Rachel Segal Hamilton, a journalist who specialsies in photography, has written an extended essay for the Birmingham Despatch on the photography collections at the Library of Birmingham and the legacy of Pete James (pictured right). It looks at the history of Birmingham's photography collections and the current situation.
Read the full piece here: https://www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/p/the-library-of-birmingham-hosts-a
Images: Michael Pritchard
Paula Fleming writes... In honor of International Stereoscopy Day I’m formally launching my photo history webpage (flemingphotohistory.com) which covers over fifty years of research given for free to whomever can use it. In addition to copies of all of my papers and one entire book, it covers:
Uploading my research is ongoing so there will be new additions. Feel free to contact me by email at britishstereos@hotmail.com
Well, it has finally arrived, the book that carte de visite collectors have been expecting all their lives.
CARTOMANIA by Paul Frecker (September Publishing, 2024) is a thumping good read – 474 pages and over 500 wonderful illustrations. Frecker calls it a labour of love, but it is so much more. The text is written with dry humour and evident expertise, amply quoting the sort of documentation you would find, perhaps, in the British Library after many months, or even years of arduous searching. Indeed, this marvellous tome brings to light a world of evidence from period journals and newspapers to chart the spectacular rise and the eventual fall of the gleaming star which brought photography to the general public, altering and moulding tastes and habits as no earlier photographic process had done. I was particularly impressed by the chapters and illustrations relating to Death and Mourning, Copyright and Piracy, and Origins, but there are chapters for all, paying careful attention to Photographers, The Sitting, Royalty, Courtesans, Armchair Travellers, and so on. The illustrations are taken from the extensive and extraordinary collection of the author, which ought to be preserved for the nation.
While waiting for the nation to wake up, buy the book!
Newcastle's Side Gallery has several jobs available. Amber Film & Photography Collective CIC and Side Gallery have a rich and intertwined history rooted in the vibrant arts and culture scene of the Northeast. The collective and gallery were established in the late 1960s and early 1970s by a group of visionary photographers and filmmakers driven by a shared passion for documentary storytelling and cultural preservation.
and previously announced
Image: Interiors, 1981 ©Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, AmberSide Collection
Following the cyber-attack that took place last October, the British Library continues to have a major technology outage including the website, online systems and services, however our buildings are open as usual.
With the Explore Archives and Manuscripts online catalogue still yet to be restored, our catalogues of Photographic collections have now been made available through the National Archives Discovery Catalogue. This includes the 'Photo' series (including the Archaeological Survey of India) and the 'Kodak Historical Collection'. We hope to expand on this offering in due course to include the Fay Godwin Collection and the Talbot photographs. The Talbot photographs are also available via the William Henry Fox Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, which includes digitised early photographs from the British Library and other institutions.
For direct links to the National Archives:
British Library Photographs on National Archives - 147,123 records
British Library Kodak Historical Collections - 3151
To consult the collections, the British Library's Print Room is currently open by appointment on Monday and Friday mornings from 10-12.30. We are aiming to be open Monday-Friday mornings in the autumn. For enquries or appointments, please email vacollections@bl.libanswers.com or apac-prints@bl.uk.
This conference explores the multifaceted history and cultural significance of flash photography. Flash, introduced in the 1860s, has played a crucial role in photography, making previously unseen scenes visible, from the nocturnal lives of animals to the bustling nights of New York City. There is a keynote presentation from Dr Sara Dominici.
This conference aims to move beyond a purely technical narrative of flash as merely a tool for overcoming darkness. Instead, it seeks to understand flash as a socio-technical device that shapes photographic practice and cultural perceptions. Flash photography, from early magnesium bursts to modern electric strobes, not only illuminates scenes but also influences the photographic event itself. The noise, smoke, and sudden light of early flashes contributed to the dynamic nature of photo shoots, impacting both photographers and subjects.
This conference will investigate the diverse dimensions of flash, including its aesthetic, cultural, and media implications. The performative nature of flash and its role in capturing rapid motion, filling in light, and creating new visualities will be discussed. Flash has been both embraced and rejected by photographers, creating boundaries between art and non-art. Its use has marked significant moments in the history of photography, contributing to genres like celebrity and wildlife photography.
Moreover, flash photography has served as a metaphor in literature and theory, symbolizing revelation and memory. It has been linked to powerful narratives, such as those documenting social injustices. Despite technological advancements reducing the need for flash, its historical and cultural impacts remain significant. The conference invites discussions on the flash’s role in photographic history, its cultural and social uses, and its ongoing relevance in contemporary visual regimes.
Blind by Light: Just to see: Flashes and Revelations
17-18 October 2024
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Richelieu
See the programme and register here
The Lens Media Lab at Yale's Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage invites you to its symposium DARKROOM TO DATA, to be held in New Haven on August 12, 2024. The program will feature the lab's research into the material history of black and white photography and will highlight our principal collaborations among leading collections. The theme of this work is 'seeing at scale' through the creation and interpretation of datasets that surface patterns latent in photograph collections. These patterns inform our thinking of preservation, artistic intention, regional practices, and the influence of materials and methods shared by photographers across time. The intended audience is art historians, conservators, conservation scientists, collectors, curators, dealers and anyone interested in data science and data visualization applied to the study of cultural material.
Program details and a link for registration are here. Advance registration is required and is free of charge.
Opening next month, I Am Who I Am Now: Selections from the Bengali Photo Archive offers a unique insight into the everyday life of the Bengali East End of London. The exhibition focuses on vernacular photographs taken of and by Bengali people over the past 50 years. Accompanied by oral histories and collaboratively produced archival interpretations, it offers a powerful and intimate perspective on the community's histories. From the microcosms of the family to the transformative power of community spaces, it illuminates the intricate interplay between individual experiences and the broader socio-political landscape in the East End.
The images are drawn from the Bengali Photo Archive, a new collection featuring personal and family images donated by local people. The exhibition also features work by
photographers Raju Vaidyanathan, Mayar Akash, Anthony Lam, Paul Halliday, Sarah Ainslie, David Hoffman, Paul Trevor and others, which documents the community's working lives,
activism, and anti-racist struggles.
The title of the show is inspired by photographer Mayar Akash, who reflected, “I am who I am now” because of transformative experiences in East End youth work settings. The central importance of such community spaces is shown in images of the Federation of Bangladeshi Youth Organisations, and musicians such as Joi Bangla, State of Bangal and Osmani Knights. These groups brought together politics, activism, arts and music to create a new Bengali youth culture in the 1980s.
I Am Who I Am Now: Selections from the Bengali Photo Archive is co-curated by Julian Ehsan, Four Corners and the Bengali Photo Archive volunteers with the generous support of Swadhinata Trust. It is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, the Art Fund and Historic England.
Julie Begum, of Swadhinata Trust says: “When we engage with art that reflects diverse perspectives, we see new ideas, cultures, and ways of thinking. . . The Bengali photo archive challenges racist stereotypes about us and who people think we are, including ourselves.”
Julian Ehsan, exhibition curator says: “I Am Who I Am Now reveals the power of community history and telling the stories of everyday people. Working collaboratively with project
volunteers and people who appear in the archive itself, this exhibition re-centres the curatorial process — and the curatorial power — to emphasise voices that are often hidden or ignored. As a person of Bengali heritage myself, it has been poignant to work with intimate and evocative images of, and by, the diaspora.”
Akila Asad, an archive volunteer says: “The archive captures the resilience and the everyday lives Bengalis built in Britain. By highlighting their heritage, the Bengali Photo Archive encourages viewers, especially the Bengali community, to take pride in their pioneering forefathers who journeyed to the UK, solidifying their presence in East London and proving that Britain is indeed their home as well.”
Tanbir Mirza-Baeg, archive donor and volunteer says: “The Bengali Photo Archive will be a great insight for those who want to look at their heritage to see that there was simple mundanity outside of the struggles that were faced by the generations before them. I hope that it inspires others to start their own archive, and gather the different pieces before they are lost and there isn't a chance to see or hear them again.”
I Am Who I Am Now: Selections from the Bengali Photo Archive
5 July-4 August 2024
London, Four Corner
See more here
Image: Two boys dancing at Spitalfields City Farm, 1990s. © Julie Begum. Courtesy of Bengali Photo Archive.
Project Placement opportunity to help with getting Leeds Historic Photographs online. The project will involve preparing Leeds Museums’ historic photograph and local history image collections for export to the Leodis website (https://www.leodis.net/).
This will include research and identifying content, and cross-checking with images on Leodis to identify images which would be suitable. The project provides valuable experience working with historic collections, digitisation and cataloguing skills, research experience and an opportunity to learn more about Leeds history. This will make more of the museum collections accessible online and help to crowd-source information from the public.
About You:
Our Project Placements are a training and development opportunity. We are looking for people who are:
What matters most is your passion for the project.
About the role:
This is one of four Project Placements at Leeds Museums and Galleries in 2024. The funding for Project Placements comes from Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation funding to give people paid experience of working in a heritage/cultural setting, training and support.
Project Placements are a maximum of 30 days to be completed before the end of March 2025. We are open to it being fewer days to help people access the opportunity. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds. We are a family friendly organisation and support our employees to work flexibly to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Working days and times are flexible and are agreed between the individual and the supervisor. Pay £12/hour.
To find out more, we have a video describing each of the Project Placements and giving tip tops for applications. This can be accessed here: Project Placement film LMG - YouTube
Details and apply here: https://jobs.leeds.gov.uk/jobs/project-placement-casual-req25015
I have created WIkipedia article on Edwin Dalton who was a portrait painter and photographer active in England and Australia from 1818 to 1865. Edwin (Edward) Dalton exhibited at the London Royal Academy between 1818 and 1844, and received the Society of Arts' silver palette in 1824. In either 1841 or 1842 he married Magdalena (née Ross). She was the sister of William Ross, one of Queen Victoria's favourite portrait painters, and one of England's last great miniature painters. Initially specialising in portrait painting Dalton and Magdalena enjoyed the patronage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the 1840s.
Dalton travelled to Australia sometime before 1853, as by this time he had set up a business as a portrait painter in Victoria.[1] In May of that year he exhibited portraits by himself, and portraits by Queen Victoria at the Melbourne Fine Arts Exhibition.
On 22 December 1855, Dalton exhibited his crayon portraits and collodion miniatures at the new Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, alongside the work of other Sydney photographers. He also exhibited signed pictures, drawn and lithographed by Queen Victoria.
View (and edit) full article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Dalton_(artist)
This is an externally funded Fellowship sitting in the Photography Section of AAPD. The purpose of the Curatorial Fellowship is to further develop expertise in the history of photography by researching the collections of the V&A, while gaining vital curatorial experience working in a museum. The Curatorial Fellow will divide their time between key curatorial duties (including cataloguing, collections care, display, exhibition and publication preparation and researching potential acquisitions) and pursuing an independent research project based on the V&A’s photography collection, which will culminate in a tangible output such as a conference, publication and/or web project.
The research project will be based on the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) Collection, which was transferred to the V&A in 2017, and may relate to portraiture, colour photography or photographic processes, all areas of interest to the American photographer Bern Schwartz and The Bern Schwartz Family Foundation. The topic and scope of the project will be agreed at the start of the Curatorial Fellowship, depending on the Fellow’s expertise and the priorities of the Photography Section.
In the first year, the Curatorial Fellow will be based in the Photography Section as an active member of the curatorial team. In the second year, the Fellow will have the opportunity to spend three months in the V&A Research Institute (VARI) to focus on completing the research project. Throughout the Fellowship, there will be opportunities to present research to internal audiences, students, donors and the general public through lectures and gallery talks. Using an accompanying travel fund, the Fellow will have the opportunity to travel nationally and internationally to visit other photography collections as part of their curatorial and research work.
As a member of the AAPD, the Curatorial Fellow will also play a role in the wider work of the V&A, contributing to policy, projects and public programmes, supporting fundraising and income generation.
Curatorial Fellow in Photography, supported by The Bern Schwartz Family Foundation
Two-year role
Closes 3 July 2024
See more and apply here
After over thirty years of collecting stereoscopic photos, I decided to create an online database documenting my holdings, which I hope will be of interest to fellow collectors and photo historians. As an initial offering you will find the work of the Genre specialists of the 1850s and 60s: James Elliott, Alfred Silvester, C.E.Goodman, J.Reynolds, Toby, Henri Lefort, James Eastlake, Samuel Poulton, The Gaudin Brothers, Michael Burr, along with Still Life and Group Studies by William England and T.R.Williams. Oh, and a collection of stereoscopic Cats.
In time I will add Landscape views by G.W.Wilson, William Russell Sedgfield and Francis Bedford, The International Exhibition of 1862 and a miscellany of other stereoscopic delights. I expect to be scanning happily for years to come.
Jonathan Ross
See: http://www.jrstereocollection.com
Image: William England, artistic group.
Hello, I am a curator at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. We are seeking to make contact with photographer Tony Maskill, b. 1948 in Manchester, England. Tony migrated to Australia by 1967 and studied photography at the Prahran College of Advanced Education, Melbourne, Victoria. I am not sure if he is still in Australia. Any information much appreciated! All best, Antares
A reminder that there this still time to register for next week's PHRC conference.
The Photographer's Assistants
17-18 June Hybrid conference
Keynotes:
Michael Pritchard - Educating the Photographer's Assistant
Omar Nasim - At the Beck and Call of the Astronomers: Emulsion Makers as Photographic Assistants
The Royal Society has digitsied and made available over 10,000 letters of the astronomer and photographic pioneer Sir John Frederick William Herschel FRS (1792-1871) for the first time on the Royal Society’s Science in the Making archives portal. This collection of nearly 10,900 letters, drafts, copies and notes is the largest repository of scientific correspondence from and to Sir John Herschel, leading figure of Victorian science and is based on
Digital audiences can now travel through time to read about Herschel’s work in his own words and those of his correspondents. They can delve into first-hand accounts of Herschel’s mapping of the southern hemisphere skies and his contribution to the development of photography, including inventing the blueprint. They will also find his early mathematical work, and even his contested translation of Homer's epic poem, The Iliad.
As a collection, the correspondence is organised into three main groups of documents. HS/1 to HS/19 are manuscripts of the letters sent to Herschel and drafts and contemporary copies in his hand of his replies, which he preserved carefully in a dedicated cabinet. This includes correspondence with Mary Somerville (1780-1872), Charles Babbage FRS (1791-1871), Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879), Michael Faraday FRS (1791-1867), Augustus de Morgan (1806-1871) and Charles Darwin FRS (1809-1882).
HS/20 to HS/25 are copy books of Sir John Herschel’s outgoing letters gathered posthumously in 1873-1874 under the direction of one of his sons, the engineer and surveyor Colonel John Herschel FRS (1837-1921). The logistics of this copying exercise are also preserved in HS/28.
The copyists, Colonel John Herschel (who transcribed or checked the vast majority of letters), helped by his wife Mary Cornwallis Herschel (1829–1876) and one of his sisters, Francesca Herschel FRAS (1846-1932), initialed or signed their work.
HS/26 and HS/27 contains groups of letters relating to particular topics, such as Herschel's involvement in William Henry Fox Talbot's photography patent disputes, the administration of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the Telescope Glass Committee, Sir John Herschel and Charles Babbage's disagreements with Sir Humphry Davy FRS (1778-1829) and Sir James South FRS (1785-1867) after Babbage's unsuccessful nomination for the position as Secretary of the Royal Society, and the construction of Babbage's "calculating machines", now known as the Difference Engine.
Herschel's correspondence also goes beyond the scientific and highlights his engagement with the Victorian cultural world, through poetic and literary forays and a deep interest in photographic arts. We find letters from novelist Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) poet Elizabeth Colling (1799-1879) writer Joanna Baillie (1762-1851) and photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, all of whom maintained close friendships with Herschel over decades.
Read more here: https://royalsociety.org/news/2024/06/sir-john-herschel-letters/ and https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs/correspondence-of-sir-john-frederick-william-herschel-2
Search the letters: https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs/correspondence-of-sir-john-frederick-william-herschel
Image: Portrait of John Frederick William Herschel, by Christian Albrecht Jensen, 1843.
The V&A has recently acquired a collection of over 2,000 photographs by Bert Hardy (1913-95). Hardy was chief photographer for Picture Post magazine from 1941 to 1957 and the photographs in the acquisition span his entire career and consists mostly of vintage prints and some Kodachrome slides. His work represents a highpoint of twentieth-century British photography and international photojournalism. Hardy was the subject of a recent retrospective exhibition at The Photographers' Gallery, London.
The School of Journalism at Cardiff University holds the Bert Hardy archive containing material from 1936-2018. See: https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/0766a454-c2f6-3f9d-ad1c-5497bd17e07f
The V&A is currently advertising a PhD student placement to work on the collection.
To provide opportunities for early-career training for PhD students, the V&A has made available a range of doctoral placements based in collections departments, archives, the National Art Library, research, and collections care and access. Each placement is a discrete project designed by members of V&A staff (who will also act as the placement’s supervisor), involving collaborative as well as independent research.
The RPS Medical Group was founded in 1946. While the Group continues to exist, its collection of an estimated 4,000 photographs and archival papers, dating from the 1910 until the 1990s, now forms part of the V&A RPS collection.
The collection appears to have been formed as a resource for teaching and research, a record of technical advances, a platform for the recognition of photographers and hospital photography units, and as a visual record of surgical procedures, medical conditions and pathology.
The collection has a UK focus, with works by key practitioners such as the Group’s founder, Rosalind Maingot (1894-1947) and radiographer John Arthur Fairfax Fozzard (1905-93). It also contains the work of photographic departments including St Bartholomew's, Royal Free, St Thomas’ and Guy’s hospitals in London.
The collection contains some sensitive and graphic imagery. Ethical considerations will be a key factor in considering approaches to its cataloguing, research and dissemination. The student would be expected to seek advice from the V&A terminology group and experts outside of the museum sector.
The main tasks are to survey the material and its physical condition, categorization and organization, to organize and rehouse items in appropriate storage, research and write a summary and to catalogue a selection of the holdings.
This is an unpaid doctoral placement that is financially supported by the successful applicant’s PhD stipend in line with UKRI guidance.
To provide opportunities for early-career training for PhD students, the V&A has made available a range of doctoral placements based in collections departments, archives, the National Art Library, research, and collections care and access. Each placement is a discrete project designed by members of V&A staff (who will also act as the placement’s supervisor), involving collaborative as well as independent research.
The project will investigate holdings related to Latin America in the V&A Photography Collection. It will focus on objects acquired between 1850 and 1950, to situate findings in the context of early global networks and institutional connections to Latin America that can be mapped through photography. Many relevant holdings feature in bound photographic albums from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which are largely uncatalogued and undigitised. Other relevant holdings include topographical imagery, travel photographs and photographs of Latin American artefacts, as well as work by well-known photographers from the 20th century.
The placement will produce a survey of holdings related to Latin America in the Photography Collection, outlining historical context, scope and content. It will create a findings list for uncatalogued objects; and undertake more detailed provenance and object-level research for a defined group of material, resulting in new or enhanced catalogue records. The student will be encouraged and supported to write a blog post and lead a Print Room event relating to their work.
The project builds on momentum across the V&A to engage with Latin America. It will contribute new ways of thinking through institutional histories, and ripen collections for use in the Photography Section’s contemporary commissioning programme.
This is an unpaid doctoral placement that is financially supported by the successful applicant’s PhD stipend in line with UKRI guidance.
To provide opportunities for early-career training for PhD students, the V&A has made available a range of doctoral placements based in collections departments, archives, the National Art Library, research, and collections care and access. Each placement is a discrete project designed by members of V&A staff (who will also act as the placement’s supervisor), involving collaborative as well as independent research.
The V&A has recently acquired a collection of over 2,000 photographs by Bert Hardy (1913-95). Hardy was chief photographer for Picture Post magazine from 1941 to 1957. His work represents a highpoint of 20th century British photography and international photojournalism. The photographs in the acquisition span his entire career and consists mostly of vintage prints and some Kodachrome slides. The V&A seeks a student to work with Photography Curators on cataloguing the collection on a database and to organise, number, sleeve and box the photographs. The student will also be expected research a specific aspect of the collection that links with their interests.
This is an unpaid doctoral placement that is financially supported by the successful applicant’s PhD stipend in line with UKRI guidance. full time
Side Gallery which had temporarily closed last year and was under threat of permanent closure (see here) having lost its Arts Council National Portfolio status and funding has provided an update of its position. In 2023 is secured over £50,000 as part of a Crowdfunding exercsie and it has just been awarded a £236,000 grant by The heritage Fund which 'secures our building for the next year, which will allow us to host pop-up exhibitions and do comprehensive cataloguing.'
Side's statement sent to those who had supported its Crowdfunder says:
When we last emailed you in March we had several exciting updates to share about the collection, however, the future of Side Gallery was still uncertain…
We had one final funding application under review, which if not won would mean the permanent closure of the Side Gallery.
I am pleased to announce that we have been awarded a £236,000 grant by The Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.
This grant secures our building for the next year, which will allow us to host pop-up exhibitions and do comprehensive cataloguing.
But this grant isn’t just about the gallery, it’s much bigger.
This means exploring new partnerships and ensuring we are more connected to working photographers and the North East arts community.
This grant will enable us to run a 12-month project that includes:
The grant puts us on the path to reopening the gallery, but we not going back to business as usual; instead, we are forging a new direction that is mindful of our original principles.
We have a long way to go, but we would not have made it this far without you
Your donation to #SaveSide allowed us to protect the collection and gallery space and spend time creating the highest-quality funding applications.
Thanks to you and the 2,000 others who care deeply about telling North Eash stories we #SavedSide.
We’ll share updates and stories from the project along the way, and can’t wait to see what this next chapter brings for the collection and photography in the North East.
All the best,
Laura Laffler
Amber Film & Photography Collective
See: https://www.amber-online.com/side-gallery/
