Blogs

Christopher Penn writes...There is an interesting and beautifully displayed exhibition of photography - largely portraiture - from India in the nineteenth century running now in the Art Library for Photography in Berlin. Among other works it includes four Samuel Bournes, nine Bourne and Shepherds and eight Penns including 'Toda Man (Nicholas/Penn 48)' and 'Toda Woman (Nicholas/Penn 49)', as you will also see in the photo here. Some of the attributions are a bit weak, including three other Penns and two photographs attributed to Nicholas; but that is a small criticism of the first exhibition to dig deep into the extensive collection of ethnographic prints in Berlin.

The fine catalogue, in which a large number of the photographs are reproduced, includes an article by John Falconer, based he says on early research, which provides a good lead into the exhibition, and other articles largely related to the colonial theme.  The exhibition is well worth a visit.

The exhibition runs until 21st October.

Museum für Fotografie, Berlin
Fri 20 July - Sun 21 October 2012

http://www.smb.museum/smb/standorte/index.php?p=2&objID=6124&n=12

The Colonial Eye.
Early Portrait Photography in India

One of the world's most comprehensive and significant collections of portrait photography from India is on exhibit for the first time. The collection was originally thought to be lost during World War II, only gradually returning to Berlin's National Museums beginning in the 1990s.

Now, around 300 photographs from the second half of the nineteenth century offer a comprehensive overview of portrait photography from the Indian subcontinent. In addition to pictures by renowned photographers and studios such as Samuel Bourne, Sheperd & Robertson, A.T.W. Penn, and John Burke, works by lesser known artists are also on display. Popular and unexpectedly diverse ethnographic photography of the time stands in contrast to stylised street shots of artisans, as well as portraits of nobility, including Islamic princes and princesses, Maharajas, and clan leaders, taken in their own palaces or in artfully set studio scenes. 

One unifying aspect of many early portraits is a particularly European view - "The Colonial Eye". In the second half of the nineteenth century, in the name of science and colonialism, the land and its inhabitants were to be apprehended through observation and cataloguing, analysation and measurement. The fascination with India was especially evoked by the strange-looking indigenous peoples and the caste-system, as well as the splendour of the Indian nobility and the austere life of ascetics. 

Photo: Christopher Penn with two of his ancestor's photographs in the exhibition.

The National Media Museum held a conference in 2010 to present new research into three Niépce plates dating from c1826 from The Royal Photographic Society's Collection which is held at the museum (see: http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/events/niepce-in-europe) The conference revealed new information about the plates and through scientific analysis by the Getty Conservation Institute began to explain the origins of the plates and how they were made.

The museum, with conservator Susie Clark and the GCI, has developed an oxygen-free display case and special lighting which will allow the plates to be shown to the public. The prototype case which is being funded by The Society, was shown to it recently.

The finished case, along with the conference proceedings, should be ready early in 2013.

Image: Philippa Wright, Curator of Photographs and conservator Susie Clark with the prototype case.   

In partnership with Bradford University and Bradford College, we are seeking to appoint a photographer, or artist working with photography as the 2012-13 Bradford Fellow in Photography.

We are looking for a mid-career photographer with experience of teaching, publishing and producing work for exhibition. The successful candidate would deliver an agreed number of lectures to the students at both Bradford College and Bradford University. They would also work with Museum staff to produce a gallery exhibition and associated events around the new or ongoing work to show in late autumn 2013. The exhibition will be part of the Ways of Looking photography festival in Bradford.

The Bradford Fellowship is a partnership between this Museum, Bradford College and Bradford University. Established in 1985, the Fellowship supports established photographers to develop their professional practice, while working with the institutional partners to enhance the cultures, practice and knowledge of photography.

The commitment of the partners to the Fellowship has resulted in significant legacies, both in allowing photographers to create important new bodies of work, and enriching the National Photography Collection through the acquisition of Fellow's work.

The Fellowship seeks to deliver the following outcomes:

1. To enable a photographer/artist to explore their personal artistry and ideas to produce a new body of work.
2. Production of an exhibition to be shown at the National Media Museum during autumn 2013. The exhibition may travel to other venues.
3. Work with students at Bradford College and University to give an insight into the artist's working practice and to encourage the development of the students own practice.
4. To enrich the Fellowship Collection held within the National Photography Collection with prints acquired from the commission.

The closing date for applications is Monday 3 September 2012. Interviews will be held on Tuesday 18 September 2012 at the National Media Museum, Bradford. Full details, including application etc, can be found here.

I have an old slide projector, probably from a school, and a couple of boxes of glass slides The slides seem to be in sets, covering 'London' ' Windsor Castle' etc, and are about 3'' square,. The quality of the black-and-white images is amazing, especially the interior scenes at Windsor Castle. However, I have no way of projecting them, so I am wondering if anybody would be interested in them.
Terry Pattison

Samuel Johnson famously said that: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” London’s remarkable history, architecture, landmarks, streets, style, cool, swagger, and stalwart residents are pictured in hundreds of compelling photographs sourced from a wide array of archives around the world. London is a vast sprawling metropolis, constantly evolving and growing, yet throughout its complex past and shifting present, the humor, unique character, and bulldog spirit of the people have stayed constant. This book salutes all those Londoners, their city, and its history. In addition to the wealth of images included in this book, many previously unpublished, London’s history is told through hundreds of quotations, lively essays, and references from key movies, books, and records.

From Victorian London to the Swinging 60s; from the Battle of Britain to Punk; from the Festival of Britain to the 2012 Olympics; from the foggy cobbled streets to the architectural masterpieces of the millennium; from rough pubs to private drinking clubs; from Royal Weddings to raves, from the charm of the East End to the wonders of the Westminster; from Chelsea girls to Hoxton hipsters; from the power to glory: in page after page of stunning photographs, reproduced big and bold like the city itself, London at last gets the photographic tribute it deserves.

Photographs by: Slim Aarons, Eve Arnold, David Bailey, Cecil Beaton, Bill Brandt, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Anton Corbijn, Terence Donovan, Roger Fenton, Bert Hardy, Evelyn Hofer, Frank Horvat, Tony Ray-Jones, Nadav Kander, Roger Mayne, Linda McCartney, Don McCullin, Norman Parkinson, Martin Parr, Rankin, Lord Snowdon, William Henry Fox Talbot, Juergen Teller, Mario Testino, Wolfgang Tillmans, and many, many others.

You can purchase this book through the Amazon link on the right.

If you click on the link at the right about Frederick Scott Archer you can read a fascinating story about a man who generously gave this ground breaking process free to the world. Maybe it is because I watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics but I was reminded of Tim Berners-Lee and his generosity.

Wet Collodion Process

Americas through a lens are images from The National Archive's Colonial Office's Photographic Collection and include some of the earliest known photographic depictions of Canada dating back to the 1850s. Some of the images have accompanying background information to give them context. The photographs have been uploaded to the photo-sharing website Flickr so that they can be tagged and comments and suggestions added to help improve the descriptions.

The latest online release of pictures from the Colonial Office collection follows the successful launch last year of Africa through a lens - an online showcase for the African images in the collection. The project was inspired by Project Naming, a Library and Archives Canada (LAC) initiative to help identify Inuit portrayed in its own photographic collection.

Hello, I am interested in the Irish born New Zealand photographer John Robert Hanna (c1850-1915). The “Photogram,” of May, 1894, devoted three pages to Mr. Hanna, his studio and his work, I wonder if anyone has a copy of this edition? 

I understand his photographs "were so beautiful that they were shown to the Photographic Club, and to the London and Provincial Photographic Association. The verdict was that no man in Britain was doing better all round portraiture, and Mr. Thomas Fall, the president of the Association, wrote to say that he had never seen such lovely work."

There is more information on John Robert Hanna on my website -

http://canterburyphotography.blogspot.co.nz/2012/01/hanna.html

John Robert Hanna 

Observer (NZ), Volume XV, Issue 828, 6 October 1894, Page 3

Inspired by the Albert Beaney collection of 40,000 photographs of Swindon residents in the 40s, 50s and 60s, 130 young people aged between 11-16 will be using these images to create their own exhibition about Swindon’s community history. 

Funded by a £25,000 award from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Back to Black and White project is a partnership between Swindon Borough Council’s Create Studios & Swindon Museum and Art Gallery and Swindon Youth Forum. The Youth Forum members– all completing their Arts Award – are working alongside professional artist Dani Landau to create their exhibition and gain a range of new skills including photography, digital media, photograph handling and curatorial skills. Their exhibition will take place at Artsite’s Post Modern gallery on 1-7 August.

The full news report can be found here.

To get into the swing of things, Kingston Museum will be showcasing the work of their local boy, Eadweard Muybridge, who was a pioneer in capturing motion in sequence photography. The exhibition will include not only a display of his motion experiments of humans and animals carried out in 1887, but also contemporary artist David Michalek’s own take in HD. 

The Museum will also be focussing on 21st century techniques, including the use of sport biomechanics to measure and correct technique and injury rehabilitation, as well as screening a video inspired by Muybridge’s iconic motion sequence and features 300 gymnasts, dancers and athletes creating a chain of human cartwheels. It is created by Charlie Murphy and called the Kingston Big Wheel (courtesy of the Stanley Picker Gallery).

Details of the exhibition can be found here.  Go Team EM! (yes, it does sound corny ...)

Brian May will be presenting his 3D documentary 'Brief History of 3D' at the National Stereoscopic Association's 38th annual convention this weekend in California.

His talk will be based on a historical look at the attempts to make 3D mainstream, from the Victorian era up to the present day. The documentary first aired on Sky 3D in July last year and included a look at the process of authoring his book, 'A Village Lost and Found.'

Details of the event can be found here.

Photo: Copyright 3D Focus.

Hello, this Woodhorn Museum http://www.experiencewoodhorn.com/ introducing our new Facebook page about Canon Roderick Charles MacLeod, an amateur photographer who lived in Northumberland at the turn of the 20th Century.

The MacLeod collection is housed within the Northumberland Archives at Woodhorn, and this facebook page is a new way of sharing our digitised photographic collections. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canon-R-C-MacLeod/241832632582028?ref=hl

Several hundred of Canon MacLeod’s lantern slides were rescued and deposited in Northumberland Archives by George Brown of Mitford when the old vicarage was being demolished. Countless others have been lost, although some have turned up over the years in other collections. They provide a fascinating glimpse into a corner of rural Northumberland at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

This Facebook page will be updated throughout 2012/13 by Woodhorn Museum & Northumberland Archives. We will be posting on a different theme each month, as well as including the occasional 'wildcard' photo to keep you entertained.

If you would like to share relevant information about the photography, the MacLeod family & Mitford in general, please do so, we welcome your insights and opinions!

Halfway to Paradise will explore the exceptional work of Harry Hammond, the music photographer who documented the emergence of Rock ‘n’ Roll music in post-war Britain. From Roy Orbison and Ella Fitzgerald to Cliff Richard and Shirley Bassey, the display will feature more than 60 portraits, behind the scenes and performance shots of leading musicians in the 1950s and 1960s.

The display will be drawn from the V&A’s collection and will provide an insight into the change in musical tastes over the two decades following the war. Hammond’s photographs will chronicle the jazz and big band musicians of the early 1950s such as Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday, American Rock ‘n’ Roll stars visiting Britain including Little Richard, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, through to the early breakthroughs of British rock such as the Animals and the Beatles in the 1960s.

Hammond also documented the development of music television in the 1950s and his behind the scenes coverage of the entertainment shows Sunday Night at the (London) Palladium, Oh Boy! and Juke Box Jury will be on show. The display will also be accompanied by a soundtrack of hit songs by the musicians featured in Hammond’s portraits.

Born in the East End of London, Harry Hammond began his career as a society portrait photographer and on joining the RAF during the Second World War, served as a reconnaissance photographer. On his return to London he resumed his interest in photographing people concentrating primarily on the music industry.

By the end of the 1940s, he was providing images for the music press, photographing recording sessions, live performances and capturing the energy of Denmark Street - the home of London’s music industry. In 1952, the music magazine New Musical Express (NME) launched and Hammond became one of its primary photographers, taking some of the most famous images of the era and setting the standard of pop photography for following generations.

• Halfway to Paradise: The Birth of British Rock, Photographs by Harry Hammond will be on display at the V&A in the Theatre & Performance Galleries, Room 104.

• FREE ADMISSION

• Open from 13 October 2012 – 3 March 2013 

• The Museum is open daily 10:00 – 17:45 and until 22:00 every Friday

A book of the same title, Halfway to Paradise: The Birth of British Rock, by Alwyn W Turner will be re-launched in September 2012 by V&A Publishing (£20 hardback). 

Photo: Cliff Richard, 1954, Harry Hammond Archive

This exhibition which was held in Hong Kong, and mentioned in a BPH post here, has been honored with the prestigious Bronze A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design Category. The Bronze A' Design Award is a prestigious award given to top 10% percentile designs that has achieved an exemplary level of in design. The designs are judged by a panel of three different jury which is composed of Academic, Professional and Focus Group Members.

The exhibition showcased treasured photo collections of Hong Kong in the 19th Century loaned from museums in Paris and London, including the first published stereo photograph of Hong Kong landscape by P. Rossier and a series of exceptional panoramic views of Hong Kong and its harbor, including two beautiful ones dated March 1860 by the famous war photographer, F. Beato.

INSPIRATION:
In the old days, the Central District of Hong Kong was called “Victoria City” governed by the British government and thus full of Victorian colonial architectures, among which the exhibition site is a typical representative. Therefore, the theme of the design, developed upon the compound of ‘camera’ and ‘colonial structures’, intends to deliver a closely-intertwined retrospection of both Hong Kong photography and architecture.

UNIQUE PROPERTIES:
The focal point of the exhibition was the earliest photo of Hong Kong dated 1858 according to authentic records. It was arranged on a display stage which is designed as an indoor rotunda, whereas the other exhibits were showcased on many white, house-shaped display stands that imitate Victorian colonial structures in the past. With all these design details, the exhibition hall displayed historical photos of Hong Kong as well as presented an epitome of “Victoria City”.

OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION:
Outside the exhibition hall, a series of flashlight indicator models were set as signage guiding to the entrance where a giant white camera model awaits. Standing in front of it, visitors can see the superimposing views of the black and white photo of early Hong Kong shown on the camera and the present exterior of the Compound buildings. Such setting carries the implied connection between the concepts that visitors view the old Hong Kong through the giant camera and that they discover the history of Hong Kong photography through this exhibition.

More details of the award, including images, can be found here.

De Montfort University is pleased to announce the availability of one Wilson Fellowship for its MA in Photographic History and Practice. The Fellowship offers £5,000 toward the defrayal of tuition and other costs related to the MA, and is open to all students UK, EU and International.

To apply for the Wilson Fellowship, please submit your CV and a piece of recent writing on photographic history no longer than 10,000 words, in English, to the Programme Leader by August 15. For applications to the MA, please contact Student Recruitment at the Faculty of Art and Design at artanddesign@dmu.ac.uk or apply online at ukpass.ac.uk. For questions about the MA programme or the Wilson Fellowship please contact Programme Leader, Dr Kelley Wilder at kwilder@dmu.ac.uk.

The MA in Photographic History and Practice is the first course of its kind in the UK. It lays the foundations for understanding the social and cultural scope of photographic history and provides the tools to carry out the independent research in this larger context, working in particular from primary source material. We work with the collections of the National Media Museum, Bradford, the Central Library, Birmingham, the British Library and private collections throughout Britain. Students handle photographic material, learn analogue photographic processes, write history from objects in collections, compare historical photographic movements, and debate the canon of photographic history. They also learn about digital preservation and access issues through practical design projects involving Website and database design.

Research Methods are a core component, providing students with essential handling, writing, critical thinking, digitizing and presentation skills needed for MA and Research level work. Modules encourage independent critical thinking in history writing, introduce students to methodologies commonly encountered in photographic history, and set the students on a course for finding their own MA dissertation topic. Students receive expert advice on the thesis topic of their choosing, which is written in the summer months and submitted in September, one year after the course begins, in the case of full time study, or two years in the case of part‐time.

For further details on the course and application process, please download a course brochure from the web site.

Mark Haworth-Booth, the former curator of photography at the V&A Museum was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the Arts on 19 July. The award was made in recognition of his scholarship in photography over a sustained period. 

See: http://newsevents.arts.ac.uk/lcc/ and http://newsevents.arts.ac.uk/category/audience/

A special exhibition of photographs of the 1948 London Olympic Games is on showat City Hall, on the lower ground floor and the Chamber lobby (2nd floor). Entrance is free!

There are 40 photographs in the exhibition, selected from nearly 500 images in The Times Archive Collection. Most of the photographs are unpublished and unseen and almost all have been preserved in a perfect state, providing a wonderful visual record of the last time the Olympics came to Great Britain.

The photographs cover historic moments such as King George VI’s speech at the Opening Ceremony in Wembley Arena, the torch relay and many Olympic events including: cycling, rowing, fencing and athletics. The everyday side of the ‘Austerity Games’ is also covered: behind-the-scenes preparation, close-up shots of spectators and large crowd scenes. The black and white images are striking in themselves but also capture a moment in London’s history and illustrate the contrast between the 1948 and the 2012 Olympics: home-made kits, uneven grass tracks and sponsorship by cigarette brands.

Sue Connolly, Picture Editor of The Times said: 'These rarely-seen photographs are a treasure trove for anyone interested in the contrast between the 1948 and 2012 London Olympics. It has been a privilege but a difficult task to select just 40 for the exhibition but the final collection encapsulates the spirit of those post-war Games and will inspire any enthusiasts viewing them on the eve of this year’s Games.'

Details of the exhibition can be found here.

David Bailey is one of east London’s most famous sons. Over the past 50 years, he has regularly returned to the stomping ground of his youth to photograph the streets and their inhabitants. This personal collection, set in an historic industrial building in London’s Royal Docks, sees him return to Newham at a time when the world’s focus is on east London. These photographs document the changing physical and social landscapes of the area from the early 1960s to the present day, with streetscapes, characters and scenes of east London life. Some famous faces appear, but they are nestled amongst the wider backdrop and characters of the area. David Bailey’s East End features many previously unseen photographs and provides a rare opportunity to witness London’s transformation through the lens of a local icon.

The exhibition focuses on three periods: the 1960s, the ’80s and recent years. An exhibition catalogue is available, whilst three monographs depicting these eras in greater detail will be published by Steidl http://www.steidlville.com in October.

Details of the exhibition can be found here.

One of modern photography’s great names - largely unknown by the wider public - will be giving a public lecture on behalf of The Royal Photographic Society in September. The Royal Photographic Society in partnership with the National Media Museum, will present Steve Sasson: Disruptive Innovation: The Story of the First Digital Camera at London’s Science Museum on 10 September 2012.

Steve Sasson is credited with inventing the digital camera creating the first digital camera prototype in 1975 for the Eastman Kodak Company. In an illustrated and entertaining lecture Steve will be discussing how the concept was demonstrated within Kodak,  subsequent technical innovations with megapixel imagers, image compression products in the mid-1980s, and the early commercialization of professional and consumer digital still cameras in the early 1990s. The internal reaction to these developments will be highlighted.

It is the first time that Sasson has spoken in public in the United Kingdom.

The event is co-hosted by The Royal Photographic Society's Historical Group and the lecture continues The Society’s Hurter & Driffield Memorial Lecture series which began in 1918.

It will take place on Monday, 10 September 2012, at 7pm at the Science Museum,  Fellows Room, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD. Cost £8. See: www.rps.org/sasson    Early booking is advised as places are limited.

Iamge: Steve Sasson with his prototype digital camera. Photo: Steve Kelly. 

In conjunction with an exhibition at the British Library on Collecting the Olympic Games Bob Wilcock is giving a talk on 1908 Marathon, the greatest race of the twentieth century, with an overview of the London 1908 games. It is illustrated with press cuttings, postcards, and private photos. Many of the images have rarely been seen since they were first taken.

The free exhibition, organised by the British Library and the International Olympic Committee, with members from the Society of Olympic Collectors, also contains some photographic images. It runs from 25 July until 9 September at the British Library.

Details of the exhibition and events, including the talk by Bob Wilcock amongst others, can be found here: http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/olympex2012/index.html