Blogs

The Guardian newspaper has highlighted that Spain’s best-known photographers have thrown their weight behind a new campaign to establish a national centre to catalogue, share, protect and promote the country’s rich and diverse photographic history. The Platform for a Centre of Photography and the Image – whose members include Ramón Masats, Isabel Muñoz, Alberto García-Alix, Juan Manuel Castro Prieto and Cristina García Rodero – points out that Spain is one of only a handful of EU countries that does not have a centre exclusively dedicated to photography.

Read the full piece here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/31/this-is-our-cultural-heritage-spanish-photographers-seek-national-archive

Image: An exhibition of works by Spanish photographer Ramón Masats in Tabacalera last August. ©  Miguel Pereira.

The National Trust cares for photography collections, numbering over 400,000 image-objects across approximately 250 sites, most of which are under-recognised and under-researched. Spanning the 1840s to the twenty-first century, these photographs are uniquely placed to illuminate social and (globalised) national values through themes such as status, family, travel, leisure, work and labour.

Employing existing image-led digital technologies, Distilling the Photographic Mass: Photography and Digital Heritage at the National Trust is designed to consolidate the National Trust’s photography collections as a means to tease out their dynamic cultural significance in the past and present day. While the National Trust has already digitized part of the photography collections, their potential relevance and employment as digital heritage for public engagement requires exploration and clarification. The project will therefore give particular attention to the question of how digital technologies can diversify audiences, deepen understanding of imperial-era holdings and, as a consequence, foreground less visible aspects of British heritage more broadly. In answering this and related questions, it is intended that the project will demonstrate how digital image cultures may assist heritage industries in fulfilling their aims and social obligations.

As part of the studentship, the successful applicant will have access to the professionally rewarding and challenging institutional environment at the National Trust. They will be given in-house professional training of relevance to their research and have opportunities to gain hands-on understanding of curatorial practices at one of the world’s most renowned heritage institutions. The project is therefore equally designed to equip the successful applicant with subject-specific academic and professional skills alike.

The Project's Lead Supervisor is Dr Gil Pasternak (Photographic History Research Centre – PHRC / De Montfort University), the Second Supervisor is Dr Giuliana Tiripelli (Media Discourse Research Centre – MDC / De Montfort University) and the Third Supervisor is Dr Catherine Troiano (National Trust).

See more and apply here: https://photographichistory.wordpress.com/2021/05/29/phd-studentship-in-photography-and-digital-heritage/

Leading family history website Findmypast and the British Library have today announced an extension of their long term partnership; the British Newspaper Archive.  Originally launched in 2011, this ambitious ten-year project has delivered the most significant mass digitisation of newspapers the UK has ever seen. 

The British Newspaper Archive, now the largest online collection of British and Irish newspapers in the world, has published more than 42 million pages from over a thousand regional, national and speciality titles covering all corners of the UK, Ireland and beyond. 

Spanning four centuries and including 34,000 local, regional, national and international titles, the British Library holds one of the finest collections of newspapers on earth. Prior to digitisation, this vast cultural treasure was held entirely in hard copy and microfilm, necessitating travel and hours of painstaking manual research for anyone wishing to use the collection.

Large parts of this unparalleled resource have since been made available online for the first time, revolutionising access and searchability for users worldwide while reducing wear-and-tear on the Library’s fragile collection items. This includes hundreds of regional titles with long and rich heritages that capture changing times in local areas and communities across the centuries.

Now anyone from amateur researchers to academics can discover the billions of stories that lie within in just a few simple clicks, transforming their understanding of past events both great and small while adding color, context and depth to their research. 

Researcher Suzanne Williams, a student from Swansea said, “The British Newspaper Archive has been an amazing resource throughout my PhD research--I write about late nineteenth century music, and it's given me access to so much information, like details of events and people's opinions from all over Britain that simply aren't recorded anywhere other than in the press. To have that all in one place and so easily accessible is amazing.”

Today’s announcement will result in the online publication of a further 14 million pages over the next three years, including the addition of 1 million new free-to-access pages each year. 

With technology and processes becoming more efficient over time, Findmypast’s digitisation suite at the British Library’s Boston Spa site in West Yorkshire is now digitising the Library’s collection at an unprecedented rate. Since 2019 digitisation has increased dramatically, with over 5 million pages made available to search online in the past 12 months alone. Nearly every page is packed with new opportunities for discovery, containing an average of 80 names each. 

The partnership has already transformed access to this vital part of the national memory and is a much loved resource for historians, researchers, genealogists, students and many others that brings past events and people to life with great immediacy and in rich detail. As well as being available online via the British Newspaper Archive and Findmypast, the archive can also be searched for free by users of the British Library’s Reading Rooms in London and Yorkshire. 

Originally focused on specific geographic areas, along with periods such as the census years between 1841 and 1911 as well as key events and themes such as the Crimean War, the Boer War and the suffragette movement, the archive has since expanded dramatically scope and scale to form a digital “ archive of everything”, covering all facets of British and Irish life between 1699 and 2009. 

The extension of Findmypast’s partnership with the British Library as prefered digitisation partner for mass newspaper digitisation is further evidence of their proven track record of digitising archive materials, making them available to new audiences and preserving them for future generations. Although much of the content on the site is out of copyright, Findmypast have worked with rights holders to make a wide range of more recent content available too.

Offer

In celebration of their partnerships and everything the Archive has achieved so far, Findmypast are offering history enthusiasts the chance to explore this archive of everything with a discount 30% on all subscription options.  This limited time offer is available to all new and returning subscribers from Monday May 24th until midnight on Monday May 31st. Simply visit britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/account/subscribe  and enter the promotional code LIBRARY30 to claim your discount and open a window to four centuries of local, national and world history. 

A new outdoor exhibition showcasing photographs taken over the last five decades has opened in Birmingham’s Centenary Square, reports The Phoenix Newspaper. 

Organised by Legacy West Midlands in collaboration with Birmingham Museums Trust, Freedom 50 celebrates 50 years of Bangladeshi independence and will be on display until the end of August 2021. The Freedom 50 exhibition presents 40 evocative images of protest, self-determination and emigration.

It includes images taken during the 1971 war in Bangladesh, and the protest that followed within the UK. Iconic images from the legendary Bangladeshi photographer Naib Uddin Ahmed are featured, as well as striking images taken by other professional and emerging photographers. Visitors to the free exhibition will also be able to learn about Bangladesh’s recent history and the settlement of Bangladeshi people in the UK via accompanying display panels.

Read more here: https://thephoenixnewspaper.com/new-outdoor-exhibition-opens-in-birminghams-centenary-square

The National Science+Media Museum is seeking an Associate Curator of Sound & Vision for a 12-month period. Bradford’s National Science & Media Museum’s Sound & Vision Galleries will, for the first time, present the museum’s collections together in two new permanent displays telling the story of photography, film, television and sound technologies.

To support this work, we are now recruiting for an Associate Curator (Sound & Vision) on a full-time basis for 12 months. As a core member of the curatorial team, you will collaborate with members of staff across the museum in the development and installation of the content of our new galleries by aiding in collections research, content development and audience engagement. You might be researching and cataloguing objects or, at other times working with colleagues across the Science Museum Group (SMG) in ensuring that the content of the new galleries are engaging to our audiences. You will also take on the specific responsibility of leading on a strategy to embed participation within the museum by delivering and championing community curation from the starting point of the collections.

Joining us, you will hold a genuine interest in community engagement and museum collections, with an ability to connect with our audiences. You will be able to communicate stories about our collections to a range of non-specialist and specialist audiences. You will have excellent interpersonal skills with experience of working as part of a team with a variety of stakeholders to achieve project targets. You will be organised with an ability to effectively coordinate several internal and external stakeholders. Due to the project work entailed in this role, you will need experience in managing complex administrative processes including budgeting and project management planning systems.

See more here. 

Bonhams auction of Fine Books, Manuscripts and Photographs on 24 June includes one lot of Jessie Bertram carbon prints from the negatives of Hill and Adamson.  The collection of 51 prints is estimated at £8000-12,000. 

The lot description reads: 

Footnotes

• A fine group of carbon prints from the original negatives of David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson's celebrated portraits of Scottish women (including Newhaven groups), men and children, mostly taken between 1843 and 1847.
  
  These photographic carbon prints were printed by Edinburgh photographer Jessie Bertram (1881–1954) from Hill and Adamson's original negatives. Selections of her works were issued by Andrew Elliot in 1916. They are held in a wooden box, with Bertram's printed label attached. Found with the box is a passport photograph of a middle-aged woman, signed "Jessie Bertram" on the verso and assumed to be her.

Details here: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26773/lot/25/

Can anyone tell me anything about this carte-de-visite showing a montage of portrait images mainly of men but including one woman at the bottom of the carte. She and the man beside her look to me to be from a different era to the other images. 

It is credited to by Wilson and Bullock, Gordon Terrace, Barnsley.

I suppose it could show the great & good of Barnsley. Who else took this type of photograph. Was it a popular genre?

Gilly Read.

A new blog on the National Science and Media Museum website by Charlotte Howard describes the process of changing the daylight studio space within the Kodak Gallery to tell the story of Bradford’s Belle Vue Studio on Manningham Lane.

The new gallery continues the museum's process of making itself more relevant to local audiences. Separately it is also showing the Yorkshire Photographic Union's Annual Exhibition from 2020 and 2021. See: https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/whats-on/pursuit-perfection-yorkshire-photographic-union-competition

Read the blog here: https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/belle-vue-studio-kodak-gallery/

Ph: The Photography Research Network is very pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition Bridging the Distance at Four Corners, London.

A group exhibition by international photography, moving image, and lens-related artists, Bridging the Distance re-evaluates photography’s ability to draw people close to the feelings, concerns, and lived experiences of those who exist beyond their own immediate physical, political, and cultural spaces.

Curated by Gil Pasternak, the exhibition features the work of international artists Andreia Alves de Oliveira, Estéfani Bouza, Liz J Drew, Paula Gortázar, Alexandra Hughes, Sukey Parnell Johnson, Uschi Klein, Caroline Molloy, Annalisa Sonzogni, Lauren Winsor. Some of the exhibits in the show prompt renewed consideration of photographic images; others revolve around the implications of photography’s material manifestations. Fantasy, social perception, seclusion, surveillance, and the everyday are themes that run throughout Bridging the Distance, prompting audiences to revisit their understandings of photography’s relationship to vision, visibility, and visualisation in different yet familiar contexts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated to the world how much human beings are dependent on one another for mutual protection and safety. Considering the global rise of various forms of physical, political, and cultural exclusion that characterize life in the present day nevertheless, Bridging the Distance implores audiences to contemplate how photography may be used to neutralise dogmatic cynicism and establish non-discriminatory connections between people across ideological and actual boundaries alike.

The exhibition will be on display between 23 June and 03 July, 11am - 6.30pm:

Admission free.

Private View 23 July, 6 - 8pm.

For more information, please visit the exhibition’s webpage on the gallery’s website: https://www.fourcornersfilm.co.uk/whats-on/bridging-the-distance

Image: Annalisa Sonzogni

The exhibition Bridging the Distance has received funding from the Institute of Art and Design at De Montfort University Leicester.

The Photographic Collections Network  has announced a series of free talks that explore some of the lesser-known and under represented histories of photography. The first two are: 

26 May 2021 at 7pm: Apna Heritage Archive.

Anand Chhabra, the founder of Apna Heritage Archive, tells the story of how he built a community photographic archive representing Wolverhampton’s population of 40,000 Punjabis. He will give an insight into the challenges and benefits of creating such an archive. Anand is a co-founder, director and the incumbent Chair at Black Country Visual Arts (2014) and also co-founded ReFramed, the first Black & Asian photographers' network in the Midlands in 2020.

1 June 2021 at 7pm: Colonialism and the Archive.

The powerful new film African Apocalypse, airing on BBC2 on 22 May, tells the story of a young man’s journey across Africa in search of a colonial killer; a non-fiction retelling of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. The film’s narrator and protagonist, Femi Nylander, begins his journey exploring photographic archives that bear witness to the brutal violence visited on the people of Africa by Europeans. We are pleased to welcome the award-winning director of African Apocalypse Rob Lemkin, the narrator Femi Nylander and the Archive Producer Morgane Barrier, who will discuss the role of archives in revealing the workings of empire and imperialism. We recommend you view the film on BBC iPlayer before attending this event.

See:https://www.photocollections.org.uk/ Links to book are above. 

Image: Femi Nylander exploring a colonial archive, from the film African Apocalypse

Dix Noonan Webb is to offer 56 photography medals dating from 1874-1897 awarded to Frank Meadow Sutcliffe of Whitby. Sutcliffe (1853-1941) was exhibited widely during his lifetime and his cabinet card noted that he was the recipient of 62 medals.. He was a member of the Photographic Society from 1874, and is best known for his views of Whitby and the surrounding area, 

Although the provenance is not given these medals along with the gold medals (which are not being auctioned) were previously on display in the Sutcliffe Gallery, Whitby. 

The auction takes place on 3 June 2021 and the lot is estimated at £2400-3000.

See: https://www.dnw.co.uk/auctions/catalogue/lot.php?auction_id=594&lot_uid=396470

UPDATE: The lot sold for £6500. 

The catalogue description reads: 

The 56 medals awarded between 1874 and 1897 to the pioneering photographic artist Frank Sutcliffe, from Whitby, Yorkshire, one of the first photographers to create 'art' from his images:

International Exhibition of all Fine Arts Industries and Inventions, 1874, a bronze medal by G.T. Morgan, bust of Prince of Wales left, rev. Albert Hall, named (Francis Meadow Sutcliffe, Catalogue No. 4425 etc), 52mm (BHM 2992; E 1633);
Un-named Society [perhaps Liverpool or Newcastle-upon-Tyne-related], a bronze medal, unsigned, robed and winged female inscribing tablet on pillar, rev. wreath, named (Swan Plate Competition, 1881, Awarded to Mr F.M. Sutcliffe, for Landscape), 50mm;
Dundee and East of Scotland Photographic Association, 1882, a silver medal, unsigned [by Whytock & Sons, Dundee], arms and supporters, rev. exhibition dundee, un-named, 41mm, 27.54g (cf. DNW M11, 1121);
Photographic Society of Great Britain, bronze medals (4), unsigned [by W.J. Taylor], bust of Prince Albert left, revs. female driving quadriga, named (Frank M. Sutcliffe, Exhibition 1882; F.M. Sutcliffe, Exhibition 1886; Frank M. Sutcliffe, Exhibition 1887; Frank M. Sutcliffe, Exhibition 1889), all 64mm (cf. BHM 2525; E 1478);
Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, First Class, a bronze medal after W. Wyon, bust of James Watt left, rev. legend, named (Frank M. Sutcliffe, for Instantaneous Views, 1882), 45mm (E 1272);
Bristol & West of England Amateur Photographic Association, medals by J.A. Restall for Lavars (4, two silver, two bronze), arms and supporters, revs. international exhibition, named (silver: Frank M. Sutcliffe, 1883-4, F.M. Sutcliffe; bronzes: F.M. Sutcliffe), all 55mm, silver total wt. 132.58g (cf. DNW 64, 1136);
Photographic Exhibition, Northampton, Prize Medal, a bronze medal by J.S. & A.B. Wyon, arms and supporters, rev. legend, named (F.M. Sutcliffe, 1884-5), 51mm;
Cardiff Photographic Society Exhibition, medals by J.A. Restall (3), in silver (2) and bronze, female seated left, head reverted, shield with Welsh dragon below, revs. wreath, named (silver: 1886, Figure Study, F.M. Sutcliffe, 1888, F.M. Sutcliffe, Class XXIIII; bronze: 1888, F.M. Sutcliffe, Class III), all 51mm, first hallmarked London 1887, silver total wt. 126.50g;
Dundee and East of Scotland Photographic Association, 1886, a silver medal, unsigned [by Whytock & Sons, Dundee], arms and supporters, rev. exhibition dundee, un-named, 41mm, 28.45g (cf. DNW M11, 1121), reverse with brooch mount;
Photographic Society of Ireland, a bronze medal, unsigned [by Woodhouse], cruciform shields, rev. wreath, named (Triennial Exhibition, Awarded to Frank M. Sutcliffe, Class 6 No.16, 1887), 51mm (cf. DNW 188, 757);
Borough of Nottingham, Art Museum, Medal for Success in Art, a silver medal, unsigned, arms, rev. legend, named (Exhibition of Photographs, 1887, to Frank M. Sutcliffe for No. 47), 72mm, 119.67g;
Crystal Palace Photographic Exhibition, 1888, a bronze medal by J. Pinches, Britannia holding caduceus and key, opening the doors to the exhibition, lamb and helmet at her feet, rev. legend above wreath, un-named, 41mm (Allen p.138; MJP p.33);
Dundee and East of Scotland Photographic Association, 1888, a silver medal, unsigned [by Whytock & Sons, Dundee], arms and supporters, rev. exhibition dundee, named (Awarded to F.M. Sutcliffe), 41mm, 25.76g (cf. DNW M11, 1121);
Gloucestershire Photographic Society, a silver medal by H.B. Sale, arms and supporters, rev. wreath, named (April 1888, F.M. Sutcliffe, Class 9), 45mm, 50.22g;
Liverpool Amateur Photographic Association, Prize Medal, silver medals by Brookes & Adams (2), arms and supporters, revs. tablet above wreath, named (International Exhibition 1888, F.M. Sutcliffe), both 44mm, total wt. 79.00g (cf. DNW 131, 514);
Borough of Oldham, bronze medals (2), unsigned, arms and crest, revs. wreath, named (Photographic Exhibition, F.M. Sutcliffe, 1888), both 45mm (cf. DNW 64, 1132);
Coventry & Midland Photographic Society, a silver medal, unsigned, arms and crest, rev. camera within elaborate wreath, named (F.M. Sutcliffe, Champion, Class 5, 1889), 45mm, 42.65g;
Crystal Palace Photographic Exhibition, 1889, a bronze medal by J. Pinches, Britannia holding caduceus and key, opening the doors to the exhibition, lamb and helmet at her feet, rev. legend above wreath, named (F.M. Sutcliffe, Series-Cl. A, Sec. 2), 41mm (Allen p.139; MJP p.33);
Derby Corporation Art Gallery, 1882 [struck 1883], Industrial Art Prize Medal, a bronze medal by Phillips for P. Vaughton, crowned arms, rev. robed female with accoutrements of art, building in background, named (F. Sutcliffe, Whitby, June 1889), 39mm;
Mechanics’ Institute, Keighley, bronze medals by J. Moore (2), robed female standing in landscape, camera at right, revs. legend, named (F. Sutcliffe, 7 Jany. 1889, Champion; F. Sutcliffe, 7 Jany. 1889, Picture), both 45mm;
Photographic Exhibition, Richmond, Surrey, a silver medal, unsigned [by J.A. Restall], crowned arms, rev. wreath, named (Awarded to F.M. Sutcliffe for Series of Landscapes, 1889), 45mm, 48.33g;
Photography, bronze medals by J.A. Restall (2), seated robed female, camera equipment at left, revs. wreath, named (Medal for General Study won by F.M. Sutcliffe, ‘Coventry’ Exhibition, 1889; Medal for Best Picture, won by F.M. Sutcliffe, Royton, 1890), both 38mm;
FRANCE, Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1889, a bronze medal by L.A. Bottée, Marianne crowning seated artisan, Exposition pavilion and Eiffel Tower below, rev. Fame seated on branch of tree, blowing trumpet, named (F.M. Sutcliffe), 63mm (Maier 131; PBE 9; ANS Exh. Cat. 1910, 15; BDM I, 231; cf. DNW 176, 373);
GERMANY, Photographische Jubiläums Ausstellung, Berlin, 1889, a silver medal by O. Schultz, male bust right, rev. radiant tablet, named (Zuerkannt Herrn Frank M. Sutcliffe), 45mm, 50.80g;
U.S.A., Photographic Society, Chicago, Art Institute, bronze medals (3), unsigned, eagle with feet resting on U.S. shield of arms, revs. 1st annual exhibition may 1889, named (F.M. Sutcliffe), all 38mm;
Crystal Palace Photographic Exhibition, 1890, a bronze medal by J. Pinches, Britannia holding caduceus and key, opening the doors to the exhibition, lamb and helmet at her feet, rev. legend above wreath, named (Frank Sutcliffe, Class C, Sec. 1), 41mm (Allen p.140; MJP p.33);
Mechanics’ Institute, Keighley, medals by J. Moore (2), in silver and bronze, robed female standing in landscape, camera at right, revs. legend, named (silver: F.M. Sutcliffe, Champion, 1890; bronze: F.M. Sutcliffe, Subject Pictures, 1890), both 45mm, silver 46.70g;
Newcastle-on-Tyne and Northern Counties Photographic Association, a bronze medal by J.A. Restall, elevation of church, rev. camera, central tablet named (Awarded to F.M. Sutcliffe, 1890), 45mm (cf. DNW M11, 1105);
Liverpool International Photographic Exhibition, a silver medal by J.A. Restall, arms and supporters, rev. camera, tablet and portrait on easel, named (1891, F.M. Sutcliffe), 45mm, 39.00g;
International Photographic Exhibition, Leeds, medals (3), unsigned [by J.A. Restall], in silver and bronze (2), classical male head right, radiant star around, revs. crested arms and supporters, municipal art gallery above, named (silver: F.M. Sutcliffe, Marine and Clouds, Leeds, 1891; bronze: Landscapes, F.M. Sutcliffe, Leeds, 1891, Outdoor Groups, F.M. Sutcliffe, Leeds, 1891), all 45mm, silver 40.17g (cf. DNW M11, 1119);
U.S.A., The Society of Amateur Photographers of New York, Fourth Annual Exhibition, a silver medal, unsigned, American eagle above camera on radiant sun, rev. wreath, named (Frank M. Sutcliffe, for Artistic and Technical Excellence, 1891), 57mm, 53.78g;
U.S.A., World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893, a bronze medal by C.E. Barber, figure of Christopher Columbus modelled by A. St. Gaudens, rev. legend on tablet, named (F.M. Sutcliffe), 77mm (Baxter 87; BDM I, 122; Eglitt 90);
FRANCE, Photo Club de Paris, 1897, a uniface plated plaque, unsigned, flower, named (F.M. Sutcliffe), 90 x 60mm;
Restoration of Royton Parish Church of St Paul, Photographic Exhibition, a silver medal, unsigned [by Elkington & Co], winged female standing in portico, flanked by camera and portrait on easel, rev. elevation of the Church, un-named, 45mm, 39.73g;
The Fine Art Society, Champion Prize Medal, a silver medal by J. Moore for Restall, robed female standing in landscape, camera at right, rev. wreath, named (F.M. Sutcliffe, 1st Prize, Professional Work, Instantaneous), 45mm, 46.64g;
Newcastle-on-Tyne and Northern Counties Photographic Association, silver award medals (2), unsigned [by J.A. Restall], adorned head, revs. wreath, un-named, both 39mm, total wt. 60.34g;
AUSTRIA, Ehrenpreis des Club der Amateur-Photographen, Vienna, medals by H. Jauner (2), in silver-gilt and plated light bronze, bust of Louis Daguerre left, revs. wreath, named (Frank Sutcliffe in Whitby), silver-gilt 43mm, 37.30g, bronze 60mm (Hauser 3227-8; Horsky 7241; Wurzb. 1569) [56].

The text below is provided in response to a request from Roger Hyam for a fuller explanation of the “Reversal F” ( a Kodak term ) direct-positive emulsion technology used in Kodak PR10 instant Film and Ektaflex products which I referred to in the “Interesting Imaging Systems” article I posted on my page a week ago which came with a free download of my recollections document. 

I didn’t explain the mechanism of the Reversal F process in detail. The name is misleading because it is not a “reversal” system but uses a positive-working emulsion. I mentioned the discovery of the effect when inadvertently, the dark-room lights were switched on while a film was being developed. The emulsion concerned had high internal sensitivity. That is, much of the latent image silver was produced in the interior of the emulsion crystals or “grains”. In this case it was because the precipitation process which produced the grains created a lot of disorder in the structure of the crystal lattice. These defects form “sensitivity centres” or localised regions which trap electrons formed during exposure to the imaging light. This is the first step in the normal process of latent image formation and is followed by the migration of silver ions within the crystal to the trapped electron and the formation of an atom of silver. The presence of the silver atom increases the effectiveness of the sensitivity centre which retains subsequently trapped electrons for longer thus giving more time for a silver ion to add another atom on combination with the second and later trapped electrons. The process continues until the cluster of silver atoms reaches a number sufficient to render the crystal more susceptible to reduction during the development process. Usually, the crystal surfaces are treated with chemical sensitisers, typically sulphur or gold compounds or a combination of both. These usually produce more competitive sensitivity centres which result in most of the latent image being formed on the surface.

If this had been the case when the discovery was made, the film would have simply fogged. Because most of the latent image had been formed internally the situation was different. The dark-room lights provided a flood of released electrons into the conduction band of all the coated grains. In the grains exposed during imaging these mobile electrons were trapped by the latent image. In the now swollen wet emulsion layer the balance between the surface and interior of the grains was changed. Unexposed grains now had surface sensitivity sufficient to compete successfully for electrons and therefore formed latent image silver on the surface. This is probably because the “positive holes” ( bromine atoms ) formed when silver atoms are formed can escape from the crystal surface rather than be available to reverse the formation of silver atoms while still near the latent image.

In the absence of silver halide solvents or substances which can disrupt the crystal structure and reveal the internal image, the surface latent image is the only catalyst for the development process so the grains which had been exposed to image light and had been prevented from forming surface silver by the internal latent image during the second non-image exposure were not developed. The response of the emulsion was therefore positive.
When it came to producing positive-working emulsions for the instant film products decades had passed and the control over emulsion precipitation and chemical sensitising had been transformed. Frank Evans in Rochester produced beautiful, pure silver bromide emulsions like the example I included in my piece which I made when working on the Ektaflex project. These were made in two precipitation stages. Firstly an emulsion was produced to provide a core. This was then chemically sensitised with sulphur ( and gold I think ) after which an outer shell of silver bromide was added. Finally the surface was sensitised with sulphur.

The other major change was to replace light as the generator of the non-image-wise electron injector with a chemical source. Like the developing agent this, so-called “nucleating agent” ( a poor name in my view ) is a reducing agent but a little less subtle. The developing agent is gentle enough not to reduce grains not decorated with latent image, relying on the latent image’s catalytic action to speed up the process and so distinguish exposed from unexposed grains. The nucleating agent was on the other hand not so powerful that it reduced any silver halide available like a fogging agent in a reversal process. Also, in the case of Ektaflex, the same simple solution had to process both positive and negative versions so the nucleating agent had to be incorporated in the film structure.

You will probably now appreciate why I didn’t include this in my article!

Image: Silver Bromide 'reversal F' grains. 

The photographic art reproduction came into being simultaneously with the invention of the medium: Joseph-Nicéphore Niépce captured engravings in his earliest heliographs, while William Henry Fox Talbot praised the reproductive capacities of the calotype in The Pencil of Nature (1844). As much as art has influenced photographic reproduction (for instance, Louis Daguerre who arranged sculptural pieces into elaborate still lives recalling those by Dutch Golden Age masters or, perhaps, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin), the reproduction has influenced art. As Walter Benjamin has influentially argued, it put the 'aura' of the original into question. Together with Paul Valery and Erwin Panofsky, Benjamin sparked a century-long debate on the interrelationship between the original and the copy, which is still far from any decisive conclusion with Peter Walsh, Michelle Henning, Georges Didi-Huberman, and Bruno Latour readdressing the problem in the last decade.

What is more, the other aspects of the photographic reproduction have received much less scholarly attention. Despite the valuable efforts of Dominique de Font-Réaulx, Stephen Bann, and Patrizia Di Bello, there is still much to be discovered with regards to its materiality, function, and reception: What technical challenges has photographic reproduction faced since the appearance of the medium and how has it resolved them? How have new technologies changed the relationship between the original and the copy? What were the multiple uses of photographic reproductions? What do they tell us about the aesthetic taste of their day? What impact has the photographic reproduction had on the fine arts since the nineteenth century? Does it itself have any artistic value?

We invite proposals dealing with these and other aspects of the photographic art reproduction from academics, museum professionals, and postgraduate students that work in any related discipline. Please email a 300-word abstract for an individual paper (20 mins) or an object-in-focus presentation (10 mins) to sofya.k.dmitrieva@gmail.com by 18th June 2021 along with a brief speaker biography (max 50 words).

Held by the University of St Andrews in conjunction with the Centre André Chastel, the conference bridges two major centres of early photography, St Andrews and Paris. It is organised by the members of Refocus!, a cross-disciplinary postgraduate project that aims to explore the history of St Andrews through the research of the town's rich early photographic legacy: facebook.com/RefocusStAndrews

The conference will take place on 23 July 2021. 

In collaboration with the Science Museum Group and Senate House Library, ‘The Media of Mediumship: Encountering the Material Culture of Modern Occultism in Britain’s Science, Technology, and Magic Collections’ project aims to transform understandings of the relationship between science, technology, and unorthodox forms of spiritual belief in modern Britain. 

This project will produce a knowledge exchange, events, and creative performance programme designed to showcase the occultural use history of artefacts and collections held by the Science Museum Group and Senate House Library. These activities will explore how seemingly secular technological and scientific instruments— cameras, radios, telegraphs, and other objects— have been used by spiritual practitioners and sceptics alike to probe the existence of an unseen world. The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and follows on from the Popular Occulture in Britain, 1875-1947 research network.

The project has published its first blog here: https://mediaofmediumship.stir.ac.uk/2021/04/30/touching-the-past-in-intangible-times/

Image: Quarter plate ‘Cameo’ camera manufactured by W. Butcher & Sons, London (made c. 1915–20).
Image courtesy of Science Museum Group, © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation has announced the long and shortlists for its 2021 Photography and Moving Image Book Awards, chosen from over 180 submissions. The books in the running address global issues related to gender, identity, history, social injustices, community and memory.

Ranging from untold stories of contemporary society, to innovative thinking about the future of film from an African perspective, the diverse lists reflect the Foundation’s enduring recognition of attentive and original books that will likely have a lasting impact on their field.

This year’s winners will receive prize money of £5,000 each. For both categories, the shortlist selected by the judging panel aims to showcase innovative and coherent bodies of work with a focus on cultural relevance for our current times and in years to come. The judges also placed emphasis on each publication’s design, texture and haptic qualities, elements indicative of the collaborative approach taken by writers, artists, editors and designers.

The judging panel for the Photography Book Award commented: “This year’s longlist demonstrates that photography books with substance are more powerful than simply beautiful photography. The submissions revealed a strong sense of innovative storytelling about contemporary society, made clear through the way images have been combined as well as the texts included and the design of the books. The longlist is an incredible mix of archive, artists, historians, photographers and theorists.”

Professor Gideon Koppel, Judge, Moving Image Book Award comments: “Now seems to be a particularly relevant time to be thinking about moving pictures and sounds, and how this field interacts with other ideas about humanity. We are in the middle of a technological revolution, where there is an acceleration of new ways to make and experience moving images and sound. So it didn't surprise me to see a noticeable collection of books musing on the future by looking to the past.”

Sir Brian Pomeroy CBE, Chair of the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation said: “It’s been fantastic to see such a strong year for submissions, and the eclectic range of genres that both longlists encompass. The Awards are an important reflection of contemporary society, and the politics and cultural experiences from the previous year. Photography and Moving Image books continue to give a voice to people and communities across the world.”

SHORTLIST - Photography Book Award

• Centralia by Poulomi Basu (Dewi Lewis Publishing). Basu’s Centralia brings to light the important lives of indigenous women in India and their families, whose voices, stories and fight are rarely heard. Through a highly intelligent combination of texts and powerful images, the book explores the ways that our perceptions of reality and truth are often manipulated.
• Destiny edited by Myles Russell-Cook with contributors (National Gallery of Victoria) In Destiny, Russell-Cook presents a timely monograph showcasing over 40 years of work by photographer and artist Destiny Deacon. Deacon is known for having coined the term ‘blak’, and her work across photography, video, printmaking, mixed media and installation is an interrogation of the way in which Aboriginal people have been, and continue to be,
  misrepresented within popular culture.
• Dream is Wonderful, Yet Unclear by Maria Kapajeva (Milda Books) Kapajeva’s book is an extraordinary journey through contemporary social history and personal memory. Dream is Wonderful, Yet Unclear explores the community, of which Kapajeva’s family was part, surrounding a now closed textile mill in Narva, Estonia, that
  suffered deeply after Estonia asserted its independence from Russia. With a focus on women and socio-political matters in post-Soviet culture, the work is beautifully clever and conceptually rigorous.
• Sunil Gupta: From Here To Eternity by Sunil Gupta, edited by Dr Mark Sealy MBE (Autograph in association with The Photographers’ Gallery and Ryerson Image Centre) Sunil Gupta’s life and long career in photography and activism are charted through a rich volume of personal and political archival material. Gupta’s socially engaged projects and works have been instrumental in raising awareness and visibility around the political realities concerning the fight for international gay rights, and the book traces the intersectional histories of migration and gay liberation.

Judging panels
The judges of this year’s Photography Book Award were Patrizia Di Bello, Professor of History and Theory of Photography at Birkbeck, University of London; Anna Fox, acclaimed British photographer and Professor of Photography at the University for the Creative Arts; and Jennie Ricketts, independent photography editor, curator, consultant and mentor.

The judges of this year’s Moving Image Book Award were Erika Balsom, Reader in Film Studies at King’s College London; Steven Bode, Director of Film and Video Umbrella, the UK’s leading makers of artists' moving image; and Gideon Koppel, Professor of Film at Manchester School of Art.

Upcoming events
● 20 May, The Photobook Sessions, a free day-long programme of talks about photobook publishing. Presented in partnership with Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London.
● 1 June, digital winners event 1, in partnership with The Photographers’ Gallery.
● 3 June, digital winners event 2, in partnership with The Photographers’ Gallery.

The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation
The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation was created in 1985 by Andor Kraszna-Krausz, the founder of Focal Press. Since 1985 the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation Book Awards have been the UK’s leading prizes for books on photography and the moving image. More information information on the work of the Foundation can be found online at www.kraszna-krausz.org.uk.

Farleys House & Gallery is pleased to present The Road is Wider than Long, an exhibition exploring surrealist artists Lee Miller and Roland Penrose’s travels through the Balkans in the Summer of 1938, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Photographs taken by Miller and Penrose during this trip will be displayed together, including many by Miller which have never been seen before. The couple’s photographs capture the surreal landscapes they encountered whilst travelling through Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, and document the traditions of local people such as the Roma, whose ways of living would later fall victim to political turmoil and world events of the mid 20th century.

The exhibition will provide a fascinating glimpse into the lives of two artists and their journey of discovery in a world that would soon be transformed forever. Lee Miller’s camera in particular quietly observed the local traditions they encountered along the way and pictures of Miller by Penrose often show her immersed with the people they met. Miller made a particular attachment to a group of Roma who, before she parted, made her a special ceremonial sheepskin coat, hand embroidered with decorations and her initials which is now part of the collection at Farleys House & Gallery. When Miller returned to Romania in 1946 following the Second World War, she found that most of the Roma travellers she had met almost a decade earlier had been sent to the Nazi death camps.

On their return, the trip would form the basis of Penrose’s book The Road is Wider than Long, one of the earliest examples of a British Surrealist photobook, created as a love poem for Miller who had returned to her life in Cairo, Egypt and Roland to London. Drawn from his own memories and records of the couple’s trip, the original handwritten photobook was bound in shoe leather. This intimate publication has an important place in the history of Surrealist literature and Roland soon adapted it for self-publication through his London gallery.

The first edition of 510 copies included ten that had photographs tipped in, and small illuminations Penrose had added in watercolor which he gave as gifts. A copy bearing the personalised inscription “For Lee who caught me in her cup of gold” was gifted to Miller, with other copies going to artist friends including Paul and Nusch Éluard, Man Ray and Max Ernst.

Facsimile copies of both the handwritten and the first printed edition of The Road is Wider than Long dedicated to Lee Miller have been specially printed by the Lee Miller Archives to accompany the exhibition.

The Road is Wider than Long
ISBN 9780 9532389 9 6 / 9781 914298004
£15.00 / £19.50
Published by the Lee Miller Archives. See: https://www.farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk/product-category/books/

Gallery opening hours & ticketing information

The exhibition will be on view from Thursday 20 May – Sunday 31 October 2021.

Farleys House & Garden is open every Thursday and Sunday, 10am to 4.30pm

Tickets are available to pre-book from www.farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk/product-category/tickets/ 

A series of major publications in recent years have shed fresh light on the early British film business, from the 19th century pioneers up to the boom in cinema building before the First World War. Do these require revision of the standard histories by Rachael Low and John Barnes, which were pioneering in their time? And how are new historical insights best distributed, accessed, and debated in the digital era?

Speakers at this two-day symposium will include Barry Anthony, Tim Boon, Stephen Bottomore, Simon Brown, Zoë Viney Burgess, Jon Burrows, Ian Christie, Malcolm Cook, Bryony Dixon, Peter Domankiewicz, Frank Gray, Luke McKernan, Lawrence Napper, Simon Popple, Laraine Porter, Deac Rossell, Vanessa Toulmin

The symposium will run between 14.00-18.00 over two days on Microsoft Teams hosted by Birkbeck. It is free to register. 

Organisers: Ian Christie and Malcolm Cook

Contact i.christie@bbk.ac.uk or m.cook@soton.ac.uk for any queries.

Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/remapping-early-british-cinema-registration-151945849125?fbclid=IwAR30X_OAdXkIFvwv7cVfVTwqL28oS1NCkhQ9d_vKGwmcIDcZeSNbGc48Ii0

Messums, the London art dealer, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Julie Bonzon and the launch of our photographic department with a programme of online and physical exhibitions picking up in September 2021. Our curatorial and public programme featuring international, renowned and emerging artists and photographers working in various parts of the world encourages dialogue between contemporary imagery and archives, reflecting on the evolution of photography as a storytelling genre.

Messums Photography is delighted to confirm the representation of the following artists: Angela Williams (UK), Alexander Lindsay (UK), Dod Miller (UK), Jeffrey Milstein (US), Jean-Vincent Simonet (France), Justin Keene (South Africa), Nii Obodai (Ghana), Polly Penrose (UK), Tif Hunter (UK) and Yan Wang Preston (UK, China); commissioned works by Ingrid Pollard (UK) and Shohei Fujimoto (Japan); and up-coming exhibitions featuring works by Sophie Green (UK) and Laura El-Tantawy (Egypt, UK). The department will explore contemporary narratives in photographic practices with the benefit of lateral perspective across different artistic medium.

Julie Bonzon writes: 'Johnny Messum and I are working towards producing high-calibre online and physical exhibitions and talks programme featuring international, renowned and emerging artists and photographers and encouraging dialogue between practitioners, as well as between archives and contemporary imagery.'

As well as a site for selling, Messums Photography offers clients, members and broader audience expertise in the genre of photography through a monthly series of online conversations with each of our artists as well as critical interrogations into photography making techniques and lens-based narratives today. Messums Photography aims to present compelling content across its online and physical platforms that is timely and relevant, encouraging us to think photography as a way to navigate, comprehend and question how history has been depicted and remembered.

Alongside exhibiting contemporary photography, Messums Photography is partnering with the Kogan Collection on a ground-breaking series of exhibitions. The Kogan Collection is one of the largest private collection of conflict photography in the UK and has to this date, never been shown. With more than 350 prints dating from 1895 to 2015, a group of 800 vintage NASA photographs, first and limited-edition photography books, Life, Picture Post and Time magazines and artefacts, the Kogan Collection offers an in-depth and comprehensive view of the history of photojournalism and documentary photography in Europe and North America. These works will be the frameworks of an exhibition programme that explores the varying approaches and artistic choices compiled under the label of documentary photography and the wider narratives surrounding the history of press photography as an industry and photojournalism as a profession.

The launch of the Photographic Department is marked by ‘Close Conflict’, a touring exhibition featuring unique vintage photographs by Robert Capa from the Kogan Collection. Capa is a legend in the history of photo-journalism and possibly the most famous war photographer of the last century. This exhibition will feature a succession of iconic stories made throughout his career, from the altogether varying contexts in which he found himself. ‘Close Conflict’ starts its journey at Photo London in September 2021, and expected to tour our London, Wiltshire and Yorkshire venues.

See: https://messumslondon.com/exhibitions/exhibitions-events-messums-photography/

Image: Marianne Faithful, 1964 / © Angela Williams / Messums

The history of Kodak in Coburg 1961-2004, and staff recollections is presented by Fiona Kinsey, Senior Curator of the Images and Image Making, including the Kodak Heritage Collection at Museums Victoria. The museum houses the Kodak Australia archives and collection. 

https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/2882

The Zoom link is here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89706637372?pwd=Y3N4WXRWODVuVEx6WGsxTURhb1Zmdz09

Meeting ID: 897 0663 7372

Passcode: 651400

Wednesday, 19 May 2021 at 1900 (Australian) 1000 (BST)