Blogs

John B Turner has published a series of papers under the general heading Notes on the collection of photographers’ collections for posterity, with five published and a further five due in 2023. 

John notes: 'I have written about the state of collecting photographs as art and social history in New Zealand at various times over the past 50 years from the point of view of a photographer, teacher, collector, curator, and photo historian and am particularly concerned about what is not happening to ensure the collection and preservation of the photographs of my fellow post-World War II generation who have so much of their life’s work invested in large collections of analogue negatives and prints.

This investigation, based on my own and other photographers’ experiences of trying to place their collections in suitable archives indicates, as suspected, that there is a widespread crisis unfolding, and that is the consensus of the librarians, archivists, and curators who we asked to share their thoughts on key issues for this perhaps long overdue survey.

Already there have been at least two attempts by leading curators, picture librarians and photographers to discuss issues around the collection and increasing non-collection of analogue photographs linked to the rapid acceptance of the digitisation of public records and new issues about how to save “born digital” photographs.'

The papers can be viewed here: 

Part 1:   https://www.photoforum-nz.org/blog/new-zealands-photo-treasures-heading-for-the-tip

Part 2:   https://www.photoforum-nz.org/blog/new-zealands-photo-treasures-heading-for-the-tip-part2

Part 3:   https://www.photoforum-nz.org/blog/new-zealands-photo-treasures-heading-for-the-tip-part3

Part 4:   https://www.photoforum-nz.org/blog/new-zealands-photo-treasures-heading-for-the-tip-part-4

Part 5:   https://www.photoforum-nz.org/blog/part-5-auckland-art-gallery-alexander-turnbull-library

Upcoming parts early 2023:

Part 6:   Auckland War Memorial Museum & Auckland Libraries

Part 7:   Internal Affairs & Heritage Departments

Part 8:   Canterbury Museum & Christchurch Art Gallery

Part 9:   Collection case studies: Tom Hutchins, Paul Gilbert, Max Oettli & Barry Myers

Part 10:   Curating, Barry Clothier Simple Image show & Clothier/Turner 1965 Artides show

John's introductory paper can be see in the Word file here

Image: G Leslie Adkin: Untitled, Horowhenua, c 1924. John B Turner Collection

This international conference showcases the latest research on Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904), whose multi-faceted work continues to have significance across moving-image cultures, photography, digital animation and the visual arts globally. Centring on the transatlantic movements of Muybridge, his work and ideas, and the diverse Muybridge collections in the US and the UK, the conference brings together leading scholars, curators, filmmakers and artists to share knowledge about the overall significance of Muybridge holdings in both countries and to reflect on the future of Muybridge studies.

Held in Kingston-upon-Thames – the birthplace of Muybridge in 1830 and where he returned for the last decade of his life until his death in 1904 – the conference marks the recent relocation of Kingston Museum’s Muybridge Collection to a purpose-built archive at the university’s award-winning building Town House.

The conference is organised by Kingston University’s Visual and Material Culture Research Centre in partnership with Kingston Museum and Stanley Picker Gallery, and is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Registration for the conference is free to book via Eventbrite.

See the full programme here: https://www.stanleypickergallery.org/events/main-events/moving-muybridge-transatlantic-dialogues/

For those unable to attend in person, the conference will be available to watch online and a link provided closer to the date.

A writer is seeking images of a photographic studio called Sounds Stills, 37 Moreton Street, London SW1. It was the studio where the late music photographer Michael Putland worked before he moved in 1969 to a new studio space. Can anyone help with an image of the exterior?

Please make contact via Michael Pritchard on behalf of the writer. 

An urban explorer has documented a rare survival, a former photographic studio in Preston. The studio opened in 1879 and was named the Grand Imperial Studio, occupied by J. Monk, photographic artist. The building was still in use as a studio into the early 1960s and appears to have been unused since then. 

David - known as Scrappy NW - first visited in 2019 and recently made a return visit. The premises are part of a series of rundown buildings on Church Street in Preston. In his words 'The main points of interest are on the top floor of the building which housed the dark rooms, portrait studio and changing areas. There is not too much left inside but just enough to show that the building was used as photographic studios long ago. Reels of film were lay on the floors covered in dust, the dark room had photographic materials left inside and the studio lights were still in situ in the portrait room. Additionally, several bottles were left behind; vitreous stone bottles made by J. BOURNE & SON. Denby & Codnor Park Potteries, In the portrait studio.'

See: https://www.aworldinruins.co.uk/grand-imperial-photography-studios- and follow up visit https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/grand-imperial-studio-of-j-monk-preston-june-19.122239/#post-1267939

Image left: The premises today / Google street view. 

The 12 February is Darwin Day and The Complete Photographs of Darwin has been added to the The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. This provides a detailed catalogue of all known photographs of Darwin – a dozen newly discovered – and c.300 printed variants produced up to the early 20th century. It is online and illustrated with 400 images.

The catalogue is an updated version of the photograph section of the iconography of Darwin by John van Wyhe in Darwin: A Companion (2021).

The Complete Photographs of Darwin: http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/vanWyhe_Complete_Photographs_of_Darwin.html

Image; A F J Claudet, 1842. 

A talk by photographer, author and historian Patrick M Dransfield, featuring his lost hoard of photographs of ‘Old Beijing’, 1986, with reflections on photography and art from Bill Brandt to Song Dynasty landscapes and David Hockney

Patrick M Dransfield majored in English and History of Art at Leeds University and holds a Masters in Chinese History from the School of Oriental & African Studies. Since hearing stories of his father’s travels to Asia as part of the Royal Navy in 1945-6, the worlds of travel and eastern philosophies have continued to fascinate him, alongside a profound wish to escape the mundane through art. Patrick is the author of audio book ‘Duel of the Sorcerers’, a deeply immersive WW1 spy thriller featuring Eastern cosmology; and ‘Track of Time: Moments of Transition’ a book based on the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club Wall Exhibition of his ‘Old Beijing’ photographs in October 2020.

Young Photographer in Old Beijing
Tuesday 28th March, 6 - 7:30pm
Headington Hill Hall, Headington
Road, Headington, OX3 0BP
Free, book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/young-photographer-in-old-beijing-tickets-535831294827

Hosted by Confucius Institute at Oxford Brookes University

This studentship is offered in conjunction with UCA’s Fast Forward project, led by Professor Anna Fox. Proposals are invited for an archive-based research project investigating transformations in representation of race, gender, and sexuality in work by generations of British photographers active from the 1980s to the 2000s. The PhD project will examine socio-political dimensions of the relationship of these practices to society and education, giving the successful candidate the opportunity to engage with less well-known archives of work by, e.g., Emily Anderson, Roshini Kempadoo, Tessa Boffin, Joy Gregory and Eileen Perrier.

For full details of the scope and context of the studentship, please visit: https://www.uca.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/

Dr Geoff Belknap, Keeper of the Department of Science and Technology at National Museums Scotland, will offer some ‘behind the scenes’ evidence of the challenges and considerations that have to be borne in mind when caring for a national collection. He has unparalleled experience of working with photography, having formerly been the Curator in charge of the photographic collection at the National Science and Media Museum at Bradford. He has published in journals and edited volumes in the history of science, photography and visual culture and his first monograph, From a Photograph, was published in 2016 with Bloomsbury Press on the history of photography in the later 19th century periodical press. He has appeared in print, TV and radio media, including the recent BBC 4 series The Art of Innovation.

This is a special lecture organised as a joint event between the Derbyshire Archaeological Society and the W W Winter Heritage Trust. This is an online-only talk via Zoom - click here to book via Eventbrite (donation). 

See: https://www.derbyshireas.org.uk/event/challenges-of-a-photographic-curator/

UPDATE: the recording can be seen here: https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/YlZ3Kqrqnm580IxMHd-F4sJeE0-QHnYqAcrF62vwd51O2D_ZONzboE69mhNAvSbo.kzbqtMwBNN1001rs

The Photography and the Archive Research Centre, based at London College of Communication part of University of the Arts, is to close after nearly 20 years. PARC was founded in 2003 by Professor Val Williams and Julian Rodriguez, then Dean of Media at LCC. After 15 years as Director – which saw partnerships with the National Media Museum, Tate, Photoworks, Magnum Photos and others Val Williams stepped down. Since 2018 her archive now resides at the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol.

In 2018, Directorship of PARC was taken over by Brigitte Lardinois who specialises in photographic archives and has strong links to the world of photojournalism through a decade working as Cultural Director of Magnum Photos. In her tenure as director of PARC she has built strong links with the UAL’s Archives and Special Collections Centre and focused PARC outputs on social engaged research and practice.

The Centre's stated aim was to facilitate practise-based and scholarly research that develops an understanding of lens-based works. PARC endeavours to widen participation with archive collections. PARC seeks to expand upon dialogues surrounding decolonialism, climate change, conflict and trauma within the institution and beyond. Its outputs include a wide range of events – exhibitions, publications, workshops, study days and conferences – with a special interest in archival collections, notably the documentation of war and conflict and the transfer of analogue archives to digital forms.

It has gathered a number of significant collections over the years and these will now migrate to the university's library and special collections. Lardinois will remain on the academic staff. 

See: https://www.arts.ac.uk/research/research-centres/parc
and: https://researchers.arts.ac.uk/558-brigitte-lardinois

Violet Banks (1896-1985) was born near Kinghorn, Fife and trained at Edinburgh College of Art, going on to become a schoolteacher at St Oran's, Edinburgh. In the late 1920s / early 1930s, Banks took photographs of her tours of the Hebrides.

Brownrigg will speak about Bank's photograph albums, held at Historic Environment Scotland and, further on the trail of Banks, speak about the postcards Banks made, as well as her wider photographs of Edinburgh and Scotland. Banks is featured in the current exhibition Brownrigg (Exhibitions Director at The Glasgow School of Art) has curated at City Art Centre, entitled 'Glean: Early 20th century women filmmakers and photographers in Scotland'. 

Photography of Violet Banks
Thursday 9 February 2023 at 1400
Free, Booking is essential, email archives@hes.scot to book a place
See: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/whats-on/event/?eventId=9b43cc8a-b573-462d-ac39-af7100db16a6

Wallis and Wallis is offering an interesting album of photographs by A R Dresserr and estimated at £200-300. The description reads: A fascinating and historically interesting photographic record of the visit of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show to Earl's Court in 1892, by A.R. Dresser, a well known photographer at the time, with introduction by Dresser stating that the photographs were mostly taken with a Crouch "Dresser" hand camera at F.8, and printed on Bromide paper, mostly from Eastman Film Negatives.

The 81 monochrome photographs are mounted on alternate pages, the opposite pages containing personal details of the members of the cast, and historical background of the various acts. Among those acts and members listed in detail are the Deadwood Stage coach, Annie Oakley, Chief of the Cossacks Prince Iran Makharadze, "Buffalo Bill" Cody, general manager Major Burke, Mexican Vaqueros, Sioux "Indians" and squaws, the Miss Farrells, and many others. Also detailed on most pages are the developing and printing processes and chemicals used. Hardback covers, the front cover gold embossed "Photographs - A.R. Dresser", the spine "Volume II". 

Details here

The National Stereoscopic Association is pleased to announce its fourth annual 'Sessions on the History of Stereoscopic Photography' at the 49th 3D-Con in Buffalo, New York. Presentations are welcome on any aspect of stereo-media from the inception of stereoscopic photography to immersive stereo media. We project stereoscopically on the 3D-Con's big screen, and our growing community of international scholars represent diverse research from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. All stereoscopic photography subjects from the historical to the contemporary are invited.

Please send an abstract of 500-600 words and a biography of 250-300 words and contact information by May 8, 2023. Notification of acceptance by May 29, 2023.  Digital images will be expected by July 5, 2023.

Call for Papers
Sessions on the History of Stereoscopic Photography IV
August 4, 2023
The National Stereoscopic Association’s 3D-Con
The Hyatt Regency Buffalo Hotel, Buffalo, New York
July 31-August 7, 2023
See: https://3d-con.com/history.php

Photographica, published under the auspices of the Société française de photographie, has put out a call for papers for its next issue which cover areas from a long history of prices of production and consumption of photographs. fluctuating values and photography market and heritage value. An extensive call is at the link below. 

On the value(s) of photographs: production, mechanisms, sources
Call for papers, Photographica Issue 8/2024
Deadline to submit articles: May 22, 2023

Details: https://devisu.inha.fr/photographica/1075

This exhibition between the National Portrait Gallery and Redbridge Museum showcases new portraits by photographer Eddie Otchere alongside photography and zines produced by local young people exploring the working life at the Ilford Limited photographic factory.

Delving into the Ilford Limited archive held at Redbridge Heritage Centre, it explores stories of past workers alongside memories from former workers of their time at Ilford Limited during the 1960s and 1970s before the company moved out of Ilford in 1976. These stories reveal the reality of starting a career straight out of school, working in pitch black laboratories, and the experiences of women who took leading roles in brand new professions such as Computer Science and Radiography.

At the heart of Ilford Limited is analogue photography and this display shows the beauty of Ilford film as a tool to experiment, make portraits and capture people’s stories.

Ilford Limited: Analogue Stories
until 12 March 2023
Redbridge Central Library, Clements Road, Ilford, IG1 1EA
Mon-Fri: 10am to 8pm Sat: 10am to 5pm Sun: Closed
Free
https://visionrcl.org.uk/exhibitions/ilford-limited-analogue-stories/

A year or so ago, I found a tinted daguerreotype of an unidentified young lady by Elliott & Fry (E&F). The case and lining paper behind the daguerreotype carry the E&F name and address (55 Baker St., London). The shape of the case and mount window seem quite unusual.

I am puzzled by this item for two reasons.

1. E&F were established in 1863. By this time daguerreotypes were not commonly made as far as I understand.

2, Although E&F are very well-known, I can find no other daguerreotypes, or indeed any other type of cased image, by the firm. 

I have some questions:

1. Has anyone seen any other daguerreotypes by E&F? 

2. Does anyone know if E&F, or other studios established after 1860, may have sub-contracted daguerreotype orders out to other studios or hired freelance daguerreotypists on an ad hoc basis? 

3. Does anyone know of any interesting literature on post-1860 daguerreotype production in London or elsewhere?

4. Does anyone recognise the sitter? 

I attach images of the case cover, lining paper and daguerreotype plate.

Calvert R. Jones: Photographs and Drawings is on view at Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs until 31 March, 2023. Reverend Calvert Richard Jones (1802-1877), the Welsh marine artist, is recognized as one of the most talented and sophisticated of the early photographers. The recent emergence of previously unknown calotypes, daguerreotypes and drawings from his family archive reveals a diverse and colourful artistic career. Most of these works are being exhibited for the first time. The newly discovered daguerreotypes are a true revelation. Only a single daguerreotype was recorded until last year when a small number of Jones’s family portrait daguerreotypes appeared.

Calvert Jones derived truth from nature and found in photography an accurate means of producing studies for artists. William Henry Fox Talbot’s most successful pupil, Jones explored the fusion of Talbot’s negative/positive calotype process with his skills as a draftsman and marine painter, particularly during his Mediterranean travels with Christopher Rice Mansel 'Kit' Talbot, Fox Talbot’s younger cousin. As a competent draftsman schooled in the rules of perspective and form, Calvert Jones brought a vitality and an unusually high degree of artistic sensitivity to the new medium of photography.

Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs, established in New York in 1984, is a dealer in 19th and early 20th century photographs.  The gallery is located at 962 Park Avenue at 82nd Street in New York City. Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday, noon-6pm and by appointment.

For more information, contact (212) 794-2064 or info@sunpictures.com or visit www.sunpictures.com.

The National Portrait Gallery has announced its opening programme with photography to the fore. The first exhibition will explore the life and career of twentieth century photographer, Madame Yevonde, who pioneered the use of colour photography in the 1930s. The show will survey the portraits and still-life works that the artist produced throughout her sixty year career, positioning Yevonde as a trailblazer in the history of British portrait photography. Since 2021 the NPG has owned much of Yevonde's archives and negatives and the exhibition will show vintage work alongside never-before-seen colour prints made from her negatives. A new book will accompany the exhibition. The exhibition is part of a three-year programme surveilling women in portraiture. 

Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm will share, for the first time, an extraordinary archive of rediscovered and never-before-seen photographs taken by Paul McCartney. Shot during the period in which John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were propelled from being the most popular band in Britain to an international cultural phenomenon, the exhibition provides a uniquely personal perspective on what it was like to be a ‘Beatle’ at the start of ‘Beatlemania’. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

In 2024 the gallery will show 150 vintage prints from Julia Margaret Cameron alongside that of contemporary artist Francesca Woodman. 

Nicholas Cullinan. Director of the NPG was asked by BPH how photography would be presented in the new NPG galleries and said that photography would be woven in to the displays throughout the gallery and would also have a gallery dedicated to photography as a medium. 

The NPG re-opens on 22 June 2023. 

Yevonde. Life and Colour
22 June – 15 October 2023

Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm
28 June – 1 October 2023

Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron. Portraits to Dream In
21 March – 30 June 2024

https://www.npg.org.uk/

The intellectual property expert Naomi Korn and the National Science and Media Museum form part of a case study into the use of orphaned works, and how adopting a risk aware approach to the use of 'orphaned' images in the Daily Herald archive instead of the risk averse approach typically adopted. This opened up the opportunity to digitise some of the Daily Herald images. The piece appeared in Archive and Records Association's arc magazine.

It is available free as a PDF here: https://naomikorn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ARC-Jan-Feb-23-inc-Risk.pdf

Dr. David Barber has published new research about Excelsior Stereoscopic Tours whose 3D cards feature in photo collections around the world. It explores the career of Milford Elsworth Wright (1861-1918), the stereographer behind the company and traces his journey from Perry, Ohio to the Lancashire mill town of Burnley.

See: www.pressphotoman.com

The Photographic Collections Network has several upcoming events. Booking is free. 

Creative Commons Licenses and Collections
Wednesday, February 1, 2023 - 2-4pm GMT free / donation, online
Want to know more about how to navigate the different CC licenses, and find out if they work for your archive or collection? In this two-hour training session, Creative Commons will provide a brief overview of what CC licensing and public domain tools are, as well as their context in copyright, and movements for open knowledge and culture. This will help you understand if CC is right for you and help you understand how to choose and use CC licenses and tools,via interactive exercises for workshop participants. 
https://fulcrm.link/2/16613/2897/r691148mrl44u7676m32845f977477r8

What Photographs Do
HOLDING DATE TBC Fri 3 March, 1:30-2:30, free/donation, online
What are photographs 'doing' in museums? Why are some photographs valued and others not? Why are some photographic practices visible and not others? What value systems and hierarchies do they reflect?

This talk by Elizabeth Edwards and Ella Ravilious explores how museums are defined through their photographic practices. It focuses not on formal collections of photographs as accessioned objects, be they 'fine art' or 'archival', but on what might be termed 'non-collections': the huge number of photographs that are integral to the workings of museums yet 'invisible', existing outside the structures of 'the collection'. These photographs, however, raise complex and ambiguous questions about the ways in which such accumulations of photographs create the values, hierarchies, histories, and knowledge-systems, through multiple, folded, and overlapping layers that might be described as the museum's ecosystem.
https://fulcrm.link/2/16614/2897/433mm4m7rr756fmr50u1mlr34778360c

Booking is free for all these events, with the option of a donation to support PCN's work. You will receive a confirmation email when you book, and the event link will be sent to you on the day of the event.