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Dix Noonan Webb is to offer 56 photography medals dating from 1874-1897 awarded to Frank Meadow Sutcliffe of Whitby. Sutcliffe (1853-1941) was exhibited widely during his lifetime and his cabinet card noted that he was the recipient of 62 medals.. He was a member of the Photographic Society from 1874, and is best known for his views of Whitby and the surrounding area, 

Although the provenance is not given these medals along with the gold medals (which are not being auctioned) were previously on display in the Sutcliffe Gallery, Whitby. 

The auction takes place on 3 June 2021 and the lot is estimated at £2400-3000.

See: https://www.dnw.co.uk/auctions/catalogue/lot.php?auction_id=594&lot_uid=396470

UPDATE: The lot sold for £6500. 

The catalogue description reads: 

The 56 medals awarded between 1874 and 1897 to the pioneering photographic artist Frank Sutcliffe, from Whitby, Yorkshire, one of the first photographers to create 'art' from his images:

International Exhibition of all Fine Arts Industries and Inventions, 1874, a bronze medal by G.T. Morgan, bust of Prince of Wales left, rev. Albert Hall, named (Francis Meadow Sutcliffe, Catalogue No. 4425 etc), 52mm (BHM 2992; E 1633);
Un-named Society [perhaps Liverpool or Newcastle-upon-Tyne-related], a bronze medal, unsigned, robed and winged female inscribing tablet on pillar, rev. wreath, named (Swan Plate Competition, 1881, Awarded to Mr F.M. Sutcliffe, for Landscape), 50mm;
Dundee and East of Scotland Photographic Association, 1882, a silver medal, unsigned [by Whytock & Sons, Dundee], arms and supporters, rev. exhibition dundee, un-named, 41mm, 27.54g (cf. DNW M11, 1121);
Photographic Society of Great Britain, bronze medals (4), unsigned [by W.J. Taylor], bust of Prince Albert left, revs. female driving quadriga, named (Frank M. Sutcliffe, Exhibition 1882; F.M. Sutcliffe, Exhibition 1886; Frank M. Sutcliffe, Exhibition 1887; Frank M. Sutcliffe, Exhibition 1889), all 64mm (cf. BHM 2525; E 1478);
Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, First Class, a bronze medal after W. Wyon, bust of James Watt left, rev. legend, named (Frank M. Sutcliffe, for Instantaneous Views, 1882), 45mm (E 1272);
Bristol & West of England Amateur Photographic Association, medals by J.A. Restall for Lavars (4, two silver, two bronze), arms and supporters, revs. international exhibition, named (silver: Frank M. Sutcliffe, 1883-4, F.M. Sutcliffe; bronzes: F.M. Sutcliffe), all 55mm, silver total wt. 132.58g (cf. DNW 64, 1136);
Photographic Exhibition, Northampton, Prize Medal, a bronze medal by J.S. & A.B. Wyon, arms and supporters, rev. legend, named (F.M. Sutcliffe, 1884-5), 51mm;
Cardiff Photographic Society Exhibition, medals by J.A. Restall (3), in silver (2) and bronze, female seated left, head reverted, shield with Welsh dragon below, revs. wreath, named (silver: 1886, Figure Study, F.M. Sutcliffe, 1888, F.M. Sutcliffe, Class XXIIII; bronze: 1888, F.M. Sutcliffe, Class III), all 51mm, first hallmarked London 1887, silver total wt. 126.50g;
Dundee and East of Scotland Photographic Association, 1886, a silver medal, unsigned [by Whytock & Sons, Dundee], arms and supporters, rev. exhibition dundee, un-named, 41mm, 28.45g (cf. DNW M11, 1121), reverse with brooch mount;
Photographic Society of Ireland, a bronze medal, unsigned [by Woodhouse], cruciform shields, rev. wreath, named (Triennial Exhibition, Awarded to Frank M. Sutcliffe, Class 6 No.16, 1887), 51mm (cf. DNW 188, 757);
Borough of Nottingham, Art Museum, Medal for Success in Art, a silver medal, unsigned, arms, rev. legend, named (Exhibition of Photographs, 1887, to Frank M. Sutcliffe for No. 47), 72mm, 119.67g;
Crystal Palace Photographic Exhibition, 1888, a bronze medal by J. Pinches, Britannia holding caduceus and key, opening the doors to the exhibition, lamb and helmet at her feet, rev. legend above wreath, un-named, 41mm (Allen p.138; MJP p.33);
Dundee and East of Scotland Photographic Association, 1888, a silver medal, unsigned [by Whytock & Sons, Dundee], arms and supporters, rev. exhibition dundee, named (Awarded to F.M. Sutcliffe), 41mm, 25.76g (cf. DNW M11, 1121);
Gloucestershire Photographic Society, a silver medal by H.B. Sale, arms and supporters, rev. wreath, named (April 1888, F.M. Sutcliffe, Class 9), 45mm, 50.22g;
Liverpool Amateur Photographic Association, Prize Medal, silver medals by Brookes & Adams (2), arms and supporters, revs. tablet above wreath, named (International Exhibition 1888, F.M. Sutcliffe), both 44mm, total wt. 79.00g (cf. DNW 131, 514);
Borough of Oldham, bronze medals (2), unsigned, arms and crest, revs. wreath, named (Photographic Exhibition, F.M. Sutcliffe, 1888), both 45mm (cf. DNW 64, 1132);
Coventry & Midland Photographic Society, a silver medal, unsigned, arms and crest, rev. camera within elaborate wreath, named (F.M. Sutcliffe, Champion, Class 5, 1889), 45mm, 42.65g;
Crystal Palace Photographic Exhibition, 1889, a bronze medal by J. Pinches, Britannia holding caduceus and key, opening the doors to the exhibition, lamb and helmet at her feet, rev. legend above wreath, named (F.M. Sutcliffe, Series-Cl. A, Sec. 2), 41mm (Allen p.139; MJP p.33);
Derby Corporation Art Gallery, 1882 [struck 1883], Industrial Art Prize Medal, a bronze medal by Phillips for P. Vaughton, crowned arms, rev. robed female with accoutrements of art, building in background, named (F. Sutcliffe, Whitby, June 1889), 39mm;
Mechanics’ Institute, Keighley, bronze medals by J. Moore (2), robed female standing in landscape, camera at right, revs. legend, named (F. Sutcliffe, 7 Jany. 1889, Champion; F. Sutcliffe, 7 Jany. 1889, Picture), both 45mm;
Photographic Exhibition, Richmond, Surrey, a silver medal, unsigned [by J.A. Restall], crowned arms, rev. wreath, named (Awarded to F.M. Sutcliffe for Series of Landscapes, 1889), 45mm, 48.33g;
Photography, bronze medals by J.A. Restall (2), seated robed female, camera equipment at left, revs. wreath, named (Medal for General Study won by F.M. Sutcliffe, ‘Coventry’ Exhibition, 1889; Medal for Best Picture, won by F.M. Sutcliffe, Royton, 1890), both 38mm;
FRANCE, Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1889, a bronze medal by L.A. Bottée, Marianne crowning seated artisan, Exposition pavilion and Eiffel Tower below, rev. Fame seated on branch of tree, blowing trumpet, named (F.M. Sutcliffe), 63mm (Maier 131; PBE 9; ANS Exh. Cat. 1910, 15; BDM I, 231; cf. DNW 176, 373);
GERMANY, Photographische Jubiläums Ausstellung, Berlin, 1889, a silver medal by O. Schultz, male bust right, rev. radiant tablet, named (Zuerkannt Herrn Frank M. Sutcliffe), 45mm, 50.80g;
U.S.A., Photographic Society, Chicago, Art Institute, bronze medals (3), unsigned, eagle with feet resting on U.S. shield of arms, revs. 1st annual exhibition may 1889, named (F.M. Sutcliffe), all 38mm;
Crystal Palace Photographic Exhibition, 1890, a bronze medal by J. Pinches, Britannia holding caduceus and key, opening the doors to the exhibition, lamb and helmet at her feet, rev. legend above wreath, named (Frank Sutcliffe, Class C, Sec. 1), 41mm (Allen p.140; MJP p.33);
Mechanics’ Institute, Keighley, medals by J. Moore (2), in silver and bronze, robed female standing in landscape, camera at right, revs. legend, named (silver: F.M. Sutcliffe, Champion, 1890; bronze: F.M. Sutcliffe, Subject Pictures, 1890), both 45mm, silver 46.70g;
Newcastle-on-Tyne and Northern Counties Photographic Association, a bronze medal by J.A. Restall, elevation of church, rev. camera, central tablet named (Awarded to F.M. Sutcliffe, 1890), 45mm (cf. DNW M11, 1105);
Liverpool International Photographic Exhibition, a silver medal by J.A. Restall, arms and supporters, rev. camera, tablet and portrait on easel, named (1891, F.M. Sutcliffe), 45mm, 39.00g;
International Photographic Exhibition, Leeds, medals (3), unsigned [by J.A. Restall], in silver and bronze (2), classical male head right, radiant star around, revs. crested arms and supporters, municipal art gallery above, named (silver: F.M. Sutcliffe, Marine and Clouds, Leeds, 1891; bronze: Landscapes, F.M. Sutcliffe, Leeds, 1891, Outdoor Groups, F.M. Sutcliffe, Leeds, 1891), all 45mm, silver 40.17g (cf. DNW M11, 1119);
U.S.A., The Society of Amateur Photographers of New York, Fourth Annual Exhibition, a silver medal, unsigned, American eagle above camera on radiant sun, rev. wreath, named (Frank M. Sutcliffe, for Artistic and Technical Excellence, 1891), 57mm, 53.78g;
U.S.A., World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893, a bronze medal by C.E. Barber, figure of Christopher Columbus modelled by A. St. Gaudens, rev. legend on tablet, named (F.M. Sutcliffe), 77mm (Baxter 87; BDM I, 122; Eglitt 90);
FRANCE, Photo Club de Paris, 1897, a uniface plated plaque, unsigned, flower, named (F.M. Sutcliffe), 90 x 60mm;
Restoration of Royton Parish Church of St Paul, Photographic Exhibition, a silver medal, unsigned [by Elkington & Co], winged female standing in portico, flanked by camera and portrait on easel, rev. elevation of the Church, un-named, 45mm, 39.73g;
The Fine Art Society, Champion Prize Medal, a silver medal by J. Moore for Restall, robed female standing in landscape, camera at right, rev. wreath, named (F.M. Sutcliffe, 1st Prize, Professional Work, Instantaneous), 45mm, 46.64g;
Newcastle-on-Tyne and Northern Counties Photographic Association, silver award medals (2), unsigned [by J.A. Restall], adorned head, revs. wreath, un-named, both 39mm, total wt. 60.34g;
AUSTRIA, Ehrenpreis des Club der Amateur-Photographen, Vienna, medals by H. Jauner (2), in silver-gilt and plated light bronze, bust of Louis Daguerre left, revs. wreath, named (Frank Sutcliffe in Whitby), silver-gilt 43mm, 37.30g, bronze 60mm (Hauser 3227-8; Horsky 7241; Wurzb. 1569) [56].

The text below is provided in response to a request from Roger Hyam for a fuller explanation of the “Reversal F” ( a Kodak term ) direct-positive emulsion technology used in Kodak PR10 instant Film and Ektaflex products which I referred to in the “Interesting Imaging Systems” article I posted on my page a week ago which came with a free download of my recollections document. 

I didn’t explain the mechanism of the Reversal F process in detail. The name is misleading because it is not a “reversal” system but uses a positive-working emulsion. I mentioned the discovery of the effect when inadvertently, the dark-room lights were switched on while a film was being developed. The emulsion concerned had high internal sensitivity. That is, much of the latent image silver was produced in the interior of the emulsion crystals or “grains”. In this case it was because the precipitation process which produced the grains created a lot of disorder in the structure of the crystal lattice. These defects form “sensitivity centres” or localised regions which trap electrons formed during exposure to the imaging light. This is the first step in the normal process of latent image formation and is followed by the migration of silver ions within the crystal to the trapped electron and the formation of an atom of silver. The presence of the silver atom increases the effectiveness of the sensitivity centre which retains subsequently trapped electrons for longer thus giving more time for a silver ion to add another atom on combination with the second and later trapped electrons. The process continues until the cluster of silver atoms reaches a number sufficient to render the crystal more susceptible to reduction during the development process. Usually, the crystal surfaces are treated with chemical sensitisers, typically sulphur or gold compounds or a combination of both. These usually produce more competitive sensitivity centres which result in most of the latent image being formed on the surface.

If this had been the case when the discovery was made, the film would have simply fogged. Because most of the latent image had been formed internally the situation was different. The dark-room lights provided a flood of released electrons into the conduction band of all the coated grains. In the grains exposed during imaging these mobile electrons were trapped by the latent image. In the now swollen wet emulsion layer the balance between the surface and interior of the grains was changed. Unexposed grains now had surface sensitivity sufficient to compete successfully for electrons and therefore formed latent image silver on the surface. This is probably because the “positive holes” ( bromine atoms ) formed when silver atoms are formed can escape from the crystal surface rather than be available to reverse the formation of silver atoms while still near the latent image.

In the absence of silver halide solvents or substances which can disrupt the crystal structure and reveal the internal image, the surface latent image is the only catalyst for the development process so the grains which had been exposed to image light and had been prevented from forming surface silver by the internal latent image during the second non-image exposure were not developed. The response of the emulsion was therefore positive.
When it came to producing positive-working emulsions for the instant film products decades had passed and the control over emulsion precipitation and chemical sensitising had been transformed. Frank Evans in Rochester produced beautiful, pure silver bromide emulsions like the example I included in my piece which I made when working on the Ektaflex project. These were made in two precipitation stages. Firstly an emulsion was produced to provide a core. This was then chemically sensitised with sulphur ( and gold I think ) after which an outer shell of silver bromide was added. Finally the surface was sensitised with sulphur.

The other major change was to replace light as the generator of the non-image-wise electron injector with a chemical source. Like the developing agent this, so-called “nucleating agent” ( a poor name in my view ) is a reducing agent but a little less subtle. The developing agent is gentle enough not to reduce grains not decorated with latent image, relying on the latent image’s catalytic action to speed up the process and so distinguish exposed from unexposed grains. The nucleating agent was on the other hand not so powerful that it reduced any silver halide available like a fogging agent in a reversal process. Also, in the case of Ektaflex, the same simple solution had to process both positive and negative versions so the nucleating agent had to be incorporated in the film structure.

You will probably now appreciate why I didn’t include this in my article!

Image: Silver Bromide 'reversal F' grains. 

The photographic art reproduction came into being simultaneously with the invention of the medium: Joseph-Nicéphore Niépce captured engravings in his earliest heliographs, while William Henry Fox Talbot praised the reproductive capacities of the calotype in The Pencil of Nature (1844). As much as art has influenced photographic reproduction (for instance, Louis Daguerre who arranged sculptural pieces into elaborate still lives recalling those by Dutch Golden Age masters or, perhaps, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin), the reproduction has influenced art. As Walter Benjamin has influentially argued, it put the 'aura' of the original into question. Together with Paul Valery and Erwin Panofsky, Benjamin sparked a century-long debate on the interrelationship between the original and the copy, which is still far from any decisive conclusion with Peter Walsh, Michelle Henning, Georges Didi-Huberman, and Bruno Latour readdressing the problem in the last decade.

What is more, the other aspects of the photographic reproduction have received much less scholarly attention. Despite the valuable efforts of Dominique de Font-Réaulx, Stephen Bann, and Patrizia Di Bello, there is still much to be discovered with regards to its materiality, function, and reception: What technical challenges has photographic reproduction faced since the appearance of the medium and how has it resolved them? How have new technologies changed the relationship between the original and the copy? What were the multiple uses of photographic reproductions? What do they tell us about the aesthetic taste of their day? What impact has the photographic reproduction had on the fine arts since the nineteenth century? Does it itself have any artistic value?

We invite proposals dealing with these and other aspects of the photographic art reproduction from academics, museum professionals, and postgraduate students that work in any related discipline. Please email a 300-word abstract for an individual paper (20 mins) or an object-in-focus presentation (10 mins) to sofya.k.dmitrieva@gmail.com by 18th June 2021 along with a brief speaker biography (max 50 words).

Held by the University of St Andrews in conjunction with the Centre André Chastel, the conference bridges two major centres of early photography, St Andrews and Paris. It is organised by the members of Refocus!, a cross-disciplinary postgraduate project that aims to explore the history of St Andrews through the research of the town's rich early photographic legacy: facebook.com/RefocusStAndrews

The conference will take place on 23 July 2021. 

In collaboration with the Science Museum Group and Senate House Library, ‘The Media of Mediumship: Encountering the Material Culture of Modern Occultism in Britain’s Science, Technology, and Magic Collections’ project aims to transform understandings of the relationship between science, technology, and unorthodox forms of spiritual belief in modern Britain. 

This project will produce a knowledge exchange, events, and creative performance programme designed to showcase the occultural use history of artefacts and collections held by the Science Museum Group and Senate House Library. These activities will explore how seemingly secular technological and scientific instruments— cameras, radios, telegraphs, and other objects— have been used by spiritual practitioners and sceptics alike to probe the existence of an unseen world. The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and follows on from the Popular Occulture in Britain, 1875-1947 research network.

The project has published its first blog here: https://mediaofmediumship.stir.ac.uk/2021/04/30/touching-the-past-in-intangible-times/

Image: Quarter plate ‘Cameo’ camera manufactured by W. Butcher & Sons, London (made c. 1915–20).
Image courtesy of Science Museum Group, © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation has announced the long and shortlists for its 2021 Photography and Moving Image Book Awards, chosen from over 180 submissions. The books in the running address global issues related to gender, identity, history, social injustices, community and memory.

Ranging from untold stories of contemporary society, to innovative thinking about the future of film from an African perspective, the diverse lists reflect the Foundation’s enduring recognition of attentive and original books that will likely have a lasting impact on their field.

This year’s winners will receive prize money of £5,000 each. For both categories, the shortlist selected by the judging panel aims to showcase innovative and coherent bodies of work with a focus on cultural relevance for our current times and in years to come. The judges also placed emphasis on each publication’s design, texture and haptic qualities, elements indicative of the collaborative approach taken by writers, artists, editors and designers.

The judging panel for the Photography Book Award commented: “This year’s longlist demonstrates that photography books with substance are more powerful than simply beautiful photography. The submissions revealed a strong sense of innovative storytelling about contemporary society, made clear through the way images have been combined as well as the texts included and the design of the books. The longlist is an incredible mix of archive, artists, historians, photographers and theorists.”

Professor Gideon Koppel, Judge, Moving Image Book Award comments: “Now seems to be a particularly relevant time to be thinking about moving pictures and sounds, and how this field interacts with other ideas about humanity. We are in the middle of a technological revolution, where there is an acceleration of new ways to make and experience moving images and sound. So it didn't surprise me to see a noticeable collection of books musing on the future by looking to the past.”

Sir Brian Pomeroy CBE, Chair of the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation said: “It’s been fantastic to see such a strong year for submissions, and the eclectic range of genres that both longlists encompass. The Awards are an important reflection of contemporary society, and the politics and cultural experiences from the previous year. Photography and Moving Image books continue to give a voice to people and communities across the world.”

SHORTLIST - Photography Book Award

• Centralia by Poulomi Basu (Dewi Lewis Publishing). Basu’s Centralia brings to light the important lives of indigenous women in India and their families, whose voices, stories and fight are rarely heard. Through a highly intelligent combination of texts and powerful images, the book explores the ways that our perceptions of reality and truth are often manipulated.
• Destiny edited by Myles Russell-Cook with contributors (National Gallery of Victoria) In Destiny, Russell-Cook presents a timely monograph showcasing over 40 years of work by photographer and artist Destiny Deacon. Deacon is known for having coined the term ‘blak’, and her work across photography, video, printmaking, mixed media and installation is an interrogation of the way in which Aboriginal people have been, and continue to be,
  misrepresented within popular culture.
• Dream is Wonderful, Yet Unclear by Maria Kapajeva (Milda Books) Kapajeva’s book is an extraordinary journey through contemporary social history and personal memory. Dream is Wonderful, Yet Unclear explores the community, of which Kapajeva’s family was part, surrounding a now closed textile mill in Narva, Estonia, that
  suffered deeply after Estonia asserted its independence from Russia. With a focus on women and socio-political matters in post-Soviet culture, the work is beautifully clever and conceptually rigorous.
• Sunil Gupta: From Here To Eternity by Sunil Gupta, edited by Dr Mark Sealy MBE (Autograph in association with The Photographers’ Gallery and Ryerson Image Centre) Sunil Gupta’s life and long career in photography and activism are charted through a rich volume of personal and political archival material. Gupta’s socially engaged projects and works have been instrumental in raising awareness and visibility around the political realities concerning the fight for international gay rights, and the book traces the intersectional histories of migration and gay liberation.

Judging panels
The judges of this year’s Photography Book Award were Patrizia Di Bello, Professor of History and Theory of Photography at Birkbeck, University of London; Anna Fox, acclaimed British photographer and Professor of Photography at the University for the Creative Arts; and Jennie Ricketts, independent photography editor, curator, consultant and mentor.

The judges of this year’s Moving Image Book Award were Erika Balsom, Reader in Film Studies at King’s College London; Steven Bode, Director of Film and Video Umbrella, the UK’s leading makers of artists' moving image; and Gideon Koppel, Professor of Film at Manchester School of Art.

Upcoming events
● 20 May, The Photobook Sessions, a free day-long programme of talks about photobook publishing. Presented in partnership with Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London.
● 1 June, digital winners event 1, in partnership with The Photographers’ Gallery.
● 3 June, digital winners event 2, in partnership with The Photographers’ Gallery.

The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation
The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation was created in 1985 by Andor Kraszna-Krausz, the founder of Focal Press. Since 1985 the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation Book Awards have been the UK’s leading prizes for books on photography and the moving image. More information information on the work of the Foundation can be found online at www.kraszna-krausz.org.uk.

Farleys House & Gallery is pleased to present The Road is Wider than Long, an exhibition exploring surrealist artists Lee Miller and Roland Penrose’s travels through the Balkans in the Summer of 1938, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Photographs taken by Miller and Penrose during this trip will be displayed together, including many by Miller which have never been seen before. The couple’s photographs capture the surreal landscapes they encountered whilst travelling through Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, and document the traditions of local people such as the Roma, whose ways of living would later fall victim to political turmoil and world events of the mid 20th century.

The exhibition will provide a fascinating glimpse into the lives of two artists and their journey of discovery in a world that would soon be transformed forever. Lee Miller’s camera in particular quietly observed the local traditions they encountered along the way and pictures of Miller by Penrose often show her immersed with the people they met. Miller made a particular attachment to a group of Roma who, before she parted, made her a special ceremonial sheepskin coat, hand embroidered with decorations and her initials which is now part of the collection at Farleys House & Gallery. When Miller returned to Romania in 1946 following the Second World War, she found that most of the Roma travellers she had met almost a decade earlier had been sent to the Nazi death camps.

On their return, the trip would form the basis of Penrose’s book The Road is Wider than Long, one of the earliest examples of a British Surrealist photobook, created as a love poem for Miller who had returned to her life in Cairo, Egypt and Roland to London. Drawn from his own memories and records of the couple’s trip, the original handwritten photobook was bound in shoe leather. This intimate publication has an important place in the history of Surrealist literature and Roland soon adapted it for self-publication through his London gallery.

The first edition of 510 copies included ten that had photographs tipped in, and small illuminations Penrose had added in watercolor which he gave as gifts. A copy bearing the personalised inscription “For Lee who caught me in her cup of gold” was gifted to Miller, with other copies going to artist friends including Paul and Nusch Éluard, Man Ray and Max Ernst.

Facsimile copies of both the handwritten and the first printed edition of The Road is Wider than Long dedicated to Lee Miller have been specially printed by the Lee Miller Archives to accompany the exhibition.

The Road is Wider than Long
ISBN 9780 9532389 9 6 / 9781 914298004
£15.00 / £19.50
Published by the Lee Miller Archives. See: https://www.farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk/product-category/books/

Gallery opening hours & ticketing information

The exhibition will be on view from Thursday 20 May – Sunday 31 October 2021.

Farleys House & Garden is open every Thursday and Sunday, 10am to 4.30pm

Tickets are available to pre-book from www.farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk/product-category/tickets/ 

A series of major publications in recent years have shed fresh light on the early British film business, from the 19th century pioneers up to the boom in cinema building before the First World War. Do these require revision of the standard histories by Rachael Low and John Barnes, which were pioneering in their time? And how are new historical insights best distributed, accessed, and debated in the digital era?

Speakers at this two-day symposium will include Barry Anthony, Tim Boon, Stephen Bottomore, Simon Brown, Zoë Viney Burgess, Jon Burrows, Ian Christie, Malcolm Cook, Bryony Dixon, Peter Domankiewicz, Frank Gray, Luke McKernan, Lawrence Napper, Simon Popple, Laraine Porter, Deac Rossell, Vanessa Toulmin

The symposium will run between 14.00-18.00 over two days on Microsoft Teams hosted by Birkbeck. It is free to register. 

Organisers: Ian Christie and Malcolm Cook

Contact i.christie@bbk.ac.uk or m.cook@soton.ac.uk for any queries.

Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/remapping-early-british-cinema-registration-151945849125?fbclid=IwAR30X_OAdXkIFvwv7cVfVTwqL28oS1NCkhQ9d_vKGwmcIDcZeSNbGc48Ii0

Messums, the London art dealer, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Julie Bonzon and the launch of our photographic department with a programme of online and physical exhibitions picking up in September 2021. Our curatorial and public programme featuring international, renowned and emerging artists and photographers working in various parts of the world encourages dialogue between contemporary imagery and archives, reflecting on the evolution of photography as a storytelling genre.

Messums Photography is delighted to confirm the representation of the following artists: Angela Williams (UK), Alexander Lindsay (UK), Dod Miller (UK), Jeffrey Milstein (US), Jean-Vincent Simonet (France), Justin Keene (South Africa), Nii Obodai (Ghana), Polly Penrose (UK), Tif Hunter (UK) and Yan Wang Preston (UK, China); commissioned works by Ingrid Pollard (UK) and Shohei Fujimoto (Japan); and up-coming exhibitions featuring works by Sophie Green (UK) and Laura El-Tantawy (Egypt, UK). The department will explore contemporary narratives in photographic practices with the benefit of lateral perspective across different artistic medium.

Julie Bonzon writes: 'Johnny Messum and I are working towards producing high-calibre online and physical exhibitions and talks programme featuring international, renowned and emerging artists and photographers and encouraging dialogue between practitioners, as well as between archives and contemporary imagery.'

As well as a site for selling, Messums Photography offers clients, members and broader audience expertise in the genre of photography through a monthly series of online conversations with each of our artists as well as critical interrogations into photography making techniques and lens-based narratives today. Messums Photography aims to present compelling content across its online and physical platforms that is timely and relevant, encouraging us to think photography as a way to navigate, comprehend and question how history has been depicted and remembered.

Alongside exhibiting contemporary photography, Messums Photography is partnering with the Kogan Collection on a ground-breaking series of exhibitions. The Kogan Collection is one of the largest private collection of conflict photography in the UK and has to this date, never been shown. With more than 350 prints dating from 1895 to 2015, a group of 800 vintage NASA photographs, first and limited-edition photography books, Life, Picture Post and Time magazines and artefacts, the Kogan Collection offers an in-depth and comprehensive view of the history of photojournalism and documentary photography in Europe and North America. These works will be the frameworks of an exhibition programme that explores the varying approaches and artistic choices compiled under the label of documentary photography and the wider narratives surrounding the history of press photography as an industry and photojournalism as a profession.

The launch of the Photographic Department is marked by ‘Close Conflict’, a touring exhibition featuring unique vintage photographs by Robert Capa from the Kogan Collection. Capa is a legend in the history of photo-journalism and possibly the most famous war photographer of the last century. This exhibition will feature a succession of iconic stories made throughout his career, from the altogether varying contexts in which he found himself. ‘Close Conflict’ starts its journey at Photo London in September 2021, and expected to tour our London, Wiltshire and Yorkshire venues.

See: https://messumslondon.com/exhibitions/exhibitions-events-messums-photography/

Image: Marianne Faithful, 1964 / © Angela Williams / Messums

The history of Kodak in Coburg 1961-2004, and staff recollections is presented by Fiona Kinsey, Senior Curator of the Images and Image Making, including the Kodak Heritage Collection at Museums Victoria. The museum houses the Kodak Australia archives and collection. 

https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/2882

The Zoom link is here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89706637372?pwd=Y3N4WXRWODVuVEx6WGsxTURhb1Zmdz09

Meeting ID: 897 0663 7372

Passcode: 651400

Wednesday, 19 May 2021 at 1900 (Australian) 1000 (BST)

As a fitting conclusion to the current  LSC Book of the month promotion, photo historian Denis Pellerin, from the Brian May Archive of Stereoscopy, will be giving a FREE 3D online talk, entitled “The Poor Man’s Picture Gallery: the Search goes on”, on Wednesday May 26th at 7.00 pm. Whether you have already got a copy of the book (we love you!) or have not purchased it yet (there is still time to visit our online shop !), there will be a lot to look at and learn in this colourful, entertaining and educational presentation.

Denis will examine the reasons that prompted the publication of the book in the first place and how all the original connections that are made in it between high art, popular art and stereoscopic photography, make it a unique volume that goes far beyond a simple survey of some of the best-selling Victorian stereo cards. Although the book was released some years ago, the search for more connections still goes on and the speaker will disclose some of the latest avenues he has explored and the numerous new links between paintings and stereo views he has discovered, and written about, since.

The images will be displayed side-by-side for parallel viewing. You can watch the whole presentation in 2D but if you want the 3D experience you need a Lite Owl, a Steampunk Owl, an Owl VR kit, or any other lorgnette-type viewer. If you haven’t got a viewer there is still time to order one from our online shop (https://shop.londonstereo.com/)

To book click here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-poor-mans-picture-gallery-the-search-goes-on-tickets-154817562497

It is my absolute pleasure to announce that from the 24 April (yes I know it is May please don’t judge me) to 19 June 2021 Llantarnam Grange will be hosting Phrame Wales newest exhibition Ode To Anna.

Ode to Anna is a celebration of the legacy of Anna Atkins, one of the first female photographers and champion of the Cyanotype process. This show exhibits work by members of Phrame that has either been inspired by Atkins or draws attention to her innovation and the themes surrounding her images. Ode to Anna not only highlights the lasting impression she has made on the photographic world and its history but showcases a range of photographic processes being practiced within South Wales today.⁠

Artists : Molly Caenwyn, Savanna Dumelow, Faye L-Griffiths, Sharon Magill, Kate Mercer, Jane Nesbitt, Tess Emily Seymour, Catherine Yemm & Patricia Ziad

Llantarnam Grange is open Tuesday to Saturday 9:30 – 3:30 (Free admission).
Currently visitors are limited to 6 people in any room at any one time.
Face masks are a requirement. 

I came across this and thought it could interest some of you. An original large glass plate negative, the glass plate with blue tint, edged in tape, a small label lower right dated `13 Oct 1915 H. Scott Orr`, in tissue wraps and original fitted card box, 258mm x 303mm; together with a postcard of the same view, stamped `H.Scott Orr Copyright`, the reverse inscribed `Published by Permission of the Official Press Bureau, Whitehall S.W.`, 

H. Scott Orr (1881-1972):
The Theatreland Raid, 13th October 1915
Unframed (ref: 6374)

https://www.lissllewellyn.com/show-6374-s_478.htm

Can anyone help me identify these anonymous (but eminently identifiable) albumen prints each approx 4-3/4 x 6-3/8 in? Tempting to read as Pre-Raphaelite, but surely not. Tableaux after Arthurian legend, presumably, but who are the participants, who is the maker, and what is the occasion?

Although this blog (see here) has had over 200 hits the main mystery remains . That is how did the most prominent London photographer of the day with his double royal warrants pitch up at a remote country house near Wrexham and produce three dags. evidence by his embossed double warrant on the leather cases. You would have to re read the blog but I remain hopeful that someone will offer a suggestion.

Chiswick Auction's auction of photographs 1840-2020 contains a number of lots of daguerreotypes and early photography. Two lots in particular are of special note, including a portrait of John Goddard and one that it is suggested may be a portrait of Frederick Scott Archer.

Lot 17. A portrait of John Frederick Goddard, the scientist and photographer, taken by Jabez Hogg. The image is reproduced in John Werge's Evolution of Photography. The description reads: AN IMPORTANT PORTRAIT OF PROFESSOR JOHN FREDERICK GODDARD (1795-1866), c.1841-1850, Sixth plate daguerreotype, in French bevelled gilt mount, inscribed with a caption on the cover glass; "Dr. John Goddard dis. Bromine Inventor of Polariscope" (sic) with taped edges, and later manuscript label in ink, on verso reading; "Professor Jon Goddard, discoverer of the quickening effect of Bromine in the production of the Daguerreotype picture. Jabez Hogg 1. Bedford Square. It is estimated at £35,000-40,000. 

Lot 18. Contains a series of thirteen experimental collodion studies including what the auction house suggests is a previously unknown portrait of Frederick Scott Archer (1813-1857). The lot description notes: Ambrotypes, (13), a collection of experimental outdoor portrait studies of Children (11), one image of an elderly Gentleman (1), and a previously unknown portrait, most likely of Frederick Scott Archer himself, the inventor of the wet plate collodion photographic process. Plate sizes approx. 90 x 90mm or slightly smaller, with contemporary paperbacks and taped edges, three examples with notes regarding exposure and process in an unknown hand, pencil verso; "Effect of oblique .... light, Eleven O'clock A.M", "Effect of direct sunlight Midday", "Effect of Evening light". Estimate: £5000-6000. 

See the full catalogue here: https://www.chiswickauctions.co.uk/auction/details/28%20May%202021%20C-photographs-1840---2020/?au=669

Don’t Press Print is an annual conference organised by the University of West of England's Centre for Fine Print Research and the Royal Photographic Society. In 2020 the conference looked at the collodion process and its contemporary practice through the eyes of twenty artist-printmakers and photographic historians.

In 2021 Don't Press Print will take as its theme the history of photographic and photomechanical print reproduction and processes from both an historical and contemporary perspective. A call for papers has been made. Some of the potential areas for papers are, but not limited to are:

Reconstruction:

• Approaches to the photomechanical transfer of images to the printed page from Talbot onwards
• Specific processes, in particular the Woodburytype, Photogravure, Photolithography and Collotype
• The impact of new methods of photomechanical reproduction on printed publications

Deconstruction:

• Contemporary artistic practice of historical analogue photomechanical printmaking processes
• The application of historic photomechanical processes to innovative modern use
• Hybrid digital /analogue approaches that open up the potential of photomechanical print processes in a virtual world

The organizers welcome proposals from practicing printmakers and photographers, historians and process specialists, visual artists as well as image and print scientists, to present their theoretical and/or practical research and working methods and artworks.

Proposals and final papers will be peer reviewed. 

Presentations will be 25 minutes, if you are reading your paper this equates to approximately 3000 words, but please adjust for your own style and take account of your visual materials.

Read more here: https://rps.org/photomech

De Montfort University's Photographic History Research Centre's annual conference is now open for registration.The programme, including keynotes from Kim Timby and Emily Mark-Fitzgerald is now available.

Recent scholarship surrounding the development, use, and reuse of colour photography has highlighted the need for more research and debate about photographic colour, in terms of histories, technologies and the emotions they have affected. Long told as merely a triumphalist history of technological achievement, colour photography is steeped as well in controversy, in the re-telling of history, in activism, in politics of individuals, communities and countries. Colour photography, while a boon to some, has been developed and deployed at the expense of others. As well as seeking to delve to broader issues and concerns, Photography and Its Many Colours wishes to create a platform for the voices of such individuals and communities to be heard.

The 9th annual conference organized by the Photographic History Research Centre at De Montfort University in Leicester (UK) will thus address contemporary debates in and around colour photography through discussion of themes such as:

• Historical and contemporary uses of colourisation
• Emotional and affective responses to colour photography
• Industrial histories
• Activist and political uses of colour in photography
• Colour photography in race and identity politics

Full details and registration can be found here: https://photographichistory.wordpress.com/annual-conference-2021/

Colin Ford explores the surprisingly large number of world-famous and influential photographers who were originally Hungarian, many of them Jewish.

Colin Ford CBE was Deputy Curator of the National Film & Television Archive (1965-72) before becoming the first senior curator of photography in any British national museum or gallery (National  Portrait Gallery, London, 1972-82). He then became founding Head of The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television (now The National Science and Media Museum), Bradford. A decade later, he became Director of the The National Museums & Galleries of Wales (1993-98). 

Colin was first involved with Hungarian photography when he curated the first exhibition in Britain of André Kertész (Serpentine Gallery, 1979). This was followed by The Hungarian Connection (NMPFT 1987). The most recent of his Hungarian exhibitions, Eyewitness: Hungarian Photography in the 20th Century, was the first photography show ever originated by London’s Royal Academy.

Photography: Hungary’s Greatest Export?
with Colin Ford
60 minutes
Thu 20 May 20217:30pm 
£10
Details, booking etc. on https://www.jw3.org.uk/whats-on/festivals/yivo-series.

I worked for Kodak in the Research Labs for 30+ years during which I was involved with a variety of projects.  I decided to write down some memories and some descriptions of the technologies I worked on.  Along the way I had come across a number of novel imaging products from other manufacturers so my article although it has an autobiographical flavour grew into a review of what I thought were technically interesting imaging systems.  Some of these were explored in Kodak R&D both at Harrow and in Kodak's main lab in Rochester New York and as far as I know have not been described in any detail elsewhere. 

Interesting%20Imaging%20Systems.pdf

Join former V&A Museum ciurator Susanna Brown for a journey back in time to the elegant world of photographer George Hoyningen-Huene (1900–1968).  A pioneer in the fields of portraiture and fashion photography, Hoyningen-Huene worked during the golden age of Vogue and Vanity Fair, and his images define the glamorous aesthetic of that era. He collaborated with the stars of the artistic milieu in Paris, including Man Ray and Salvador Dalí, before embarking on a new career as a colour consultant for Hollywood movies.

He was also an avid traveller, publishing illustrated books of his journeys through Africa, Greece, and Mexico. His stylish photographs remain an enduring source of inspiration for today’s photographers and artists and his work can be found in numerous museum collections, including the RPS Collection at the V&A, MoMA, and the Pompidou Centre.  

To book a place visit: https://rps.org/events/bristol/2021/may/george-hoyningen-huene-1900-1968/