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Margaret Watkins - The Forgotten Woman

Posted by Michael Pritchard on December 9, 2009 at 5:09

For those fortunate enough to be in Glasgow before 15th January there is a chance for a rare treat - an opportunity to see the photographs of Margaret Watkins. Born in Canada in the late 19th century Watkins was successful both commercially and artistically as well as being highly regarded by her fellow photographers in New York during the Stieglitz/Steichen era. As the images on view show she was not only a fine portraitist but had a fine eye for still life compositions, many of which pre-date the more acclaimed work of Paul Strand and Edward Weston. Though she did not appear to have printed much of her later work Robert Burns has made an excellent job of printing up a number of her 1930s/40s Glasgow photos. Her personal story, too long to retell here, much of which comes to us via Joe Mulholland, her neighbour and confidante in Glasgow is the stuff of legend. As Michelin would say in their famous Green Guides "Worth The Journey"!! Donald Stewart. WatkinsPosterMk2161.psd

NMeM: Head of Development appointed

Posted by Michael Pritchard on March 15, 2010 at 15:00

The National Media Museum has appointed a head of development after advertising the post recently. The successful applicant will start on 29 March. Although I have been asked not able to disclose his name until then if anyone uses Twitter a suitable search may pull up the name for you...

NMeM acquire unknown Cameron album

Posted by Michael Pritchard on January 31, 2009 at 11:00

The National Media Museum in Bradford has purchased the historically important and unique photograph album, Miniature Edition of Mrs Cameron's Photographs From the Life, 1869 by the eminent British Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. This acquisition has been made possible through funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (£10,000) and £5,000 from The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity. Exclusive details of the content and pictures are given below. Cameron was presented with her first camera in 1863 at the age of 48. She embraced photography with a passion bordering on obsession, creating an unrivalled collection of portraits characterised by their remarkable intimacy. Cameron is now recognised as one of the most influential figures in the history of photography. This unique album, the whereabouts of which was previously unknown to Cameron scholars, researchers and the general public, was identified during research undertaken by Philippa Wright, Curator of Photographs at the National Media Museum. Philippa Wright said: “Acquiring the album is an important addition to the National Media Museum's world class and unrivalled collection of Julia Margaret Cameron’s work. The acquisition will enable us to make accessible a previously privately held object to our visitors, which last year exceeded 735,000 and included international photography scholars.” Fiona Spiers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund, Yorkshire and the Humber, said “Over the past 14 years we’ve been helping to keep the UK's collections alive by supporting grants for acquisitions. This particular acquisition is of major significance and will enable this important photograph album to go on public display and enhance the National Media Museum’s existing collection of Cameron’s work." David Barrie, Director of The Art Fund, said: “This is an extraordinary piece, demonstrating Julia Margaret Cameron’s varied career – not only did she successfully capture eminent figures of her day, she also recorded intimate moments amongst friends and relatives. This album will enrich the National Media Museum’s substantial photographic archive, bringing pleasure to specialist researchers and general visitors alike. We are delighted to be able to continue our support of the Museum with this acquisition.” The National Media Museum will conserve and make digital copies of the album, preserving it for future generations. There are plans for the album to appear as part of an interactive display in the Museum and permanent access to the album and the Museum’s collection will be available via the Museum’s research facility, Insight. The National Media Museum holds the largest and most comprehensive collection of Cameron's work, consisting of photographs, ephemera and letters, including her hand written autobiography 'Annals of My Glass House,' and the original lens from her camera. Since the National Media Museum opened in 1983, The Art Fund has given £430,722 towards new additions to its collections, including two other sets of works by Julia Margaret Cameron. ---- The album is titled: Miniature Edition of Mrs Cameron’s Photographs From the Life, 1869 by Julia Margaret Cameron for her Son Hardinge Hay Cameron, and contains the following images: 1. John Frederick William Herschel, 1867 2. Adolphus Liddell, 1867 (Previously unknown image) 3. Young Astyanax. (Freddy Gould), 1866 ( In the Iliad ( Sir John Herschel’s translation published in 1866), Astyanax is the Son of Hector. 4. (as you look at the album page: Top left - Blessing and Blessed, (Mary Hillier and Freddy Gould), 1865 Top right – La Madonna Esaltata / Fervent in prayer (Mary Hiller and Percy Keown), 1865 Center – La Madonna Aspettante / Yet a little while (Freddy Gould and Mary Hillier) Bottom left - The Beauty of Holiness ( Freddy Gould), 1866 Bottom right – The Turtle Doves (Alice Keown and Elizabeth Keown), 1864 5. Charles Darwin, 1868 6. right: Sappho (Mary Hillier), 1865 left: The Wild Flower (Mary Ryan), 1867 7. right- Henry Taylor, Study of King David, 1865 -66 left – Marie Spartali, 1868 8. My Niece Julia [Jackson], 1867

2009 And/Or Book Awards winners announced

Posted by Michael Pritchard on April 24, 2009 at 11:00

Susan Meiselas: In History, edited by Kristen Lubben, and Photography and Cinema by David Campany have won the 2009 And/or Book Awards, the UK’s leading prizes for books published in the fields of photography and the moving image. Acclaimed British film director Terence Davies announced the winners during an awards ceremony at the BFI Southbank on Thursday 23 April. Each author received a £5,000 prize cheque from the Krazsna-Krausz Foundation, the charitable organisation which runs the awards. Over 150 titles published in 2008 were submitted for the awards across the two categories. The winners were chosen from two shortlists, by judging panels chaired by Magnum photographer Martin Parr (Photography) and film director Mike Dibb (Moving Image). The judges were looking for books which make a significant contribution to the understanding of photography and/or the moving image, and which use photographs as more than a means of illustration. Susan Meiselas: In History edited by Kristen Lubben (Steidl) Martin Parr comments: “Susan Meiselas has had a long and distinguished career in photography. One of her unique qualities is her determination to understand and use the process of photography. Her work not only shows a great eye, but demonstrates how she has engaged with the subject and considered the consequences and applications of her work. All these activities and images are brought together in this one remarkable book.” Susan Meiselas: In History (Steidl) is a tribute to the prestigious career of the American Magnum photographer and her invaluable contribution to debates around the ethics of her documentary practice. Based around an extended interview it is illustrated with full page photographs, contact sheets, notes and critical essays. Photography and Cinema by David Campany (Reaktion Books) Mike Dibb comments: “Photography and Cinema is an exemplary sort of book. David Campany writes extremely well and his lucid provides insights on every page. Accompanied by beautifully produced images, his text is a journey through the development of cinema and photography and their effect on each other. Modest and succinct, it is exactly what you want a book on this subject to be.” In clear and thought provoking prose, with eclectic illustrations, Photography and Cinema assembles a missing history in which photography and cinema have been each other’s muse and inspiration for over a century. Campany, a Reader in Photography at the University of Westminster, was presented with his prize by Terence Davies on the night of the awards. Shortlists The shortlisted titles for the 2009 And/or Photography Book Award were: Brought to Light: Photography and the Invisible, 1840-1900 by Corey Keller, Jennifer Tucker, Tom Gunning and Maren Gröning (Yale University Press) Susan Meiselas: In History edited by Kristen Lubben (Steidl) From Somewhere to Nowhere: China’s Internal Migrants by Andreas Seibert (Lars Müller) The World from my Front Porch by Larry Towell (Chris Boot) The shortlisted titles for the 2009 And/or Moving Image Book Award were: Photography and Cinema by David Campany (Reaktion Books) Fight Pictures: A History of Boxing and the Early Cinema by Dan Streible (University of California Press) Performing Illusions: Cinema, Special Effects and the Virtual Actor by Dan North (Wallflower Press) Picture: Jude Law as the assassin/photographer in Road to Perdition (Sam Mendes 2002). In Photography and Cinema David Campany assembles a missing history in which photography and cinema have been each other’s muse and inspiration for over a century. From Photography and Cinema by David Campany (Reaktion Books) 2009 And/or Book Awards Best Moving Image Book © Dream Works For more information please visit: www.kraszna-krausz.org.uk/book-awards/

NMeM Job: Senior Development Executive

Posted by Michael Pritchard on March 11, 2009 at 21:12

The National Media Museum, Bradford, and National Railway Museum, York, - both part of the National Museum of Science and Industry - are recruiting a Senior Development Executive - Trusts & Public Bodies at a salary of £28,000pa and located in Bardford. The role is described: A number of exciting capital projects are currently underway at both museums and your role will be to identify and apply to appropriate grant giving bodies to help us reach our aim. You will help us achieve our goal by contributing to the development and delivery of an effective fundraising strategy. Working with the Head of Development in the North, you will agree on funding priorities, develop action plans and research future prospects, as well as monitor KPI’s and report on progress. You will also build strong relationships with donors, supporters and strategic partners and lead on approaches to trusts, foundations and public bodies. With a good track record of securing funds in a similar environment, you already know how to maximise opportunities, write funding applications and follow relevant legislation. You’re an experienced project manager too, with the ability to meet deadlines, engage important supporters and make commercially sound decisions. So you’ll quickly help us secure important funding that improves our cultural offering. Details are available by clicking here. The deadline for applications is 27 March 2009.

NMeM: London presence - more details

Posted by Michael Pritchard on March 11, 2010 at 20:00

More details of the requirements the Natuonal Media Museum require for its London presence have emerged which start to add shape to the project...

The National Media Museum is seeking an architectural and engineering team to undertake the design and onstruction of its London Galleries Project that consists of a suite of facilities created for a range of cultural programming, which will open in September 2012. The National Media Museum’s team of curators, programmers, and educators are preparing the programme for the London Galleries Project, which will focus on the contemporary issues and histories of the museum’s collecting areas of photography, film, television, radio and the Web. There are three equally important themes within this programme:

Temporary exhibitions that centre on pivotal moments and themes within the histories of photography and film
A programme of screenings, courses, discussions, performances, and recording sessions that map the creative potency of the media we encompass
A focus upon the production and dissemination of printed media manifested through an open shelf library, the creation of publications, and debates about the future of publishing.

The founding principles of the London Galleries project revolve around providing the spaces and the levels of welcome for visitors to step over the traditional dividing line between the ‘institution’ and the ‘public’ and, instead, create a space within which our collective points of view, practices and experiences are synergised into the programme of debates, screenings, book launches, courses, conversations, exhibitions and the very life of this media-oriented space.

Relevant deadlines:

Proposed Procurement Timetable

Closing date for expressions of interest: 12 noon - 3^rd April 2010

Response to Pre Qualifying Questionnaires: 26^th February to 3^rd April 2010 (37 days)

Confirmation of Suppliers to be invited to Tender: 13^th April 2010

Tender Programme: 14^th April to 23^rd May 2010 (40 days)

Award of Contract: 15^th June 2010

Appointment: 24^th June 2010

Further details:

With a 1500m² floor plan, the London Galleries project will include:

Elegant, flexible exhibition spaces that can accommodate historical photographs, new media installations, and film and video artworks
A screening and performance space
Private rooms for study, discussions, recording and editing sound and vision
A large, welcoming lounge and library area
Café bar and kitchen facilities
Other services

In order for the architectural scheme for the London Galleries project to embody our desired ethos, it will need to be thoughtful on a number of levels. We will require:

Climate control that considers both the current environmental conditions required for museum-standard exhibitions and adheres to NMSI’s responsible use of energy
Acoustic scheme that considers the range and nature of our activities, where live performance and quiet contemplation are required in adjoining spaces
A digital, audio and visual environment that befits a forward thinking and media based project
A suite of facilities that are truly flexible and respond to the day and night programming of the entire but also specific areas of the space
A design identity that is coherent on both macro and micro levels, from the use of the space’s existing features to the materials used for gallery and library furniture.

We are looking for an organisation to provide integrated design services for this exciting project. It is vital that key services work closely together, these include but are not limited to the following: Mechanical & Electrical Services, Environmental Engineers, Multi-media and digital environment specialists, Structural Engineers, Audio-Visual and Lighting Engineers, Other services to be defined as required.

NMSI would at all times wish to be involved in the short-listing and final selection of sub-contractors at each stage of the project. The successful organisation will work with an externally appointed Programme Manager and the Major Projects Group within NMSI. QS Services and CDM Co-ordinator will be appointed outside of this tender.

This project is currently not fully funded and will be awarded on the understanding that break clauses will be incorporated at fundraising milestones.

NMSI will be following OJEU guidelines and utilising the ‘Restricted’ tendering process.

New publication: Chinese Photography

Posted by Michael Pritchard on August 27, 2009 at 6:30

British bookseller Bernard Quaritch Ltd has published the first comprehensive history of the earliest years of photography in China. It combines previously unpublished research with over 150 photographs, many of which are attributed and published here for the first time. Terry Bennett describes the way in which the discovery of photography in China was framed against the tumultuous backdrop of the Opium Wars, the Taiping Rebellion and the opening of numerous treaty ports to foreign trade. From 1842, when the use of a camera was first recorded in China, foreign and Chinese photographers captured the people, places and events of this unsettled period. They were professional portraitists, soldiers and pioneering amateurs, among them: Jules Itier; Pierre Rossier; Lo Yuanyou (the earliest-recorded Chinese commercial photographer); Felix Beato; and Milton Miller. The author, an acclaimed international authority on historical photographs from China, Japan and Korea, sheds new light on the unique historical value of these photographs. The images are drawn from institutional and private collections from all over the world. The text includes extensive documentary notes, valuable listings of early stereoviews of China and biographies of more than forty photographers working in China up to 1860. It also introduces important new detail on the life of Felix Beato. 230 x 238 mm, 242 pages, over 150 illustrations cloth-bound with pictorial dust-jacket ISBN 978-0-9563012-0-8 £50 It can be ordered from Elisabeth Grass at Quaritch, 8 Lower John Street, Golden Square, London, or via email: e.grass@quaritch.com, website: www.quaritch.com

Photographic history course brochure

Posted by Michael Pritchard on March 11, 2009 at 8:00

De Montfort University, Leicester, has launched the course brochure for it's new full-time MA course titled Photographic History and Practice which starts in October 2009. The university is currently recruiting students for what is the only course of it's type within Europe or the United States. A scholarship is available to fund, in part, one place. Full details are due to be announced shortly and will be posted here. DMU has been active over recent years in making four online photographic databases available which have received international recognition. As exclusively announced the university has been given Kodak's research library which includes nineteenth and twentieth century journals which will further augment the primary source material available for students and for further research. The course brochure can can downloaded as a PDF by clicking here.

Photography: Object to Idea conference

Posted by Mark Haworth-Booth on October 9, 2009 at 7:46

Photography: Object to IdeaA conference at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London,organised by Zelda Cheatle, curator of the Tosca Fund CollectionSaturday 3 October 2009This is a revised version of a speech by Mark Haworth-BoothMy name is Mark Haworth-Booth ands I am Visiting Professor of Photography at the University of the Arts London. I will soon be chairing the closing Q&A panel on collecting but Zelda has asked me - as a way of letting you know where I’m coming from - to say a few words about my current projects.Among the delegates here today I see some movers and shakers in British photography who have been involved with the medium even longer than I have – for example, Sue Davies, founding director of The Photographers’ Gallery and Colin Ford, founding director of the Department of Photography & Film at the National Portrait Gallery and then of the Media Museum. I wonder if they share my views about certain ways in which photography has changed since we got involved some 40 years ago. To begin with, a conference like this, full of well-informed, articulate and imaginative speakers on photography, would have been an extremely rare event in 1969. Last week I gave a lecture at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. My topic was ‘The Reality Effect: questions of photography and truth’. I first gave it as my inaugural lecture as Visiting Professor of the UAL at the London College of Communication in, I think, 2003. Some delegates here heard it then. It opens with wonderful remarks by the war historian Geoffrey Best that ‘the historian is a citizen too’ and that ‘history is a form of justice’. My lecture is like the cabbage and potato soup that peasants keep going not only from day to day but year to year. I have updated it regularly and given it at the University of the Third Age, local amenity societies and so on. Everyone has a stake in the truthfulness or otherwise of photographs. My lecture confesses to the many times I have been mistaken about photographs, especially by photographers I have worked with closely – Don McCullin, Bill Brandt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams. It then moves back into the past to consider Roger Fenton, Camille Silvy and (because of the most recent allegations made about the Falling Militiaman, 1936) Robert Capa. As time has gone by, the lecture has got darker and darker. It now takes in the black arts of propaganda of the Bush era and the recent attack on civil liberties in the UK – for example, the 2008 law making it illegal to photograph police officers. It also asks if, as photography has become accepted as an art medium - and under pressure from historical analysis, postmodern theory and our familiarity with digital manipulation - the medium has lost some of its reality. It is good, of course, that we are not naive about the reality of photographs, but I believe a desensitization has also occurred. Photographs of fatal car crashes – for example – can be shown and commented on as artistic works. Despite this, as the photographs from Abu Ghraib and the G20 demonstrations this year have shown, photography remains not only a credible but an essential witness with serious political cinsequences. I commend Paul Lowe’s OPEN-i ‘webinar’ series which discusses such issues as authenticity in photojournalism. Much of my lecture now centres on war and I was impressed by the intellectual boldness but also the curatorial care with which Julian Stallabrass presented images of war in his timely Brighton Biennale on the subject. My lecture closes with a new book by the Israeli writer Ariella Azoulay titled The Civil Contract of the Photograph. My lecture can be accessed as a podcast at the website of the Art Gallery of Ontario.I have two lectures lumbering towards publication. ‘Reyner Banham and photography’ will appear soon in The Banham Lectures from Berg. Banham showed that it is not necessary to write ponderously to be taken seriously. His books have the same accessibility and wit as his journalism. We had a fine demonstration of these qualities from Geoff Dyer this morning but I must say that all of the talks have been refreshingly jargon-free. The other lecture in the press concerns Camille Silvy and the art of art reproduction – I gave it first at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and then again in this lecture theatre in June. My main current project is the first retrospective of Camille Silvy. I first encountered Silvy’s name and work at the V&A’s exhibition ‘From Today Painting is Dead’ in 1972. I was not interested in nineteenth century photographs at the time but Silvy’s River Scene, France (1858) changed all that. Five years later I became responsible for it and around 300,000 other photographs as photo-curator at the V&A and in 1992 the Getty published my monograph on the River Scene. My new Silvy exhibition and book, Camille Silvy (1834-1910): Photographer of Modern Life, will mark the centenary of his death. I am working on this with Jeu de Paume, Paris, and the National Portrait Gallery, London – it will be shown at the NPG from July to October 2010. I have been astonished by the richness of material Silvy – so it seems - arranged for me to discover. There are the precious prints in the V&A, which have been there since 1868. Then the 12 volumes of Daybooks of his London studio which were bought by the National Portrait Gallery in 1904. Then the boxes of proof sheets, also at the V&A, provenance unknown. Then the collection of unpublished photographs kept by Silvy’s descendants from generation to generation, including letters, business documents, his scrap-book, the unique catalogue of his studio sale and even a dress that appears in cartes de visite of his wife. I am publishing the sale catalogue in the autumn issue of History of Photography and I am thrilled with the handsome book being prepared by the NPG. Silvy’s descendants speak of their act of preservation as ‘le devoir de mémoire‘ – the duty of memory. My experience with Silvy shows that there are still great treasures to be discovered and studied. This conference has shown the same thing. It is a time of great promise for the new generation of curators, including Simon Baker, recently appointed curator of photography and contemporary art at Tate.Today we have had more than a glimpse into a fascinating, many-sided, collection of great richness. This is the moment to thank Mehmet and Zelda for devising a wonderful day of reflection on, and exploration of, the Tosca Fund collection - and also to applaud the speakers who have entertained and informed us so well. Thank you.

EXCLUSIVE: Niépce in England - a major conference

Posted by Michael Pritchard on March 9, 2010 at 21:00

The National Media Museum, Bradford, and Getty Conservation Institute, have announced a major international conference on recent advancements in scientific, art historical, and conservation research relating to the photographs which Joseph Nicéphore Niépce brought to England in 1827. The conference will take place in Bradford from 13-14 October 2010 and additionally will provide a unique opportunity to examine three Niépce plates out of their frames.

This two-day conference will present the results of new, unpublished research and scientific investigations, which have been undertaken during the NMeM and GCI Collaborative Research Project. In the Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum are three plates by Niépce and the conference will address the research and conservation of these photographic treasures, and will discuss future conservation measures that would provide for their long-term protection and preservation. The reason why Niépce brought these plates to England, and their subsequent history, will also be outlined more fully than previously published.

A copy of the announcement brochure is available here: Niépce First Announcement.pdf

Aims and objectives

The conference will examine:

• Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and his work

• The first six photographs brought to England by Niépce in context

• Scientific investigation into the three Niépce photographs in the NMeM collection

• Dating and conservation of the original frames

• Conservation and preservation issues related to the Niépce plates

The speakers have yet to be formally announced.

Registration

Attendance to the conference is limited. All registrations will be handled on a first-come, first served basis.

Formal registration for the Niépce in England conference will take place in May 2010. To register initial interest, contact the NmeM at rsvp.nmem@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk. The museum will hold your details on file and email you registration information in May 2010.

The cost is:

• Regular registration (does not include dinner) £90

• Student registration at reduced rate £70

• Wednesday evening dinner £22

Information

For more information, contact the museum via email at rsvp.nmem@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk and it museum will respond to your query accordingly. If you would like to make contact by post, please send correspondence to:

Niépce Conference

c/o Cultural Events Organiser

National Media Museum

Pictureville, Bradford

West Yorkshire BD1 1NQ United Kingdom

The magic lantern, optical projection and early film - lecture series

Posted by Michael Pritchard on October 7, 2009 at 20:30

The Magic Lantern Society & The University of Westminster will present a second series of six evenings of optical magic at the old Polytechnic, fortnightly from Thursday 12 November – Thursday 10 December 2009, and from Thursday 28 January – Thursday 25th February 2010, at The Old Cinema, University of Westminster 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW. The Programme Thursday 12 November @ 7pm Phantasmagoria-mania ‘Professor’ Mervyn Heard An exploration through the playbills and other ephemera of the bizarre ghost-show entertainment known as the phantasmagoria as witnessed in London and the provinces at the turn of the 18th century. Mervyn Heard is a magic lantern showman and the author of ‘Phantasmagoria : The Secret Life of the Magic Lantern’. He is also Chairman of the Magic Lantern Society www.heard.supanet.com Thursday 26 November @ 7pm Lavater – The Shadow of History Simon Warner The noted physiognomist Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801) returns for one night only to reclaim his place at the centre of European culture, armed with magic lantern, silhouette apparatus and a curious tale of photographic experimentation in his Zürich cellar. Simon Warner is a photographer and video artist with interests in the history of photography and visual media. With a NESTA Fellowship he has created a series of impersonations of key figures in European culture and took part in the Arts Council England touring exhibition Alchemy (2006-7). www.simonwarner.co.uk Thursday 10 December @ 7pm Grappling with Ghosts: Staging ghost effects in the modern theatre. Paul Kieve Hours in dark theatres, expensive quotes from Pilkington’s glass, ill tempered Opera singers in Hamburg and perhaps the world’s first ghost doves. This talk explores the fascinating tale of how the original impractical Dircksian Phantasmagoria of the 1850‘s came into its in the 1860‘s and how, even with huge advancement in stage engineering and lighting, is still spookily difficult to stage. Paul Kieve is one of the UK’s most prolific designers of theatrical illusions (The Lord Of The Rings, Zorro, The Invisible Man). He is the only magician to appear in and consult on the Harry Potter movies and is the author of the internationally published book Hocus Pocus. His current projects include Zorro at The Folies Bergere in Paris and the forthcoming musical ‘Ghost’. www.stageillusion.com Christmas Break Thursday 28th January @ 7pm Visualising the Marvellous: G. A. Smith and his film 'Santa Claus' (1898) Dr Frank Gray G. A. Smith (1864-1959) was one of the great early film pioneers. A stage mesmerist and an associate of the Society for Psychical Research, his six 'spooky' films of 1898 represent his fascination with the 'other side' and his close association with late Victorian paranormal culture. Dr Frank Gray is the Director of Screen Archive South East at the University of Brighton and a specialist in late Victorian cinema. www.brighton.ac.uk/screenarchive/ Thursday 11 February @ 7pm Geared to the Stars – Victorian Astronomy through the Magic Lantern Mark Butterworth Lectures on astronomy were a common form of popular entertainment in the nineteenth century. With an original Victorian magic lantern projector and delicate, hand painted glass slides from the 1840's, Mark Butterworth recreates one of these illustrated lectures. Using complex and intricate mechanical "rackwork" slides to illustrate astronomical concepts, it gives an introduction to mid-19th century astronomy. Mark Butterworth researches astronomical history and specialises in understanding how popular astronomy was presented to the general public in the 18th and 19th century. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. www.markbutterworth.co.uk Thursday 25 February @ 7pm From Anorthoscope to Zoopraxiscope – an A-Z of Victorian animated cartoons Stephen Herbert Moving image 19th-century ‘toys’ – philosophical instruments for the drawing room, intended to promote intellectual discussion and provide amusement for adults as least as much as for children – come to life with this illustrated talk. Stephen Herbert is a Visiting Research Fellow, Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Kingston University London. www.stephenherbert.co.uk Admission is free, commencing 7pm sharp. As this series of talks is entirely free it is advisable to come early, Tickets will be issued from 6pm. For further online information about the talks visit : www.magiclantern.org.uk

Camille Silvy, 1834-1910

Posted by Mark Haworth-Booth on January 28, 2010 at 16:50

Just to add a little more to the Silvy thread: Camille Silvy died on 2 February 1910, so next Tuesday is the centenary of his death. A number of Silvy aficionados I know will be raising a glass in his memory on that day. Please join us virtually. The Silvy centenary retrospective runs at the National Portrait Gallery, London, 15 July-24 October.Mark Haworth-Booth

Popular Optical Media - prize essay competition

Posted by Michael Pritchard on April 20, 2009 at 9:33

The Projection Box has announced details of it's 2009-2010 Essay Awards which carry a first prize of £250 and publication of the winning essay in the journal Early Popular Visual Culture. The award, now in its third year, aims to encourage new research and thinking into any historical, artistic or technical aspect of popular optical media, including: photography, early cinema, panoramas and dioramas, the magic lantern, shadow theatre and optical toys, and to promote engaging, accessible, and imaginative work. Essays of 5000-8000 words should not have been previously published and may be co-authored. They should be submitted in English. The deadline for entries of 30 January 2010 and full details and application form can be found here: www.pbawards.co.uk.

Forth Bridge: Evelyn George Carey

Posted by michaelg on June 19, 2009 at 0:36

Evelyn George Carey Forth Bridge | Testo di Michael Gray & Angelo MaggiFederico Motta Editore | Milano 2009 | 144pp 260 x 290 mm | Duotone | Hardback | Italian & EnglishQuoting from the text:"The building of the Forth Bridge was marked and controlled through photography; the official photographer: Evelyn George Carey, a young engineer and personal assistant to the designer, Benjamin Baker worked on the project over a period of eight years between 1882 to 1890. His pictures capture, clearly and lyrically, the scale, tensions and inherent dangers of such a project.""In a sense, the scale and importance of Carey’s achievement has yet to be fully appreciated. The body of work created by this young engineer-photographer between 1882 and 1890 as an employee of Fowler & Baker stands as an exemplar for all photographers working within this increasingly complex ever evolving domain. The photographs are pre-eminently sequential, tracing and recording the progress of the bridge’s construction, with an informed and critical eye. According to Patrizio, “Carey’s photographs are the visual expression of a very particular engineering ambition which is fully understood by the photographer.” The later, modernist fascination with such structures may be understood through a study of his series as a whole; the Forth Bridge shows, in Michael Baxandall’s terms, ‘a kind of expressive functionalism’ "University of Venice, Department of Engineering | Ordine degli Ingeneri di Padova | National Archive of Scotland

Early British Infra Red Photography

Posted by Michael Pritchard on August 14, 2009 at 6:30

Donald Stewart is looking for information on early uses of, and references to, infra red photography. In particular, and in his own words: "I'm trying to get information on early British infra red photography, experiments or practice but other than its use in astronomical studies"...Please comment here so that he can pick up any feedback.

Scott Polar Research images online

Posted by Michael Pritchard on March 11, 2009 at 8:00

The collections held by the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, are among the richest in the world for the study of polar environments. Work began in April 2007 on the Freeze Frame project to capture and preserve its archive of historical images in digital form. This launched on 4 March 2009 and includes some of the most iconic polar images by Herbert Ponting, through to daguerreotypes and modern prints and slides.Click here to visit the website. Over 20,000 photographic negatives and positives from 1845-1960, representing some of the most important visual resources for research into British and international polar exploration are represented. The work is still on-going so, for example, some of the earliest material from 1845 has yet to be added to the site. The digitisation of related documents - information from personal journals and official reports from expeditions on which these photographs were taken - will provide historical and cultural context for the images. The Freeze Frame project is developing an online database of freely available visual and textual resources to support learning, teaching and research into topics relating to the history of Arctic and Antarctic exploration and science. Through a series of interpretative web pages and e-learning resources the project will provide access to hidden collections for all educational levels. We will encourage users to discover polar environments through the eyes of those explorers and scientists who dared to go into the last great wildernesses on earth.

The Heart of the Great Alone: Scott, Shackleton and Antarctic Photography

Posted by Michael Pritchard on October 5, 2009 at 20:37

2 October 2009 – 11 April 2010, The Queen's Gallery, Edinburgh This exhibition of remarkable Antarctic photography by Herbert George Ponting and Frank Hurley marks the 100th anniversary of Captain Scott’s ill-fated journey to the South Pole. Ponting’s extraordinary images record Scott’s Terra Nova expedition of 1910-13, which led to the tragic death of five of the team on their return from the South Pole. Hurley’s dramatic icescapes were taken during Ernest Shackleton’s Polar expedition on Endurance in 1914-16, which ended with the heroic sea journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia. Presented to King George V and today part of the Royal Photograph Collection, these sets of photographs are among the finest examples of the artists’ works in existence. Captain Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) set sail for Antarctica on Terra Nova in 1910, determined to be the first to reach the South Pole. His team included Herbert Ponting (1870-1935), the first official photographer to participate in a polar expedition. Ponting was already a well-known and successful travel photographer when he was introduced to Scott in 1909. As the ship sailed south from New Zealand, Ponting began work immediately, recording the first icebergs encountered in December 1910 and scenes on board. He photographed as much as possible during his time in Antarctica, producing around 2,000 glass plate negatives between December 1910 and March 1912. A selection of his pictures of the expedition crew, wildlife and spectacular landscape is included in the exhibition. Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) had travelled with Captain Scott on an earlier voyage to Antarctica, before leading his own unsuccessful attempt to reach the South Pole in 1907-9. In 1914, galvanised by the achievement of the Pole and Scott’s death, he made a bid to cross the southern continent on foot. Among his team was the Australian photographer Frank Hurley (1885-1962), who joined Shackleton’s ship Endurance in Buenos Aires. Hurley photographed activity on board, even climbing the rigging to obtain the best viewpoints. When the ship, crushed between ice floes, began to disintegrate in October 1915, the photographer spent almost three days on the ice, determined not to miss the final moments of the vessel. His images of Endurance listing into the frozen depths are included in the exhibition, along with photographs of Shackleton’s rescue party as it set sail from Elephant Island. Also included in the exhibition are the Union flag presented by King George V to Shackleton, which the explorer carried with him throughout his epic journey; Polar medals; and books from the Royal Library, including a unique example of Aurora Australis, the first book to be printed in the Antarctic. There is a lecture series accompanying the exhibition. Details here: http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/default.asp?action=article&ID=74 The exhibition microsite is here: http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/microsites/HOTGA/

Bamforth slide catalogue launched

Posted by Michael Pritchard on April 20, 2009 at 9:00

The Magic Lantern Society has launched The Illustrated Bamforth Slide Catalogue a searchable DVD and accompanying booklet which records and illustrates the lantern slide sets of the Bamforth company. James Bamforth and Company was the leading producer of Life Model lantern slide set between 1890 and the early 1900s and the DVD describes 1400 slides listing around 20,000 individual slides of which 4003 are illustrated. The DVD includes reproductions of Bamforth catalogues and slide readings and the booklet gives a wider contextual history of the company and its output. James Bamforth estanlished his Holmforth photographic studio in 1870 producing portraits and began the production of magic lantern slides in the early 1880s by the late 1890s production had grown to an industrial scale. The firm also co-operated with the Bradford-based Riley Brothers company and after 1902 published an extensive series of postcards. An office was established in New York. The firm also produced cinematograph films. After 1915 the company concentrated on postcard production and in 1918 the film business mnoved to London. The firm ceased to operated in 1993. The DVD has been produced in an edition of 350 and may be obtained from the Magic Lantern Society via its website or through the honorary secretary: Mike Smith, The Magic Lantern Society, South Park, Galphay Road, Kirkby Malzeard, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 3RX. It costs £25.

Early Popular Visual Culture

Posted by Michael Pritchard on August 6, 2009 at 21:00

The latest issue of this journal (Volume 7, Issue 2 July 2009), carries a paper by Julia F. Munro, titled 'The optical stranger': Photographic anxieties in British periodical literature of the 1840s and early 1850s, pages 167-183. The abstract reads: An examination of periodical literature from the period of the invention of photography in 1839 and onwards reveals that the reception of the medium on the part of the Victorians was characterized by an ambivalent response of enthusiasm as well as anxiety, an ambivalence that grew increasingly insistent despite familiarity with the medium as it became popular in the early 1850s. This article examines in depth the representations of photography in a selection of fictional and periodical texts from the 1840s and early 1850s, in order to trace the development of the anxieties about photography and to elucidate how such anxieties evolved in light of the medium's growing ubiquity. In serving as a space in which Victorians expressed their ambivalence, the texts provide valuable insight into the Victorians' negotiation of photography and the visual culture within which the medium operated. The various photographic anxieties the author considers include the troubling association of photography with the magical, the unease felt towards the photograph as memorial, and the concerns regarding the medium's agency and the perfect photographic copy it produces. The latter two qualities of the medium prove to be central concerns that underlie the other expressions of anxiety voiced in regard to photography. More on the journal can be found here: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713735038~link=cover

In the Darkroom: Photographic Processes Before the Digital Age

Posted by Michael Wong on March 7, 2010 at 18:16

For those BPH-bloggers interested in the technological developments in photographic processes from the origins of the medium until the advent of digital photography, there is an interesting book just published in Jan 2010. Written by Sarah Kennel with Diane Waggoner and Alice Carver-Kubik, the book is a compilation of essential information about the predominant negative, positive, and photomechanical processes in use since 1839.

It offers concise technical descriptions of the processes and their common uses, and is illustrated with museum-quality illustrations (some at high magnification to show print characteristics) and diagrams indicating the basic structure of each negative or print process.

The guidebook is organized alphabetically for convenient reference and includes a time line with the major dates of use for each process over the past 170 years, an extensive glossary, and an index of variant names. The 104-page softcover book features 57 color illustrations and 27 diagrams, and is available through Amazon.co.uk (ISBN-10: 0500288704).

More importantly, an exhibition (of the same name) to complement this book is currently being held at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC until 14th March 2010 - you still have time to fly there ! Refer to the 'Events' section for a very interesting overview of the exhibition and an independent review.
Click for a podcast interview with curator Sarah Kennel.

Relevant deadlines:

Further details:

Note: this page contains paid content.

Note: this page contains paid content.

Note: this page contains paid content.