The National Media Museum in Bradford is advertising for a Collections Access Assistant to work on the Zoltan Glass Collection at a salary of £13,343pa. The job description reads:
Award winning, visionary and truly unique, The National Media Museum embraces photography, film, television, radio and new media, including the web. Part of the NMSI family of museums, it aims to engage, inspire and educate through comprehensive collections, innovative education programmes and a powerful yet sensitive approach to contemporary issues.
Insight is the Collections and Research Centre of the National Media Museum.
Joining the Collections team, you will research, identify and repatriate archived material to facilitate and encourage public access. Specifically, your work will focus on the Zoltan Glass project.
Glass was a Hungarian photographer who specialised in documenting the pre-war German car industry and also undertook glamour and advertising photography. The Museum holds over 12,000 of his images of his, part of which are currently being catalogued, digitised and sequenced.
Desired Qualifications:
Demonstrable experience in collections care/management and access gained within a museum/heritage environment is essential. Keen to learn, you will be able to understand and engage with the Zoltan Glass project, as well as embracing the broader access and outreach philosophy of the Museum. An up-to-date knowledge of cataloguing and documentation best practice is also important - ideally supported by a natural, ongoing interest in photography and other media.
HOW TO APPLY:
For Job Description, call 01274 203386. The deadline for applications is 23 April 2009.
Please email your CV and covering letter, explaining clearly how you meet all of our stated requirements, to recruitment@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk .
Please quote ref CA/RS09
Alternatively, you can send your CV and covering letter to:
Rosie Smith
HR Advisor, ref. CA/RS09
Human Resources Department
National Media Museum
Bradford
BD1 1NQ
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A landmark exhibition of photography from 1840 to the present day from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is an unprecedented survey of South Asian photographers and their presentation of culture and modernity. Historic early photographs from the important Drik Collection in Bangladesh and the Alkazi Collection in Delhi are given a rare platform on the world stage, while images from private, familial records will be seen for the very first time. The exhibition includes over 300 works by more than 50 artists.
Whitechapel Gallery, London
Jan 21 - Apr 11, 2010
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London's National Portrait Gallery is always a good source of photography exhibitions. Currently on view are small case displays of
• the work of Gilbert Adams (1906–96), Bertram Park (1883–1972) and Yvonne Gregory (1889–1970)
• Alfred, Lord Tennyson, including work by Julia Margaret Cameron
• four platinum prints by Eveleen Myers
as well as plenty of other photographs. The NPG is always worth a visit.
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The Beijing World Art Museum is hosting an exhibition of photographs of China taken by John Thomson from the archives of the Wellcome Institute in London... reports the Daily Telegraph newspaper. It will be shown in Liverpool early in 2010. Taken between 1870 and 1871 by the Scottish photographer John Thomson, the images reveal with often startling intimacy a cast of characters from orphans and street gamblers, to beautiful peasant girls and their high-born ladies.
Hailed as a pioneer of photojournalism, Thomson spent two years travelling more than 5,000 miles in pursuit of the images that historians say are unique in their empathy towards their subjects As well as shooting traditional, stiff-backed portraits of Manchu noblemen, Thomson plied the streets in search of scenes that would bring the exotic world of China to life for a curious public back in England.
"These pictures are fascinating because they reveal a world that most artists of that period ignored," said Betty Yao, who has organised the exhibition that opens in Beijing next week. "Most material from this late Qing era is stuffy, formal and posed, but Thomson's work is full of life."
What is doubly remarkable, added Mrs Yao, was that Thomson captured such intimate moments while using cumbersome equipment and glass-plate negatives that needed to be coated with emulsion before exposure.
"He was the original photojournalist, and he used incredible persistence and hard work to get precisely the pictures he wanted. He never gave up," she said.
Among the images that testify to that persistence is a rare picture of a woman's bare, bound foot. Thomson later admitted, in perhaps an early example of "chequebook journalism", that he had paid the woman "handsomely" to expose her withered foot.
In other pictures, Thomson captured the sorry inmates of a "foundling" hospital where orphaned children were offered for free to "respectable people", and a public street slide-show where the public could see images from exotic and faraway places often to gasps of amazement.
When he returned to London, Thomson used his pictures to illustrate talks and lectures of his own, which earned him the moniker "China" Thomson.
An early herald of globalisation, Thomson recognised that the days of China's isolation from the world were passing, observing that "through the agency of steam and telegraphy, [China] is being brought day by day into closer relationship with ourselves".
Shortly before he died in 1921, Thomson offered to sell his glass negatives to Henry Wellcome, the pharmacist-philanthropist and keen collector, and it is from the archives of the Wellcome Library in London that the images have been taken, many to be exhibited in public for the first time.
The full report can be found here.Read more…
The winners of the 2009 And/or Book Awards, the UK’s leading prizes for books published in the fields of photography and the moving image, are to be announced on Thursday 23 April 2009. The awards ceremony will take place at the BFI Southbank, London, and is supported by the British Film Institute and Sight & Sound magazine.
Established in 1985, the And/or Book Awards seek to celebrate excellence in photography and moving image publishing. Two separate prizes are given for photography books and for moving image (including film, television and new media) books published between 1 January and 31 December 2008.
Winners will be selected from two shortlists to be revealed in March 2009. Between them they will share a total prize fund of up to £10,000. All books submitted will also join the Kraszna-Krausz collection of photography and moving image books held in the National Media Museum in Bradford.
The judging panels, chaired by Martin Parr (Photography) and Mike Dibb (Moving Images), are looking for works which make a significant contribution to photographic and/or moving image scholarship, history, research, criticism, science and conservation. A necessary condition is that they use photographs as more than a means of illustration.
Previously known as the Kraszna-Krausz Awards, from this year the two prizes are to be known by the Christian name of their founder, the prolific Hungarian publisher and dedicated founder of Focal Press, Andor Kraszna-Krausz. A new logo has been hand-drawn by David Hockney (see below).
More details can be found at the K-K website. http://www.kraszna-krausz.org.uk/
The National Media Museum in Bradford, UK, is currently undertaking a major digitsation project (details of the job to do this was posted here some months ago). The project aims to scan a large proportion of the photographs housed in the Zoltán Glass archive, will systematically catalogue the work of the artist, whose main creative periods came in the 1930s and 1950s, and to make them accessible in digital format. The Bradford collection numbers around 6,000 images in total; the work is scheduled for completion in April 2010.
Zoltán Glass was one of the great commercial photographers of the 20th century – and automobiles were one his favourite subjects. During the 1920s and 1930s he was commissioned by Daimler-Benz AG to take many photographs of Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Glass, for example, documented the period of the classic Silver Arrows, the cars that dominated international grand prix racing from 1934 onwards. But he also turned his masterful skills to photographing the brand’s production vehicles for publicity material. He could even turn ostensibly uninspiring subjects, such as Mercedes-Benz vehicle production, into aesthetically pleasing images. After the death of Zoltán Glass in 1981, his photographic legacy was acquired by the National Media Museum, which houses one of Europe’s most important photographic collections.
At the instigation of Daimler AG, his work is now being catalogued and digitised. The project also involves feeding the original photograph captions into the database and reproducing the images in their original sequence. The process makes use of state-of-the-art technology, which enables the negatives and their immense wealth of detail to be photographed in high resolution using a calibrated high-end medium-format camera in order to create a neutral copy of the original. The results are first saved as files of approximately 100 megabytes in TIFF format. Finally, special software is used to convert the negative images into positives.
Once the work is complete, the photographs will be available for further historical editorial work and other projects.
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The National Media Museum, Bradford, is looking for an Exhibition Organiser. As an Exhibition Organiser you will manage the development of exhibitions, co-ordinate project teams and other stakeholders to ensure exhibitions are delivered on time, budget and to the highest standard. You will be involved in all aspects of exhibition preparation and delivery, you will co-ordinate all exhibition administration, co-ordinate the development of interpretation strategies and plan and oversee installations. The salary is £21,900pa.
With experience of working in a similar role in a museum or gallery, you will already have an understanding of exhibition administration and delivery procedures, as well as a sound knowledge of developing interpretation strategies and exhibition display techniques. You should also have experience of managing projects and co-ordinating the work of internal and external stakeholders. If you can combine these attributes with excellent communication, organisational and IT skills, you’ll help us deliver a superb programme to our visitors.
The National Media Museum is an interdisciplinary organisation recognised for the strength of its world-class collections, acclaimed temporary exhibitions, international film festivals and its unique permanent galleries.
The Museum’s annual programme of temporary exhibitions and displays draws from its comprehensive and internationally acclaimed collections and also regularly commissions contemporary practitioners to make new work for public display.
Contract Type: 2 Year Fixed Term (35 hours per week)
Closing Date: 31st May 2009 Interviews: 8/9th June 2009
To apply, please write with full CV and covering letter to: The HR Department, National Media Museum, Bradford BD1 1NQ or email: recruitment@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
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A remarkable collection of autochromes, photographs and diascopes by Mary Olive Edis Balsworth (1876-1955), whose self-portrait is shown right, is being offered at auction on 5 March 2009. All of the items have been at Edis's studio and house in Sheringham since her death under the ownership of Cyril Nunn and, until now, rarely seen. The autochomes include a number of rare Canadian scenes.
Nunn died last year and recently Olive's collection of Sheringham and Norfolk photographs and autochromes was acquired by Cromer Museum where they are due to be put on public display later this year. Many of these images were reproduced in Face to Face – Sheringham, Norfolk: The Remarkable Story of Photographers Olive Edis & Cyril Nunn, by Alan Childs, Cyril Nunn and Ashley Sampson (Halsgrove, 2005). A few of the Canadian images are reproduced in black and white and some were reproduced in colour in the e-newsletter for The Photographic Historical Society of Canada (March 2006).
The same auction features material from the estate of Robert 'Bob' Lassam, the former curator of the Fox Talbot Museum at Lacock. The material from Lassam's estate includes photographs from the Kodak exhibitions he helped arrange as well as cameras.
The catalogue is available on line at http://www.dominic-winter.co.uk/. The sale takes place at 5 March at 11am.
Edis was born in 1876, her father was Dr. Arthur Wellesley Edis, professor of gynaecology at UCH and her mother was Mary Edis (neé Murray, the sister of John Murray.) They lived at 22 Wimpole Street, London, where Arthur had a medical practice. Olive had twin sisters, four years younger than her, Katherine and Emmeline. Olive's great uncle was Dr. John Murray (1809-1898), a surgeon with the Bengal Medical Service. He photographed Mughal architecture in India, making some 600 images, often 18 x 14 inches (salted paper prints from paper & collodion negs.), many of which are now in the BL collection. He retired to Sheringham in 1871. His descendents sold their collection at Sotheby's in 1999.
Olive photographed John Murray's daughter Caroline (said to have been her first photograph) in 1900. In 1893, when Olive was 17, her father died and in 1905, Olive & Katherine, as partners, opened a studio at 39 Church Street, Sheringham. Olive used only natural light when making photographs. Her printing, first done by her sister Katherine and later by Lilian Page, included platinotype, sepia platinotype or autochrome. In 1910, Olive's photographs were regularly appearing in the Illustrated London News and in 1912 she started making autochrome images. She became an RPS member in 1913 and in that year won a medal for her autochrome portraits in the RPS exhibition. In 1914 she was elected FRPS and designed an autochrome viewer, known as a diascope, which she patented (GB17132).
Although her income came from her work as a studio portraitist in March 1919 she was commissioned by the National (later Imperial) War Museum to photograph the work of British women in France & Flanders and, at the same time, made deeply moving images of the desolation of war. In 1920 she was asked to undertake a commission to make advertising photographs for the Canadian Pacific Railway and did the work during July to November. The plates were exhibited at the 1921 Toronto Fair, and at the Canadian Pacific Offices in London in 1922, but apart from a few 'seconds' offered here there is no trace of the main body of work. These are probably the earliest known colour images of Western Canada.
In 1928, when she was 52, Olive married Edwin Galsworthy a solicitor and director of Barclays bank. This family connection opened doors into society and she photographed many people of national importance. Olive and Edwin had a residence in 32 Ladbroke Square, London and in Sheringham they moved to a new house in South Street. Olive extended her business to include the printing and sale of real photographic postcards. In 1951 Olive exhibited photographs of fisherman at Sheringham. She died in 1955.
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The National Media Museum, Bradford, is advertising for one full-time and one part-time context developer to undertake research to a given brief and to be assigned to a project for a defined period to support Exhibition Organisers, Curators or Web Developers. You will undertake picture research and rights clearance and liaise with outside institutions to obtain information. The salary is £18,900.00 per annum (pro rata for part-time).
The National Media Museum is an interdisciplinary organisation recognised for the strength of its world-class collections, acclaimed temporary exhibitions, international film festivals and its unique permanent galleries.
The Exhibitions & Displays team is responsible for delivering 6 exhibitions per year, up to three displays, exhibition associated web sites, audiovisual content, and a publication entitled Archive.
As a Content Developer you will assist with the production of all of these areas of activity. You will be required to undertake research to a given brief and will be assigned to a project for a defined period to support Exhibition Organisers, Curators or Web Developers. You will undertake picture research and rights clearance and liaise with outside institutions to obtain information.
This role calls for an informed interest in photography, film, television or new media and a good understanding of museum-based exhibitions and learning resources. You should also have strong writing, research and organisational skills, supported by experience of managing projects, working as part of a team and following briefs.
Closing Date: 31st May 2009 Interviews: 8/9th June 2009
Contract Type: 1xFull Time role (35 hours per week) 1xPart Time role (21 hours per week)
To apply, please write with full CV and covering letter to: The HR Department, National Media Museum, Bradford BD1 1NQ or email: recruitment@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
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Francis Hodgson, Sotheby's head of photographs in London has left the company. A company spokesperson was unable to explain the reasons for his departure but did confirm that the the auction scheduled for 19 May would go ahead with Jocelyn Phillips managing the sale. Hodgson's last sale, held in autumn 2008, had disappointing results, reflecting the global financial clash. Sotheby's also announced this week that they were further reducing lots below $5000 to continue focusing on the top end of the market.
Hodgson joined Sotheby's after a long involvement in photography. He worked as the manager of the print room at the Photographers’ Gallery in London and later founded and directed Zwemmer Fine Photographs, a gallery specialised in photography, and has worked with several other galleries.
Hodgson was also director of photography at Photonica, a major stock image library, where he was responsible for opening up the stock photography market to more artistic photography than had been considered possible. He was also at one time director of content at Eyestorm, the online art dealership. He has acted as representative and agent to photographers, and has been a writer and broadcaster on photography for many years.
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The Photographers' Gallery wishes to appoint a full time Deputy Manager of Print Sales with demonstrable experience of working within a commercial gallery. The Deputy Manager will work with the Print Sales Manager and Print Sales Coordinators to maximize income from the sale of photographic prints. The successful candidate will have a proven ability to generate sales, handle fine art photographic prints, collaborate with artists, curate exhibitions and displays as well as be host to excellent administrative and communication skills, This is a full time position that will include weekend shifts and ideally be starting from September 2009.
The post which is full time will pay a salary in the range £21,000 - £25,000. Closing Date: 7th August 2009.
Closing Date: 7th August 2009.
Details and an application form are here: http://www.photonet.org.uk/index.php?pid=243Read more…
The National Media Museum is advertising for a web developer at a salary of £23,759.
Award winning, visionary and truly unique, the National Media Museum embraces photography, film, television, radio and the web. Part of the NMSI family of museums, with a world-leading online presence, we aim to engage, inspire and educate through comprehensive collections, innovative education programmes and a powerful yet sensitive approach to contemporary issues.
You’ll help us enhance our online presence by maintaining and developing the website. Working with designers, content specialists and stakeholders at all levels of the organisation, you will use your creativity, cultural vision and strong technical abilities to help us deliver a truly compelling user experience.
With a good track record of developing websites in a Microsoft environment, you will be at ease with object-oriented languages, content management systems, databases and XML technologies. You should also know how web technologies relate to design, content and information architecture. If you can combine this technical expertise with good communication, teamwork and organisational skills, you’ll have exactly what it takes to help us improve our online offering.
Contract Type: Fixed Term 2 years, full time (35 hours)
Closing Date: 23rd April 2009
To apply, please write with full CV and covering letter to: The HR Department, National Media Museum, Bradford BD1 1NQ or email: recruitment@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/job/845644/web-developer/?grse=grse_1&email=jobsbyemail&lijbeid=9866879Read more…
To coincide with the British Library's forthcoming major exhibition: Points of View: Capturing the 19th Century in Photographs, the BL is running two workshops for Year 7-13, FE and HE students. They are available: Monday to Friday from Wednesday 4 November 2009 until Friday 5 March 2010 and run 90 minutes. Group size: minimum 10, maximum 30.
Time Frame: for history students
Participants will evaluate whether and to what extent photographs can be trusted as historical sources. Do photographs always reflect the reality of the times or can an image lie? Using a range of photographic sources in the exhibition, students will reflect critically upon the historical evidence contained within them, which reflect developments in attitudes, beliefs and ideas as well as social, economic and technological changes in 19th century Britain.
Perspectives: for art students
This workshop will explore the role of the photographer in 19th century Britain, as they documented life in Britain and abroad. It will begin by looking at the development of the medium of photography before examining the photographers themselves, the motivations behind their work and the choices they made in the creation of their images.
Teacher Events
There will be two free evening conferences for teachers on 2 November and 3 November 2009, both of which will include a private view of Points of View. To register your interest, please email learning@bl.uk. Further details will be available from early September.
There is a minimum group size of ten. Details can be found here: http://www.bl.uk/learning/tarea/secondaryfehe/photography/povworkshops.htmlRead more…
The National Media Museum comes to Flickr™! The museum debuted in The Commons on the photo-sharing website recently, joining other world-renowned institutions in showcasing their collections.
There are some wonderful images on there as a starting point; a major showcase of Peter Henry Emerson's work in the late 19th century, some fascinating images from the first Kodak camera, the No.1, from the 1880s, and some hilarious, bizarre and totally engrossing photos from a Lancashire-based "medium and physic" William Hope (taken - and doctored - in the early 20th century, some 70 years before Photoshop).
Members of the Museum’s collections team worked with Flickr to make three initial groups of images available online; museum curators Colin Harding, Philippa Wright and Greg Hobson made the selections and provided contextual commentary. The Museum will be posting selections of thematically-grouped photographs that it hopes will give some sense of the surprising breadth and diversity of it's Collection.
The museum's Flickr pages started here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmediamuseum/Read more…
I am writing a short article on the darker side of photography in Oz during the 19C - very short as we were well behaved in the Colonies! Would anyone have a photo of a Stanhope I may use, with due acknowledgment?Many thanksJohn DaviesMaybe you could contact me off list atjdavies5@smartchat.net.au
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London's Tate Gallery is advertising a new curatorial position of Curator (Photography and International Art). The purpose of the job is to work on the acquisition and research of works for the Tate Collection. In addition you will contribute to the photography exhibition programme at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. The closing date for applications is 9 January 2009. The full job description can be seen here: http://www.tate.org.uk/about/workingattate/8140_curator-photography-and-international-art.pdfRead more…
