This in from PPHP reader Rebecca Warren:
'My father used to work for Carleton Artists in Portman Square in 1959. They used to photograph many different adverts for publications such as women's weekly .....details here on the PPHP - thanks !
All Posts (5162)
Sort by
Residents of the streets of East London are captured with startling clarity by the enigmatic C A Mathew. The purpose of the photographs remains unknown, but on the morning of Saturday 20th April, 1912, our photographer walked the short distance from Liverpool Street Station into the heart of Spitalfields, taking his camera with him.
In contrast to the more formal, posed photographs of the time viewers may be more familiar with, these photographs engage vividly with a modern audience, who see the people, the streets and the everyday details, just as C A Mathew himself would have seen them.
Mathew lived in Brightlingsea in Essex, having only begun taking photographs a year before these images were made, he passed away 4 short years later in 1916 leaving this series of images that in the words of the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life are ‘the most vivid evocation we have of Spitalfields at this time.’
The photographs were found a few years ago packed into a cardboard box in the archives of the Bishopsgate Institute where they had evidently been for at least 60 years, but there are no records of how they came to be there.
Details of the exhibition can be found here, and is open by appointment from Monday to Friday, and all day Saturday and Sunday, from 6 March -25 April.
The restoration of the United Kingdom’s first cinema - located in the heart of London’s West End at the University of Westminster in Regent Street – has been given the green light by Westminster City Council, as the campaign to raise funds for the landmark project moves into its next phase.
The Regent Street Cinema is celebrated as the ‘Birthplace of British Cinema’ as it was used by pioneering filmmakers, the Lumière brothers, to perform their first ever moving picture show in the UK on the 21 February, 1896.
The project will see the preservation of the key architectural features of the Cinema from its 1920s heyday, combining the restored fabric with up-to-date technology, bringing it into the 21st century. Once completed, the iconic venue will house a 200-seat auditorium which will be open to the public and become a landmark destination for British film and a lively hub for University of Westminster students and external visitors including the local community and school children who will come to learn about the heritage and evolution of film and cinema. The restored Cinema’s programming will be distinctive and highly informed, combining cutting edge and experimental work with a stimulating mix of the best of current UK, independent British and World cinema, documentary films, retrospectives and classic repertory titles.
The design scheme for the restoration has been created by Tim Ronalds Architects, a practice that has experience of working with landmark theatre spaces, such as the Hackney Empire redevelopment and plans for Wilton’s Music Hall. Building work will commence in April 2014 and the opening of the Cinema is expected in April 2015.
A major campaign to raise money for the restoration project was publicly launched in March 2012 and the University is seeking additional supporters to be involved in this nationally important project. To date, the University of Westminster has secured two thirds of the £6 million needed to complete the restoration and reopen the Cinema. Generous major donors have so far included the Heritage Lottery Fund, Quintin Hogg Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation and Odeon. As part of the wider campaign the University has also secured donations to name over a quarter of the seats in the new Cinema and is aiming to have all 200 named by its supporters well ahead of the Cinema opening. The University previously received a £1 million donation from the MBI Al Jaber Foundation which was used to bring the Edwardian style Grand Entrance Hall at the Grade II listed campus back to life.
The Cinema project is being backed by some of the biggest names in the British film industry who sit on its advisory board. Tim Bevan, Co-Chair of Working Title Films (Rush, Les Misérables, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy), Asif Kapadia, film director and alumnus of University of Westminster (Senna, The Warrior, Far North), Paul Trijbits, Producer (Saving Mr. Banks, Jane Eyre, Tamara Drewe), and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (The Avengers, Anna Karenina, We Need to Talk About Kevin).
Professor Rikki Morgan-Tamosunas, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Westminster, said: “The Cinema holds a unique place in the history of filmmaking and cinema, and it is wonderful to see that 175 years since the founding of our institution, a new and exciting phase in its history will begin. When it re-opens, the Cinema will offer an outstanding venue in which to nurture future talent as well as provide a place where our students, alumni, industry professionals, and our community can come together and enjoy film and our shared Cinema heritage.”
Asif Kapadia, Film Director and University of Westminster alumnus says “I was proud to study Film, Video and Photographic Arts close to the location of the new Cinema at the Riding House St campus in the mid 90's, at the time we didn't have a dedicated cinema to screen our films. Over the years so many fantastic, iconic cinemas in the UK have closed down or been redeveloped, so this is a marvelous opportunity to restore a venue that played a vital role in the birth of cinema in the UK, and highlights the University’s history of innovation in education and learning. Bringing the Cinema back to life will benefit both current and future students and will provide a platform for independent cinema, short films, documentaries and emerging British talent in the heart of the West-End”
Sandi Toksvig OBE, a supporter of the Regent Street Cinema, says “This is the birthplace of Cinema, where it all started. How fantastic for young people to be able to showcase their work, here, alongside great professionals. This Cinema is a place where we can celebrate not just the past but the future. This is a significant building and it’s wonderful that so many who are passionate about Cinema, the history of film or who have a connection with the heritage and future of the University want to be a part of it.”
The University of Westminster is a leading global centre for excellence in the arts and film production. The restoration of the Regent Street Cinema reinforces the University’s international reputation for academic and practical teaching which boasts a number of Oscar and BAFTA winners among its alumni. The Act of Killing, Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer - a Reader at the Media, Arts and Design faculty of the University of Westminster - and produced by the University of Westminster's Professor Joram ten Brink, won an award at this year’s BAFTA ceremony for best documentary. University alumnus Yousif Al-Khalifa was also recognised with a BAFTA for co-directing the best British Short Animation film ‘Sleeping with the Fishes’.
Film students from the University will also have the opportunity to showcase their work in the heart of London’s vibrant West-End, which is something that no other University can offer. The University currently offers three courses which cover contemporary media practice and film and television production and a post-graduate MA in Film and Television.
For more information on the project please visit: www.birthplaceofcinema.com
The Birthplace of British Cinema - Lumière Brothers
The venue was chosen by the Lumière brothers because of the institution’s reputation as a leader in scientific experimentation and entertainment. The Grade II listed building is situated at 309 Regent Street and dates back to 1838. It was later used by the Polytechnic for a variety of film and theatrical performances and in the lead up to the First World War it was used with Government backing to show “Our Army and Our Navy” films.
More recently it has been used by the University of Westminster as a lecture theatre for students and an exhibition venue for public events.
Key University of Westminster alumni:
- Michael Winterbottom (The Look of Love, Jude, 9 Songs, The Killer Inside Me)
- Asif Kapadia (Senna, The Warrior, Far North)
- Seamus McGarvey (Atonement, We Need To Talk About Kevin, The Avengers)
- Lucia Zucchetti (The Rat Catcher, Merchant Of Venice, The Queen)
- Tony Grisoni (Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, Red Riding)
- Neal Purvis (Skyfall (Bond 2012), Johnny English Reborn, Let Him Have It)
- See more at: http://www.rps.org/news/2014/february/regent-street-cinema#sthash.WXFypBrH.dpuf
Explore amazing architecture and design via the RIBA’s world-class collections and an on-site photo shoot at exciting locations around London. Click this link for more information.
Point & Shoot Saturday photography workshops
Shoot on location in these Point & Shoot workshops inspired by The Brits Who Built the Modern World and the RIBA’s world-class collections. All Point & Shoot workshops are led by professional artists and include on-location photography sessions. Suitable for intermediate level photographers and above. Participants must bring their own equipment. Digital SLR camera recommended.
1 March, 1-5pm: Feats of engineering
Discover how architectural photographers celebrate British feats of engineering before exploring the iconic post-war architecture of Bishopsgate through the photographic lens.
5 April, 1-5pm: Gallons of glass
Learn how architectural photographers from the nineteenth century to today have captured this most modern of materials before exploring the architecture around More London through the photographic lens.
3 May, 1-5pm: Geometry & height
See how a generation of British architects drew the camera lens upward before exploring the geometric shapes and towers surrounding Tower 42 through the photographic lens.
7 June, 1-5pm: Asymmetrical aliens
Understand how architectural photographers have captured the asymmetrical shapes and the clash of the old and the new in British architectural design before exploring the architecture around One New Change through the photographic lens.
17th May 1 -5pm: Run, Jump, Shoot: the Brits
Run, Jump, Shoot returns to its roots for Brits season for this unquie workshop exploring architecture through photography and the urban sport parkour. In this full-day workshop participants will shoot on location with professional parkour athletes.
Alex. Keighley A Pioneer of the Pictorial Movement in Photography is a new book by Ray Vintner (ISBN 978-0-9927402-0-7, 186-pages, Linkhall Publications, 2013). The book is available from The Grove Bookshop, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, (e: info@grovebookshop.com or telephone 01943 609335) at a cost of £14 plus postage.
A PDF showing the contents page and foreword is here. There is no separate list of illustrations although the book is well illustrated in b/w and colour.
Sotheby's is to return to holding photograph auctions in London from May 2014. It moved photograph sales from London, where they had first started in 1971, to Paris in 2011 after a short hiatus. The last London sale had been held in Spring 2010. At the time Sotheby's claimed the move reflected market trends and the change made New York and Paris Sotheby's main centres for photographs.
Christie's also established a department in Paris but maintained auctions in London as well as New York. Sotheby's have held bi-annual sales in Paris in November and May in a department headed by Simone Klein, who joined the company in 2007 and oversaw the final sale of the celebrated Jammes collection in Paris the following year.
The newly formed London department will hold its first photographs auction in London on 7 May and will also hold a charity auction to support the acquisition of the Talbot for the Bodleian Library.
The Bodleian Library, Oxford, last night held a reception to thank supporters and donors who have helped it secure the Personal Archive of William Henry Fox Talbot. The event was held on the 214th birthday of Henry Talbot who was born on 11 February 1800.
The original public appeal also brought to light an collection of 42 photogenic drawings by Talbot which are now also in the library. Despite poor weather and flooding amongst the guests were Sir John and Lady Venables-Llewelyn, Hans P Kraus, Noel Chanan, along with individuals donors and library staff. Richard Ovenden, Interim Bodley's Librarian, and the driving force behind the acquisition was unable to attend through illness but was toasted at dinner.
The library has a small amount to find before an August deadline and will be holding a fundraising auction in conjunction with Sotheby's at the beginning of May. It has plans to digitise much of the archive and it will be made available to researchers and the public. Already part of it has been used to create new photographic arts work. Watch this space for more information.
Images: a small display of part the Talbot Archive at the Bodleian Library: © Michael Pritchard
Archives and Cultural Industries is a conference taking place from 11-15 October 2014 in Girona. One of the themes of the conference is: 1839-2014.175th Anniversary of Photography. Management, processing and dissemination of photographic and audiovisual heritage in the 21st century.
For more information visit the website: http://www.girona.cat/web/ica2014/eng/index.php
and http://www.girona.cat/web/ica2014/eng/comunicacions.php
The deadline for paper proposals is 28 February.
The Art Newspaper reports on a story that BPH carried last year. It notes that the world’s oldest photographic agency Fratelli Alinari, founded in Florence in 1852, is in danger of closing. On 22 November 2013, the Italian website www.patrimoniosos.it, whose remit is to safeguard the country’s cultural heritage, launched an appeal to help save it.
The appeal, signed by photographers, artists and academics—among them Gianni Berengo Gardin, Giovanna Calvenzi, Ester Coen, Mario Cresci, Mimmo Jodice, Bruno Toscano, and Roberta Valtorta—expresses concern that “the crisis threatening the management of Fratelli Alinari could lead to the dispersal of part of the collection, and to its transfer to individuals and organisations [in Italy] and abroad”.
These claims were largely denied by Claudio De Polo Saibanti, Alinari’s director.
Read the report here
The London based photography curatorial collective Hemera (www.hemera-collective.co.uk) has ambitious plans for 2014 and as such we are recruiting for a new member to join the collective. We are a group of four photography historians with a specific interest in historical photography and archives. We curated two exhibitions last year, one on the Valentine's postcard factory, and another exhibition on Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. Please get in touch with us at curators@hemera-collective.co.uk if interested.
thank you,
Ashley
The first monograph on Cyanotype by Dr Mike Ware (cover shown right) was published by the Science Museum of London in 1999, but has long been out of print, and only accessible as a digitized part-version online at Google Books. The book was devoted to the study of photographic printing in Prussian blue, engaging with its history, aesthetics, practice, conservation and chemistry. Now, in response to requests, Mike Ware has substantially restructured the text in a revised and extended edition that he has made freely available as a download from the World Wide Web as a 5.3 MB pdf:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/47727259/Cyanomicon.pdf
For the time being, it will remain largely unillustrated. With its 700+ references to the literature and the WWW, Mike hopes that it may serve as a useful resource for historians, curators and conservators of photographs, and for students of iron-based analogue imaging (siderotype). For others - photographic artists exploring cyanotype printmaking as an expressive medium - it includes full practical instruction in the modern process.
In the 19th century the East represented the realm of exoticism, fantasy and mystery. Literature and painting in particular used the lands beyond Europe as canvases for fertile explorations of the unknown and unlimited boundaries for imagination. By the latter half of the century, however, several pioneer photographers travelled to the Middle East and North Africa, bringing back to Europe and North America images that captured the idea of the exotic.
Whether in search of Nile temples, the Holy Land or Berber costumes; whether amateurs or pilgrims; whether part of scientific missions or commercial ventures, these photographers all sailed to harbours such as Algiers and journeyed through central cities like Cairo or Damascus. At a time when western political and military involvement in the near east was at a high, the photographs taken helped to convey an idea of chaos and disorder; of insalubrity and a lack of self-governance in the region.
This exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture’s Octagonal Gallery runs from 30th January 30 to 25 May 25, and further details can be found here.
BBC TV's The One Show last night, 3 February 2014, had a five minute slot discussing the war photography and work of Roger Fenton.
It was introduced and presented by photographer Giles Duley who was injured in Afghanistan in 2011 after he stepped on an IED losing three limbs. Taking part was Professor Roger Taylor and the curator of Stonyhurst College which holds more than 100 original Fenton albumen prints.
At the end of the sequence, in the studio, modern wet-collodion photographer Tony Richards helped a presenter make a collodion plate.
The segment begins at 23m 01s,and Roger comes in at 24m 47s. It ends at 29m 17s. Giles Duley is presenting a public lecture talking about his career and work in Bath on 13 February. Tickets are available here.
The One Show programme is available on the BBC iPlayer for the next seven days here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03t6x1f/The_One_Show_03_02_2014/
Images: top: Roger Taylor and Giles Duley; below: Roger Taylor. Courtesy: BBC.
Widely acknowledged as one of the most talented photographers of the nineteenth century, Charles Marville (French, 1813–1879) was commissioned by the city of Paris to document both the picturesque, medieval streets of old Paris and the broad boulevards and grand public structures that Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann built in their place for Emperor Napoleon III. This exhibition presents a selection of around one hundred of his photographs.
Marville achieved moderate success as an illustrator of books and magazines early in his career. It was not until 1850 that he shifted course and took up photography—a medium that had been introduced just eleven years earlier. His poetic urban views, detailed architectural studies, and picturesque landscapes quickly garnered praise. Although he made photographs throughout France, Germany, and Italy, it was his native city—especially its monuments, churches, bridges, and gardens—that provided the artist with his greatest and most enduring source of inspiration.
Concurrent with Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris, a related installation in the adjacent Howard Gilman Gallery will be on view at the Metropolitan Museum. Paris as Muse: Photography, 1840s–1930s (January 29–May 4, 2014) celebrates the first one hundred years of photography in Paris and features some forty photographs, all drawn from the Museum's collection. The installation focuses primarily on architectural views, street scenes, and interiors. It explores the physical shape and texture of Paris and how artists have found poetic ways to record through the camera its essential qualities.
Details of both these exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until 4th May 2014, can be found here.
On the One Show this evening there will be a segment regarding the work of Roger Fenton and his portraiture of Queen Victoria. There will be contributions from renowned photographic historian Roger Taylor, and a demonstration of the wet-plate collodion process by Tony Richards, who recently contributed to the BBC drama series 'The Paradise'.
The One Show begins at 7pm and will be available on the i-player shortly afterwards.
For those interested, Tony has written an interesting blog regarding his experiences working on 'The Paradise' which can be read here
George Eastman House, Rochester, NY, has made changes to The Richard and Ronay Menschel Library - one of the world's greatest libraries dealing with photography and film. Long-standing librarian and curator Rachel Stuhlman has been made redundant after nearly thirty-years and she is is now Emeritus Librarian and Curator of Rare Books. There has been no wider reorganisation or other staff losses at GEH.
The change is part of a broader vision for the library at GEH over seen by Museum Director Bruce Barnes, Ph.D. In future the library will be managed by an experienced research librarian, who will focus on developing GEH's research resources and on the cataloguing and digitization of its world-class collection of books and manuscripts related to photography and cinema.
Barnes told BPH: 'We believe that this approach will better serve our institution’s curatorial and scholarly missions, as well as our commitment to enabling research by curators and scholars from around the world.' He added: 'Over the years, our collection of rare books, manuscripts, and artists’ books have played an important role in our institution, but we have rarely presented exhibitions in which the objects from our library collection are central. As we have built the curatorial and research staffs of our photography and moving image departments, it has become increasingly important that our library support these departments as effectively as possible'. A 2007 book Imagining Paradise showcased some of the treasures of the library.
The new librarian will report to Dr. Lisa Hostetler, Curator-in-Charge of our Department of Photography, with the aim of ensuring that a curatorial vision continues to guide the library and to facilitate closer coordination between the library and GEH's photography department. The library will also continue to support other curatorial departments, as well as visiting researchers.
The move is part of Barnes' broader vision for GEH to digitise the collections and to explore the existing collections for hidden treasures as it embarks on boosting its endowment from $35m to the $100m that will make it viable and allow it to be more proactive in its public programmes. Eastman House also added at the time of his appointment that it expected Barnes to create 'more worldwide traveling exhibitions and an enhanced virtual museum online.' Click here for more about Barnes and his plans, and click here for comment.
The library - one of the most important in the world for photography and film and is described by GEH as having 'the breadth and depth of coverage of all aspects in the history, aesthetics, and technology of photography' unmatched by any other, and 'it is only with a collection such as the Menschel Library’s that scholars can obtain a broad overview of the international development of photography while investigating special problems'.
Lawrences of Crewkerne is to offer an important Felice Beato album on 31 January 2014. The album contains 68 albumen prints of China and Japan, including views of North Peiho Fort, the Emperor's Palace and the Summer Palace, Peking, Hong Kong, Yedo and Yokohama, the first leaf signed in margin (vertically), 'No. 20 F. Beato', and a further ownership inscription, 'Capt. Dew, R.N. 1863' on endpaper, the majority of prints captioned in pencil on the mount, the majority mounted one per page, some damp-staining to upper margin, rarely affecting prints,contemporary soft boards of Japanese cloth, worn, 47 x 37 cm approx., c.1863-4. It is estimated at £50,000-70,000
UPDATE: The album sold for £145,000.
Provenance: Purchased from the photographer by Capt Roderick Dew, R.N. in 1863-64, thence by descent.
Footnote: Captain Roderick Dew, R.N., (2 July 1823-24 March 1869) is regarded as one of the great heroes of the Second Opium War.
The catalogue entry is available here: http://www.lawrences.co.uk/Catalogues/FS310114/page007.html
If you wish to examine this lot, viewing will be available at The Japanese Gallery, 66 Kensington Church Street, London W8 4BY on the 20th and 21st January 2014 between 10.00am and 5.00pm. Please ring Lawrences for further details.
The catalogue description notes:
Albums by Felice Beato that contain prints of both China and Japan are very rare. This example offers 23 views of China and 34 views of Japan, including 11 folding panoramas (inc. Hong Kong harbour, the aftermath of battle at the North Taku Fort, views of Yokohama, Yedo, etc.), 8 further prints of drawings by C. Wirgman and 3 portrait studies that include a PORTRAIT OF THE PURCHASER, CAPT. RODERICK DEW.
Felice Beato moved to Japan in 1863, placing this album among the very first his studio produced there. It seems likely that the purchaser, Capt. Roderick Dew, selected the prints personally, as they would seem to reflect his own military interests. In later albums, Beato preferred to select the content himself.
The prints comprise:
- i) Representatives of the United States of America, England and France, (titled L-R: [Gustave Duchese, Prince de] Bellacourt, Capt Roderick Dew, Col. James, Col. Hooper, Col. [Edward St.John] Neale, U.S. Minister), 167 x 144 mm;
- ii) Yokohama (folding six print panorama), 1675 x 247mm;
- iii) Gan Kiro, Yokohama, 291 x 229 mm;
- iv) Canal, Yokohama, 298 x 223 mm;
- v) Guard House, Yokohama, 293 x 242 mm;
- vi) Opposite Yokohama, 290 x 244 mm;
- vii) Beutin ?Sainia, Yokohama, 280 x 222 mm;
- viii) Beutin ?Saina, Yokohama, 280 x 225 mm, torn with slight loss;
- ix) The Bluff, Yokohama, 275 x 230 mm;
- x) Glimpse of Fujiyama, 273 x 226 mm;
- xi) Dai Butsu, Yokohama, 289 x 227 mm;
- xii) Dai Butsu, Yokohama, 289 x 227 mm ;
- xiii) Ball given by Netherlands Consul... Yokohama, September [...] 1863, copy of drawing by C. Wirgman, 272 x 190 mm;
- xiv) Attack on Richardson, September 13th 1862, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 257 x 196 mm;
- xv) Invasion of Japan, Ye Grand Army a landing... March '64, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 278 x 183 mm;
- xvi) Kawasaki Temple, (folding two print panorama), 532 x 219 mm;
- xvii) Kawasaki Temple, 290 x 242 mm;
- xviii) Panorama of Yeddo from Atago-Yama, (folding five print panorama), 1395 x 207 mm;
- xix) Palace of Arima, Yedo (folding three print panorama), 830 x 175 mm;
- xx) The Tycoons Palace, Yedo, (folding two print panorama), 546 x 217 mm;
- xxi) Etai Bashi, Yedo, (folding three print panorama), 818 x 210 mm;
- xxii) Entrance to the British Legation, Yedo, 277 x 229 mm;
- xxiii) British Legation, Yedo, 270 x 215 mm;
- xxiv) Spot where the sentries were murdered, British Legation, Yedo, 267 x 217 mm;
- xxv) American Legation, Yedo, 289 x 227 mm;
- xxvi) The Scene of the Murder of Major Baldwin... Kamakura Temple, (folding two print panorama), 453 x 286 mm, slight staining to upper edge;
- xxvii) American Legation, Yedo, 287 x 237 mm;
- xxviii) Dutch Legation, Yedo, 277 x 231 mm;
- xxix) Palace of Howokawa, 278 x 222 mm;
- xxx) Japanese Garden, Yedo, 278 x 230 mm;
- xxxi) Atago-Yama, Yedo, 286 x 230 mm;
- xxxii) Garden of Miyazaki on the Tokaido, 280 x 200 mm;
- xxxiii) Akabane, Yedo, 280 x 230 mm;
- xxxiv) Yakunins House, Yedo, 255 x 225 mm;
- xxxv) Japanese Garden, Yedo, 282 x 233 mm;
- xxxvi) Japanese girls, 250 x 168 mm, irregularly cropped;
- xxxvii) Josses, Yedo, 261 x 229 mm;
- xxxviii) Delenda est..., copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 266 x 202 mm;
- xxxix) Theatricals on board the 'Perseus', 1863, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 252 x 156 mm;
- xl) Anglo-Chinese Contingent, Ningbo, 1864, Sept, 203 x 130 mm;
- xli) As above, 237 x 141 mm;
- xlii) Granite Obalisque 70 feet high in Memoriam Capture of Ningbo, May 10 1862, 188 x 237 mm;
- xliii) ?Valubins, Paris, 1863, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 266 x 180 mm;
- xliv) London, 1863, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 263 x 198 mm;
- xlv) Sketch in Hong Kong, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 254 x 178 mm;
- xlvi) Spinning yarns on board the 'Bengal', 1863, copy of a drawing by C. Wirgman, 243 x 177 mm;
- xlvii) Panorama of Hong Kong, (folding six print panorama), 1723 x 216 mm;
- xlviii) Pehtang Fort, 292 x 256 mm;
- xlix) Interior Pehtang Fort, (folding two print panorama), 584 x 241 mm;
- l) North Fort, Peiho, 300 x 254 mm;
- li) Abbatis North Fort, Peiho, 304 x 257 mm;
- lii) Angle of North Fort, Peiho, 302 x 255 mm;
- liii) Portraits of dead men. Interior of North Fort, Peiho, 291 x 245 mm, creased along one edge; liv) Portraits of dead men. Interior of North Fort, Peiho, 307 x 259 mm;
- lv) Portraits of dead men, Peiho Fort Interior, 303 x 256 mm ; lvi) Exterior of North Fort, Peiho, 300 x 249 mm;
- lvii) Interior of North Fort, Peiho, (folding four print panorama), 1175 x 231 mm;
- lviii) [Studio portrait of General Lord Clyde, Lt. General Sir Hope Grant and Lt. General Sir W. Mansfield], 148 x 171 mm;
- lix) [Studio portrait of Lt. General Sir Hope Grant] (loose), 146 x 174 mm;
- lx) Cavalier of North Fort, (folding two print panorama), 590 x 245 mm;
- lxi) Second Fort, Peiko, 305 x 257 mm;
- lxii) Chinese wooden ?yuns, Peiho, 293 x 260 mm;
- lxiii) Bridge Palu chian on which Brabazon was killed near Pekin, 305 x 261 mm;
- lxiv) Cemetery near Pekin, 306 x 245 mm;
- lxv) Pagoda near Tungchan, 285 x 229 mm, creased in upper left corner;
- lxvi) Emperor's Palace, Pekin, 307 x 251 mm;
- lxvii) Summer Palace, Pekin, 303 x 250 mm, creased on left, upper right corner with slight loss;
- lxviii) Near Pekin, 305 x 257 mm.
In May 1859, as part of a naval force under the Command of Sir James Hope, Dew participated in an attack on the North Taku Fort as Commander of HMS Nimrod. In a personal letter to an unknown recipient - apparently written from within the Peiho Fort - he describes the engagement, ‘At 10am yesterday we attacked the forts. Cormorant led on in splendid style for the North Forts & had almost passed the forts when the whole Chinese line of batteries opened - we weighed our anchor to advance into position amid a fearful hail of balls, all as luck would have it passing over … after the anchor was up we had to steam some distance before our guns would bear & then 6 shells plumped right into the Southern forts & exploded…’. He goes on to describe the destruction of the forts in some detail, ‘…I saw the poor devils carried out in a fearful state - many naked and quite black - the same in the forts I have not time to describe … the huge brass guns tumbled about + dented laying in a chaotic state amongst the debris of the earth works the dying and the dead…’ (ALS written Friday May 21 [1859], 5’ inside Pieho. Private collection).
In September 1859 Dew was appointed Captain of HMS Encounter. In 1862 Admiral Sir James Hope instructed Dew to proceed to Ningbo, now occupied by Taiping rebels who posed a threat to the Qing Dynasty and to British trade. After the failure of negotiations, Dew led a coalition of Chinese Imperial Troops, British and French forces in an attack on Ningbo. Running ladders against the ramparts, the first attempt was aborted due to a fierce enemy response. When a second attempt was made with the ladders, ‘…Kennedy, the first on his, was shot through the lungs; David Davis, who was foremost on the next, was shot through the head as, revolver in mouth, he topped the wall; and so Captain Dew himself was the first to gain a position on the rampart, which was soon passed by the greater part of his force…’. Subsequent to the success of this action, Captain Dew pushed forward to secure a large part of the surrounding region. Writing to Lucy Amphlett, he describes the scene, ‘Since we took Ningbo I have had one or two little brushes with them, + I firmly believe I have saved the lives + properties of some 100000 men women + children. Black smoke up country told us that the Rebels were at their old games. I went up the river in one of our gunboats … for ten miles the banks were one huge well-cultivated garden studded with villages. Suddenly on turning a corner of the river we came upon some 5000 rebels plundering + murdering … a few rounds of grape + shell sent the Army scampering up the hills + the people returned to their houses which in another ten minutes would have been burnt…’ (ALS from the Encounter May 27/62, Ningbo. Private collection).
After a successful series of actions that restored Imperial rule to the area, around April 1863 Dew and the HMS Encounter left for Yokohama, Japan. He was stationed there protecting British interests until early in 1864, when he left for Plymouth. It seems likely that he met Felice Beato during this period and compiled the present album as a record of his military service in China and Japan.
For his actions in the liberation of Ningbo - described at the time as ‘by far the best thing of the kind done either in China or elsewhere since the peace of 1815’ - Capt. Dew was recommended for the Victoria Cross and was awarded the Companion of the Order of Bath. In March 1865 he also received a Gold Medal of Merit from the Emperor of China, ‘…for his bravery and vigour when in command of the Imperial Troops, and those of England and France, at the capture of Ningbo, and the subsequent recovery from the Tai-Pings of the entire province of Che Kiang…’ He died in Lisbon on March 24th 1869, while in Command of HMS Northumberland
First Person Plural is a symposium to be held at the Science Museum on Saturday 1 March. The event is being presented in collaboration with Film and Video Umbrella and is one of a number of events linked to Media Space's Only in England.
Curated and introduced by Steven Bode, Director of Film and Video Umbrella, the symposium looks back on the influential legacy of Tony Ray-Jones, whilst also looking ahead to the future. When Ray-Jones was taking the iconic photographs that made his name in the late 1960s, he did so to chronicle and celebrate the particular eccentricities and social rituals of the English, which he feared were at risk of disappearing. In the increasingly globalised world of the early 21st century, are there equivalent expressions of cultural identity, or equally idiosyncratic social rituals and behaviours that modern life seems to be passing by - and who are the contemporary artists and photographers recording them? In the age of the ‘selfie’ and social media, might it be the figure of the photographer, as observer and recorder of social change, that is becoming passé, destined to be replaced by a new type of collective ‘portrait’ formed from the aggregation and analysis of big data?
Confirmed speakers include the artists Natasha Caruana, Adam Broomberg, Oliver Chanarin, Julie Henry and Lucy Kimbell, theorist and critic Sean Cubitt and writer, lecturer and curator Julian Stallabrass.
Date: Saturday 1 March 2014
Time: 11am - 5.30pm (Only in England viewing 9.30 – 10.45am)
Image credit: Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, The Brothers Non-Collaborative Portraiture, 2013 © Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin
The Sapper book is going well and getting a lot of press. BBC, Telegraph, Hereford and Daily Mail so far. This should be of interest to both historians, railway buffs and photographers. The pictures were taken on a Kodak box Brownie no 2 likely to have been on 101 or 106 size film giving negatives of 3 1/4 inch square; an unusual size as most images were rectangular. Hubert Ottaway seems to have had a good eye and technique as most of the images were well exposed and reasonably sharp; some achievement with 1/30 sec at f 14.
You can obtain the book from me at bronyddpress@btconnect.com and it can be paid for via Paypal.
Will be interested to hear your comments.
Regards Jack Tait
I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who has had experience of restoring the backing cards to Cartes de Visite.
I have a Victorian family album, just given to me, containing some 80 or so CdV's, all or most of which have delaminated, (as as the album, page by page), and the photo paper stock has also come away from the CdV card. This means that I can attempt to repair the cards, let them totally dry, them re-stick the photo to them.
My problem is that I've no idea what adhesive to use, although I suspect a watered down paste, something like the old Gloy brand, might do, but need to be sure it won't adversely affect the photo when that is re-attached. I'd propose to use a large flower press to keep the card flat while drying.
I would normally attempt this, but they are family photos, and really would like to preserve them intact if at all possible.
Any help out there please.
