Blogs

As in past years BPH is able to report the latest Association of Leading Visitor Attractions visitor numbers survey (see: http://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423&year=2011). The National Media Museum, Bradford, saw visitors of 446,668 a fall of 7.6% compared to 2010.

In summary recent visitor numbers for the museum have been: 

2011 - 486,668

2010 - 526,914

2009 - 613,923

The National Museum of Science and Industry's Annual Report for 2011 reports an attendance for 2010-11 of 502,000 visitors, 19% down against 2009–10 and 25% lower than the five-year average. The Report comments: 'The reduction was mainly due to a big drop in people watching full-length IMAX films (partly because of the films available but also because there was a month-long closure of IMAX following the discovery of a leaking roof), continuing disruption in the city centre with the construction of a new city centre park and some exceptionally warm weather in the spring. However, it also brings into sharp relief the need to make improvements to the day-today programme and to accelerate the refreshing of galleries.' See: http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc1012/hc12/1238/1238.pdf

The numbers for 2012 should see an improvement with the opening of the Life Online gallery and more accessible and critically acclaimed exhibitions notably In the Blink of an Eye (extended until 14 October 2012). In addition the issues cited as reasons for the decline over 2010-11 have all been resolved.

The decline in visitor numbers suggests that the new Head of museum with her senior management team will need to focus on the Bradford site as well as the new London Media Space presence which is due to open in March 2013.

A new photo exhibition on the "Orientalist" Land of Israel will include images of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Monastery of St. John in the Wilderness located south of Jerusalem taken from a book by Jerusalem's city engineer, Ermete Pierotti, who lived in Ottoman Palestine between 1854 and 1861.

The photos in the book, however, are more than historical treasures; they were also evidence in the first-ever case of copyright infringement in the Holy Land, when Pierotti, published them and apparently falsely claimed ownership of them. This is because Dr. Nirit Shalev-Khalifa, a researcher at Yad Ben Tzvi who is studying the manuscript, believes they were the work of Mendel Diness, who is known as the first professional photographer in Israel to capture images in natural daylight, and not Pierotti.

Diness, a Jewish watchmaker of Russian origin who settled in Jerusalem, was converted to Christianity by the British consul in Jerusalem, James Finn. Finn's wife, Elizabeth, was one of the pioneers of photography in the Holy Land, and she was apparently the one who introduced Diness to photography. Elizabeth Finn had photography equipment delivered from London, and was assisted by the Scottish photographer James Graham. Diness was Graham's assistant, and according to one theory he was the first to learn photography in the Holy Land, thus earning him the title of the country's first professional photographer.

Pierotti's manuscript will be on display as part of the "Jerusalem Days" conference being conducted at Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi in Jerusalem this week. The full news article can be found here.

Olympics Through Media traces the evolution of the modern Olympics through the development of photography and motion pictures from the eighteenth century to today has opened in Doha. The exhibition, organised to coincide with the 30th Olympiad in London, and is a collaboration between the Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum and the Qatar Museums Authority’s Media Collections department.

Around 200 exhibits including a series of rare archive documentaries and films of the Olympic Games since 1896 as well as a collection of media equipment used in those days to capture sporting events and activities during Olympics, are being featured in the exhibition. The exhibition also include historical Olympic objects, photographs and photographic equipment and other visual imagery to place sports and media in a broader context.

All of the historical artifacts and visual materials being showcased at the exhibition were sourced from the collection of the Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum as well as the QMA’s media collection.

Despite that both the modern Olympic Games and motion pictures emerged in 1896, the synergy between the Olympic games and the media did not grow into worldwide phenomena it is today until the advent of television. The Olympic Through Media exhibition showcases milestones of co-evolution of Olympics and media such as the first Olympic Games that were broadcast on coloured television in Mexico City in 1968 and the first Olympic Games that utilised the Internet in Atlanta 1996.

Major exhibits being featured include one of the last 10 surviving first motion picture machine Kinetoscope invented by William Kennedy Laurie Dickson and Thomas Alva Edison and manufactured by Edison Manufacturing Company, US in 1894. The machine numbered 141 was one of the 50 such machines shipped to London in September 1894 and was used to capture the first and oldest motion picture made in 1894, which lasted only 20 seconds.

Among other exhibits are: Cinematographe – the first cinema/movie theatre through a projector by Auguste and Louis Lumiere; early motion picture projector; first television set from 1930, world’s first TV journal (1928); Leica Rifle camera outfit – rangefinder camera; first polaroid camera; valve table radion (1952); miniature speed graphic (1946).

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum director Dr Christian Wacker described the exhibition as first of its kind in the world, which is bringing stories from the two fields of media and sports together. “The exhibition tells new storyline never been told before and the information they contain can’t be found elsewhere as the materials are researched and developed by the team in Qatar,” he noted.

The exhibition will open daily before and after the month of Ramadan from 9am-12pm and 5pm -10pm. 
On Fridays timings are from 7pm-12am. During Ramadan timings are 9am to 12pm and 7pm to 12 am from Saturday to Thursday and from 7 pm to 12 am on Friday.  

Admission to the exhibition held at QMA Gallery, Building 10, Katara Cultural Village and educational activities is free

Jillian Edelstein in conversation with Sue Steward

17 July  6:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Foto8

£8

PhotoVoice and Foto8 are offering you a rare insight into the thoughts and motivations behind the work and methodologies of an acclaimed award winning press and documentary photographer.

Regarded as one of the foremost documentary photographers of our time, Jillian is perhaps best known for her long term project documenting South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission resulting in the acclaimed book Truth and Lies.

She is currently working on the publication of her next book Here & There: An Expedition of Sorts which is due out in 2013.

Edelstein's latest body of work, commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery  - The Road to 2012 - is from a three-year collaboration with BT celebrating those making the Olympics happen. It includes 17 portraits which will be exhibited from 19th July 2012.

Jillian will be discussing her editorial and commercial photography with acclaimed photography reviewer and critic for London’s Evening Standard newspaper, Sue Steward. Steward often appears as an arts critic on the BBC Radio 2 Claudia Winkelman show, and is an occasional Arts commentator on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and Front Row, and BBC World Service.

Click here for more information

To ensure a place at this exclusive evening engagement book your tickets now

The world's largest and most comprehensive film poster archive needs a new home. Please see: www.dwightclevelandposterarchive.com

Best suited for a museum or library hoping to attract an entirely new audience who may never have visited before. Movies are loved the world over and these posters are sure to create a buzz.

" This rather rare children's book of poetry and lithographic illustrations relating to various kinds of employment - some quite unusual - was first published in Fleet St in London in 1900"

This is an exciting opportunity for a talented Press Officer, with proven contacts from within the arts media, to join the Press team in one of the world's most prestigious museums, the Science Museum in London. Our enthusiastic and committed Press team is constantly devising new, innovative ways to promote the Museum, its exhibitions and programmes. We create campaigns that not only win awards, but attract visitors and reflect the cutting-edge nature of this high-profile national institution.

You will develop and implement an integrated communications campaign for Media Space, an iconic new space in the Science Museum opening in spring 2013. Showcasing the world leading collection of the National Media Museum and the innovative Science Museum contemporary arts programme, the space includes a temporary exhibition space which will hold a charged offer as well as a constantly changing free offer.

In addition to your extensive contacts, you will bring substantial experience working within an arts-focused cultural environment. You must also be able to demonstrate experience managing the reputation of an organisation.

You’ll be able use your creativity and enthusiasm to the full - researching, structuring and managing Press and PR campaigns, building and maintaining strong relationships with the media, and proactively seeking opportunities to increase on and off line media coverage of the Museum’s activities. With proven journalism, PR or communications experience, you’ve got the writing, communication, planning, persuasion and “selling in” skills necessary to get first-rate PR campaigns up and running.

Evening and weekend work will occasionally be required as part of your core hours.

We offer excellent benefits. These include 25 days’ annual leave pro rata, BUPA dental and medical cover and a generous company pension scheme.

This role will be offered on a two-year fixed-term contract.
Closes Midnight 9th July

PLEASE NOTE: Interviews will be conducted on 17th July and you must be available to attend if shortlisted.Application Instructions:For the full job description and to apply, please visit www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/jobs

BPH has learnt that a major private collection of early photography - perhaps the world's best - is to be transferred to an institution. After briefly blogging this earlier today BPH was asked to remove the posting until the official announcement is made. Needless to say it is good news in that such a major collection will be preserved and made accessible. The collection owner describes the venue as "a wonderful home".

Watch this space!  

The 'world first photograph' will be loaned, along with 119 other images and photography-related items from the Harry Ransom Center’s Gernsheim collection, to the Reiss Engelhorn Museum in Mannheim, Germany, for the exhibition The Birth of Photography-Highlights of the Helmut Gernsheim Collection. The exhibition will run from September 9 through January 6, 2013.

The First Photograph has been removed from display at the Ransom Center to be prepared for its departure in July. The First Photograph will be back on display at the Ransom Center in February 2013.

The First Photograph was acquired by the Ransom Center as part of the Gernsheim collection from Helmut and Alison Gernsheim in 1963. Taken in 1826 or 1827, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce’s View from the Window at Le Gras depicts the view from an upstairs window at Niépce’s estate, Le Gras, which is in the Burgundy region of France. Niépce’s photograph represents the foundation of today’s photography, film, and other media arts.

The First Photograph forms the cornerstone of Helmut Gernsheim’s photographic collection, which was the largest in the world when the Ransom Center acquired it in 1963. The Gernsheim collection is one of the seminal collections in the United States of the history of photography and contains an unparalleled range of more than 35,000 images. Its encyclopedic scope—as well as the expertise with which the Gernsheims assembled the collection — makes the Gernsheim collection one of the world’s premier sources for the study and appreciation of photography

In 2002, the Forum International Photographie at the Reiss Engelhorn Museum acquired Gernsheim’s later collection of contemporary photography, along with his own photographs and archive. For the first time in half a century, major portions of both Gernsheim collections are being reunited: the historical material housed in the Ransom Center and the contemporary collection in the Forum International Photographie at the Reiss Engelhorn Museum.

While the First Photograph is on loan, the photographic print View from the Window at Le Gras, 1826, 2009 by Adam Schreiber will occupy the display in the Ransom Center’s lobby. The photograph depicts the Niepce plate in situ in the museum display, as photographed by Schreiber in 2009. Schreiber is a member of the Lakes Were Rivers artist collective, a group of artists who work primarily in photography and video. In summer 2013, the Ransom Center will host an exhibition in which members of the collective will display their original works paired with Ransom Center collection material that inspired them.

The European Centre for Photographic Research (eCPR), Newport, is offering two PhD studentships in conjunction with other partners: 

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru-National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, is offering one PhD studentship full-time maintenance grant of £13,590 plus tuition fees from September 2012 for up to 3 years. The studentship is designed to support research undertaken within the photographic collections of the Library in relation to eCPR’s research strands.

The Library has extensive photographic holdings particular to the social documentary of Wales ranging from pioneering experiments in the medium during the 1840s and 50s, to date. It is expected that the successful candidate’s research will contribute to the interpretation, cataloguing and digitisation of the Library's extensive collections. Candidates for the studentship should have strong interests in the multiple currency of photographs within libraries and have already undertaken work in museums, libraries or archives at post-graduate level. An interest in either: photographic histories and wider visual cultures of Wales, curating, photography and the book, digitisation, and the representation of nationhood would be advantageous.

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales offers one 3-year full-time PhD studentship of £13,590 per year, plus tuition fees, from September 2012. The project will link key strands within eCPR’s research expertise to the historical photographic collections of the Museum. With the support of a major gift from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the Museum has recently begun a significant programme of research, digitisation and public dissemination centred on a wealth of hitherto unresearched historic photographic holdings. The successful candidate’s research will contribute to the interpretation, cataloguing and digitisation of this diverse and unique resource.

Candidates for the studentship should have strong interests in the evolving and shifting status of photographs within museums as art, artefact and document, and experience of postgraduate-level work in museums or archives. An interest in either: photographic histories and wider visual cultures of Wales, curating, photography and The Museum, digitisation, and the representation of nationhood would be advantageous.

Further details of eCPR’s research activity can be found here: www.newport.ac.uk/research/ResearchGroups/ecpr
The successful candidates will be expected to submit a completed PhD by the end of the award period in September
2015. There will be need for extensive work on site in both the Library and the Museum and to participate in eCPR’s research community. A willingness to engage with the Welsh language would also be welcome.

The doctoral supervisory team will include: Russell Roberts (russell.roberts@newport.ac.uk), Mark Durden and Ian Walker.

Application deadline: extended to 31 July 2012

Applications should be in the form of a single document (Word or PDF) including:
- CV
- Statement of proposed research (max 1,000 words)
- Personal statement on how the proposed research relates to your previous experience and
interests (max 500 words)
Please note only shortlisted candidates will be notified and interviews are expected to take place in
July
Applications should be sent via email to: Joan Fothergill – joan.fothergill@newport.ac.uk

English Heritage has launched a four year project aimed at conserving 95,000 of the oldest and most valuable photographs in the Aerofilms collection, those dating from 1919 to 1953.  Once conserved, they’ll be scanned into digital format and made available online for everyone to see.

The new Britain from Above website was launched in June 2012 with thousands of images online. The website will give users the opportunity to share and record  memories of the places shown and to help English Heritage identify some of the locations and buildings.

The project will finish at the end of 2014.

See: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/archives-and-collections/nmr/archives/photographs/aerofilms/ and http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/

The Royal Astronomical Society has announced the death of Peter Hingley, the Librarian at its Burlington House headquarters. Peter had an extraordinary knowledge of historical astronomical documents and will be missed by all who knew him. Although not a photographic historian per se Hingley had a detailed knowledge of photography and how it related to astronomy (see: http://www.ras.org.uk/library/images) along with personalities who straddled both disciplines. He published and lectured on early photography and astronomy.

See: http://www.ras.org.uk/news-and-press/219-news-2012/2138-peter-hingley-1951-2012

The Ransom Center has appointed Jessica S. McDonald, a curator of photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, as its new chief curator of photography. McDonald begins her position at the Ransom Center in September.

As the Nancy Inman and Marlene Nathan Meyerson Curator of Photography, McDonald will oversee a collection that spans from the world’s earliest-known photograph to prints from some of the great masters of the twenty-first century. The Center’s photography holdings include the Helmut and Alison Gernsheim collection, a seminal collection of the history of photography and one of the world’s premier sources for the study and appreciation of photography.

In addition to the history of photography, the Ransom Center’s photography collection focuses on photojournalism and documentary photography, with holdings of more than 5 million prints and negatives, supplemented by books, manuscripts, journals, and memorabilia of photographers.

“McDonald’s broad experiences —  from teaching to curatorial — confirmed that she can lead our photography department, build the collection, support research, and plan exhibitions,” said Ransom Center Director Thomas F. Staley. “The possibilities under her guidance are exciting.”

McDonald’s professional experience includes affiliations with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Visual Studies Workshop and George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. In 2011, McDonald received an Ansel Adams Research Fellowship from the Center for Creative Photography.

McDonald recently curated the exhibition Photography in Mexico: Selected Works from the Collections of SFMOMA and Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauserand edited the anthology Nathan Lyons: Selected Essays, Lectures, and Interviews, which University of Texas Press published in June.

Image: Jessica S. McDonald. © Caren Alpert Photography.

Along with a group of other keenly interested visitors we were treated to a feast of wonderful Fox Talbot and Calotype treasures (Including access to the fantastic Hill and Adamson Album).

On the train in to London in the morning I typed Fox Talbot into my Kindle store search engine and was delighted to find the text of the Pencil of Nature can be downloaded as a free edition.  Having just read Talbots narrative in which he looks forward in places far sightedly to the possibilities that photography would offer in the future, I had the privilege to hold a copy of the book in my hands only a few hours later!  Amazing. 

Many Thanks John for both your excellent presentation and the chance to see these treasures first hand.

London Festival of Photography

http://www.lfph.org/

The Royal Collection is advertising for two new positions within the photograph collection: a Cataloguer (2 year contract), and a paid Curatorial Intern position (9 months). Details are currently live on the British Monarchy website, and can be accessed via this link: http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/about/working-for-us

The closing date for applications for both positions flexible.

Cataloguer

Location

Windsor Castle

Grade

24

Starting Salary

c. £19,436 per annum, plus benefits

Hours of work

35

Contract Type

Fixed-term

Position start date

10 Sep 2012

Position end date

9 Sep 2014

Curatorial Intern

Location

Windsor Castle

Starting Salary

£12,500.00 pro rata

Contract Type

Fixed-term

Position start date

8 Oct 2012

Position end date

6 Jul 2013

Greetings all. I have recently acquired the attached photograph. The image, removed from an album containing other images from Britain c. 1855, is mounted on thin paper and appears to be a salt print -- possibly from a paper negative. Unfortunately there are no notations identifying location, date, or maker. Any help identifying this photograph will be greatly appreciated. 

This very interesting image turned up in a provincial general auction today. Does anyone have any thoughts on date, participants or the cameras?

Hello all

I am hoping there might be images of the Tasmanian section of the  1862 International Exhibition in London that anyone could direct me to web-link-wise, or otherwise. I am further hoping to be able to see/identify the busts and subjects of photographs that were listed as exhibited - a long shot I know !

Also I would really appreciate help to find/obtain a listing of all the Tasmanian exhibits/exhibitors, because I have only found a partial list to date.

thanks very much for any help

Julie

Originally published in 1858, the world's largest photo book was sold at auction this week for £337,250 from its original estimate of  £50,000 – £70,000. The book is made up of 20, un-enlarged prints of Egypt, Sinai and Jerusalem taken by Frith during a trip Frith took to the Middle East in 1856 using the wet collodion process. Each measure a colossal 30in x 21in.

Details can be found here and here: 

70^•

• An excellent copy of Frith's mammoth masterpiece with images measuring 490 x 390mm. "This is the largest book with the biggest, unenlarged prints ever published" (Gernsheim)

Consisting of 6,000 photographs, 56 cameras and 100 rare books owned by Pinhole Resource LLC, this collection has been keenly vied by Eastman House, the Harry Ransom Center at UT Austin, the Center for Creative Photography in Phoenix, and a number of other world institutions.

But it has finally found a home in the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives at the New Mexico History Museum. The acquisition is a big step for the Palace Archives, which is looking to move away from strictly historical photography. At the moment, it is accessible only to those who want to look at it for academic and professional purposes, but more than 906 of the images also have been digitized and can be searched by visiting http://econtent.unm.edu/cdm4/indexpg.php and clicking on "Browse Pinhole Resource Collection."

The museum plans to host an exhibit of the photographs in April 2014, which will be titled Poetics of Light, to coincide with World Pinhole Day, last celebrated on 29th April. Further details can be found on this news report here.

Photo: Digital imaging specialist Mark Scharen shows New Mexico History Museum marketing manager Kate Nelson a pinhole camera that the museum has acquired as part of the largest collection of pinhole photography in the world. The homemade prototype zone plate camera is among dozens donated to the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives by the nonprofit Pinhole Resource LLC. - Natalie Guillén/The New Mexican