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Rare early photographs of Chinese women from the Loewentheil Photography of China Collection will be exhibited for the first time in New York as part of Asia Week New York.  Dragon Women: Early Chinese Photography curated by Stacey Lambrow runs from March 14th – May 15. Admission is free.

Dragon Women: Early Chinese Photography celebrates the Year of the Dragon and the representation of women in the earliest photography of China. This is the first exhibition devoted to the depiction of Chinese women in early photography. The 50 photographs include the first photographic portraits of Chinese women, most made in the 1860s and 1870s. Many have never before been shown. The exhibition examines women’s place in society in the late Qing dynasty and their depiction in historical photography of China. It also presents work by the few known early female photographers of China.

Highlights include a rare photograph by the first known Chinese female photographer, Mae Linda Talbot, and works by Hedda Morrison, Isabella Bird, and Eva Sandberg Xiao. Masterworks abound including photographs by Chinese and international artists such as Sze Yuen Ming Studio, Pun Lun Studio, A Chan Studio, Lai Fong, John Thomson, and Thomas Child. The exhibition showcases the diversity of Chinese women and their experiences during the final decades of imperial China.

The dragon is an integral part of Chinese culture. The origin of dragons in Chinese mythology extends back to the earliest recorded dynasties, where male and female dragons were revered as powerful and benevolent creatures created by the gods to govern the world. Unlike the evil, fire-breathing European dragon, the Chinese dragon is an auspicious and multifaceted figure. It is both powerful and benevolent, fierce and elegant. The dragon also symbolizes imperial power.

This exhibition held in the Year of the Dragon reclaims the feminine power of the dragon and honors all Chinese women. It includes iconic photographs of Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) by her Court photographer Yu Xunling (c.1880-1943). Cixi, one of the most powerful women in Chinese history, was referred to as “Dragon Lady.” Some caricatured her as a uniquely sinister, manipulative, and cold-blooded ruler. However, scholars agree that the Empress’s contribution to empowering and advancing opportunities for women is an important part of her legacy, thereby revising this one-dimensional view.

The early photographic portraits of women in Dragon Women challenge the negative and shallow stereotype of the “dragon lady.” The term remains a pervasive stereotype, often used against women who are unapologetically driven or have agency and power. It is particularly pernicious as a Western stereotype of East Asian women.

The exhibition portrays and honors women of various ages, classes, and social circumstances.  The diversity of the “dragon women” in the photographs more authentically reflects the power and complexity of the dragon. 

For the majority of women at the end of the Qing dynasty, being photographed was off-limits for social and financial reasons. Qing society perpetuated the conservative ideas of previous dynasties, and the majority of women were isolated in their homes. Some of the women in these images chose to be photographed, while others submitted to the photographer for other reasons. Some of the photographs were made as personal family photographs and others were produced for popular consumption to portray the women as “exotic.” Regardless, the camera immortalized their images and offer us a rare and complicated view into the lives of Chinese women during a period of modernization in China.

Most late Qing dynasty photographs of Chinese women depict unnamed sitters and a great number of the portraits were created by photographers who at this time remain unidentified. As research into the history of photography of China advances, more of the names of the Chinese women appearing in nineteenth-century photographs will be discovered and more of China’s pioneering photographers will be identified. Certainly, more of the early photographers working in China will prove to be women. 

The Loewentheil Photography of China Collection includes the largest selection of nineteenth-century photographs of Chinese women in the world. In photography’s most formative years Chinese women were involved in the art in a myriad of ways. Their presence exerted a profound influence on the development of the art of photography. Women worked alongside men in photography studios, sometimes as the wives and daughters of studio owners, or as printers, finishers, retouchers, colourists, camera operators, or studio managers. In addition, women participated as subjects of early photographs. Early photographs of Chinese women, rank among the greatest nineteenth-century photographs ever made.

Dragon Women: Early Chinese Photography. First Exhibition of the Earliest Photographs of Chinese Women
10 West 18th Street 7th Floor, 14 March – 15 May 2024
Opening Celebration March 15 from 6pm to 9pm, with a Lion Dance with rare Female Dancers at 7:00
 https://loewentheilcollection.com/

 About the Loewentheil Photography of China Collection

The Loewentheil Photography of China Collection, based in New York, is the finest and largest holding of historical photographs of China in private hands. It contains many thousands of photographs spanning the earliest days of paper photography from the 1850s through the 1930s. The majority date to before 1900, including the largest selection of nineteenth-century photographs of Chinese women in the world.

The University of Brighton's Centre for Design History is hosting a double professorial book launch on 17 April at M2. The event will launch Cold War Photographic Diplomacy: The U.S. Information Agency and Africa, by Darren Newbury and Art without Frontiers: The Story of the British Council, Visual Arts and a Changing World, by Annebella Pollen. It will be an opportunity to hear from the authors and celebrate the publication of their books. 

Book launch
Wednesday, 17 April 2024 at 1800-2000
M2 at Grand Parade Building, Brighton
Details here: https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/centrefordesignhistory/2024/03/01/event-book-launch-with-darren-newbury-and-annebella-pollen-april-17-2024/

PhotoMuse - The Museum of Photography in Kerala, India, is hosting a new exhibition Curated by Dr. Unni Pulikkal S , the Director of PhotoMuse, the exhibition marks a significant milestone in the nation's photographic history. It serves as the inaugural event for the newly constructed permanent museum. Scheduled to commence on March 10th at 1100, the exhibition will be inaugurated by Mr. Murali Cheeroth , a distinguished artist and Chairperson of the Kerala Lalit Kala Academy. The event will also be graced by the presence of Mr. Herbert  Ascherman Jr. , an internationally renowned photographer and photo-historian, who will dedicate the new museum to the people of the country.

Running for the next three months from its opening date, the exhibition will showcase a collection of historical and modern photographic processes. Spanning from the 1850s to the present, it meticulously traces the evolution of photography as a handheld object over two centuries.

PhotoMuse is India's first public museum dedicated to the art, history and science of photography. Through the pursuit of photography and photographic history, PHOTOMUSE documents, interprets and promotes the natural and cultural inheritance of humanity. With photography-based outreach and educational programs, the museum emphasizes education, conservancy and India’s photographic legacy.

See: https://photomuse.in/

FORMAT photography festival in Derby has a number of talks and activities around the exhibitions. On 16 March Peter Jordan-Turner is talking about the carte-de-visite. 

The Cartes de Visite craze in the second half of the nineteenth century was recognised, even at the time, as a social phenomenon.  

Join Peter Jordan-Turner as he reveals how problematic early photographic technologies were swept aside by a method of production and usage that welcomed all but the very poorest into the studios that sprang up in every town and city in Britain. Cooks and countesses, railway porters and aldermen could all see themselves as never before, almost instantly, and their likenesses were shared with their social circle, or sent to family and sweethearts to cement relationships in an age that saw greater mobility around the country and the Empire. This new sharing of photographic portraits established a habit that has grown stronger as each new technology placed photography closer to the people who ultimately use it, and is the true ancestor of Instagram and every other photo sharing platform.’ 

Peter Jordan-Turner is an Associate Lecturer at the University of Derby and the University of Gloucestershire, and is a Trustee for the W.W.Winter Heritage Trust. 

He is also pursuing a doctorate in the history of nineteenth century commercial photography, titled Reconnecting with a Historic Photographic Archive: The case of W.W.Winter (Derby) as a model for public and academic access to a significant archive of commercial photography, and is author of ‘From Darkroom into light: Photographic archives and community cohesion’ to be presented at the 5th CAA Conference in Greece in April 2024. 

Cartes de Visite: The Original Social Media
Peter Jordan-Turner
16 March 2024 at 1100
QUAD, Derby
Free, or suggested donation of £3
See: https://www.derbyquad.co.uk/events/cartesdevisite/

Continuing its series of seminar days the Martin Parr Foundation has announced British Photography in the 1990s which will take place on Saturday, 11 May 2024. Speakers include Vinca Petersen, Stephen Gill, Juergen Teller, Joy Gregory and Richard Billingham. This event follows on from previous seminar days exploring photography in the 70s, 80s and Another Country, showcasing an overview of British Documentary Photography since 1945.

Past seminars have filled up very quickly so early booking is recommended.

British Photography in the 1990s
Saturday, 11 May 2024, 0930-1730
Bristol: Martin Parr Foundation
£55 / regular
£48 / MPF member
£48 / students
Lunch, teas and coffees included

Full details and bookings: https://www.martinparrfoundation.org/events/british-photography-in-the-1990s/

Image: From Ray's a Laugh © Richard Billingham

In a new blog post Mary Phan, the V&A's second Curatorial Fellow in Photography, supported by the Bern Schwartz Family Foundation, discusses her research on the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) Collection which is part of the Royal Photographic Society collection, held at the V&A  Museum. The NCC collection consists of nearly 2000 images from the late ninteenth century to the 1960s. It was passed to the RPS after the NCC was dissolved in 1991.

Mary is also curating a display on ‘Ecology and the Photobook’ in the V&A's Photography Centre. Opening in June 2024, the display will feature contemporary photobooks concerning the intersections of art and ecology.

Read the full blog here: https://www.bernschwartz.org/mary-phan

Image: 'Baby Armadillo', RPS Collection, gelatin silver print (V&A Museum)

This symposium welcomes researchers, curators and photographers from all geographical areas. Proposals may concern any post-colonial period from the 19th to the 20th century. Abstracts in english or french (approx. 500 words) must be sent by May 31, 2024 at the latest, with a short biography, affiliation information, and a bibliography (for researchers). Authors will receive an answer in June 2024. Travel and accommodation expenses for selected participants will be covered. We welcome proposals addressing one or more of the following topics: 

Histories of Photography from the Struggles for Independence: practices, circulations and aesthetics
Abstract submission by: 31 May 2024
Conference: 28-29 January 2025JAN 28-29, 2025 International Conference
INVISU / INHA, Institut national d’histoire de l’art, Paris
Details: https://invisu.cnrs.fr/seminaires-et-conferences/colloque-histoires-de-photographies/histories-of-photography-from-the-struggles-for-independance/

For centuries, portraiture has played a vital role in shaping the public’s perception of the Royal Family. Over the past 100 years, no artistic medium has had a greater impact on the royal image than photography. Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography will chart the evolution of royal portrait photography from the 1920s to the present day, bringing together more than 150 photographic prints, proofs and documents from the Royal Collection and the Royal Archives. The photographs presented in the exhibition will be vintage prints – the original works produced by the photographer, most of which have never been on public display.

The works on show will demonstrate how the Royal Family has harnessed the power of photography to project both the grandeur and tradition of monarchy, and at times an unprecedented sense of intimacy and relatability. The exhibition will examine the changing status of photography as an art form and consider the cultural, artistic, and technological shifts that influenced the work of the most celebrated royal photographers, from Cecil Beaton and Dorothy Wilding to Annie Leibovitz and Rankin.

Archival documents and unreleased proofs will shed light on the behind-the-scenes process of commissioning, selecting and retouching royal portraits. From photographers’ handwritten annotations to never-before-seen correspondence with members of the Royal Family and their staff, these materials will reveal the stories behind some of the most enduring photographs ever taken of the Royal Family.

The exhibition will open with the 1920s and 30s, the golden age of the society photographer. Post-war prosperity and technological advances led to a boom in photographic studios, and members of the British and European Royal Families were among the ‘Bright Young Things’ eager to be captured on camera. Many of the new studios were operated by women, and female photographers such as Dorothy Wilding and Madame Yevonde were among those experimenting with a bolder, more modern aesthetic.

In the mid-20th century, no royal photographer had a greater impact on shaping the monarchy’s public image than Cecil Beaton. The exhibition will present some of Beaton’s most memorable photographs, taken over six decades. These include Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s famed 1939 shoot in the Buckingham Palace Gardens, dressed in her ‘White Wardrobe’ by Norman Hartnell, and Beaton’s original Coronation portraits of Queen Elizabeth II – arguably the most prestigious photography commission of the century. 

Close relationships between royal sitters and photographers will unfold throughout the exhibition, seen most clearly through the lens of Lord Snowdon (born Antony Armstrong-Jones). One of the most sought-after photographers of the 1950s, Snowdon’s unpretentious style soon attracted the attention of the Royal Family, and he became a member of the family himself when he married Princess Margaret in 1960. His remarkably intimate portraits of the Princess, taken both before and during their marriage, hint at the depths of trust and collaboration between them.

The exhibition’s final room will explore the innovations in digital and colour photography that revolutionised the medium between the 1980s and the 2020s. During this period, photography came to be recognised as an art form in its own right, and the perception of the role of the photographer shifted from image-making craftsperson to celebrated artist. From Andy Warhol’s diamond-dust-sprinkled screenprint of Queen Elizabeth II to famed photographs by Rankin, David Bailey, Nick Knight, Annie Leibovitz and more, the bold and colourful works in this room will demonstrate the extraordinary variety, power and at times playfulness of royal portrait photography over the past four decades.

Alessandro Nasini, curator of Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography, said: ‘This is the first exhibition from the Royal Collection entirely dedicated to modern portrait photography, an artistic medium that has helped to shape how the world views the British monarchy. We are excited for visitors to discover the beauty and materiality of these original prints, many on display for the first time, and we hope they will also enjoy a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creative process behind some of these iconic royal images.’

Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography
17 May – 6 October 2024
The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London
See: https://www.rct.uk/whatson/event/1118538/Royal-Portraits:-A-Century-of-Photography

 Images: (top): Cecil Beaton, Princess Elizabeth, 1942. (lower): Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, Proof with handwritten instructions, 1958. Photograph: Antony Armstrong-Jones

Periodically something appears at auction which deserves a wider audience. Coming up in a Bonhams European Decor and Design auction in the United States is a stunning Carlo Ponti Megalethoscope with original bill of sales from 1876. It is estimated at US$8000-12,000.  Details are below:

floral carved viewer with ebonized trim, lg. 35; set on a marble top rectangular table cabinet with carved panel doors and sides and set on carved and turned legs, with carved labels "Ponti Venezia", "Megaletoscopio" and "Privilegiato", ht. 30 1/2, d. 25, lg. 39 1/2 in.; with photographic prints.

 

Provenance:

Hi all, Anyone interested in these two journals, they were amongst a job lot, I was having a sort out today, I can post in the UK.

Tony

Newcastle's Side Gallery which closed last year after losing its Arts Council England NPO status (see here) is seeking the views of supporters and the public as it looks to the future. In an email from Laura Laffler, Director at Amber Film & Photographty Collective she said:

Thanks to your support, we can continue to digitise our archive, take part in exhibitions nationwide and support the next generation of North East documentary artists. We will find out about several major funding opportunities in the next few weeks, and you’ll be the first to receive an update.  But right now, more than anything, we need your feedback. Galleries should exist for everyone, and we believe the best way to relaunch our space is with community and collaboration at its core. Our next steps are to take survey responses and turn them into an in-person event where, together, we can co-create the next chapter of the Side Gallery.

To share your views click here

This article describes a Birt Acres film recorded on the 9th of November 1896. It was commissioned for The Variety Theatres and was shot in the road as the parade passed The Tivoli Theatre. If any reader is aware of this films existence I would be grateful to receive a post or PM.

I thought you might be interested in the exhibition I've been working on with my colleagues at Land of Iron in Skinningrove, North Yorkshire. It's been a labour of love and a joy to be involved with. I feel very privileged!  An exciting new photographic exhibition comes to Skinningrove’s Land of Iron on Saturday 16th March 2024.

Running for six months until Saturday 14th September, Life in The Iron Valley will display, for the very first time, a selection of early work prints from two renowned British documentary photographers who worked extensively in the village - in the case of Graham Smith from 1969 to 1975, and Chris Killip from 1981 to 1984.

Celebrating the lives and landscapes of this small North Yorkshire village, Life in The Iron Valley is a document of a time when fishing and steelworking were the lifeblood of the community.

Supplementing the early prints, a collection of archival digital prints of Skinningrove - generously placed with the museum by Chris Killip - will also be on display.

The collection of images were collected by local artist and historian Stan Binks and were gifted to the museum by him. Many of the prints have been annotated by him with the names of the people pictured and the approximate dates they were taken. These notes – written on the border of the prints themselves – add a charm and authenticity which distinguishes the images from more traditional gallery displays.

The exhibition precedes the long-awaited publication of Skinningrove by Chris Killip in May 2024.

Chris Killip was born in the Isle of Man in 1946. He began his career as a commercial photographer before turning to his own work in the late 1960s. His book, In Flagrante, a collection of photographs made in the North East of England during the 1970s and early 1980s, is now recognized as a landmark work of documentary photography. Other bodies of work include the series Isle of Man, Seacoal, Skinningrove and Pirelli. In 1991 Killip was invited to be a Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University. In 1994 he was made a tenured professor and was department chair from 1994-98. He retired from Harvard in December 2017 and continued to live in Cambridge, MA, USA, until his death in October, 2020. His photographs feature in the permanent collections of many major institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Museum Folkwang, Essen; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Tate Britain and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Graham Smith, born in Middlesbrough, studied at the Middlesbrough College of Art and later the Royal College of Art in London. In the 1970s he was among the photographers central to the creation of Side Gallery in Newcastle. He photographed over a period of twenty years in Middlesbrough and nearby South Bank, two major steelworks towns. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather worked in the South Bank ironworks. His writing, a story about his father, has appeared in Granta and his photographs feature in the permanent collections of major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

 Life in The Iron Valley – an exhibition of work prints and rarely seen photographs depicting the village of Skinningrove by Chris Killip and Graham Smith
Saturday 16th March 2024Saturday 16 March - 14 September 2024
Land of Iron, Deepdale Mill Lane, Skinningrove, TS13 4AP
Regular admission to Land of Iron includes access to the exhibition and tickets can be booked via the website.

Looking for stickybacks!  For the past few years, I have been researching stickybacks together (partly with Róman Kiejet). The research has resulted in an exhibition and booklet on stickybacks in the Netherlands. This exhibition was shown last year at the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam. 

Now I have conceived the plan to make a European exhibition on stickybacks, which includes all the countries of the time. So I am looking for stickybacks from whole over Europe. I found the "easy-to-find-collectors' through google, but know I am looking for more people who have stickybacks in their collection.

 For people who are not familiar with the term stickybacks;

 'Stickybacks' - also called American Automatic Photo, snelfotografie (Dutch) and Leimrücken (Germany) are small (size passport) photos from roughly the 1910s. Usually they are single portraits, but there are also double-sized photos with multiple people. Stickyback  can be recognizable by the photographed bar with the address and/or name of the photographer above the head of the subjects. And on the bar a number that could be changed.

 If you have stickybacks or want to now more please contact me!

*You can find more about the Dutch stickyback exhibition and book on my website; https://dirkkome.nl/snelfotografie-de-rage-van-1912-tot-1925/

I have a pair of tinted daguerreotypes that have me very puzzled. I bought them in the UK and the sitters look to be British but the case is American and something about the highly polished hallmarked plates, the subdued tinting and a complete lack of sealing tape doesn't seem very British to me. I can't believe that many daguerreotypists would have produced work quite as involved, precise and theatrical as this. Does anyone have any ideas as to who the daguerreotypist might be, or even just as to whether they are American or British? I can add a lot more images if it helps.

Hello Members, recently consigned to auction with us was this drawing which will make many photography fans think of Julia Margaret Cameron. It is indeed a very fine copy after Cameron's photograph The Infant Bridal (1864), this version being Cox & Ford cat. no. 864. The one with arched top that you can find in the V&A Collection online (accession number 216-1969) was one of a group that were given to her mentor and friend, the artist George Frederic Watts. The drawing here is in black and white chalk and pencil on blue wove paper, sheet size 252 x 212 mm (the albumen print at the V&A is 240 x 210 mm). It is tipped onto an old album leaf and card and until just now has been undisturbed in in an old (?Edwardian) gilt picture frame that suggests it has been there for very many decades.

We think the drawing/paper is contemporary or near-contemporary to the photograph and the upper half of the drawing is particularly skilful. The only discernible difference of any note appears to be that the sitter on the right (Freddy Gould; Elizabeth Keown is on the left) has his eyes slightly more open and stares more directly to camera/artist than in the photograph. The owner has had this for several decades, he thinks bought in a provincial auction, but never taken it out of the frame or done any research into it beyond speculating on the Freddy Gould likeness.

There are no other clues as to who drew this. Have any members come across any similar contemporary drawings after Cameron photographs before, and any as accomplished as this? Might it be by Watts himself? Cameron often sent Watts examples of her work, including imperfect prints (at his own request).

This drawing will be in our Fine Art Sale on 13 March. If anyone has any further suggestions or queries please do get in touch:

Chris Albury, Dominic Winter Auctioneers

chris@dominicwinter.co.uk | 01285 860006

Four Corners is offering a paid 12-month internship as part of its new National Lottery Heritage Fund project, The People’s Gallery. This is an exciting opportunity to work on Four Corners' Archive collection whilst gaining skills in archiving and collections management, and experience in delivering community and exhibition projects. 

Details:  https://www.fourcornersfilm.co.uk/work-with-us

A memorial service and get together to celebrate and remember the life and man, that was Brian Griffin is being held on 6 March in London. Firstly, is a service at 3pm at Holy Trinity Church, 3 Bryan Road, London SE16, then a social event at the Ship and Whale, 2 Gulliver Street, London, SE16. Details on the poster right (click to enlarge). As space may be limited can those who wish to go please contact info@ravichandarana.com

Natonal Science+Media Museum curator Vanessa Torres discusses how she and other colleagues at the museum prepare four Julia Margaret Cameron photographs for display at the National Portrait Gallery's forthcoming exhibition, Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In, which opens on 21 March 2024. 

Read the blog here: https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/blog-from-the-basement-julia-margaret-cameron-loans/

The Bodleian Library has reported on some of its photography acquisitions over the past two years via a series of posts on X - formerly Twitter - from its photography curator Phillip Roberts. He highlighted the following, which he says are are all available to view with a library card. He adds that exhibitions from some of the material are likely over the next few years.

• a set of prints from Jim Mortram'‘s Small Town Inertia project, along with films and podcasts
• a set of prints by Dafydd Jones, showing Oxford students in the 1980s
• a vast collection of vintage vintage news photos by Kenyan photojournalist Mohamed Amin who documented every political crisis in Africa for forty years (see image above)
• a sequence of 350-odd photos documenting the unfolding Tiananmen Square protests by Edgar Huang, taken from among the protesters themselves
• a handmade one-of-a-kind artist’s book by Deborah Parkin using cyanotypes to explore her father's death
• the complete archive of master portraitist Bern Schwartz
• the complete archive of Paddy Summerfield, 'Oxford’s greatest ever photographer'
• The Wilson Collection. 200 boxes of masterpieces from the late-19th and early-20th century. The early history of photography, told with a global focus
• the Handsworth Self-Portraits from Ten-8 which set up a studio on the street in Birmingham and let everyone who walked past photograph themselves. This is the only complete record of the project (left)
• every Cafe Royal book there, now and in the future. A vast history of British photography in 600+ books
• 2000+ modernist photobooks collected by Charles Chadwick-Healey
• part of the archive of portrait photographer Pamela Chandler
• Pictures From the Garden, an intimate collective study of Paddy Summerfield’s world, by Alex Schneiderman, Sian Davey, Alys Tomlinson, Jem Southam, et al
• Victorian cat photographs by Harry Pointer
• 6,000 dog photographs from the 19th century
• Lewis Bush's Depravity's Rainbow project
• Gary Fabian Miller's books
• Brian Heseltine's photograpphs of the Caribbean from the 1950s
• Henri Cartier-Bresson in Oxford

BPH also understands that there is other photography heading the way of the Bodleian including a British Magnum photographer's archive and another thematic collection.