Blogs

Impressions Gallery is a charity that helps people understand the world through photography and acts as an agent for change. Established 50 years ago in 1972, we have grown to become one of the UK’s leading centres for photography.

We are seeking to appoint a Curator to work as part of our small and dedicated team in Bradford.

The Curator will manage our exhibitions and contribute ideas to the future programme, with opportunities to curate and lead on exhibitions that champion high-quality, risk-taking photography that is accessible to all. Other duties include management of our touring exhibitions, developing partnerships, implementing press and marketing systems, supporting our learning and engagement work, and assisting with the charity’s fundraising aims.

The successful applicant will join us at an exciting time; Bradford is UK City of Culture 2025. This is a game-changer, putting the city firmly on the national and international stage. Impressions continues to be a key partner and the successful candidate will play an active role in shaping our programme for Bradford 2025.

We are looking for a professional, ambitious individual with strong project management skills, who is able to balance multiple priorities. Applicants must have relevant photographic knowledge and experience of working within a professional visual arts environment.

We believe this role is an exceptional opportunity for someone with the right mix of experience, enthusiasm and initiative. The role is perfect for someone looking to take their career to the next level.

The salary for this role is £27,000 to £30,000 p.a. dependent on experience.

If required, reasonable relocation costs will be available for the successful candidate.

For more information and how to apply download our Application Pack.

Closing date: Monday 10 October 2022 at midday.

You will receive an email to confirm receipt of your application.

Interviews will be held Thursday 20 October 2022 via Zoom.

Final stage candidates will be invited to a further in-person interview at Impressions Gallery in the week commencing 24 October 2022.

See: https://www.impressions-gallery.com/opportunity/curator/

Michael Kurtz who undertook a summer placement with Four Corners in July 2022, as part of its ongoing collaboration with Birkbeck, University of London, has written a blog piece about the Half Moon photography workshop's touring exhibitions. The blog begins: In 1976, the recently established Half Moon Photography Workshop developed an innovative new form of photography exhibition, with radical implications for the accessibility of alternative photographic work nationwide. Rather than framing and glazing prints, as had been standard practice, members of the workshop began assembling images and text on card panels which were then laminated in plastic and hung from eyelets...

Read the full piece here: https://www.fourcornersfilm.co.uk/blog/an-introduction-to-the-half-moon-photography-workshop-s-laminated-touring-exhibitions

The latest issue of British Art Studies carries two papers of interest to photo-historians. As noted earlier Luke Gartlan's 'Inventing Provinciality: St Andrews and the Global Networks of Early Victorian Photography' which examines the advent of photography in the Scottish university town of St Andrews in the context of local ties to the British Empire.

The second paper is Margaret J. Schmitz's  'Capturing Futurity: The Artistic Exchange of Alvin Langdon Coburn and H. G. Wells'  which demonstrates that Coburn’s experimentation with radical aesthetics began before 1910 and was instigated by his friendship with English science fiction writer, Wells. 

Both are available free of charge here: https://britishartstudies.ac.uk/issues/issue-index/issue-23

This new book examines the role of photography and visual culture in the emergence of ecological science between 1895 and 1939. It is about photography and the origins of ecology - about the practice of ecology as visual science. Picturing Ecology explores the contribution of visual experience and practice to scientific knowledge. It aims, in particular, to demonstrate the critical role played by photography in mediating and configuring new forms of knowledge emerging from ecology in the early twentieth century.

It concentrates mostly on the story of early British ecology, it recreates the field practices and social contexts of ecological science as a discipline carried out in excursions, public meetings, international gatherings and publications. Visual culture, and especially photography, is explored as central to all these discursive spaces. The study is underpinned by substantial research in a number of archives.

Picturing Ecology. Photography and the birth of a new science
Damian Hughes
Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 978-981-19-2515-3
£109.99 (hardcover) or £87.50 (epub)
Details here

The article "Inventing Provinciality: St Andrews and the Global Networks of Early Victorian Photography" is now available open access with the online journal British Art Studies. I've attached the direct link for interested members. 

https://www.britishartstudies.ac.uk/issues/issue-index/issue-23/st-andrews-and-the-global-networks-of-early-victorian-photography

This is part of my current ongoing research on St Andrews and Fife family albums of Victorian Britain -- primarily in the 1840s for this article -- and their local, national, and international connections.

I hope this might interest some members, especially those with an interest in regional small-town and rural photographic archives and their histories.  

This blog is to remind you not to throw out old photographs you may have lying around. About a year ago I was sorting through my old Kodachromes, especially those I took when backpacking in Europe in 1957/58.

They were taken on the original 35mm, 10 ASA (ISO) Kodachrome that was not only slow but also a bit contrasty.

The attached photograph is of the first Aldermaston Rally in Trafalgar Square on Easter Sunday 1958.   The rally preceded the march to Aldermaston. I had no particular reason to go to the rally and just happened to be there at the time.

I contacted the Museum of London who were interested in the image and asked me if I would send them an ink-jet print of it, which I did.

The Museum’s curator of photographs (Jilke Golbach) later said

"While our collection holds a substantial number of photographs depicting political gatherings and protests in the 1950s and 1960s they are without exception black-and-white.  It is unusual to see a colour photograph of this event, and this striking image — taken by a then 19-year-old Australian backpacker — will undoubtedly have an impact on contemporary museum visitors."

1.%20Aldermaston%2013%20x%2018.JPG

University of the Arts has published a blog post looking at the work being undertaken by Brigitte Lardinois and the Photography and Archive Research Centre (PARC) based at UAL on the Edward Reeves Archive in Lewis, East Sussex. This is home to the world’s oldest photographic studio — Edward Reeves Photography. Still active and operated by direct descendants of the founder, four generations of Reeves photographers have encapsulated the stories of the inhabitants of this English market town since its establishment in 1855. The current owner, Tom Reeves, now runs the Studio, still located on Lewes' High Street, with his wife Tania Osband. Together, they continue to add to its legacy.

Reda the full blog here: https://www.arts.ac.uk/knowledge-exchange/stories/inside-the-edward-reeves-archive-in-lewes

Impressions Gallery is hosting a seminar alongside its exhibition Invisible Britain: This separated Isle. Why does photography have a duty to ethically represent people from marginalised communities? How can photographs change stereotypical media narratives around class, and in particular working class identity? Is socially engaged photography the key to producing authentic and trustworthy visual representations of people and communities?

Join photographers Amara Eno, Ciara Leeming, Joanne Coates and filmmaker and curator Paul Sng for a lively and informative discussion. 

Invisible Britain: Photography & Representation
Saturday 8 October 2022, 1400-1530 (BST)
Tickets are ‘pay what you can afford,’ suggested donation of £3 or £5
Book: https://www.impressions-gallery.com/event/invisible-britain-photography-representation/

Katherine Howells at The National Archives has written a blog post on photography in India. She starts: In the second half of the 19th century, photography began to flourish in many areas of the world, including India. New photographic societies were established and amateur and professional photographers, both Indian and British, began to expand their activities and set up photographic studios.

With the 1862 Fine Arts Copyright Act, photographers and studios were able to secure copyright protection for their photographs in the United Kingdom. Photographers working in India took advantage of this opportunity, particularly when they intended to sell photographs abroad. The copyright records we hold at The National Archives therefore provide us with a small window into the photographic industries flourishing in India in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Marking South Asian Heritage month, this blog explores how commercial photography took off in India in the 19th century and highlights photographers appearing in the copyright collection who were part of this story.

Read the full blog post here: https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/early-photography-in-india-tracing-photographers-through-copyright-records/

Heritage Open Days taking place across British from 9-18 September 2022 include events relating to photography. The RPS is throwing open its building and holding a series of events around its own history;  Reading's role in the history of photography is explored, and Derby's W W Winter studio will be opening. 

Separately, the RPS is also running an Anthotype workshop on 17 September. Details here.

Take a look at these events and search for others here

The RPS events can be booked here: 

An enquirer is seeking information on the photographer Ted Reed, who did publicity stills for the 1955 Laurence Olivier film Richard III. Does anyone know anything about him or his studio? Two of his portraits from the 1940s are in the National Portrait Gallery collection.

Please respond here or message directly. 

Dr Grant Scott has announced that 12 August will be the first Bill Jay Day. Look out for articles, photographs and more to celebrate a remarkable man. 

#BillJayDay

In a message to friends and colleagues Dr Catherine Troiano has announced that she has re-joined the V&A Museum, London, as Curator of Photography, with a focus on contemporary and digital practices. She was previously the National Trust's inaugural Curator, Photography. That role has been filled by Anna Sparham. 

She was at the V&A Museum as an assistant curator from 2015-2018 and then Curator, Photographs from September 2018.  She completed her PhD at De Montfort University's Photographic History Research Centre. 

Catherine's 2019 appointment at the Trust was announced here: https://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/national-trust-appoints-troiano-as-national-photography-curator in 2019. 

The Public Engagement Research Fellow will spend the equivalent of one month (can be worked flexibly) at Pennine Heritage conducting research into an area of our archives, which will then form the basis for a public engagement activity. Our archives have been under-studied in relation to the history of science, so the Fellow may be the first researcher to explore some of these collections. The Fellow will report to our Heritage Manager, who will provide training as required in archival research, object handling, exhibition production, digital content production, and schools programming. There is potential for research into several areas of our archives, including:

• The national and global trade networks of local textile firms
• How the textile industry has shaped the landscape of the Calder Valley
• Pioneering local female photographers Alice Longstaff and Ada Westerman
• Vernacular Architecture in the Calder Valley
• Design and technology within the Birchcliffe Centre, the Grade II Listed former Baptist Chapel which Pennine Heritage owns and operates
• Local nursing and healthcare provision in the 20th century

Research topics are not limited to this list, and we welcome applications which engage with other areas of our archives. If you are unsure whether our archives contain enough material for your proposed research topic, feel free to contact our Heritage Manager, Dr Francesca Elliott, at admin@pennineheritage.org.uk and she will be happy to discuss your proposed topic.

Once appointed, the Fellow will work with our Heritage Manager to create a more detailed research plan, and to decide which type of public engagement output will best fit their research topic. Public engagement outputs could include: school learning packs, school group activity, online exhibition, online educational resource, in-person exhibition, short film, walking tour.

Details here: https://www.pennineheritage.org.uk/british-society-for-the-history-of-science-public-engagement-fellow/

Anna Sparham has been appointed the National Trust's National Curator, Photography. She has been doing the role for five months on a temporary contract for maternity cover. This has now been made permanent. She takes over from the inaugural curator Catherine Troiano.

Anna was previously freelancing based in her home city of Birmingham where she helped establish the Argenta Gallery . Before that she was curator of photographs at the Museum of London from 2006-2019. She continues to be a co-director of the Developed in Birmingham CIC. 

See: https://annasparham.wordpress.com/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-sparham-b7041664/?originalSubdomain=uk

The National Stereoscopic Association's Sessions on the History of Stereoscopic Photography are a free conference-within-a-conference presents international scholarship on the history of stereoscopic photography. In 2022 the Sessions on the History of Stereoscopic Photography at the 48th Annual 3D-Con will feature the following presenters and topics:

• Arched Tops and Chamfered Corners. Mr Denis Pellerin, London Stereoscopic Company
• The Stereoscopic Picturesque. Dr. Bruce Graver, Providence College
• Drawing in 3D: The History and Techniques of Constructing Stereoscopic Illusions by Hand. Dr Rod Bantjes, St. Francis Xavier University
• "The Stereoscopic Photograph" and "The Traveller": What We Learn from Underwood & Underwood's Failed Magazine. Dr Leigh Gleason, UCR Arts
• Food as a Racialized Subject in the Nineteenth-Century Stereoview.  Dr Melody Davis, Russell Sage College
• Manuel Gonzales, Underwood’s Mexican Stereographer of the Congo. Dr Neal Sobania, Pacific Lutheran University
• Images of Transylvania from the 1910s: Two Amateur Stereo Photographers. Dr Zsuzsanna Szegedy-Maszák, Hungarian National Museum
• America in 1940 in 3D color: The Mysterious Collection of Clyde A. McCoy. Dr Michael A. Amundson, Northern Arizona University
• Virtual Public Space Contested - Will the plaza survive in VR? Dr Rebecca Hackemann, Kansas State University

3D-Con 2022 - 48th Annual Convention • August 1-8 • Hotel Murano • Tacoma, WA. 
The history sessions take place on 5 August 2022 in two sessions: 
Session 1 - 8:00-9:55 AM PDT (1600-1755 BST),  Session 2 — 10:15-12:20 AM PDT (1815-2020 BST)
Details: https://3d-con.com/history.php

This is event is live only, although registration online is closed, attendees can register in person. 

This post is an opportunity to join The National Archives for a one-year research fellowship in photography. The Fellow will conduct original research into our photography collections – one of the largest and most significant collections of photographs in the United Kingdom, which covers the historical timespan of the medium. They will work collaboratively across departments, engaging historical, conservation, and heritage science expertise to activate new, interdisciplinary insights into The National Archives’ photography collections.

The Fellow will be embedded in the Research and Academic Engagement team, and guided by and work alongside our Collection Care experts and Records Specialists to develop their project(s).

See more and apply here: https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi?jcode=1803269

This summer, as part of its 75th-anniversary celebrations and in partnership with the BFI and Rio Cinema, Magnum presents an interrogation of its photojournalistic archives via film in a series of screenings and discussions. 

Magnum Photos is hosting its first UK Film Festival: Refocusing the Lens: from the Centre to the Margins from 30 July 30–3 August at the Rio Cinema in Dalston, London. The festival presents an interrogation of Magnum’s 75-year archive through five film screenings and discussions, each zooming in on issues of ethics, underrepresentation, and positionality behind the lens.

Organised as part of BFI’s Film Feels Curious, a UK-wide cinema season, the programme explores photojournalism and the urge to document global issues through the lens of curiosity — conscious of the outrage, empathy, and moral compulsion that drives the profession, as well as the voyeuristic, exploitative, and detached aspects that can accompany its undertaking.

The festival showcases work by four Magnum photographers from four locations: Khalik Allah in the USA, Chris Steele-Perkins in East Africa, Susan Meiselas in Central America, and Patrick Zachmann in the Mediterranean. Each film will be shown alongside relevant works by a wide range of local filmmakers.

The festival ties into the agency’s 75th-anniversary celebrations — centred around the theme ‘In Dialogue’ — and delivers a programme that offers layered perspectives on the same events and locations in a manner that questions, rather than accepts, traditionally privileged gazes. Each screening will be followed by an audience discussion session, led by acclaimed thinkers and professionals across the cultural sphere such as Zoé Samudzi, Dr. Errol Francis, Onyeka Igwe, Jamie Davis, Taous R. Dahmani, Dr. Arthur Asseraf, and Ileana Selejan. Bayryam Bayryamali & Abiba Coulibaly, festival organisers, state: “In our first film festival in London, we wanted to offer audiences a peek into the diverse collection of work produced by Magnum photographers across various continents. By pairing each film with work produced by a local filmmaker, the programme aims to examine the complexities and challenges of representation, the
power of the camera, and il/legitimate agents writing, shaping and sharing histories.”

Find the full festival programme here. Tickets are now available to purchase on the Rio Cinema website.