The BBC has today announced that it is gifting its collection of almost 1,000 historical objects to the National Media Museum as part of its celebrations to mark the 90th anniversary of the BBC.

This unique collection tells the story of British broadcasting, and specifically the BBC, from its earliest pioneering days in the 1920s right up to the present moment. The collection features important radio and television studio equipment used by the BBC over its 90-year history, plus production props, radio and television receivers, branding and merchandising objects.

A display of selected objects from the collection will open to the public at the National Media Museum, Bradford, on Wednesday 14 November - 90 years to the day since the BBC made its first radio broadcast.

The display will give people the opportunity to see some of the original artefacts that were used in the earliest years of the BBC, including seminal microphones such as one of the original Big Ben microphones used to capture the sounds of the bell in 1924; a nostalgic 'Lip microphone' dating from 1937, specially designed by the BBC to block background noise from sports commentary in the 1930s; and a famous 'biscuit tin' radio, dropped by parachute over occupied Europe during World War II and used by the resistance to tune into the secret 'personal messages' sent out over the BBC.

Other highlights from the collection, now incorporated into the Museum's National Television Collection, will feature in future displays. These include iconic objects such as an extremely rare Blattnerphone, the broadcast recording device which used steel tape to capture the voice of Neville Chamberlain as he announced the outbreak of World War II to the nation in 1939; the AXBT microphone, created by the BBC and now considered a design classic; and two original Emitron 405-line television cameras manufactured by EMI in 1936 and used at the BBC's television studios in London for the world’s first regular high-definition television service.

Robert Seatter, Head of BBC History, said:

"I know how absolutely fascinated audiences are to see the real objects that make broadcasting happen – whether it's that special microphone or the particular prop from a seminal TV show.

"I'm delighted that this BBC collection is being shared with the National Media Museum. I hope this donation will enable more people to connect with the history of the BBC, which of course is all our history."

Jo Quinton-Tulloch, Head of the National Media Museum, said:

"This generous and hugely significant gift will greatly enhance the National Television Collection held by the Museum, making it probably the best of its kind anywhere in the world. It also represents another major landmark in our flourishing partnership with the BBC."

Iain Logie Baird, Curator of Broadcast Culture at the National Media Museum said:

"This diverse collection of objects used by the BBC covers the evolution of public service broadcasting in this country, and celebrates the rich variety of programmes the BBC has produced over the decades. This collection will be a great asset to the Museum."

The BBC has gifted this collection to the National Media Museum in order to make it accessible to broadcast enthusiasts and the public in general through both temporary and permanent displays in the National Media Museum.

In another event marking the 90th anniversary, more than 55 BBC radio stations will come together for Radio Reunited – the first attempt at a simultaneous broadcast since what was then the British Broadcasting Company was formed in 1922. The broadcast will be live on the 14 November from the National Media Museum's sister museum - the Science Museum, now home to the original 2LO transmitter that made the first BBC broadcast on 14 November 1922. Part of the 2LO will feature in a new exhibition opening on the same day at the Science Museum that takes visitors back to the time of that first broadcast.

The National Media Museum is a longstanding partner of the BBC, the Museum has collaborated recently on a number of exhibitions and events, including the celebration of 25 years of popular TV soap EastEnders, the 75th anniversary of BBC high-definition (405-line) television last year, and the hugely successful exhibition marking 50 years of Blue Peter. This year, the Museum's Cubby Broccoli cinema was fitted to show the BBC's special Olympic coverage using Super Hi-Vision Ultra high-definition television, developed by Japanese broadcaster NHK, one of only three sites to do so in the UK.

www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/bbccollection

Image: Iain Logie Baird, curator of broadcast culture at the National Media Museum, holds a 1944 Marconi AXBT microphone

Martin Barnes, Senior Curator of Photographs at the Victoria & Albert Museum, will be at the Blau Gallery, London, on 22 November to talk about the history of how the museum’s collection was formed and how that set the pattern for current collecting. He will discuss the ‘collecting plan’ and recent collecting initiatives, as well as what catches his eye personally, what he sees too much of and avoids, and what he is looking for in excellent photography that is right for a museum.

Advance questions for Martin to address on the night of the talk are encouraged, and can be sent to mail@danielblau.com

This talk runs from 6:30 pm at 51 Hoxton Square, London N1 6PB.

Our talks are open to everyone. We recommend booking early to avoid disappointment, as numbers are limited. Tickets cost £6..Click here to book. 

Image: Photographic Society exhibition at the South Kensington Museum, 1858. 

For Michael Collins, one of the wonders of photography is that a photograph can record and show far more than could be observed at the time and occasion of the exposure.  This is what he regards as the "long look" of photography.  Moreover, he subscribes to the understanding that, subtly or otherwise, it will reveal the nature of the engagement between the photographer and the subject.  In his Reference Works lecture, Michael Collins will discuss these principles, and relate how they inform his work on the Library of Birmingham Photography Project.

Michael Collins is an artist who has had his work exhibited widely in Britain and the USA. He is the author of "Record Pictures: Photographs from the Archives of the Institution of Civil Engineers" (Steidl 2004). His exhibition "Birmingham Site Specific: Factories" was held in Hockley in 2006.

The event is part of a series of Photographers Talks linked to REFERENCE WORKS, the Library of Birmingham Photography Project.

www.reference-works.com

Tuesday 4 December 2012

2.00 - 3.30pm

Birmingham City University, Visual Communication, Gosta Green, Birmingham

Admission Free

International submissions are invited to be included in a  forthcoming book, to be published by MuseumsEtc in 2013. The book will bring together the varied ways in which reflexivity manifests itself within photography and the photograph. In this instance we are taking a broad approach to the term (as evidenced in the suggestions below), where “reflexivity” is used to describe:

At a ceremony on 3 November Oscar Gustave Rejlander's previously unmarked grave in Kensal Green cemetery had a new stone placed upon it just in time for the 200th anniversary of his birth in 2013. 

The project has been fully funded from Woverhampton Photographic Society funds and from personal donations from members of WPS Historical Group.The project has taken two years to come to fruition, and the WPS is very grateful for the help and support it has  received from staff at Kensal Green, and especially Joe Hughes from the Friends of Kensal Green. The memorial plaque was hand-carved and gilded by the sculptor David Kelly.

Details of the event were noted here: http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rejlander-to-be-honoured

Photos courtesy of Dr Donald Stewart FRPS

I’d like to draw members’ attention to a small exhibition in Walthamstow, East London - the original home of one of the largest camera factories in Europe. The emphasis is on popular photography rather than the historical - though there are historical references.

The space is divided into nine sections; 'small people', 'just a bit cut off', 'some exceedingly bad pictures', etc. Each section is prefaced by a vintage photograph with the rest of the images in that section reprinted from scans of either found, archive or contemporary images I've taken with locally-made vintage Ensign cameras. I was unable show the museum’s original photographs and this way the display has coherence and it's not immediately obvious (in some cases) which are vintage and which contemporary images.

It is an accessible and humorous show which also includes a display cabinet of Ensign artefacts and the cameras I used, plus some others from the museum’s collection. Round the room are quotes from Ensign publications and there is also a table display relating to a local man who used an Ensign with some of his family snaps loaned by his daughter.

The feedback I have had has been very positive with people remarking that it makes them want to revisit film and see what cameras they have in their attics. I hope it also makes people appreciate the old photographs they have in their possession.

More information here 

The Photographic History Research Centre (PHRC) at De Montfort University is seeking a dynamic and committed photographic historian specialising in twentieth century photographic history to join their growing team of academic researchers and post graduate students. Candidates' research field will ideally relate to PHRC''s core research strands in global social and cultural practices of photography, photography and science, and the industrial and business history of photography. We welcome applications from candidates with backgrounds in cultural history, visual culture, art history, anthropology, history of science, museum studies or any other relevant field. The PHRC is a highly interdisciplinary research centre, with excellent links to national and international universities and cultural industry partners. A successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively as well as individually, promoting the field of photographic history.

The post-holder will contribute to the research culture of the PHRC and teaching of the MA in Photographic History and Practice. The post holder will also be expected to supervise PhD students in photographic history, engage with undergraduate and postgraduate programmes within the university, and be able to develop research projects, and develop and undertake viable grant funding applications.

De Montfort University, rated as one of the top ten creative universities in the UK, has a growing reputation as a world leader in photographic history. It works with a wide network of major museums, archives and libraries internationally. Its excellent research library in photography and photographic history supports both research and teaching and it hosts a growing number of digital resources for photographic history.

FACULTY OF ART, DESIGN AND HUMANITIES
Senior Research Fellow/Senior Lecturer Photographic History
Permanent, Grade G, full-time
£34,895 - £44,166 per annum

Closing date: 10 December 2012

More details: https://jobs.dmu.ac.uk/webrecruitment/Documents/7593.pdf

Does anyone know anything about the Indian photographers named Messrs Hughes Bros.?

I am interested in the photographer Charles Henry Manning who was born in London in 1848 and worked for Messrs Hughes Bros., of Madras, India. He later claimed to have photographed the King of Siam while in India. Rama V visited British India during 1870–1872 to see the administration of British colonies. He toured the administrative centres of Calcutta, Delhi and Bombay (Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chulalongkorn).

Manning was later a photographer in Adelaide, South Australia during the period 1875 to about 1884, before moving to New Zealand where he was in business as a photographer until his death in 1895 aged 47 years.

Manning must have been in India sometime before 1875. He also claimed to have worked Johnston, O'Shaunessy and Co, Melbourne and Messrs Tuttle and Co., Sydney. While in Adelaide he photographed Queen Victoria's grandsons Prince Albert Victor and Prince George at his studio in King William Street in June 1881.

More information regarding C. H. Manning: http://canterburyphotography.blogspot.co.nz/2008/08/c-h-manning-christchurch.html

Join artists featured in the exhibition Light from the Middle East: New Photography for a virtual exhibition tour and conversation with Dr Marta Weiss (Curator of Photographs, V&A) and Dr Venetia Porter (Curator of Islamic and Modern Art, British Museum).

Artists participating in the discussion include: Manal Al-Dowayan, Jowhara AlSaud, Abdulnasser Gharem, Nermine Hammam, Taraneh Hemami, Khalil Joreige, John Jurayj, Sükran Moral, Waheeda Malullah,Youssef Nabil, Mitra Tabrizian and Newsha Tavakolian. Graphic designer Tarek Atrissi will also take part.

Light from the Middle East: New Photography, 13 November 2012–7 April 2013, is the first major exhibition of contemporary photography from and about the Middle East.

Light from the Middle East: Artists in Conversation
Tuesday 13 November, 15.30–17.00
Hochhauser Auditorium, Victoria and Albert Museum
Free, drop in

Image: 

Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Wonder Beirut #13, 1997–2006
Courtesy of the artists and CRG Gallery, New York and In Situ / Fabienne Leclerc, Paris

Alexander S. Wolcott and John Johnson constructed the first mirror camera which was patented in America in 1840 (patent number 1582). It used a large concave mirror rather than a lens to produce a bright image which was then processed using the daguerreotype process.  William Johnson (John Johnson’s father) came to England to market the camera and found that Richard Beard was the sole licensee for the daguerreotype process in England. Beard patented the Wolcott and Johnson camera in England (patent number 8546 of 1840) and opened the first Daguerreotype studio in London 1840.  The photos below showing an original example in the Saco Museum in Maine, USA... Read nore about the project here: Mirror%20Camera%20%282%29.doc

The next London Photograph Fair takes place on November 11th. More than 50 dealers are expected to take part for the first time - full details are in our Newsletter. Please click here to read it:

http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/876431/8a3e5992dd/1582525691/966530e687/

or visit our website: www.photofair.co.uk

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This year marks the centenary of the study of photography at Newport. With a number of events, projects and activities planned to celebrate the long-standing reputation of this discipline at the institution, the University is proud to acknowledge the past, present and future of Photography at Newport through this landmark year of celebrations.

The Either/And symposium will examine the place of photography in contemporary culture. Speakers include: Professor Mark Durden, Ben Burbridge, Sarah James, Annabella Pollen and Liam Devlin. Tickets cost £10.00.

 30 Nov 2012 / University of Wales, Newport City Campus

For more information visit: http://www.newport.ac.uk/

Following on from BPH's exclusive posting, here, in early October and here in September the Science Museum has announced that Media Space, the new 1800m2 purpose-built venue at the Science Museum will open in June 2013 with a major exhibition featuring contemporary artists' responses to scientific photography from the last two centuries.

• Based on the 2nd floor of the Science Museum, Media Space, a £4m capital project, will comprise of a 500 m² exhibition space, a 290 m² flexible studio space for installations and events, and a café/bar.
• Media Space will showcase the National Photography Collection from the National Media Museum and use this as a starting point to explore, exhibit and discuss works by contemporary artists across a variety of disciplines.
• The first exhibition, Revelations: Experiments in Photography, will explore contemporary artists’ responses to scientific photography from 1850 to 1920.

Media Space will be based on the 2nd floor of the Science Museum and is a collaboration between the National Media Museum (Bradford), and the Science Museum (London), It  will present two major exhibitions and a series of free installations in its studio space each year. The principal founding sponsor is Virgin Media and principal founding donor the Dana and Albert R Broccoli Foundation. The café/bar will be run by Benugo.

The first major exhibition in Media Space will be Revelations: Experiments in Photography, and the inaugural installation in the Virgin Media Studio space will be by digital art/design collective, Universal Everything. Hyundai Motor Company is Presenting Partner of the Universal Everything installation and further details will be announced in early 2013.

Revelations: Experiments in Photography will explore contemporary art photographers’ responses to scientific photography made between 1850 and 1920. The exhibition of nearly 80 works will draw upon important historical photographs from the collections of the National Media Museum and the Science Museum. Scientific photographs can have psychological and emotional power, revealing the world in new and surprising ways. The creation of these images and their dissemination among different audiences has changed over time as have their uses, impact and status.

The exhibition will include photographs made with the assistance of microscopes, telescopes and aircraft. It will look at the ways in which photography has opened new fields of vision, charted the effects of invisible energy, demonstrated the passage of time and captured moments too brief to be seen by the naked eye. It will include works by a broad spectrum of photographers including William Henry Fox Talbot, Joris Jansen. Eadweard Muybridge, Harold Edgerton, Sarah Pickering, Clare Strand, Etienne-Jules Marey and Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Hannah Redler has recently been appointed Head of Media Space and the Science Museum Arts Programme. First joining the Science Museum Group in 1998, Redler has been Head of Arts Programme at the Science Museum since 2004. Revelations is co-curated by Greg Hobson, Curator of Photographs from the National Media Museum along with Dr Ben Burbridge of the University of Sussex.

The capital cost of the project is £4 million and the funding has been raised from a combination of corporate sponsorship, private donations and fundraising initiatives. The Principal Founding Sponsor of Media Space is Virgin Media after whom the Studio will be named. Virgin Media has made this long term commitment, building on their current support for the National Media Museum, which includes the Bradford International Film Festival and the Life Online gallery; the sponsorship of Media Space is a further demonstration of this developing partnership. Source magazine reports that the anticipated visitor numbers for the first exhibition which will run from June to September is 80,000-100,000. 

A major donor to the project is the Dana and Albert R Broccoli Foundation set up by the family of the late Bond producer ‘Cubby’. A photography auction at Christies in May 2012 raised £370,000 towards the project and the recent James Bond 50th Anniversary auction raised a further £47,000 through the sale of the Tom Ford dinner jacket worn by Daniel Craig in Skyfall. Media Space has also received generous support in the form of donations or artworks from a large number of individuals, companies and artists including Ed Burtynsky, Luc Delahaye, Rineke Dijkstra, Mary McCartney and Taryn Simon. The Science Museum Group has also invested significantly in the capital project.

Ian Blatchford, Director and Chief Executive of Science Museum Group, says, ‘Media Space is a project that is long overdue. The National Photography Collection ought to be widely known and exhibited because it really is astonishing in quality and scale. We hope to reach diverse audiences and the dynamic, innovative and compelling programme at Media Space will make this happen.’

Hannah Redler, Head of Media Space, says: ‘Media Space is a really exciting project that in many ways realises the original vision for South Kensington to be a place where the two cultures of art and science coincide. We’ve enjoyed a long history at Science Museum of bringing contemporary art interventions into our science galleries, but Media Space offers an unprecedented opportunity for our audiences to encounter photographers and artists’ own investigations into our collections.’

Luke Southern, Virgin Media’s Head of Brand Activation and Partnership says, ‘We’re immensely proud to support this incredible new exhibition space. Both the still and moving image can have a powerful impact on people so, whether online, on TV, in the cinema or in a gallery, we care passionately about bringing that to life in a positive way. Media Space will provide the perfect platform to champion and showcase emerging talent as well as established artists who will inspire every generation.’

Revelations: Experiments in Photography will run from June –September 2013. Further information will be announced in December. Gift Aid ticket price £6.60, standard ticket price £6.00. Media Space is based on the 2nd Floor of the Science Museum on Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD. 

For more information see:  www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/mediaspace

Photographers, curators and historians explore contemporary photographic practices and the post-industrial sublime on 16 and 17 November 2012. The symposium will look both forwards and backwards, surveying some of the territories of new photographic landscapes that have emerged since the late 1970s, and addressing the challenges facing photographers today.

Different archaeologies of practice, place and history will be discussed, with presentations from leading practitioners,
curators and academics. The symposium coincides with the exhibition Futureland Now: reflections on the post-industrial landscape, featuring the photographic and lens-based work of John Kippin and Chris Wainwright at the Laing Art Gallery until Sunday 20 January 2013.

Early-bird rate offer! Sign up by 31 October for £20/£10 (student/unwaged), following that attendance will be £30/£15. For more information, please visit www.northeastphoto.net or www.laingartgallery.org.uk or email: Amanda.ritson@sunderland.ac.uk

Perhaps the most exciting element of the new Media Space is how it realises the original vision for South Kensington to be a place where the two cultures of art and science coincide. This vision was common to other initiatives of the period, inspired by the Great Exhibition of 1851 and supported by HRH Prince Albert. Most particularly, in this context,' The Photographic Society [of London] will accordingly be hailed with pleasure by artists; good is sure to result from the unreserved intercourse between scientific men and artists' and ' In matters of Science and Art, however, there should be no such thing as resting satisfied.' - Journal of The Photographic Society of London, facsimile edition 1976, pages 76 and 152 available from The Royal Photographic Society Fenton House, 122 Wells Road, Bath BA2 3AH, United Kingdom.

Email: reception@rps.org

General Enquiries: +44 (0)1225 325733

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a sensational new exhibition inspired by Alan Sillitoe’s groundbreaking novel, published in 1958, and the 1960 film adaptation, directed by Karel Reisz.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning‘helped frame its cultural moment’. Taking seminal moments from book and film, this exhibition explores the depiction of social change in contemporary photography, focusing in particular on working-class culture in the late 50s and 60s. It highlights the various approaches taken by a generation of photographers drawn to ‘the regions’ in an attempt to capture the authenticity of ‘ordinary lives’.

The exhibition features a selection of previously un-exhibited photographic Stills from Reisz’s film, together with work produced by the so-called ‘Young Meteors’, John Bulmer, Graham Finlayson and Terence Donovan, working for The Manchester Guardian and the latest print media magazines. Independent work by Roger Mayne and Shirley Baker also contributes to the show, alongside pictures by industrial photographer Maurice Broomfield. These works are complemented by an array of accomplished local professional and amateur photographers.

Drawing its material from Nottingham and the Midlands, the Black Country and Manchester, the exhibition Saturday Night and Sunday Morningcaptures the essence of Sillitoe’s world, and the country at a point of profound cultural change. It has been curated for the Djanogly Art Gallery by Anna Douglas and Neil Walker, assisted by Damian Hughes

Running concurrently with Saturday Night and Sunday Morning in the Angear Visitor Centre is an exhibition of Stills by Dean Rogers. A graduate of Nottingham Trent University, Dean Rogers has, for the last ten years, worked closely with some of our most talented film directors including Shane Meadows and Anton Corbijn. Commonly picturing actors ‘off set’ and employing a cinematic approach to lighting, his photographs are full of narrative possibility and emotion. This exhibition complements the selection of film stills included in the Saturday Night and Sunday Morning exhibition.

More information is available here: http://www.lakesidearts.org.uk/Exhibitions.html

‘Off the shelf: the self and subjectivity in the artist’s book’ is an exhibition dedicated to various expressions of subjectivity in artist’s publications. It aims to bring together contributions from a variety of formats and editions that consider the self in the artist’s book.

The exhibition will focus on contemporary publications and welcomes submissions from a wide range of genres, including: handmade books, object-books, sculptural books, altered books, installation books, photobooks, photozines, print-on-demand books, zines, serial editions (artists’ magazines), multimedia books and ebooks. Potential topics might include, but are not limited to: 

• Self-portraits as self-analysis
• Archival practices of the self
• Family albums and personal narratives
• Gender and feminist narratives
• Queer identities
• Auto-biography and fictional biographies
• Sexualities and space
• Performance of the self
• Travel book and diasporic strategies

To submit your book, visit the page

http://offdshelf.wordpress.com/submit

Books should be sent by Friday 19^th November 2012.

offdeshelf@gmail.com

OFF THE S{H}ELF: THE SELF AND SUBJECTIVITY IN THE ARTIST’S BOOK

OPEN CALL

http://offdshelf.wordpress.com/

7- 9 December 2012

Stockwell Studios

McCall Close, Jeffreys Road London SW46QU

Plymouth University has been awarded £9,950 from Arts Council England’s Grants for the Arts scheme towards an important research and development project which aims to ensure new work made by contemporary photographers has a life and legacy that can benefit future generations - the general public, researchers and students.

Led by photographer Jem Southam, Professor in the School of Art and Media at Plymouth University, the project will involve partners in Birmingham, Manchester and London and will be completed in March 2013. 

Established and emerging photographers need to think about what future they want for their work, where it might go, who will have access to it, and how much contextual information should be kept and made available. 

Key elements of the project include: research into models of good practice, consultation with photographers and the publication of case studies examining different approaches to the ways photographers plan and organise their work and its legacy. The research outcomes will be published on websites and in specialist media and feedback and information exchange will help shape the next phase of the project, including practical guidance for current and future generations of practitioners.

This research is part of a wider, pioneering research project which aims to develop a national strategy for the preservation and dissemination of the work and archives of critically-recognised photographers working from the 1970s to the present day. The ultimate strategy will be of relevance to photographers, collectors, collecting institutions and policy-makers, with the final outcomes having an impact on students, researchers, photographic practitioners and audiences well into the future.

Background

Independent photographic practice has developed significantly since the mid 1960s. Hundreds of photographers have made new work, frequently in the form of sustained series, which explores artistic as well as social, cultural and political issues, much supported through Arts Council and other public funds. The work has resulted in publications and exhibitions in public galleries, experienced by a wide range of audiences.

However, the extended value of this practice, whereby such work can contribute to a wide-ranging and powerful cultural and historical legacy for current and future audiences, has been neglected and is seriously under-developed.

What is the problem?

a)         There are currently some 20,000 students studying degrees in photography and related courses in the UK at any one time. For those that plan to pursue photographic practice as a career, it is vital that consideration of the public legacy for their work is embedded in their developing professional practice. This does not happen at present, nor is there any guidance on how to address the issue.

b)         Most of the work and archives of a generation of photographers who significantly developed and extended the practice of contemporary photography in Britain is held, in effect, in private ‘archives’ i.e. in the photographers’ own homes and studios, with little of the material publicly available for research or display;

c)         Photographers’ archives contain valuable contextual material – negatives, contact sheets, work prints, correspondence, articles and reviews - which provide an important insight into the creative working processes of photographers – important for students, researchers, practitioners, historians now and in the future; this work is not adequately represented in public collections. Some public institutions have acquired important archives, but the approach is currently ad-hoc;

d)         Many photographers themselves are at a loss to know how to deal with their archives and there is little information or guidance available to help them;

e)         There is a widely held assumption that digitisation will provide all the answers to the storage and preservation of a photographic practice; however its durability is untested. There are already many people, not just within the artist community, who are sceptical about the longevity of digital storage;

f)          Whilst a small number of national institutions are coordinating a strategy for collecting prints for their collections, no national strategy exists for collecting and making available photographers’ archives; 

g)         There currently exists no public forum in which to debate and share information on this subject in order to develop a strategic approach. 

In October 2011 a study day brought together contributors from Tate, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Photographers’ Gallery, National Monuments Record, commercial galleries, photographers and academic institutions, including PARC (the Photography and the Archive Research Centre) at LCC, University of the Arts, London.

The discussions led to unanimous agreement that these were very important issues that needed attention. Also, they significantly informed us about the issues and challenges facing photographers and collecting institutions and helped determine our plans.

NOTES 

Project partners

The Photography Research Group at Plymouth University, which includes: Jem Southam, photographer and Professor of Photography in the School of Art and Media (leading this project); writer and curator Liz Wells; writer, curator, former Director of Photoworks, David Chandler.

Birmingham Central Library, which holds one of the UK’s National Collections of Photography, led by Head of Photographs, Pete James. As well as holding extensive historic photographic collections, Birmingham Library actively collects contemporary photography, and has recently acquired the work and archives of established figures such as Paul Hill and John Blakemore.

Redeye, the Photography Network, a not-for-profit organisation set up to support photographers at every level, led by Director Paul Herrmann. Based in Manchester, UK, Redeye has subscribers and users across the UK and globally.

PARC (Photography and the Archive Research Centre), LCC, University of the Arts, London, led by writer and curator Professor Val Williams.

Dr. Jane Fletcher, photographer and Senior Lecturer, BA (Hons) Photography at the University of Derby. Jane formerly worked at the National Media Museum in Bradford.

Project coordinator/researcher

Val Millington is an experienced arts and cultural sector researcher and consultant. Now freelance, Val’s former roles include Director of Visual Arts and Crafts for South West Arts and Director of the National Federation of Artists Studio Providers. She was also Chair of the Board of Spike Island in Bristol for six years.

Contact

Please email Val Millington for further information, or if you would like to keep in touch and receive project updates from time to time, including invitations to the consultation events we are planning in London, Manchester and Bristol in early 2013.     Val Millington, tel: 01392 278293; m: 07778 922230; e: val.millington@lineone.net

At a special colloquium yesterday invited attendees previewed the National Gallery's new exhibition Seduced by Art and explored some of the images and the links between photography and art. The exhibition is the Gallery's first major photography show, despite a relationship with photography which goes back to the Gallery's Keeper and first Director Sir Charles Eastlake who was the first President of the Photographic Society of London. It hopes to attract 50,000 people to the exhibition. 

This exhibition explores early photography from the thirty years from photography's announcement in 1839 to 1870 and the its most recent thirty years to 2012. Showing photographs from the mid-19th century and the most exciting contemporary photographs, alongside historical painting. It takes a provocative look at how photographers use fine art traditions, including Old Master painting, to explore and justify the possibilities of their art.

Work by leading photographers such as Martin Parr, Craigie Horsfield, Tom Hunter, Sam Taylor-Wood, Richard Billingham, Julia Margaret Cameron and Gustave Le Gray will be on display beside key paintings from the National Gallery collection.

The exhibition has been co-curated by Hope Kingsley from the WIlson Centre of Photography and Christopher Riopelle from the Gallery. As one delegate commented 'Hope is the only person with the knowledge and background to make such an exhibition, and to make it work so well'. The exhibition's thesis is explored in a coherent way and accessible way with appropriately chosen images from both mediums. The selected photographs and works of art help the curators make their points and the physical exhibition space is well used with the hanging and lighting used to give balance to the photography and paintings.Excellent use is made made of the doorways of the exhibition space to frame works beyond. The exhibition is a triumph in its conception and execution and, will be seen as a landmark exhibition. A catalogue is available at £19.95 (softback) or £30 (hardback). 

The exhibition opens on 31 October until 20 January 2013. More information is here: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/seduced-by-art-photography-past-and-present

About the exhibition

Paintings and early and contemporary photographs are presented together according to traditional genres such as portraiture, still life, nudes and landscape, highlighting the universality of the themes and influences across all the works, both past and present.

Drawing attention to one particular and rich strand of photography’s history – that of the influence and inspiration of historical painting – the exhibition features pictures by the greatest British and French photographers alongside work by an international array of contemporary artists. It includes new photography and video specially commissioned for the exhibition and on public display for the first time, plus works rarely seen in the UK.

Exceptionally, three ‘interventions’ of contemporary photographs by Richard Billingham, Craigie Horsfield and Richard Learoyd will be displayed within the Gallery’s collection, juxtaposed with great 19th-century paintings by Constable,Degas and Ingres.

Works on display

The show includes almost 90 photographs alongside selected paintings from the National Gallery’s collection. Key photographs will come from the Wilson Centre for Photography, Tate, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Media Museum in Bradford, Fundació La Caixa in Spain, and direct from the photographers themselves.

Travelling exhibition

The exhibition will travel to CaixaForum Barcelona (21 February 2013 – 19 May 2013) and CaixaForum Madrid (19 June 2013 – 15 September 2013).

Paintings and early and contemporary photographs are presented together according to traditional genres such as portraiture, still life, nudes and landscape, highlighting the universality of the themes and influences across all the works, both past and present.

Drawing attention to one particular and rich strand of photography’s history – that of the influence and inspiration of historical painting – the exhibition features pictures by the greatest British and French photographers alongside work by an international array of contemporary artists. It includes new photography and video specially commissioned for the exhibition and on public display for the first time, plus works rarely seen in the UK.

Exceptionally, three ‘interventions’ of contemporary photographs by Richard Billingham, Craigie Horsfield and Richard Learoy are displayed within the Gallery’s collection, juxtaposed with great 19th-century paintings by Constable,Degas and Ingres.

In 2013 Wolverhampton Photographic Society will be celebrating its 125th anniversary and the 200th anniversary of its most famous photographer's birth, Oscar Gustave Rejlander (1813-1875). To celebrate this a commemorative plaque will be laid on Rejlander's unmarked grave in Kensal Green Cemetery (http://www.kensalgreencemetery.com) on Saturday, 3 November 2012.

The project has been fully funded from WPS funds and from personal donations from members of WPS Historical Group.The project has taken two years to come to fruition, and the WPS is very grateful for the help and support it has  received from staff at Kensal Green, and especially Joe Hughes from the Friends of Kensal Green. The memorial plaque was hand-carved and gilded by the sculptor David Kelly.

Everyone is invited to attend a short ceremony to mark the laying of this plaque at 12 noon on Saturday 3rd November 2012. The event will start at the Anglican Chapel, Kensal Green Cemetery, and then proceed to Rejlander's grave for the formal laying of the commemorative plaque. Afterwards it will move to the Dissenter's Chapel for refreshments. The event will end at around 1.30pm.

Booking is Essential. If you wish to attend, please email: d.h.kingston@yahoo.co.uk

Postscript

After the event why not pay homage to Frederick Scott Archer who's grave is also in the cemetery (http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/wet-plate-collodion). There are also plenty of other photography related individuals 'resting' there...