Blogs

A forthcoming symposium focuses on an often-neglected aspect of photography history - photographs of and by women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and more broadly, women and early photography around the world.

The project is inspired by our exploration of photographs taken by the Aberdeen-based photography studio of George Washington Wilson (1823-1893), who was named the Photographer Royal for Scotland in 1860. His collection is housed at the University of Aberdeen library, and consists of over 37,000 glass plate negatives, produced by the firm that he, and then his sons, headed from the 1850s to 1908. It includes landscapes, cityscapes, and portrait photographs from across Britain and its former colonies and beyond. The GWW Collection includes diverse representations of women, in terms of their location, class, occupation, and ethnicity. An online exhibition of a selection of these photographs can be seen via this link: Envisioning Women's Places: Photographs from the George Washington Wilson Collection · University Collections (abdn.ac.uk)

Professor Elizabeth Edwards, author of Photographs and the Practice of History (London: Bloomsbury, 2022) will be keynote speaker at this event.

The symposium has been coordinated by Dr Áine Larkin, Lecturer in French, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and Heidi Brevik-Zender, Associate Professor of French and Comparative Literature, University of California, Riverside. 

Helmut Newton (1920-2004) was one of the most singular and successful photographers of his generation, known for his provocative fusion of fashion, portrait, and erotic subjects.

Philippe Garner, a 50-plus years veteran of the art auction world, has admired Newton’s work since he discovered it in the late sixties.

He met Newton in 1975 and enjoyed his friendship until the photographer’s death in 2004. Now Vice-President of the Helmut Newton Foundation, he looks back on Newton’s life and work in response to questions from David Breuer, Chief Executive of the Ben Uri Gallery and Museum.

Immigrants and their Art: Helmut Newton: Living to make pictures
In conversation with Philippe Garner
Tuesday 17 May, 6.30 pm BST via Zoom
Book: https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing?eid=27679&

Although not photography, the related optical instruments of the microscope and telescope presented new ways of seeing, as did the camera. In the seventeenth century, human vision was technologically enhanced with the invention of the telescope and then of the microscope. Scenes of wonder emerged as the assisted eye traversed the night skies or delved into the fabric of the minute new stars and planets appeared at the end of Galileo’s tube and entire oceans were discovered in a drop of vinegar.  

This talk examines the effect of the telescopic and microscopic gaze upon English poetic production in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Tapping into archival and previously neglected sources as well as more famous literary works, the talk discusses the responses of wonder, satire, and philosophical reflection in both English and Neo-Latin verse on ‘Optick Glasses.’  

From an elephant turned mouse to a louse turned monster, these poems evince preoccupation with bodily forms and Ovidian transformations. Inspired by the Muse of the Lens, contemporary poetry thus expands and moulds its imaginative worlds, revealing its inextricable link with science in the period. 

The Muse of the Lens: Microscopes, Telescopes and Poetic Imagination in 17th- and 18th-century England 
19 May, 1700 (CEST) | 1600 (BST)
Ivana Bičak – University of Durham 
Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance (C S M B R) 
The event is free to attend but registration is required here

The archive of Elisabeth Buchmeyer Lewis (1935-2018) has been acquired by Hundred Heroines which will be staging a first look at it in June. After studying at the London College of Printing, Elisabeth soon gained a reputation as a modernist photographer.  By the time of her death in 2018, she had created a vast collection of images with immense social, political, and aesthetic value.

From rock stars to classic cars, Elisabeth’s photographs chart the course of an astonishing career. Beyond the allure of London’s music scene and the Morgan Motor Company, Elisabeth recorded the working lives of women, and artistically reminisced about her German childhood.

According to Katherine Riley 'She leaves behind an archive which forms a distinctive and fascinating view of a post-war world of optimism and rapid change.' 

A first-glimpse-into-the-archive show at the Heroines Hub in June. If you knew Elisabeth and would like to share a memory (either recorded or written) contact:  hello@hundredheroines.org

https://hundredheroines.org/historical-heroines/elisabeth-buchmeyer-lewis/

Dominic Winter’s first photography sale of 2022 comprises 253 lots, from the early to the nearly new. Highlights of the sale are two albumen prints by Julia Margaret Cameron, Alice Liddell as St Agnes and a portrait (see below) of Julia Jackson (Mrs Herbert Duckworth). The latter has interesting provenance and was gifted to the owner by the British artist and writer Angelica Vanessa Garnett (née Bell, 1918-2012), daughter of Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell, and granddaughter of the subject by her second marriage to Leslie Stephen. Both photographs are estimated at £10,000-15,000.

Other photographers of note include Cecil Beaton, Elizabeth Pulman, Henry King, Man Ray, Angus McBean, Tessa Traeger, a group of 5 very rare photographs attributed to Richard Banner Oakeley and three exceedingly rare late photographs of Upper Burma by Linnaeus Tripe.

There are good albums and collections relating to China and India, as well as USA and West Indies. The sale includes stereoviews and interesting collections of magic lantern slides and postcards. The sale finishes with the concluding part of the Richard Sadler collection.

Digital catalogues in various formats are now available on the website. Public viewing daily from Monday 16th May, 9.30-5.30 and day of sale from 9am.

For further information and enquiries please contact Chris Albury chris@dominicwinter.co.uk / 01285 860006

Dominic Winter Auctioneers, Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 5UQ

www.dominicwinter.co.uk

See the catalogue here: https://issuu.com/jammdesign/docs/dw_19may22?fr=sNTQ1MDMzNDQ0OTU

Top image: Lot 1. John H. Anderton. From a group of 28 photogravures. 

What is the shape and size of a photographic history that is written from the point of view of having no photographs? When photographs are destroyed, lost, repressed, or never intended to be permanent, it leaves a gap in what we usually refer to as our main research material.

By chance or by design, photographs disappear every day. They might be destroyed, or lost, or designed to fade. They might be rendered undiscoverable through complicated bureaucracy, secrecy, or algorithms. Contemplating the space left without photographs, a veritable foil to the enormity of the image archive, can enrich our understanding of photographic history and methodology.

In this 10th annual conference of the PHRC we will feature papers interrogating photographic histories that are not image led; photographic histories that excavate imageless histories. Each of these will consider topics that address themes like:

• Disappearing or fading photographs by design or by accident
• Histories of archival findings and losses
• Suppression of photographs
• Photography as auxiliary to other things
• Historiographical considerations of a photography without images
• Methodological innovations to reconstruct photographic cultures when images are not available, or never were
• Photographs rendered as data

Photographic History Research Centre (PHRC)
Leicester and online
13-14 June 2022
Details, programme and registration: https://photographichistory.wordpress.com/annual-conference-2022/

Today, Historic England has launched an interactive education tool which will display hundreds of images of the Queen visiting key heritage sites across England during her reign. The story map resource has been created by Historic England’s Heritage Schools team to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and will help school children learn about some of the significant places she has visited in their area of the country.

Funded by the Department for Education and run by Historic England, the Heritage Schools programme aims to help school children learn about their local heritage and its significance.

From opening important civic buildings like town halls and schools, to visiting museums, sports grounds and pubs, the map shows the huge variety of heritage sites the Queen has visited both during and prior to her reign. The story map not only teaches children about the Queen’s role as our monarch, but also highlights the heritage she has visited that is right on their doorsteps.

The story map is available to everyone via the Historic England website, and features images of the Queen visiting significant buildings, places and events in every region of the country. Alongside these images there is information about when and why the Queen visited, as well as a brief history about the site itself.

Many of the buildings are listed on the National Heritage List for England (NHLE), and children and the public can take part in the Platinum Jubilee commemoration, and make history, by contributing their own images, drawings or information about the building to the NHLE through Historic England’s Enriching the List project.

Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive, Historic England said “This interactive map shows the incredible variety of sites the Queen has visited in the past 70 years. We hope schools, teachers, parents and the wider public will explore the map, discover more about their local historic sites and follow in the Queen’s footsteps by supporting their local heritage.”

Image: (top): The Queen about to embark from Heathrow Airport with her Corgis for her annual holiday at Balmoral in 1981. Heathrow Airport originally opened in 1946 as London Airport. The headquarters and engineering workshops for the British Overseas Airways Corporation, now British Airways, were built between 1950-55. Engineer, Sir Evan Owen Williams, who also designed the original Wembley Stadium, envisaged a flexible building that would adapt to the needs of the aviation industry. The Queen has owned Pembroke Welsh Corgis since she was a child and has had more than 30 since she began her reign in 1952. (lower): The Humber Bridge was officially opened by the Queen on 17 July 1981. The bridge took eight years to build and over 1000 people worked on its construction, which cost £91 million. When it was first built it was the world’s longest single-span suspension bridge and it remains the longest in the UK. People had campaigned for a bridge for over a hundred years as the Humber Estuary was a barrier to trade and transport. The bridge is a total of 2,200 metres (1.4 miles) long, the towers are 155.5 metres (510 feet) tall, and the wire used in the bridge would wrap around the moon more than six times. It is estimated that more than ten million vehicles cross the bridge every year. In 2017 is was given Grade I listed status

On 10 May 1897 Isabella Bird was engaged to lecture on Western China at the Royal Geographical Society in London. Jacki Hill-Murphy who has recently published The Life and Travels of Isabella Bird will recreate this lecture, using some of the original magic lantern slides, and talk about the rest of Isabella's solo world travels and how she survived many dangers.

Jacki Hill-Murphy, who has recently published The Life and Travels of Isabella Bird, will recreate that lecture, using some of her original magic lantern slides and talk about the rest of Isabella’s solo world travels and how she survived many dangers.

Jacki is an explorer, teacher, author and speaker. She has spent the last 10 years researching female explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries and recreating their expeditions.

This event has been organised by the Royal Geographical Society's West of England and South Wales committee.

Isabella Bird's magic lantern slides from China
Jacki Hill-Murphy
12 May 2022 from 1930-2100
Live or online: BRSLI, 16 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN
See: https://www.brlsi.org/whatson/isabellabird/

A new exhibition titled The other Shakespear, which brings to life some of the earliest and finest images of the Arabian Peninsula is being launched this month at the Royal Geographical Society on Exhibition Road. This is the first time these photographs have been on public display for more than a century.  The photographs taken by Captain William Shakespear (1878–1915) show both the changing and unchanging nature of this extraordinary landscape and its people. 

Captain Shakespear was a man of enterprise with a fearless love of exploration. He was a soldier by training, a diplomat by profession and an amateur photographer, botanist and geographer by inclination. He explored, photographed and mapped large tracts of Northern Arabia in the early 19th century and, because of an extraordinary friendship with Abdulaziz ibn Saud, later King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Shakespear became a vital and unique intermediary between Britain and the Arab world before and during the early days of World War 1. 

Some of the glass slides will also be on display. Captain Shakespear’s maps, notebooks and photographs belong to the RGS collection. 

In the desert, Shakespear used a large plate camera adapted to take panoramas and a No.1 Panoram-Kodak. This was portable and could store several panoramas on a single film roll. Later, Shakespear also used a small folding camera made by Houghtons Ltd., then the largest camera manufacturer in Britain. The Ensignette took film roll and was robust and rust-proof. Its popularity led to a new breed of amateur photographers, known as the ‘Pocket Snap Shooters’.  

Photographic equipment was an essential part of Shakespear’s expedition equipment, and also included a Kodak Tank Developer, used to process negatives, often in extremes of temperature with limited water supplies. The remarkable results place Shakespear amongst the most important early photographers documenting life on the Arabian Peninsula.  

The Other Shakespear Exhibition  
10 am to 5.30 pm - 10 May to 6 June 2022
Free entry, The Pavillion, Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), Exhibition Road, London SW7
https://www.rgs.org/events/summer-2022/the-other-shakespear/

We are curating a small exhibition about the use of colour in late Victorian sculpture at the Henry Moore Institute this November.  We are trying to track down a good quality image of a sculpture taken by Frederick Hollyer, and wondered whether you might be able to help.

The photograph is of Alfred Gilbert's The Enchanted Chair. The photo, right, (which I again found on the Victorian Web) is from The Studio 1909. We are also looking for a good quality image of a sculpture by Ada Gell Freeman of Isis (see left). 

Many thanks!

Dr Nicola Jennings, Athena Art Foundation and Associate Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute of Art

If you are interested in gender related questions, photography and research, you are mostly welcome to join our new FB group "photography & gender". PS: Why are there just three ladies on this test chart?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/photographyandgender

The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art has made its Spring 2022 awards. Of particular interest to photographic historians are:

Mid-career Fellowship and Research Support Grant: 

• Justin Carville (Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Dun Laoghaire) for the project The Ungovernable Eye: Photographies of Race and Ethnography in Ireland

Research Support Grant: 

• Tania Cleaves towards research costs for the project Sun, Sex and the Senses: Nudist Photography in Britain, ca.1930–1960
• Murdo Macdonald towards research costs for the project C.T.R. Wilson’s Cloud Chamber Photographs

Event Support Grant :

• De Montfort University to support The State of Cultural Diversity in British Photography: Artistic Literacy, Educational Access and Institutional Policies conference to be organised by Gil Pasternak (Photographic History Research Centre - PHRC) in partnership with the Midlands-based community interest company Black Country Visual Arts (BCVA) and the ReFramed network.

See more here: https://www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/fellowships-and-grants/awarded/spring-2022/page/1

The latest issue of The Classic - the biannual magazine of photography - has just been published in time for Photo London. This issue (no. 7 Spring 2022) features several articles of particular interest to BPH readers including a look at the Getty Archive in London, an interview with Julian Sander of the Sander archive, and the Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac comes under the spotlight. In addition, the website also carries new features on photo-historical subjects. 

Download the magazine for free here: https://theclassicphotomag.com/  

Stereoscopy Day is an international celebration of the birth of stereoscopic 3-D. It celebrates the inventor of stereoscopy, British polymath Sir Charles Wheatstone, its pioneers and their successors up to the present day, its long history from its first Golden Age and subsequent periods of popularity, its rich diversity and multiple uses in various fields, as well as the sheer immersive magic it brings to any photograph and other applications.

Stereoscopy Day will be celebrated across the world every year on June 21st, which is the anniversary of the day in 1838 when Sir Charles Wheatstone officially presented his stereoscope to the Royal Society of London and demonstrated his theory of binocular vision. A more portable version of the stereoscope was later popularised by Sir David Brewster.

The idea of Stereoscopy Day was sparked on the official 180th birthday of stereoscopy, June 21st 2018, at King’s College London, with the talk “Professor Wheatstone, the inventor of the Stereoscope, was also there“. Sir Charles Wheatstone was the first appointed Professor of Experimental Philosophy at King’s College London, and the University holds the Wheatstone Collection.

Stereoscopy Day can be honoured in many ways to promote the history and present uses of stereoscopy. These can include sharing stereoscopic 3-D related posts on social media, such as stereo photos you’ve taken yourself or highlighting stereoscopic treasures within collections (don’t forget to add #StereoscopyDay), talks, presentations, meetings, interactive displays, workshops, exhibitions or special discounts.

Read more here: www.stereoscopyday.com

The Martin Parr Foundation is holding a seminar day to launch a new major publication from Gerry Badger,  Another Country, British Documentary Photography since 1945  (thames & Hudson) which showcases the social and cultural history of Britain since the Second World War. Organised chronologically, each chapter spans a period of social and cultural history, focusing on the major photographers, figures, institutions, publications and galleries that shaped the photographic climate of that time.

The seminar day will consist of a series of talks from photographers who are represented in the book, followed by a panel discussion. The day includes: 

• Introduction, with Martin Parr and Gerry Badger
• John Bulmer
• Hannah Starkey
• Sunil Gupta
• Elaine Constantine
• Panel discussion with Olivia Arthur (photographer and president at Magnum Photos), Gerry Badger (writer), Sunil Gupta (photographer), David Hurn (photographer), Alona Pardo (curator, Barbican) and Martin Parr (photographer).

For details and to book click here: https://www.martinparrfoundation.org/events/another-country/

Image:  Manchester by John Bulmer / Popperfoto. Featured in The North, published by Bluecoat Press.

The latest number of the Science Museum Group Journal (Spring 2022) includes a paper by Efram Sera-Shriar titled Photographic plates and spirit fakes: remembering Harry Price’s investigation of William Hope’s spirit photography at its centenary. 

Access is free here: http://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/browse/issue-17/photographic-plates-and-spirit-fakes

After 15 years of campaigning The Cinema Museum’s future looks bright. At last we have a chance to secure a permanent home for the Museum and save a well-loved, unique heritage building (The Lambeth Workhouse, once home of Charlie Chaplin). We are thrilled; we can’t wait to buy it, mend it and share it with those who love cinema, film, creativity, architecture, stories, memories and all the good that comes from positive social change, pro-environmental behaviour and caring communities.

BACKGROUND
Since 2007 The Cinema Museum has campaigned to secure a permanent home at The Master’s House, London SE11, Lambeth, just over the Southwark border. With no rights to renew, changing landlords, short annual leases that restricted access to grants and ongoing threats that our home was to be sold to the highest bidder – it was a long, hard, stressful slog. But its over…well, almost!

THE FUTURE
We just signed a 4-year lease with our landlords, Anthology (part of the Lifestory Group) – with an option to purchase the Master’s House buildings for £1 million at any time over the next four years. That might not seem much to raise in 4 years, but the buildings need MANY millions spending on them – so we have 4 years to raise a LOT of money – but we are reenergised, reinvigorated and with your help, we will do it. So - to the essence of this statement – our deep, respectful thanks.

We are grateful to Anthology (part of Lifestory Group) for giving us the legal certainty we need to save both The Cinema Museum and The Master’s House buildings. We are grateful to the Mayor of London and the GLA who were supportive of the Museum throughout. We are grateful to both officers and politicians at Lambeth Council, who provided over a decade of kind help and support in getting the Museum to this stage. We are grateful to officers and politicians at Southwark Council who also took us under their wing. We are grateful to Art Fund for emergency funding during Covid. Thank you to all our local partners in Lambeth and Southwark for everything you do for us. And - Museum Development London (funded by Arts Council England and Art Fund) who have expertly advised and supported us for over a decade, THANK YOU!

BUT they are organisations, not people, so thank you all, so much, every one of you who has stood up for us, signed our 62,000+petition and donated to our £100k+ crowdfunders. Thank you to our visitors, neighbours, friends and most importantly - our amazing, giant-hearted and hard-working volunteers - past and present. Thank you all for your pro bono advice; your work; your time; your money. Thank you for your generosity, kindness, encouragement, trust and belief. Thank You EVERYONE - this success has got your name written all over it - we will never forget.

Want to help us make this happen? You can make a donation at https://tinyurl.com/5wttnepe
We’d love to hear from you info@cinemamuseum.org.uk

Visit the museum website: http://www.cinemamuseum.org.uk/

The National Stereoscopic Association is happy to announce plans for a live convention and is seeking scholarly papers on the history of stereography for our third annual 'Sessions'.

Presentations are welcome on any aspect of stereo-media from the inception of stereoscopic photography to contemporary virtual and augmented reality. Topics include but are not limited to: historical and archival research; studies on collecting and the culture of stereography; marketing and incorporation; intersectionality; immersive media, interactivity and performance; stereoscopic perception; 3D cinema and virtual reality; instrumentality and simulation. Papers on topics from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century are invited.

Presenters may choose to present live or via a pre-recording. Please use the link to upload an abstract of 500 words, a biography of 250 words, and contact information:

Call for Papers

The National Stereoscopic Association’s: Sessions on the History of Stereoscopic Photography III
at the 48^th Annual 3D-Con, The Hotel Murano, Tacoma, Washington, August 5, 2022.  https://3d-con.com/?id=nsa_3d_con_menu

Deadline for submissions: May 15, 2022.

Please be aware that conditions may change with COVID-19. Applicants for the “Sessions” and attendees are encouraged to check the website for the convention for updates: https://3d-con.com/?id=nsa_3d_con_menu

Flints Auctions are to offer a 'pre-production' Compass camera 1936/37, with the serial number 1015. The camera, also known as the Compass I, was withdrawn after its initial public offering and buyers offered the redesigned Compass II camera.   The Compass camera was the brainchild of the maverick designer and politician Noel Pemberton-Billing and manufactured by Le Coultre et Cie. According to the auctioneers this is the first time a Compass I has been offered at auction and it is estimated at £12,000-18,000. The sale takes place on 23 April 2022. 

The Compass I differed from the Compass II in the following respects:  

• This camera is 3mm shorter and 3mm less thick than the version II
• The lens has no name or data
• The lens cap is separate and not attached The 'Le Coultre' name does not appear on the outside of the camera
• No lens cap depth of field calculator
• More flush spirit level
• There is no hinged magnifier
• The swivel mount is for a small screw
• No option for cable release
• The wheel on the front is engraved 'Shutter Winder'
• Inside the back is engraved 'World Patents Pending' Back engraved 'Compass Cameras, London. Pemberton Billing, Patents/ Manufactured for the Licencees' - No mention of LeCoultre

The differences and best description of the Compass camera was given by Dave Todd in a series of articles in Photographica World. 

See the full description here: https://www.flintsauctions.com/auction/lot/lot-99---a-pre-production-lecoultre--cie-compass-camera/?lot=14329&so=0&st=Compass&sto=0&au=38&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=0&pp=50&pn=1&g=-1