened. Arranged chronologically Shot covers the years 1845 to 2022 and is a major retrospective of photography in Australia. With over 400 photographs by 200 photographers there should be content that is of interest for this group particularly in the early years with some rare photocrayotypes, Australia's oldest extant photo (a daguerreotype by Goodman), and rare Paget plates from Shackleton's expedition by Frank Hurley. Given the desktop version went online this week I felt it was a good time to share with you all. It includes examples of photographic formats from the inception of photography to the present and will be up until November 2024. 

Below is an excerpt from the introduction panel ...
This is the first exhibition to comprehensively review the breadth of the photographic archive held at the State Library of NSW — one of the largest, most diverse and significant in Australia. The two million photographs held by the Library represent tens of thousands of stories collectively forming a unique pictorial history of the past 175 years in Australia. The exhibition explores some of these threads — from the earliest surviving photograph in Australia to examples of nearly every format used since the inception of photography in 1839.

The exhibition includes works by some of Australia’s most acclaimed photographers and shines a light on works and formats often considered to be on the periphery of photographic practice. Arranged chronologically, we have aimed to include at least one photograph to represent each year between 1845 and 2022. The images include the work of over 200 press, amateur and street photographers; printers and commercial studios. This exhibition captures only a thin slice of the collection, but these 400 works convey some of the rich rewards to be gained by examining the archive as a whole. We hope this approach allows space to contemplate the myriad stories they represent.
https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/shot

Geoff Barker, 2024

Might anyone have any details of a process introduced 1861 by Squire & Co for colouring a paper photograph to resemble a painting on ivory. It is was announced in Photographic News, vol . 5, no . 171, 13 December 1861, i

It was marketed as  the elephantinon process  and was evidently for making paper photographs look like paintings on ivory but with libraries shut I cant find the PN to consult.

The term is the ancient Greek name for a black dye made from burnt ivory  but may refer  in photography to a soft ivory-glow look rather than actual black?

An example would be great to find..

Gael

This webinar series, funded by The National Endowment for the Humanities, is free and open for all to attend. The first three webinars will discuss the various materials and technologies of photographic prints. The next two will teach a methodology and controlled vocabulary for process identification, as well as a demo of how to use Graphics Atlas. The last one will include an overview of collections care for prints and photographs including proper storage, handling and display methods, and guidelines for the storage environment. Watching the webinars as a series is encouraged but not required.

Recordings of the webinars will be made available if you cannot attend.

A Methodology for Process Identification, Part 1 December 13, 2017, 2:00-3:00pm EST Process identification can be overwhelming and daunting.  IPI has developed several tools in order to make this task easier.  This includes a step-by-step methodology and a controlled vocabulary specific to photograph characteristics for identification. This webinar will present the methodology and controlled vocabulary.

Register Here https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6833136394893109505?source=IPI+Website

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A Methodology for Process Identification, Part 2 January 10, 2018, 2:00-3:00pm EST This webinar will showcase IPI's web resource, www.GraphicsAtlas.org>. It will highlight the new process identification pages launched in December 2016 as well as the new filtered search and controlled vocabulary. IPI staff will demonstrate how these new features can be used toward accurate process ID.

Register Here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1433305048513110273?source=IPI+Website

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Using Identification to Improve Collection Preservation and Access February 14, 2018, 2:00-3:00pm EST The webinar series will culminate with a discussion of preservation and access for photographic collections. This presentation will draw from recent research to include an overview of collections care for prints and photographs, such as proper storage, handling and display methods, and guidelines for a preservation storage environment.

Register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6542028596811544577?source=IPI+Website