Blogs

The redesigned Historical Photographs of China web site (https://www.hpcbristol.net/) has been re-launched and now contains over 10,500 images, including 1,400 recently added images from nine new collections.

 These including a large and diverse selection of photographs from Shanghai-based news photographer Malcolm Rosholt, the family photographs of Sikh life and work in Shanghai in the Ranjit Singh Sangha collection, and some of Felice Beato's photographs of the bloody 1860 North China Campaign. Mao Zedong, Rabindranath Tagore, the Tenth Panchen Lama, General Sir Robert Napier, Father Jacquinot, and sometime North China Daily News editor R.W. Little join the cast of personalities. The new images range from 1860 (with some earlier ones on their way soon), to 1949 (with some later ones on their way in the not too distant future).

On the relaunched HPC web site, we have tried to enhance discoverability and alleviate dependency on keyword searching, by offering several ways to find images, such as a 'Lucky dip' (random sampling of images), via collection names, via names of photographers and via some themed collections ('Featured Collections'), as well as an advanced keyword search facility.

Another new feature is a 'Related Photographs' link to other photographs linked in some way to the one displayed. We cannot say that coverage through this is comprehensive, but we are linking photographs where we can (where, for example, they might be split across albums, media (negatives and prints for example), or even collections.

Do please tell us what you think -- and we are always interested to hear how you use the site.  We'd be very happy too for notification of factual/name/location/date errors, typos, glaring omissions, etc.

 Developing the platform has been supported by awards from the British Academy, the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, and Swire Trust, and with vital support from the University of Bristol's IT Services.

 Professor Robert Bickers (HPC Project Director), Jamie Carstairs (HPC Project Manager).​ Email: hums-chinaphotos@bristol.ac.uk

Image: Small Pagoda / Ba06-103. © 2008 Peter Lockhart Smith / HPC

Two exhibitions at the Keswick Museum and Art Gallery, both about photography, complement each other.Lakeland Pioneers in Climbing and Photography: The Abraham Brothers looks at the work of George and Ashley Abraham and celebrates their work with a range of their iconic climbing photographs and some of the well loved views they popularised and which are still admired today. Accompanying this is Instanto Outdoors. Which shows contemporary photographs by Henry Iddon, taken with a 100 year old Underwood Instanto camera, previously used by the Abraham Brothers. Both exhibitions run until 12 May 2017. 

See: http://keswickmuseum.org.uk/

In Italy the phrase “Photographic double ground - Crozat System - Patented” is well known by professionals as well as by vintage and historycal photography lovers. Indeed, it is stamped on the back of hundreds of cartes de visite produced in Italy between the second half of the 1860s and the early Seventies. Nevertheless, the information about the procedure as well as the biography of its inventor have hardly been known up to now. Though, the Crozat System, which included the photographic double ground, the instantaneous coloring and the preservative varnishing system, radically transformed and innovated Photography, especially in Italy. There, it was used by dozens of professionals in order to create a charateristic portrait type in carte de visite format, very much appreciated by the public for its æsthetic characteristics, transparency and brilliance and also for the possibility to color certain parts of the picture.

In the fall of 1862 Leandro Crozat and his younger brother Nicolás, born in Alcoy, Spain, sought and obtained from Her Majesty Queen Isabella II the privilege of industrial invention relates to the photographic double ground, a “mechanical process invented to obtain two grounds in the same photographic set” a shaded one and a general one. 

Since December 1862 Leandro had embarked on a long journey to advertise and sell the Crozat System in the most important Spanish cities. Then he tried to do the same in France (Marseilles), in the United Kingdom (London), Ireland and then in Italy (but also in Egypt and Portugal), before reaching South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay).

Apart from being an itinerant photographer (proposing and teaching the Crozat system), Leandro was also a merchant, a chief manager, a founder as well as president and member of spiritualist associations, Vice-Consul, and responsible for the reading room of the National Library of Chile. He lived a full of adventures life -not too happily, according to him- and characterized by frequent moves. He was a bachelor throughout his life.

Read the Italian version of the book here: https://issuu.com/robertocaccialanzacremona/docs/crozat_impaginato

From the sepia-toned mass graves of the American Civil War to today’s drone shots of the destroyed Syrian city of Aleppo, war photographs have shaped and continue to inform our understanding of human conflict.  Far from neutral, war photographs challenge our sense of humanity in a complex exchange between ‘taking’ and ‘viewing’. Exploring this relationship through an analytical rather than aesthetic perspective, our six-week course will introduce you to the ethical, theoretical and practical issues connected with taking, viewing and reproducing war photographs.

Beginning with a historical overview and rare opportunity to view original war photographs from the Library’s collection, we’ll consider key themes including photography and truth, ethics and aesthetics, and the idea of cultural memory. Throughout the course we’ll refer to the Library’s extensive photography collections, and analyze photographic images using a variety of theoretical approaches.

Centering our course within contemporary practice, we’ll also spend an exclusive evening at the nearby Foundling Museum, where innovative documentary artist Mark Neville will talk frankly about his photographs taken on the frontline in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Kenya, on display in the exhibition Child’s Play (3 February–30 April 2017).

This course is led by Dr Eleanor Chiari (University College, London) with contributions from British Library curator John Falconer (Lead Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photography Collections) and documentary artist Mark Neville.

In collaboration with the Foundling Museum.

Course dates: Tuesdays 21 and 28 February and  7, 14, 21 and 28 March
Times: 18.00 – 20.00
Where: British Library, London

See more at: https://www.bl.uk/events/shooting-war-photography-history-representation

The 'Crozat's Photographic System' in Ireland and in the UK,1864-1871. Irish and/or British researchers of the history of photography and collectors who want to share information about the spread of the 'Crozat's System' in Ireland and in the UK and/or photographs made with this method, can contact us by writing to:

info@robertocaccialanza.com

See more about the publication here: http://www.robertocaccialanza.com/il_sistema_crozat_in_irlanda_-_the_crozats_sys.html.

Thank you.

Roberto Caccialanza (Cremona, Italy)

www.robertocaccialanza.com

You’re someone who’d love nothing more than to immerse themselves in The Hulton Archive. You’d thrive in a role where you can take a proactive approach to increasing its profile internally and externally. You’ll be establishing Getty Images as a recognised industry specialist in academic and museum circles as well as building increased awareness of our archive through emerging consumer division and related social media activities.

As a Curator you’ll be responsible for conservation, preservation, maintenance and accessibility of all analogue assets, including our special vintage collections. You’ll also project manage analogue assets for all brands and key point of contact for related issues such as library information, copyright information, legal support, pull & returns and asset locations are an additional aspect of the role, providing support and advice both in the UK and overseas, wherever analogue content maybe housed and maintained.

You’d join an office of 25 people which is made up of editors, production managers, curatorial assistants and researchers who are knowledgeable, passionate and world class photography experts.

Your next challenge:

• To have overall responsibility for existing, new and specialist analogue collections
• Manage a team of three Curatorial Assistants
• Maintain documentation (copyright, rights, acquisition’s register, storage locations etc.) databases and systems, including analogue/historic documentation
• Provide advice and assistance to internal & external clients regarding all aspects of analogue collections management
• Coordinate and build relations with related industry professionals, photographic partners etc. to maximise potential and exposure of archive collections
• Manage exhibition loans of vintage or analogue collections materials inc. gallery
• Advise on copyright, model release and R&C enquiries internally and externally in conjunction with Legal and R&C
• Assist in brand development and awareness through direct involvement in and input to social media, industry seminars, PR events and related activities, internal and external workshops, archival and related presentations, web-features, marketing, consumer activities e.g. web-features, internal communications and intranet documentation
• Research and curate activities both ad hoc and project related e.g. exhibitions, web galleries and features, web-based content events etc
• Manage the curatorial and conservation budget
• Reference and research into collections information e.g. valuations, captions etc

What you’ll need:

• Relevant and/or management experience within the media industry
• Knowledge of conservation practices, environmental tolerances etc
• Knowledge of library and classification systems
• Knowledge of History of Photography with special reference to photojournalism and commercial photography
• Experience within social media environment across most platforms e.g. Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat etc
• Identification and knowledge of historic photographic techniques (e.g. albumen prints, daguerreotypes etc.)
• Knowledge of market and insurance value of vintage material and recognised security procedures
• Curatorial skills e.g. exhibition/gallery management, museum standards and procedures
• Knowledge of EU copyright directives, IP rights, model release etc
• Project and Budget management experience
• Good presentation skills and familiarity with public speaking
• Relevant Arts Degree or Library Management related subject is advantageous

See more and apply here

The Manfred & Hanna Heiting Fonds/Rijksmuseum Fonds enables the Rijksmuseum to annually award two postgraduate Fellowships that stimulate outstanding object-based, photo-historical research by prospective curators from the Netherlands or abroad. Fellowships are awarded for a six-month period.

The focus of research should be related to the National Photo Collection held by the Rijksmuseum’s Print Room. The Rijksmuseum will endeavor to enable publication of the Fellow’s research in the series Rijksmuseum Studies in Photography. This could be an in-depth study of one photograph or photo book and/or its distribution; on a series of photographs or part of an oeuvre; on the aesthetic or technical aspects of photography; on the wider context of a photo book or album; or on combinations of art-historical research and research on materials and techniques.

The Rijksmuseum will provide working space for the Fellows, in order to stimulate an exchange of knowledge, ideas and experience. Access will be provided to all necessary information in the museum, as well as to the library and the resources of the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD) in The Hague.

The deadline for applications is 12 March 2017. Find our more here: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/manfred-and-hanna-heiting-fellowship

I am seeking information about this quarter-plate ambrotype of a young lad. There appears to be an etched signature above his left arm. Constant? 

Although this was bought in the UK, I suppose it might be French.

Does anyone recognize this signature?

Many thanks,

David McGreevy

Matt Isenburg, leading photographic collector and historian and driving force behind the Daguerreian Society, has passed away at the age of 89 on 14 November 2016.

Matt was a WW2 US Navy veteran and fascinated by history, in which he obtained a Bachelor's degree at Northwestern Universary. He started as a camera collector, with a major interest in Leicas but switched to collecting early photographica, focussing particular interest on the first 30 years of photographic history. He equally collected images, cameras and related photographic hardware and photographic literature, to tell the complete story of photography across his era of specialty using two collecting maxims, namely to collect the best of the best and to not be afraid to pay tomorrow's prices today. As a result, few private collectors have ever amassed anything like the diversity of important and rare material that Matt did.

Matt enjoyed writing about his extensive collection, producing many articles, a book with Charles Klamkin "Photographica : a Guide to the Value of Historic Cameras and Images" and he gave lectures on a wide array of photographic subjects over the years. In 1978 he founded the Daguerreian Society with John Wood, serving as President for many years. With Matt's encouragement, the Daguerriean Society held its 25th anniversary symposium in Paris in 2013 but his health prevented him from attending.

Matt possessed an unsurpassed collection of daguerrotypes, including a large family collection from the Southworth family (of the Southworth and Hawes studio in Boston), images of the Capitol Building and White House, a large number of full plate daguerreotypes of the Californian gold rush, 23 daguerreian cameras including the first one in America imported by Samuel Morse, numerous choice ambrotypes, tintypes, stereoviews and cartes de visite mostly from America but also other countries; photographic albums, frames and viewing apparatus; unexposed daguerreotype plates and developing outfits; advertising material; letters, documents and manuscripts relating to early photographers and extensive runs of daguerreian and wet plate era photographic periodicals in English, French and German and well as many of the key books on photography from that period.

Hundreds visited Matt's home in Hadlyme, Connecticut over the years to view his amazing collection and were regaled with not only the history of the items, but also the many stories of the chase in obtaining them and often into the very early hours of the morning! Matt possessed an intense passion for early photography and a driving desire to share it and was always generous in providing information and offering advice and encouragement.

In 2012, Matt sold his world class collection for $15, 000000 to media magnate David Thomson to be housed in the Archive of Modern Conflict facility in Toronto 2012. With his health failing, Matt realised his legacy had to continue to be utilised and enjoyed and he was comfortable with his decision, seeing his collection remain intact even though it was leaving the country. The collection has since been gifted to the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa in 2015 for inclusion in a larger collection called Origins of Photography.

The Photographers’ Gallery presents the first major London exhibition of Roger Mayne’s (1929 - 2014) work since 1999. Roger Mayne is best known for his seminal and pioneering body of work on community life in London’s Southam Street in the 1950s and early 60s. Mayne’s humanistic approach to his subjects has influenced subsequent generations of photographers and made a significant contribution to post-war British photography. 

Self-taught, Mayne counted among his influences Cartier Bresson, Paul Strand (whom he met in Paris) W. Eugene Smith and most notably photographer Hugo van Wadenoyen, who would prove to be an influential mentor throughout his formative years. Moving to London in 1954, Mayne began working for clients including the Observer, Sunday Times, Vogue, Pelican Books and BBC TV. He mixed with diverse artistic circles, corresponding and conversing with a wide range of painters, sculptors, architects, and playwrights. His approach to photography and engagement with the critical discourses of the day were greatly enlivened by these relationships. 

It was, however, his admiration for the St Ives scene of Terry Frost, Roger Hilton and Patrick Heron that would have an enduring impact on his life and work, encouraging Mayne to experiment with large photographic prints, mounting methods and installation based exhibitions at a time when there was little or no precedent for this within photography. These methods, alongside his considered and vocal debates on the topic helped to shift photography in Britain from a technical and commercial practice and position it within the wider arts.

In addition to his depictions of Southam Street, the exhibition also features some of Mayne’s less well known work from outside the Capital. These include images from his young adulthood in Leeds (early 50s) where Mayne first developed his photographic interests. His early pictures of street life around the city chart his gradual move from pictorialism towards his characteristic realist style.

Between 1961 - 65 Mayne visited the newly developed estate of Park Hill in Sheffield for a variety of commissioned work. The high-rises may seem far from the decay and haphazard life of Southam Street that had previously inspired him, nevertheless, his photographs of the residents conveyed similar empathy and nuance observed in daily social interactions and children at play. In addition to his human subjects Mayne’s images were also concerned with the urban environment, capturing the sharp angles, shades and abstract forms of the buildings.

At the Raleigh Cycles in Nottingham (1964), Mayne embraced the dynamic setting and low lighting of the factory to produce a series of dignified portraits of the workers in his distinctive black and white tonality. Restaged for the first time since 1964 is Mayne’s pioneering installation The British at Leisure. Commissioned by architect Theo Crosby for the Milan Triennale it features 310 colour images projected on five screens to a commissioned jazz score by Johnny Scott.

Also included in the exhibition are further examples of Mayne’s interest in photographic and graphic layouts including magazine spreads, book covers, and photography and poetry books.  A selection of Mayne’s correspondence testify to his early critically engagement with arguments concerning the contemporary appreciation of photography as an art form and further cement Mayne’s significance in the history of British Photography.

The exhibition is co-curated by Anna Douglas and Karen McQuaid and in collaboration with Katkin Tremayne, Roger Mayne’s daughter.

Visitor Information

Opening times: Mon – Sat, 10:00 - 18:00; Thu, 10:00 - 20:00; Sun, 11:00 - 18:00

Admission: free until noon (Mon - Sun) and then £4 / £2.5 concessions

Address: 16-18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW

Nearest London Underground Station: Oxford Circus

T: + 44 (0)20 7087 9300 E: info@tpg.org.uk W: thephotographersgallery.org.uk

Image: Roger Mayne Two boys in Southam Street, London, 1956
© Roger Mayne / Mary Evans Picture Library Courtesy of the Mary Evans Picture Library

Thresholds, is an innovate exhibition project about one of the first exhibitions of photography in the United Kingdom and is seeking support through a new Kickstarter Campaign. 

Using cutting-edge virtual reality technology, the project will re-present the exhibition of photogenic drawings staged at King Edward’s School, New Street in 1839 by the inventor William Henry Fox Talbot. 

There are four venues lined up for our tour: PhotoLondon at Somerset House in May, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery in June, Lacock Abbey in September, and the National Media Museum Bradford in November.

The project lead is artist Mat Collishaw, a visual artist with over 25 years experience exhibiting in galleries worldwide. He is supported by a team including: Paul Tennant at Nottingham University Mixed Reality Lab (part of their computer Science department), VMI Studio and The White Wall Company in London. The Mixed Reality Lab are developing the movement detection side of the project while VMI Studio are recreating our VR room in CG. The White Wall Company will be building the actual room. Work has been underway since January 2016 and we are now moving into the final phase. My partners on Thresholds are Pete James (a photographic historian), Larry Schaaf (an authority on Fox Talbot), The Science Museum, The British Library, The Royal Institution, The King Edward Grammar School, Lacock Abbey and The National Media Museum Bradford. 

The project has been kindly supported financially by King Edward's School, Birmingham, The Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, Colmore Business District, Birmingham City University and The Art Fund.

More information on the project and the rewards on offer can be found at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1817545913/thresholds-vr

The Thorn photographers were pioneers of the art in Bude, in Cornwall. this book celebrates their enormous contribution to Cornish history. over 250 images taken from their original glass negatives, many never before published, show the landscape, seascape and shipwrecks, of north Cornwall, as it was in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, packed with personalities and characters, recalling the hard but gentle pace of Cornish life as well as the incidents that live on in the memory of the Cornish people. the advent of photography captured the moment as it was. We are transported back to an age often regarded as romantic. however, life was so different from ours today: we have glimpses of the trials and tribulations of the time.

Harry Thorn was the first photographer in Bude village, as it then was, in the 1850s (population around 600). he started to record the events of the day. inevitably these included many shipwrecks which were a common occurrence. he did not have the advantage of wealth - his father was a carpenter and he was one of ten children, but he started a career in photography from very little and became accomplished at the new art. he was a true pioneer for Bude in a field with many hazards, particularly the chemicals used, about which not a lot was understood. it is probable that the chemicals led to his early death, at the age of thirty-eight, in 1876.

In the 1860s he was joined by his sister, brother and later his niece, who carried on the business after his death until 1928. Between them they have left us with a wonderful pictorial record of the area from Clovelly to Tintagel. after 1900, many of their photographs were printed as postcards which immediately appealed to collectors and this continues today. their legacy to Cornwall has not yet been fully appreciated – this book will give them the recognition they deserve.

Format: Large format hardback, 144 pages, 238 x 258mm, profusely illustrated throughout
Price: £24.99
ISBN: 978 1 906690 63 2

Orders here: www.thorns-of-bude-photographers.uk

Three new roles are on offer to work for the newly formed Photographic Collections Network.

Administrator/co-ordinator: freelance role with a fee of £20,000 working from early 2017 for 15 months. Would particularly suit someone with a commitment to photography and a track record of project co-ordination and admin.

Researcher: freelance role with a total fee of £5,000 working during 2017. Would particularly suit a researcher with a commitment to and knowledge of photography and its archives and collections.

Evaluator: freelance role with a total fee of £3,000 from early 2017 over a 15 month period. Would particularly suit an experienced project evaluator.

Deadline to apply is 09:00 on 10 January 2017.

See more here:https://www.redeye.org.uk/opportunities/work-photo-collections-network

The Gallery Manager’s role is to support the Senior Gallery Manager who is responsible for all aspects of monitoring and maintaining the Gallery’s building, planning and producing the installation and de-installation of Exhibitions, Events and Projects.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

A minimum of three years’ experience in a similar role within an arts organisation either as an employee or a part-time gallery technician

• Ability to work well within a small team
• Design and carpentry skills to lead on, organise, and make bespoke exhibition display objects essential.
• Flexibility of working hours is essential including working weekends
• Technical skills and experience managing and planning exhibitions
• Ability to problem-solve, provide viable practical solutions and be pre-emptive and responsive to many operational and technical demands.
• Good staff management skills
• Understanding basic IT and ability to troubleshoot computer and communications equipment when necessary

Closing Date for Application is:  Monday 12 Jan 2017

Interviews will be held on: Week 23 Jan 2017

The full job description and application form can be downloaded here. 

Job Description

Application Form

Dr Geoffrey Belknap, a historian of photography, visual culture and Victorian science, has been appointed Curator of Photography and Photographic Technology at the National Media Museum. He replaces Colin Harding who is undertaking PhD research looking at the work of Horace Nicholls. The Museum is due to announce its new name and re-brand in Spring 2017. 

Dr Belknap has spent a large part of his career studying and writing about photography: in particular its contribution to scientific communication in the Victorian era and the publication of photographs in 19^th century periodicals. He has previously worked at Harvard University, leading a team of graduates in a study of Charles Darwin’s personal correspondence and use of photographs at the time On the Origin of Species was being produced. He completed a PhD at Cambridge University which included an analysis of photographic images in the British periodical press in the late 1800s.

Dr Belknap joins the National Media Museum from his current role at the University of Leicester and the Natural History Museum (London). He will complete the academic year as post-doctoral fellow on the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council)-funded Constructing Scientific Communities: Citizen Science in the 19th and 21st Centuries project, before taking up the position of curator in June 2017.

From June he will be responsible for the Museum’s collection of photographs and items of photographic equipment, including internationally renowned works and objects from the Daily Herald, Kodak, and Impressions Gallery collections.

Jo Quinton-Tulloch, Director of the National Media Museum, said: “Geoffrey brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Museum, and will oversee the application of our renowned photography collections to our mission of exploring the science and culture of image and sound technologies. His specialist subjects of photography, visual culture and Victorian science are an enticing prospect at a very exciting time for the Museum, as we take a fresh look at how our objects can tell stories which will inspire the scientists and innovators of tomorrow.”

Dr Belknap said: “I am delighted to be joining the team at the National Media Museum, and to have the privilege of curating the world-class photographic collections that it holds. I am keen to integrate my own research experience, which has focused on photography as a reproductive technology within the contexts of the history of science, to the future of the collections, exhibitions and research culture within the Museum. One of the keys to this future will be the development of new crowd sourcing platforms to engage with and improve our knowledge of photographic collections. It is an exciting time to be joining the National Media Museum and I look forward to working with both old and new communities to the Museum and its collections.”

Dr Belknap’s most recent book From a Photograph: Authenticity, Science and the Periodical Press, 1870-1890 was published in November this year, and he has previously authored or co-authored titles including Through the Looking Glass: Photography, Science and Imperial Motivations in John Thomson's Photographic Expeditions and Photographs as Scientific and Social Objects in the Correspondence of Charles Darwin.

The National Media Museum is currently constructing the £1.8m Wonderlab gallery, due to open in spring 2017, which will explore the science of light and sound through 25 state-of-the-art interactive exhibits and experiments. Work also continues on the development of the £5m Sound and Vision gallery, which will showcase the world-firsts and other significant items in the Museum’s photography, cinematography and television collections.

François Cheval, curator of the Nicéphore Nièpce Museum is leaving after twenty years. There's an interview with him here: http://www.loeildelaphotographie.com/en/2016/12/12/article/159930065/au-revoir-monsieur-cheval/

Read more about his career here: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Cheval

Only four years after the invention of photography was announced to the world in 1839, two Scots had mastered the new medium and were producing works of breathtaking skill in extraordinary quantities. A Perfect Chemistry: Photographs by Hill & Adamson at the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, will explore the uniquely productive and influential partnership of David Octavius Hill (1802-1870) and Robert Adamson (1821-1848), which lasted a few short years from 1843 until early 1848. These stunning images, which belie the almost unimaginable technical challenges faced by the duo, are arguably among the first examples of social documentary in the history of photography. 

Look out for more details ion BPH as they become available. 

Image: David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, Lady Mary Hamilton (Campbell) Ruthven, 1789-1885. Wife of James, Lord Ruthven. Gift of Mrs. Riddell in memory of Peter Fletcher Riddell, 1985

Sotheby's online auctions is offering a hand-coloured image of Alice Liddell c.1860 in a timed auction which ends on 16 December. The description reads: Hand-colored albumen print depicting Alice Liddell seated beside a potted Fern. Carroll Image No. 613. One of 8 images known, which includes the small vignette cut-out at the end of Carroll’s Alice manuscript. Carroll arranged for the photograph to be colored for presentation to Alice Liddell. It is estimated at $120,000-180,000. 

See more here.

Dumfries and Leicester, UK – Two important archives are being merged to capture the history of holograms and their innovators. Prof Sean Johnston of the University of Glasgow has donated a large research archive to an even larger collection at De Montfort University (DMU), gathered and managed by by Prof Martin Richardson at DMU’s Leicester Media School.

Johnston (left), a historian and physicist, is Professor of Science, Technology and Society at the University of Glasgow, Scotland; Richardson (right), an artist, researcher and entrepreneur who gained his PhD at the Royal College of Art, is Professor of Modern Holography at De Montfort University in Leicester, England. Their aim is to preserve the history of the still-mysterious art of holography and to inspire continuing innovation.

The materials include correspondence and interviews with dozens of seminal figures in the field such as Emmett Leith at the University of Michigan and Yuri Denisyuk of the Vavilov Institute in St Petersburg, Russia. The collection also contains reminiscences, photographs, exhibition catalogues, unpublished documents and holograms from holographic artists, engineers, scientists, business people, enthusiasts and collectors. Richardson’s archive, which he has been amassing through his varied career, carefully preserves art and commercial holograms from pioneering businesses that have come and gone.

Background
Based in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Dumfries Campus of the University of Glasgow, Johnston’s archives were built up over the past fifteen years during his historical studies of holograms, their creators and their audiences. His research has led to publications and presentations around the world, and culminated in two books published by Oxford University Press: Holographic Visions: A History of New Science (2006) and Holograms: A Cultural History (2016). Now, as his research extends in new directions, Johnston wants to make the collection available to other scholars and creators.

Since holograms were first conceived by Dennis Gabor in 1947, there have been at least 20,000 contributors to the field, 7,000 patents, 1,000 books and countless commercial products. Holograms have evolved to intrigue audiences over three generations, although most ‘holograms’ viewed today are in fact inferior technologies based on Victorian stage tricks. Viewing genuine holograms remains a privileged and memorable experience.

Collections that document the history of the subject are far rarer. Most are still in the hands of their creators, many of them now retired. National museums and large companies, even in the countries that have contributed to holographic innovation, do not have sustained collecting policies for the subject. Acquiring, documenting and protecting the materials can be expensive for institutions. As a result, the history of the subject is threatened with disappearance. ‘I’ve been approached by holographers in industry, engineering and art seeking a permanent home for their life’s work’, says Johnston, ‘and I’ve recommended building a critical mass by merging collections’. To encourage such moves, Johnston and Richardson aim to unite their diverse treasures to preserve the broad history of holography.

The social sciences and the humanities as well as the art market have discovered African photography. There have never been as many publications and exhibitions on this subject as today. At the same time, however, it is forgotten in what desolate state and precarious conditions most photo and cinematographic archives are, the guardians of the visual heritage of the continent. And even though, in recent years, much has been done to conserve and digitize photo archives in Africa, the long-term preservation of the material and, in particular, access to analogue and digital photo and film archives is by no means assured.

For this reason and with the experience of several years working in and with photo archives in Cameroon, African Photography Initiatives has formulated the Yaoundé Declaration. The Yaoundé Declaration is calling on the government and other stakeholders to assume their responsibilities and make every effort to preserve and provide access to analogue and digital photo and film archives in Cameroon.

As a concrete request, the Yaoundé Declaration is asking for the recognition by the Ministry of Arts and Culture of the Buea Press Photo Archives and the Yaoundé Press Photo Archives as cultural property as intended in the national law on Cultural Heritage from 18 April 2013.

The Yaoundé Declaration was presented on November 9 at the University of Yaoundé I in the framework of an international conference. Endorsed by the vice-chancellor of the University, the organizers of the conference and over 50 first signatories from Cameroun, the Yaoundé Declaration will be included as first recommendation in the proceedings of the conference.

The Yaoundé Declaration with the list of the signatories will be handed over to the Ministries of Communication and Art and Culture in due course.

We are kindly inviting you to sign the Yaoundé Declaration. Together, we hope to create momentum and point the way to the sustainable preservation of and access to analogue and digital photo and film archives in Cameroon and, by extension, to other African countries.

Please, if you agree, advertise for the Yaoundé Declaration and distribute this call through your network.

Yaoundé Declaration online: http://african-photography-initiatives.org/index.php/research/yaounde-declaration

See more on the history of African photography here: http://africaphotography.org/

For subscribing please send an email to yaounde.declaration@gmail.com with the subject "Yaoundé Declaration". Please indicate your name and institution.

Thanks you for your support.

Jürg Schneider & Rosario Mazuela