And that excludes all the female BPH readers - I hope so! Unless you know of any with a great looking beard. Short or long, young or old! - it doesn't matter.

If you have one, or know someone who does, you're in luck 'cos you could have your image captured in glass by Julia Margaret Cameron, and pocket £250 along the way! Well, not by her directly, but Dimbola Museum and Galleries in Freshwater, Isle of Wight - the home of the famous 19th century photographer. The museum is running a competition for up to eight men to have their facial hair captured on glass using a 150-year-old Victorian method.

Julia Margaret Cameron photographed many eminent ‘celebrity’ Victorians including Charles Darwin (the image on the back of your £20 note!), Alfred Lord Tennyson, GF Watts and the Pre-Raphaelites William Holman Hunt and William M Rosetti. Many artistic Victorians, young and old sported beards as a personal outward sign of their bohemian and creative nature. Julia frequently immortalised these often impressive specimens. Now here’s your chance to contribute to the gathering of the best beards around today, authentically captured in the same processes as Julia used in her original home and workplace here at Dimbola.

The museum will use a specially adapted Victorian camera, as none of Julia Cameron's cameras are thought to exist, and a lens from 1866. The sitter and accompanying friends and family (3 max) must be able to come to Dimbola Museum and Galleries during the day on either the 14th, 15th, 17th or 18th April 2012 for the portrait sitting. Sittings will last between 2 ½ - 3 hrs. Sitters will each receive their own 10 x 8” print of their portrait. 

The friends will be able to follow the progress of the making of each individual plate from scratch, from pouring the liquid negative, sensitising in the darkroom, watching the portrait being taken, to seeing the plate being developed.

The 8 portraits will be exhibited at Dimbola Museum and Galleries during May 2012 where members of the public can vote for their favourite, there will then be a prize giving evening awarding the overall winner £250! The last day for nominations for the competition is 31 March. Entry details can be found here. And so, the search begins.

Make way, Movember......

Photo: Charles Darwin, (detail), Julia Margaret Cameron 1868.
Courtesy Royal Photographic Society.

The Herschel collection at the Harry Ransom Center of the University of Texas at Austin now has its complete inventory online. Many colleagues will know of the important material in this archive relating to J.F.W. Herschel's experiments with photographic processes such as argentotype, cyanotype, chrysotype, celaenotype and anthotype.

http://uthrc.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=9921.0&dlv_id=17761

Newly cataloged collection of science materials now open for research

A collection of science materials from the family of Sir John F. W. Herschel (1792–1871) is now open for research after a $10,000 grant enabled the Center to rehouse the collection and create an online inventory.  John Herschel has been called Britain's first modern physical scientist, and his correspondence has been described as one of the most valuable archives for nineteenth-century science. LEARN MORE or VIEW online inventory.

Special offer celebrates recognition of photography catalog

The Gernsheim Collection, co-published by the Harry Ransom Center and the University of Texas Press, received an Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award, which honors a distinguished catalog in the history of art published during the past year. To celebrate this recognition, the Ransom Center is offering editor-signed copies of The Gernsheim Collection at a reduced price of $60 through March 15 at the visitor desk or online. Orders placed by this date will also receive a set of five notecards featuring images from the Gernsheim collection. LEARN MORE.

A collection of 84 glass lantern slides dating from the early part of the twentieth century has been donated to Bath & North East Somerset Council. The photographs depict various scenes in and around Bath including Prior Park, Bath Abbey, the Guildhall and the Botanical Gardens. They are thought to have been taken around 1905, possibly by a surveyor with an interest in Bath's architecture who was engaged in work at Prior Park, the Assembly Rooms and the Guildhall.

They were donated to the Council’s Library Service by a local family who were keen to see them preserved for the future, and to give more people the opportunity to see these fragile images. The slides are now part of the Bath Local Studies Collection housed at Bath Library. The images from each slide can be seen on the Bath In Time Website at www.bathintime.co.uk.

Councillor David Dixon (Lib-Dem, Oldfield), Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “We are delighted that this fantastic collection now forms part of the Local Studies collection and that the images can be appreciated by everyone via the Bath in Time website. Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Library Service continues to play a vital role in ensuring that the story of our local area is preserved, made accessible and understood by everyone.”   

The Council is always pleased to receive donations of material connected with the history of Bath and North East Somerset. Please contact Libraries@bathnes.gov.uk or call Council Connect on 01225 394041.

The Whitehouse Collection held by the Ruskin Foundation at the Ruskin Library contains 125 Daguerreotypes – one-off plates using the first popular process of permanent photography.  The third display in a series of four, this focuses on the Swiss scenes.  John Ruskin travelled to the French and Swiss Alps more often than any other place in Europe, from a childhood visit in 1833, when he was just fourteen, to a few days on the return from his last continental trip in 1888.

His favourite places were Chamonix, where he found perfect mountain scenery, and the towns of Lucerne on its lake, hilly Fribourg, and Rheinfelden with its bridge over the river Rhine.   An early devotee of the Daguerreotype, Ruskin had acquired his own camera by 1849 and made some 40 Swiss subjects before 1858, of which 23 are now in the Ruskin Library.  These are being shown alongside drawings, watercolours, letters and diaries complementing each subject – sometimes exactly, as in the watercolour of the Mer de Glace at Chamonix and drawings of Fribourg.

On show: 16 January-15 April 2012 at the Ruskin Library, University of Lancaster

See: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/depts/ruskinlib/Pages/beautiful.html

Opening times: Gallery: Monday-Friday 10am-4pm - during Exhibitions (closed weekends and Bank Holidays)

Of unconnected - but related interest - is the collection of daguerreotypes purchased in 2006 be Ken Jacobson which are the subject of a forthcoming book see: http://www.jacobsonphoto.com/news/viewnews.html?id=20 and the original news report of the £75,000 sale: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1514218/Mystery-photographs-part-of-Ruskin-collection.html

Professor John Plunkett from the University of Exeter will explore Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s interest in photography as collectors. This lecture also shows them as subjects of the photography industry which was fast becoming a commercial and popular media for disseminating the images of distinguished people and ‘celebrities’.

Details of the lunchtime talk can be found here.

Photo: Copyright Royal Collection.

I've read with interest the Guardian article of last Thursday on the incredible story of the photographic collections of Tate and V&A, and also your comment on British Photographic History (http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tate-s-scandalous-rubbish).

As director of the Photo Library of an art historical research institute (a German institution with seat in Florence) working also theoretically on photo archives, I would like to draw your attention to the "Florence Declaration - Recommendations for the Preservation of Analogue Photo Archives" (see link below).

To the many reasons that were mentioned in the article and in the blog, why throwing away such photographic holdings is an unforgivable crime against the scientific community and the entire society, I would like to add some new research perspectives on photographs and photo archives as material objects that cannot be substituted by digital surrogates. These new studies go beyond the disciplinary borders of art history and see photographs and archives as research objects on their own.

The "Florence Declaration" aims at an integration between the analogue format and the digital format, which only can guarantee the correct conservation of the photographic heritage for future studies and at the same time the implementation of digital instruments.

Here you can find the text of the Florence Declaration (in 5 languages) and the list of subscribers:
http://www.khi.fi.it/en/photothek/florencedeclaration/index.html

It would be very supportive if you and other members of British Photographic History would sign the "Florence Declaration" and help us to spread it! As facts are showing, a greater and more widespread understanding of the inescapable value of analogue photographs and archives for the future of research is a primary need!

With best regards,
Costanza Caraffa

On the Florentine Photo Library, its projects and publications:
http://www.khi.fi.it/en/photothek/index.html
http://www.khi.fi.it/en/photothek/projekte/index.html
http://www.khi.fi.it/en/publikationen/imandorli/mandorli_Photo_Archives/index.html

The New York Times didn’t always use photographs to its best advantage, as it only first published an illustrated Sunday magazine in 1896. But since then it has built up a true treasure house of photographs with a staggering five million to six million prints and contact sheets (each sheet, of course, representing many discrete images) and 300,000 sacks of negatives, ranging in format size from 35 millimeter to 5 by 7 inches — at least 10 million frames in all.

The picture archive also includes 13,500 DVDs, each storing about 4.7 gigabytes worth of imagery. When the Museum of Modern Art set out to exhibit the highlights of the Times archive in 1996, it dispatched four curators. They spent nine months poring over 3,000 subjects, working with two Times editors, one of whom spent a year on the project. In the end, they estimated that they’d seen only one-quarter of the total.

They have now started to post them onto Tumblr bit by bit. This is because if they posted 10 new archival pictures every weekday on Tumblr, just from their print collection, they wouldn’t have the whole thing online until the year 3935!

You can see the first few ones here.

We have a number of new opportunities to join The Photographers' Gallery. The post-holders will be joining us at a pivotal time in our history, as on 19 May 2012 we will unveil a new £8.9m Gallery for international and British photography in London.   Please look on our website   http://www.photonet.org.uk/index.php?pid=243   

This looks like a battle of the rock groups. Queen needs to step aside for another head thumping band, and this time it is Radiohead.

You may not know this but their bassist, Colin Greenwood, has an interest in analogue processes and 19th century photography. Radiohead approached Sebastian Edge, a UCA Maidstone graduate with a distinction in MA Fine Art, to work on their publicity photograph for The King of Limbs LP. The black and white print was captured on glass using 19th century processing techniques and a large home-made camera.

Now the world-famous group, fronted by Thom Yorke, has given permission for Sebastian to sell prints of the image to fund a project to safeguard traditional photography techniques, known as the North London Darkroom. It is based on Milmead Road, Tottenham Hale, and houses specialist equipment and materials for those interested in hand-made photographic and printing techniques. You can read the rest of the article here.

Photo: Sebastian Edge's Radiohead photo.

Applications are invited for a three year full time PhD, working within the Irish Photobook research project in the School of Art and Design. The project focus is the representation of Ireland through photographic publishing. The project team; Paul Seawright, Donovan Wylie and Martin Parr will supervise the research. The Irish PhotoBook project develops Parr and Badger's internationally acclaimed work on the history of the Photobook, using their methodology to evaluate the development of Irish Photography. Seawright and Wylie are key figures in Irish photography and have long standing research interests in both the representation of Ireland and the photographic book. Plans are in place for a major exhibition and publication in partnership with the Photo Ireland Photography Festival and the Gallery of Photography, Dublin and the creation of a special book collection at Ulster. The successful candidate will play a key role in the project and we welcome research proposals that develop a body of research within this framework.

Project Title /Subtitle         

The Photo Book in Ireland

Supervisor 1     Professor Paul Seawright

School of Art and Design, Faculty of Art Design and the Built Environment.

Research Institute Art and Design.

Supervisor 2      Donovan Wylie

School of Art and Design, Faculty of Art Design and the Built Environment.

Research Institute Art and Design.

Adviser

Professor Martin Parr

PRIORITY RESEARCH DEGREE TOPICS

The Research Institute Art and Design and the Faculty of Art and Design and the Built Environment Research Graduate School advertises priority topics on which applications for research degrees are particularly invited. Applications may be for full time or part time study.

The recruitment process often co-coincides with recruitment to research degree studentships managed by the University. These are normally full time.
Applications are also welcomed from students who are self funding or who are applying for other external studentships, grants, bursaries and awards.

While priority topics are advertised, applications on topics proposed by the applicant are also considered where there is supervisory capacity and relevant resources. Applicants are advised to discuss this with the head of the Faculty of Art Design and Built Environment Research Graduate School.

Undertaking a research degree is significant commitment.  Applicants may contact the potential supervisor of the priority topic for clarification during the development of their application. There is no requirement to do so and applicants who do not do so are not penalised.


APPLICATION

Applications are normally submitted online.

https://srssb.ulster.ac.uk/PROD/bwskalog.P_DispChoices <https://srssb.ulster.ac.uk/PROD/bwskalog.P_DispChoices>

Information for prospective research degree students, including application forms, can also be found on the university Web pages
http://research.ulster.ac.uk/info/status/prospective.html <http://research.ulster.ac.uk/info/status/prospective.html>

Professor Neil Hewitt heads the Research Graduate School (RGS) of the Faculty of Art Design and Built Environment.
http://www.adbe.ulster.ac.uk/schools/graduate_school/ <http://www.adbe.ulster.ac.uk/schools/graduate_school/>;

The Research Institute Art and Design (RIAD) Director is Professor Karen Fleming. There are 3 research centres within RIAD  - the Centre for Applied Art Research, the Design and Architecture Research Centre and the Centre for Fine art Research. Research students are members of RIAD.
http://www.riad.ulster.ac.uk/index.php <http://www.riad.ulster.ac.uk/index.php>

Art versus Industry? Is An international conference at Leeds City Museum, being held 23-24 March 2012. Of particular interest are two papers Nicole Bush (Northumbria University) Mechanical Patterns: The Role of Brewster’s Kaleidoscope in the Age of Morris and the Machine and Patrizia Di Bello (Birkbeck) ‘Camera-Medusa’: Stereoscopic Photographs of Statuettes. The full programme and further information is below.

Organised by:

Dr Kate Nichols (University of Bristol)

Gabriel Williams (University of York)

Rebecca Wade (University of Leeds)

Full details at http://artvindustry.blogspot.com/

Registration deadline: 9 March 2012. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Friday 23 March 2012

9.00-9.30

Registration and coffee

9.30-9.45

Welcome and introductions

9.45-10.45

Lara Kriegel (Indiana University)

Filaments of History: Ladies, Lace, Labour and Nation at the Fin de Siecle

10.45-12.45 Panel One: De-Centering the Narrative

Chaired by Sarah Turner (University of York)

Lara Eggleton (University of Leeds)

Surface Deceits: Owen Jones and John Ruskin on the Ornament of the Alhambra

Sally Tuckett (University of Edinburgh)

Colouring the Nation: Scottish Turkey-Red Design and Manufacture

Natasha Eaton (University College London)

Subaltern Colour? Art, Industry and Colonialism in Britain and India

Renate Dohmen (University of Louisiana at Lafayette)

The Calcutta International Exhibition of 1883-4: A Differenced Vision of the Great Exhibition?

12.45-1.45 Lunch (provided)

1.45-3.45 Panel Two: The Aesthetics of Technology

Chaired by Mark Westgarth (University of Leeds)

Alistair Grant (University of Sussex, Victoria and Albert Museum)

Galvanic Engraving in Relief: The Origins of the Art of Electro-Metallurgy

Angus Patterson (Victoria and Albert Museum)

For the Promotion of Art: The Formation and Influence of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Electrotype Co&ection

Graeme Gooday and Abigail Harrison Moore (University of Leeds)

Decorative Electricity: The Gendered Aesthetics and Ethics of Domestic Electric Lighting

Anne-Marie Millim (University of Luxembourg)

“A substitute for moonlight”: The Cultural Value of Mining in The Graphic (1870s)

3.45-4.00 Coffee

4.00-5.00

Tom Gretton (University College London)

Industrialised Graphic Technologies Feature the World of Art: The Illustrated London News and The Graphic

c. 1870 - 1890

5.00 Please join us at the Victoria (behind the Town Hall) to continue our conversations!

8.00 Conference Dinner (not included, but we hope you will still join us).

Saturday 24 March 2012

9.30-10.00

Registration and coffee

10.00-11.00

Colin Trodd (University of Manchester)

Affinity and Alienation: Civility, Barbarism and Discourses of Design Culture, 1862-1894

11.00-1.00 Panel Three: Making and Mechanical Perception

Chaired by Danielle Child (University of Leeds)

Ann Compton (University of Glasgow)

Building a Better Class of Craftsman? Re-examining Issues of Education, Craftsmanship and Professional Practice

in Sculpture and Related Trades, c. 1880-1925

Gabriel Williams (University of York)

‘Mechanical Dexterity’ and Sculpture Machines at the Great Exhibition

Nicole Bush (Northumbria University)

Mechanical Patterns: The Role of Brewster’s Kaleidoscope in the Age of Morris and the Machine

Patrizia Di Bello (Birkbeck)

‘Camera-Medusa’: Stereoscopic Photographs of Statuettes

1.00-1.45 Lunch (provided)

1.45-3.15 Panel four: Labour, Class and Invention

Chaired by Kate Hi& (University of Lincoln)

Jasmine Allen (University of York)

The Status of Stained Glass at the International Exhibitions

Frances Robertson (Glasgow School of Art)

Crank-Pin Tracks and Corinthian Columns: Engineers and Draughtsmen as Visual Technicians

Ben Russell (Science Museum)

James Watt’s s Workshop: A Nexus Between Art and Industry

3.15-3.30 Coffee

3.30-4.30

Steve Edwards (Open University)

Picture Capitalism

4.30-5.00 Roundtable discussion and closing remarks

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem and the Shpilman Institute for Photography announce the opening of the 2012 edition of the Shpilman International Prize for Excellence in Photography and welcome nominations and submissions.
Awarded every second year, the Shpilman International Prize for Excellence in Photography aims to catalyze groundbreaking work in the field by providing scholars and photographers with financial support in the amount of $ 45,000.- in order to pursue original work and ideas in the medium. A first of its kind, the prize is awarded exclusively for the creation of new research rather than the recognition of previously completed projects. It is presented to an artist and/or scholar who aims to expand the boundaries of the medium and contribute to the understanding of photography.
As detailed in the regulations prospective candidates may include artists and scholars in photography with a rich and well established record of past achievements who intend to create new work or undertake new research in the field, ideally combining the theory and practice of photography.

Please visit the website http://www.imj.org.il/shpilmanprize for more information and spread the news among the photography community.

The deadline for submissions id September 1, 2012.

Hi everybody! I am looking for further stereos from the “New Series Welch Views” which is most probably by William England. I have attached two images (No. 11 and No. 13).  Does anybody have further information on this series or more scans for me?  Thanks and best regards.

Gerlind

Archives full of photographs of artworks from their collections and beyond, including sensitive documents relating to government committees and export applications have been saved from being thrown out. Brian Allen, director of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, a UK educational charity with links to Yale University, immediately dispatched a van to salvage the hundreds of boxes when he received a call out of the blue from a "low-ranking" Tate employee informing him they were destined for the skip.

Some photographs were of otherwise unrecorded works, and were the only image in existence. Others were shots of important pictures taken by different cameras, in different lights and from different angles over many years, often showing dramatic changes. Although the archives' disposal occurred within the past five years, the news has only now emerged, as reported in a Guardian article here today.

Photo: Skip material quality?  Images of two John Hoppner works. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian.

This ongoing exhibition (across the pond, unfortunately) is held in conjunction with the Daguerreian Society, and features some 60 nineteenth-century daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes. It addresses several facets of the public’s insatiable appetite for portraits of loved ones and strangers alike. Flawless artistic and studio portraits will be on view.

Highlights include a rare portrait of James Cutting, the inventor of the ambrotype, by Mathew Brady and a pair of important full-plate daguerreotype portraits by Southworth and Hawes on loan from The Dandrew-Drapkin Collection. One features the statesman Daniel Webster, the other, Alvin Adams, the shipping magnate whose company later became American Express. Other formal portraits of sitters are an elegant likeness of a lady by John Jabez Edwin Mayall and a playful photograph of Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky by Alphonse Plumier. In contrast to these formal portraits, the exhibition also presents images of anonymous subjects, mainly workers and models made by unknown “operators.”

This is the second in a series of exhibitions drawn from The Ludmila Dandrew and Chitranee Drapkin Collection. You can view them at the Museum of Fine Arts, Florida.

Minnie Weisz Studios in Kings Cross will be running a series of weekend workshops learning to make positive ambrotypes, images direct onto glass, tin and acrylic. Following in the footsteps of Frederick Scott Archer, the inventor of the collodion process in 1851, you will be taught by experts in the field of alternative historic photographic processes, practising and teaching in the UK : Jo Gane, John Brewer.

Each workshop begins with a mini lecture about the history and science of the wet plate collodion process, each specialist in the field will introduce their own work and examples of ambrotypes for the class to view and discuss.
Participants will learn the process, a hands-on approach, pouring plates, working with large format cameras in the studio, for portraits and still life, processing the plates in our specialist dark room, making up to 7 plates each per weekend workshop.

Further details, including dates etc, can be found here.

Photo: The Bullring Birmingham, Ambrotype © Jo Gane

I took over the stewardship of the Trinity Mirror collection back in 2004. Since then I have when possible try to discover a little of the history and careers of our earliest photographers and where possible try to credit their work.

Back in 1904 when the Daily Mirror became the first UK daily newspaper to print photographs on a regular basis published images simply carried the credit Daily Mirror. Little credit was given to photographers like Ivor Castle, Tom, Bernard and Horace Grant who were the pioneers of photo-journalism in this country.

My aim, and the reason for joining British Photographic History is to unearth as much information I can find out about these forgotten heroes of Edwardian photo-journalism. 

Can you help?

If you have any information I would be delight to hear from you.

John Mead

Ivor Castle the first photographer employed by the Daily Mirror in 1904

The first Canadian photographer of international renown with subjects ranging from royalty, Governors General and the Fathers of Confederation, to Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Anna of Anna and the King of Siam fame. He would also have been responsible for most of the vintage photos of Victorian Montreal, its winter scenes and its citizens. 

Not only that, he also owned the largest photography business in 19th-century North America. But his biggest coup must be the 'Maple Box' - a portfolio of his pictures as Canada's official gift to Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, in 1860.

So who was this migrant from Paisley who arrived in Montreal in 1856? Senior cataloguer Nora Hague of the Notman Photographic Archives is a fount of information about William Notman (8 March 1826 – 25 November 1891), his career and times. The Archives (which include 400,000 glass negatives, 60,000 of which have been digitized) are housed at the Mc-Cord Museum, where Hague has worked for more than 40 years. You can read an article on him here and view some of them here too.

But more interestingly, if Notman is someone you are researching on, CBC Ideas, 88.5 or 104.7 FM in Canada will be airing a two-part radio documentary about the life of William Notman by Elaine Kalman Naves on Wednesday, 22nd February, and Thursday, 23rd February, at 9pm. Fear not for local UK BPH readers - with today's technology I think there is an equivalent iPlayer which you can try here on the day. Hope it works!

Photo: Ice shove, Montreal 1884 by William Notman, courtesy McCord Museum.

The search begins...As reported back in December in BPH the current Director of the National Media Museum, Colin Philpott, is to leave in April. The search for his successor - re-designated as museum Head has now started. See: http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/nmem-director-ph... for the original report.  

Head of the National Media Museum
UK, Bradford

Award wining, visionary and unique the Media Museum houses world class collections in photography, film, broadcast and new media.

As Head of the Media Museum you will have the drive and imagination to commission creative content and embrace new thinking, technologies and approaches for our collections, exhibitions and programmes.

The Museum is based in the heart of Bradford.  It is one of a group of four museums including the Science Museum, the Railway Museum and the Museum of Scienceand Industry Manchester.  Together we reach over 5 million visitors.

The role includes:

• developing a vibrant programme of innovative exhibitions an programmes for local and national audiences
• leading the external promotion of the museum and its collections to a wide array of stakeholders
• building cultural partnerships across a local and national landscape
• developing and coaching an effective leadership team to ensure they reach their full potential
• working with the science museum to develop and deliver Medial Space – a new exhibition and programme venue for the MediaMuseum in London.

For an information discussion, please contact Heather Mayfield on 0207 942 4862, for further information please visit www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/aboutus.

APPLICATION DETAILS

You may wish to upload a single document in Microsoft Word format which includes both your CV and a covering statement.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title:  Head of National Media Museum

Department: Media Museum

Location:   Bradford

Reports to: Deputy Director, Science Museum

Date:  25 January 2012

Purpose of the Job

To lead the Media Museum at Bradford, ensuring its future success and maximising the impact of its exhibitions and programmes for local, and national, audiences.

To develop a clear strategic and business plan for the national media collections held by NMSI, and ensure optimum public access through exhibitions, display, digital delivery and research.

Work with colleagues to ensure that Media Space becomes a landmark cultural venue, and ensure that a creative programme for the Media Space enhances the cultural offer in Bradford.

Key Deliverables/Accountabilities

1. To manage national collections of film, photography and television at Bradford.
2. To lead the collections and exhibitions teams ensuring they stay abreast of contemporary practice to produce high quality, innovative, visitor focused products that enhance the Museum’s reputation and expand audiences.
3. Develop and motivate an effective senior team, coaching them to reach their potential.
4. Setting of and managing of standards across all areas of responsibility
5. Support the Deputy Director (Science Museum) to maximise access to the collections and ensure that a deeper of understanding of the collections is achieved through scholarship and other research.
6. Support the Deputy Director (Science Museum) to devise the exhibition, seminar and learning programme for the Media Space and display galleries in Bradford.
7. Work towards the recognition of Media Space as a major cultural offering, working closely with the arts team at ScienceMuseum, and curatorial team in Bradford and London.
8. To ensure a strategic approach to building the collection, and robust de-accessioning where holdings no longer have public value.
9. To lead the external promotion of the museum and its collections to a wider array of stakeholders.
10. To work devise an audience strategy, working closely with the Directors of Learning and Enterprises, to create targets that maximise visit numbers, whilst also balancing reach and financial impact.
11. Support the Deputy Director (Science Museum) to recruit an excellent Advisory Board; and lead on its management and participation.
12. Build partnerships and alliances with regional cultural, governmental and commercial players.
13. To work with the Director of Master plan and Estate, Deputy Director (Science Museum) and other relevant NMSI colleagues to develop a long-term master plan for the Bradford museum and its collections.
14. Cultivate corporate and individual sponsorship and patronage.
15. Take care of your personal health and safety and that of others and report any health and safety concerns.  Ensure proactive compliance with NMSI H&S Policies, including risk assessments and implementing safe systems of work

Working Relationships and Contacts

• Direct working relationships with the Deputy Director Science Museum and the NMSI Executive group
• Strong working relationships with: the Director of Master Plan and Estates, the Director of External Affairs and the Director of Development.
• Strong working relationship with the local authority in Bradford, local cultural organisations, and specialist audiences
• Strong working relationships with the creative industries represented in the MediaMuseum’s content

Line Management and Budget Responsibility

Directly line manages: 4-6 people

Indirectly line manages: 50-60 people in multidisciplinary teams

Budget Holder of  £4,000-5,000k

Candidate Profile

Experience

• A strong track record of creative success at strategic level in museums and/or galleries
• A strong track record of commissioning creative content, in display and learning programmes in a museum setting
• The proven ability to translate ideas into effective action speedily and within a tight budget.
• Comfortable with change, and effective at promoting it
• A strong interest in media and associated technology
• The ability to be a successful ambassador for the museum, communicating the Museum’s core messages effectively at all levels internally and externally
• A strong track record of building effective partnerships in cultural organisations nationally and internationally
• Experience of building and championing national venues/galleries/cultural institutions outside London

Skills, Knowledge and Relevant Qualifications

• Educated to post-graduate level in a relevant subject and\ or evidence of substantial experience of developing and delivering successful creative museological content in different organisations.
• Demonstrates strong leadership and management skills that will deliver strong performance
• Excellent communication skills
• Excellent networking skills
• Strong negotiating skills, able to focus on museum priorities and achieve a coherent approach to branding across a wide spectrum of activity. 
• A demonstrable track record of working effectively with different types of collections

Behaviours

• Leads the team to increased output, higher levels of creativity, stronger connections with science and art content for local and national audiences
• Ensures a strong outward focus for all activities aligned with meeting the needs of visitors and scholars
• Leads an effective and pro-active management team that delivers world-class museological outputs
• Is strongly focused on innovative creative content that directly connects visitors with the Museum’s collections and the creative industries
• Is strongly committed to developing and delivering a world class media museum within a group of science and industry museums
• Looks for and develops suitable synergies within the NMSI group to increase capacity and capability in the team at the MediaMuseum

Scope for Impact

• Will lead the MediaMuseum to be a leading cultural venue in Bradford and London.
• Will develop and secure strong and meaningful relationships with the public and industry in Bradford and West Yorkshire.

Please note:

• This job description is not exhaustive and amendments and additions may be required in line with future changes in policy, regulation or organisational requirements, it will be reviewed on a regular basis.
• This role is subject to a Disclosure Scotland basic criminal record check

For further information see: https://vacancies.nmsi.ac.uk/VacancyDetails.aspx?VacancyID=102

Closing date 5 March 2012

We welcome applications from all sections of the community in which we work. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people and we guarantee interviews to suitably qualified disabled applicants.  

A small selection of the images on offer at our next event is now available online.

Please click HERE.

Event details:

Holiday Inn Bloomsbury, WC1N 1HT.

10am-4pm: £3 admission or free after 2pm with a voucher from info@photofair.co.uk

40 dealers from the UK, Europe and North America exhibiting work from the 19th to 21st centuries.