Blogs

Possibly my favourite photo of a daylight studio in my collection, but where was this suburban, sylvan, setting? From the list of other branch studios plastered across the façade, we know where it wasn’t – 72 Princes Street, Edinburgh. London, Blackpool, [Shore Road] Aberdour, Rothsay, Largs, etc. etc. Many of these are seaside locations, so probably only seasonal studios.

The signage says Cabinet photos 1/- [shilling] each, No Extra Charge for groups. Also says Have Your Photo taken with the Pony and Trap, …….. & Motor Car. These were staged with backcloths (examples can be seen on the  Edinphoto website).

Peter Claude Low (1874 – 1935) was an Edinburgh photographer. He was the eldest son of Peter Low (1842 - ), a portrait painter turned photographer, and Georgina Low (nee Hill, 1850 - 1893), they married in 1871 and had two sons Claude and Philip. In the 1891 Census, aged 17, Claude was living with his parents at 19 Henderson Row, Edinburgh, his occupation was recorded as camera maker. By August 1893 he was a photographer with a studio at 127 Ferry Road, Leith. Claude married Mary Thomson Masson in 1895,  Edinphoto has a photo of them.

Five years later he had moved to 54 Cockburn Street, which is where he was living at the time of the 1901 Census. Judging by his advertisements in the local press, this appears to have been his principal address in the up to c. 1909. Edinphoto’s study of the local directories has him at 72 Princes Street 1906 – 11, they also list studios at Roslin and Dunoon.

Claude’s younger brother Philip Ernest Low (1876 – 1936) also followed the same profession. From c.1900 – 1910 his main studio was in Bath Street, Portabello, though he also ran studios on the Promenade, Broughty Ferry and the Bathing Station, Aberdeen.

Both Claude and Philip later emigrated, Claude to South Africa, though he subsequently returned to the UK. Philip emigrated to initially Dunedin, New Zealand,. He ran several hotels, but apparently went  bankrupt during the Great Depression and so moved to Australia, where he died in 1936.

If anyone has any further information on Claude and Peter, or knows where this or their other studios were, I’d be grateful to hear from you.

Many thanks!

Just in time for Alice’s Day, the Bodleian Libraries is pleased to announce the acquisition of two photographic portraits of Alice Liddell by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (also known as Lewis Carroll) as part of the library’s growing photography collection. The acquisition comprises one original albumen of Alice Liddell as ‘The Beggar Maid’ (1858) and one original glass wet-plate collodion negative of ‘Alice Liddell Wearing a Garland’ (1860).

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832–1898) was a mathematician and photographer, best known for his work as an author and poet under the pseudonym ‘Lewis Carroll’. His most notable works, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871) are both global sensations, widely acknowledged to have been inspired by the daughter of Henry Liddell (the Dean of Christ Church), Alice Liddell (1852–1934), who is the model in both portraits.

These photographs were donated by a private individual, who had previously acquired the pieces from the Sotheby’s London sale of Lewis Carroll’s Alice: The Photographs, Books, Papers and Personal Effects of Alice Liddell and Her Family, on Wednesday, 6 June, 2001 (Lot 00022 and Lot 00037). Before this time, they were with the family of Alice Liddell.

The third networking event of Museum Dialogues considers matters of curatorial interpretation and visitor experience, alongside ways of increasing access and representation of and for diverse communities.

In the first part of this online workshop, speakers and participants will discuss various institutional initiatives for active public engagement and ways to value everyone’s experience by levelling equity with equality. The session will explore non-traditional exhibition spaces, engaging with audiences outside the museum, and collaborations between artists, curators, and communities as effective means of addressing access challenges and expanding the reach of photography. In the second part, presentations focus on the diversity of representation in exhibitions and collections, and strategies of decolonisation.

Overarching questions for presentations and group discussion include:

• How can photography serve as an accessible medium to address broader social and political issues and processes relevant to diverse communities?
• What presentation and storytelling methods can provide more inclusive cross-cultural narratives and audience experiences?
• How can museum practices facilitate two-way interactions with audiences, enabling them to influence the museum’s role as a social site?
• What decolonial methods can museums and galleries use to allow for multiple interpretative frameworks?
• How can museums and galleries advance decolonising processes through photography and commissioning?
• How may commissioning open an institution’s discursive space?

Speakers include:

• Matteo Balduzzi, Senior Curator, Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea, Cinisello Balsamo, Italy
• Dr Sandra Križić Roban, Senior Advisor, Institute of Art History and Associate Professor, Academy of Fine Arts, Croatia
• Dr Emily Pugh, Principal Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute, USA
• Dr Tracy Stuber, Digital Humanities Specialist, Harvard University Art Museum, USA
• Dr Alexander Supartono, Edinburgh Napier University, UK

Rethinking Programming: Interpretation and Experience, Inclusion and Equity
Friday 12 July 2024, 9:45 – 16:00 BST, on zoom.
Free
Register HERE

We look forward to seeing you then!

Source magazine is seeking new writers and offering a £500 prize for the winning entry. All short listed entries will also be considered for publication or for paid future commissions.

Most of the writing in Source takes a specific form: book reviews, exhibition reviews or texts introducing sets of pictures, so these would be good models to follow. But we are also interested in others forms of writing so if you want to submit something in a different form then please do. Our interest in photography is not only about the photographs that appear in books and exhibitions; it touches most aspects of life and we like to read about those encounters too. This could be an article about a particular photograph of historical, aesthetic or biographical interest to you. It could be about some cultural or philosophical aspect of photography. It could be something we've not thought about. We enjoy writing that is thoughtful, funny, well researched and surprising. It could be personal or dispassionate. It could be fun, or deadly serious. It might shed new light on something we thought we knew or introduce us to something we've never heard of before.

Details here: https://www.source.ie/writingprize2024/

The limited number of complete runs of photography periodicals in libraries and special collections, as well as the absence of digitised and easily searchable runs of these journals acts as a constraint on research.  Initiatives such the 1970s microfilming of photography publications, to the RPS journal digitisation in the mid-2010s have shown the value of increasing their availability to students, academics, and the public. 

There is now a proposal to undertake a digitisation programme of some of the more significant photography journals to support a growing level of research in the field.  

This three-minute survey seeks your views as to what would be most useful. The results will be published in an anonymised form and will determine whether the initiative moves forward, or is trialled, pending a full rollout.

To participate click here: https://forms.office.com/r/LVcNZNESMn

Edinburgh's Stills Gallery is seeking a director, to further develop the work of Stills so that it meets strategic objectives agreed with the Board, and that the organisation retains and advances a high national and international reputation achieved through quality programming, excellent stakeholder relationships, optimum income generation and effective management. The Director will be expected to work across the following areas:

A bold new study of Julia Margaret Cameron’s Victorian photographs charts the legacy of colonialism following the 1857 Indian Uprising. Julia Margaret Cameron, the celebrated Victorian photographer, was a child of the colonies. Born in 1815 in Calcutta, she was the daughter of a governing official of the East India Company. After relocating to London in 1848, Cameron was embraced by other British expatriates and a celebrated cultural network. This circle included literary personalities like Thackeray and Tennyson, painters and critics associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and political figures like Thomas Babington Macaulay and Lord Lansdowne.
 
In 1857, Indians rebelled against British rule, and in London, Cameron became absorbed by news of the Uprising. In the aftermath of the revolt, national and imperial politics transfixed England, some seven years before Cameron took up photography. The impact of those forces, and the inspiration of the literary, artistic, and political works produced by her circle, influenced her earliest imagery. Through close readings of these photographs, which she assembled in photographic albums, this book exposes how Cameron embedded in her work a visual rhetoric of imperial power.

Jeff Rosen is a former academic dean at Loyola University Chicago and professor of art history at Columbia College Chicago. He is now a scholar-in-residence at the Newberry Library, Chicago.

Julia Margaret Cameron. The Colonial Shadows of Victorian Photography
Jeff Rosen
Paul Mellon Centre
£45, 292 Pages, 215 x 269 mm, 101 colour + b-w illus.
https://yalebooks.co.uk/book/9781913107420/julia-margaret-cameron/

Photographers, particularly those in the North, will be sad to learn that after 26 years of supporting photographers and championing photography throughout the UK, Redeye, the Photography Network will wind down on 31 July 2024 due to a number of factors, including lack of funding.

Very sad - Redeye did some wonderful work over many years and I was so pleased to be involved with Paul Herrmann and the team over that time. With the Centre for British Photography on ice at the moment it is a worrying time for our independent photography community. 

From the Redeye Board:

Redeye was set up to advocate for photographers at every level and build networks across photography, delivering an innovative and vital programme. We are actively continuing to explore potential options for new provision of this service and hope to make a further announcement in the near future.

Over the next few weeks, we will celebrate our proud history of giving a voice to photographers, helping with professional development, and providing a platform to share photography events, photographers’ work and relevant opportunities. We will mark the many achievements the network has made through the hard work and dedication of Redeye staff and its board of directors. We would like to thank all our members, supporters and the photographers who have helped shape us, particularly in the North of England.

Please continue to check this social channel and our website (link in bio) for further announcements in the coming weeks.

Lindsay Taylor, on behalf of the Board of Directors:
Geoff Crossley
Asif Salam
Liz Wewiora
Suzanne St Clare
Verity Adriana
Simon Hyde

Redeye was created in 1998 by a group of photographers who met in Manchester to discuss research into what the region's practitioners needed in regard to North West Arts.With many facilities in demand such as darkrooms, exhibition spaces and help with legal matters, they decided that most photographers needed an environment in which they could network and learn from each other. By the beginning of 1999 these meetings had become regular. Some of the group, chaired by Len Grant, volunteered to help run the organisation. The award-winning British photographer Paul Hill gave the first of six talks that launched Redeye events in October 1999. The first paid member of staff was appointed in 2001, and a co-ordinator was selected the next year.

Image: Redeye, The Photography Network’s logo

Anderson & Graland, the Newvastle-based auction house is auctioning an extensive collection of press photographs from the South Sheilds Gazette. The eighty-six lots cover a range of subjects from royalty, football, sports, actors and popular music, bands, film, as well as pictures of local subjects, and come from the Press Association and elsewhere.

The Collectors' Auction
Anderson & Garland
4 July 2024
Details:  https://www.andersonandgarland.com/auction/search/?st=Gazette&sto=0&au=718&sf=%5B%5D&w=False&pn=1

Join Nick Wright all the way from America on a journey back in time to experience ultra-high-resolution views of Gold Rush San Francisco. Nick Wright has painstakingly recreated Muybridge's early panorama of the city by assembling multi-plate photographs. This will truly be an amazing chance to see old San Francisco, like never before.

Nick Wright is the founder of the History Alliance, with 2-million members, including San Francisco History and US History. He has given lectures at many institutions. His speciality is early San Francisco panoramic photography by Watkins, Muybridge, and W. H. Jackson. He grew up in Palo Alto near the Stanford Farm that sparked his interest in Muybridge.

Online Talk with Nick Wright
Thursday, 11 July 11 · 1900-2000 (BST)
Details: https://www.kingstonheritage.org.uk/homepage/126/san-francisco-in-kingston-muybridge-and-panoramas-inspired-events

I have just posted a new Blog Post: THE RAMBLINGS of a Darkroom Dinosaur...Inspired by the current edition of PhotoResearcher Journal No 41, 'The Darkroom: Chemical, Cultural, Industrial', published by European Society for the History of Photography.

Dr Katayoun Dowlatshahi / Silverwood Art Studio & Darkroom

Rachel Segal Hamilton, a journalist who specialsies in photography, has written an extended essay for the Birmingham Despatch on the photography collections at the Library of Birmingham and the legacy of Pete James (pictured right). It looks at the history of Birmingham's photography collections and the current situation. 

Read the full piece here: https://www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/p/the-library-of-birmingham-hosts-a

Images: Michael Pritchard

Paula Fleming writes... In honor of International Stereoscopy Day I’m formally launching my photo history webpage (flemingphotohistory.com) which covers over fifty years of research given for free to whomever can use it. In addition to copies of all of my papers and one entire book, it covers:

• 19th century British photography. This includes journal notices, reviews of exhibits and images, legal notices, ads for new views from the Times, etc., a detailed bibliography, and full transcriptions of the most important articles. These are accompanied with an extensive name index with many life dates and bio. info. Also special lists referencing articles on astronomy, reviews of photographs, and travel/expedition stories.
• 19th century photography of Washington, D.C. which contains hundreds of names accompanied by life dates, addresses, and frequently biographical information well beyond normal works of this genre. You won’t believe what some of them got up to! These stories make the individuals real people with real stories not just data items. Some entries have portraits of the photographers.
• Newspaper coverage of 19th century Native American delegations to Washington, D.C. These documents help to identify, date and provide background for photos taken during that period.
• French surprise tissue views selected from my collection. Just for fun. You can mouse over a stereo image to get a real stereo surprise.

Uploading my research is ongoing so there will be new additions.  Feel free to contact me by email at britishstereos@hotmail.com

Well, it has finally arrived, the book that carte de visite collectors have been expecting all their lives.

CARTOMANIA by Paul Frecker (September Publishing, 2024) is a thumping good read – 474 pages and over 500 wonderful illustrations. Frecker calls it a labour of love, but it is so much more. The text is written with dry humour and evident expertise, amply quoting the sort of documentation you would find, perhaps, in the British Library after many months, or even years of arduous searching. Indeed, this marvellous tome brings to light a world of evidence from period journals and newspapers to chart the spectacular rise and the eventual fall of the gleaming star which brought photography to the general public, altering and moulding tastes and habits as no earlier photographic process had done. I was particularly impressed by the chapters and illustrations relating to Death and Mourning, Copyright and Piracy, and Origins, but there are chapters for all, paying careful attention to Photographers, The Sitting, Royalty, Courtesans, Armchair Travellers, and so on. The illustrations are taken from the extensive and extraordinary collection of the author, which ought to be preserved for the nation.

While waiting for the nation to wake up, buy the book!

Newcastle's Side Gallery has several jobs available. Amber Film & Photography Collective CIC and Side Gallery have a rich and intertwined history rooted in the vibrant arts and culture scene of the Northeast. The collective and gallery were established in the late 1960s and early 1970s by a group of visionary photographers and filmmakers driven by a shared passion for documentary storytelling and cultural preservation.

• Curatorial Assistant / https://www.amber-online.com/job-opportunity-curatorial-assistant/
• Creative Director/Side Gallery Curator / https://www.amber-online.com/job-opportunity-creative-director-curator/

and previously announced

• Project archivisit / https://www.amber-online.com/job-opportunity/

Image: Interiors, 1981 ©Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, AmberSide Collection

Following the cyber-attack that took place last October, the British Library continues to have a major technology outage including the website, online systems and services, however our buildings are open as usual.

With the Explore Archives and Manuscripts online catalogue still yet to be restored, our catalogues of Photographic collections have now been made available through the National Archives Discovery Catalogue. This includes the 'Photo' series (including the Archaeological Survey of India) and the 'Kodak Historical Collection'. We hope to expand on this offering in due course to include the Fay Godwin Collection and the Talbot photographs. The Talbot photographs are also available via the William Henry Fox Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, which includes digitised early photographs from the British Library and other institutions.

For direct links to the National Archives:

British Library Photographs on National Archives - 147,123 records

British Library Kodak Historical Collections - 3151 

To consult the collections, the British Library's Print Room is currently open by appointment on Monday and Friday mornings from 10-12.30. We are aiming to be open Monday-Friday mornings in the autumn. For enquries or appointments, please email vacollections@bl.libanswers.com or apac-prints@bl.uk.

This conference explores the multifaceted history and cultural significance of flash photography. Flash, introduced in the 1860s, has played a crucial role in photography, making previously unseen scenes visible, from the nocturnal lives of animals to the bustling nights of New York City. There is a keynote presentation from Dr Sara Dominici. 

This conference aims to move beyond a purely technical narrative of flash as merely a tool for overcoming darkness. Instead, it seeks to understand flash as a socio-technical device that shapes photographic practice and cultural perceptions. Flash photography, from early magnesium bursts to modern electric strobes, not only illuminates scenes but also influences the photographic event itself. The noise, smoke, and sudden light of early flashes contributed to the dynamic nature of photo shoots, impacting both photographers and subjects.

This conference will investigate the diverse dimensions of flash, including its aesthetic, cultural, and media implications. The performative nature of flash and its role in capturing rapid motion, filling in light, and creating new visualities will be discussed. Flash has been both embraced and rejected by photographers, creating boundaries between art and non-art. Its use has marked significant moments in the history of photography, contributing to genres like celebrity and wildlife photography.

Moreover, flash photography has served as a metaphor in literature and theory, symbolizing revelation and memory. It has been linked to powerful narratives, such as those documenting social injustices. Despite technological advancements reducing the need for flash, its historical and cultural impacts remain significant. The conference invites discussions on the flash’s role in photographic history, its cultural and social uses, and its ongoing relevance in contemporary visual regimes.

Blind by Light: Just to see: Flashes and Revelations
17-18 October 2024
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Richelieu
See the programme and register here

The Lens Media Lab at Yale's Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage invites you to its symposium DARKROOM TO DATA, to be held in New Haven on August 12, 2024. The program will feature the lab's research into the material history of black and white photography and will highlight our principal collaborations among leading collections. The theme of this work is 'seeing at scale' through the creation and interpretation of datasets that surface patterns latent in photograph collections. These patterns inform our thinking of preservation, artistic intention, regional practices, and the influence of materials and methods shared by photographers across time.  The intended audience is art historians, conservators, conservation scientists, collectors, curators, dealers and anyone interested in data science and data visualization applied to the study of cultural material. 

Program details and a link for registration are here. Advance registration is required and is free of charge. 

Opening next month, I Am Who I Am Now: Selections from the Bengali Photo Archive offers a unique insight into the everyday life of the Bengali East End of London.  The exhibition focuses on vernacular photographs taken of and by Bengali people over the past 50 years. Accompanied by oral histories and collaboratively produced archival interpretations, it offers a powerful and intimate perspective on the community's histories. From the microcosms of the family to the transformative power of community spaces, it illuminates the intricate interplay between individual experiences and the broader socio-political landscape in the East End.

The images are drawn from the Bengali Photo Archive, a new collection featuring personal and family images donated by local people. The exhibition also features work by
photographers Raju Vaidyanathan, Mayar Akash, Anthony Lam, Paul Halliday, Sarah Ainslie, David Hoffman, Paul Trevor and others, which documents the community's working lives,
activism, and anti-racist struggles.

The title of the show is inspired by photographer Mayar Akash, who reflected, “I am who I am now” because of transformative experiences in East End youth work settings. The central importance of such community spaces is shown in images of the Federation of Bangladeshi Youth Organisations, and musicians such as Joi Bangla, State of Bangal and Osmani Knights. These groups brought together politics, activism, arts and music to create a new Bengali youth culture in the 1980s.

I Am Who I Am Now: Selections from the Bengali Photo Archive is co-curated by Julian Ehsan, Four Corners and the Bengali Photo Archive volunteers with the generous support of Swadhinata Trust. It is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, the Art Fund and Historic England.

Julie Begum, of Swadhinata Trust says: “When we engage with art that reflects diverse perspectives, we see new ideas, cultures, and ways of thinking. . . The Bengali photo archive challenges racist stereotypes about us and who people think we are, including ourselves.”

Julian Ehsan, exhibition curator says: “I Am Who I Am Now reveals the power of community history and telling the stories of everyday people. Working collaboratively with project
volunteers and people who appear in the archive itself, this exhibition re-centres the curatorial process — and the curatorial power — to emphasise voices that are often hidden or ignored. As a person of Bengali heritage myself, it has been poignant to work with intimate and evocative images of, and by, the diaspora.”

Akila Asad, an archive volunteer says: “The archive captures the resilience and the everyday lives Bengalis built in Britain. By highlighting their heritage, the Bengali Photo Archive encourages viewers, especially the Bengali community, to take pride in their pioneering forefathers who journeyed to the UK, solidifying their presence in East London and proving that Britain is indeed their home as well.”

Tanbir Mirza-Baeg, archive donor and volunteer says: “The Bengali Photo Archive will be a great insight for those who want to look at their heritage to see that there was simple mundanity outside of the struggles that were faced by the generations before them. I hope that it inspires others to start their own archive, and gather the different pieces before they are lost and there isn't a chance to see or hear them again.”

I Am Who I Am Now: Selections from the Bengali Photo Archive
5 July-4 August 2024
London, Four Corner
See more here

Image: Two boys dancing at Spitalfields City Farm, 1990s. © Julie Begum. Courtesy of Bengali Photo Archive.

Project Placement opportunity to help with getting Leeds Historic Photographs online. ​The project will involve preparing Leeds Museums’ historic photograph and local history image collections for export to the Leodis website (https://www.leodis.net/). ​

This will include research and identifying content, and cross-checking with images on Leodis to identify images which would be suitable. The project provides valuable experience working with historic collections, digitisation and cataloguing skills, research experience and an opportunity to learn more about Leeds history. This will make more of the museum collections accessible online and help to crowd-source information from the public.​

About You:​

Our Project Placements are a training and development opportunity. We are looking for people who are:​

• Starting out in heritage, culture or the arts​
• Looking for a change of career and exploring options in the arts and cultural sector ​
• From a diverse range of backgrounds underrepresented in the arts and cultural sector ​

What matters most is your passion for the project.​

About the role:​

This is one of four Project Placements at Leeds Museums and Galleries in 2024. The funding for Project Placements comes from Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation funding to give people paid experience of working in a heritage/cultural setting, training and support. ​

Project Placements are a maximum of 30 days to be completed before the end of March 2025. We are open to it being fewer days to help people access the opportunity. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds. We are a family friendly organisation and support our employees to work flexibly to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Working days and times are flexible and are agreed between the individual and the supervisor. ​ Pay £12/hour. 

To find out more, we have a video describing each of the Project Placements and giving tip tops for applications. This can be accessed here: Project Placement film LMG - YouTube

Details and apply here: https://jobs.leeds.gov.uk/jobs/project-placement-casual-req25015