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Side, the internationally recognised home of humanist documentary photography and film, which has spent nearly fifty years recording and preserving working-class lives, from its gallery in Newcastle, will establish a curatorial office at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead in February 2026. The move is both a pragmatic response to the pressures facing arts organisations today and a bold step into a new creative direction. It will enable Side to bring its collection to a wider audience, commission and co-create new work, and deepen its commitment to education and community practice across the North East and beyond.

Side was founded in 1977 on Newcastle’s Quayside by the Amber Film & Photography Collective as a space for lens-based documentary rooted in the realities of working people. From shipyard workers to new communities arriving in the region, Side has made the lives of those too often absent from arts spaces visible. Its AmberSide Collection, recognised by UNESCO, is a growing archive of photography and film that continues to respond to the present: migration, precarity, resilience and everyday solidarity.

The decision stems from the realities of today’s cultural landscape. With public funding shrinking and the cost of running independent venues escalating, many arts organisations today are facing closure. Side and Baltic have chosen to cooperate in a mutually beneficial agreement.

As a cultural tenant within Baltic’s building, Side retains its autonomy and individual voice while both parties can collaborate on exhibitions that recognise the importance of photography as an art form and bring continued visibility of working-class culture to a high volume of diverse audiences.

From 2027, Side will work with Baltic in developing presentations across a range of exhibition and programmable spaces within the landmark industrial building, a former flour mill.  Just as importantly, this move frees Side to invest more deeply in what has always set it apart as an arts organisation: education and community work. With new capacity, Side will expand projects with schools, youth groups and neighbourhoods, creating hyper-local displays that place documentary art back into the communities where it is created.

Laura Laffler, Managing Director of Side said:  “Working-class culture is living culture — it doesn’t belong in the past. Our move to Baltic is about making sure the voices and experiences of ordinary people around the globe remain visible, urgent and valued in the present. Rooted in the North East, connected internationally, we will continue to commission, co-create and champion work that speaks to resilience, struggle and collective imagination.”

Sarah Munro, Director of Baltic said: “We’re delighted to welcome Side as a cultural tenant in spring 2026. Photography is crucial to Baltic’s programme. Our audiences have been enthusiastic and visited in high numbers to exhibitions of photography by Chris Killip and Martin Parr to Franki Raffles, Joanne Coates and Phyllis Christopher. We want to represent the communities that live in the locale of the gallery and who visit Baltic frequently. Collaborating on these presentations will be exciting as we approach our twenty-fifth anniversary, and Side look to their 50th year. It is important that Side’s collection, its legacy and their future survive and thrive. In these challenging times it’s vital to find new ways of working together.”  

This new chapter coincides with a moment of reflection and renewal. In 2027, Side will mark 50 years since its establishment, while Baltic will celebrate its 25th year. Together they will create a platform where history and the present meet, where real people’s lives (from the North East and further afield) remain central to our region’s cultural spaces, and where documentary is made, seen and valued.

This announcement comes at the conclusion of the 'Transforming Amber' National Lottery Heritage Fund project, which set out to rethink how Side works and how the AmberSide Collection is shared. Over the past year, this project focused on strengthening the organisational foundations of Side, improving access to the AmberSide Collection (both digital and physical), and finding new ways to make it visible, relevant and active for more people than ever before. This announcement with Baltic marks the first stage of a wider programme shaped through this work from The AmberSide Trust.

Through The AmberSide Trust, the AmberSide Collection is secured and shall remain intact and accessible in the North East of England. Further announcements, including new opportunities for public access to the AmberSide Collection, will be shared across 2026.

 See: https://sidegallery.co.uk/blog/side-at-baltic and https://baltic.art/news-and-media/side-at-baltic/

Image: River Project: Quayside, 1971 © Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen | Courtesy of the AmberSide Collection

The Terra Nova, the ship immortalised by Herbert Ponting, has been filmed for the first time since it sank in 1943. The ship which was resdiscovered in 2012 carried Captain Scott's doomed polar expedition in 1912. The BBC's report used Ponting's images but failed to credit him, only the commercial picture libraries and collections housing his work. Ponting died in 1935 and his work is out of copyright, but deserves credit for creating images that retain their power today. 

See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpwyvyqkx9yo

Image: Herbert G. Ponting, Terra Nova Icebound, 1912.     

The Photographic Materials Group is looking for four additional committee members to join our existing team with the purpose of expanding the group's scope and contribution to the field of photographic conservation. Specifically, we are looking for applications for the roles of Social Media Coordinator, Events Assistant, Administrative Assistant, and Treasurer to help us run annual events, advocate for the field, and grow our online presence.

If you have any questions you would like to discuss before applying, do not hesitate to reach out to the group’s Chair, Marta Garcia Celma: martagcelma@gmail.com. 

To apply, please send your expression of interest (max 300 words) and specify the role you would like to apply for to phmgicon@gmail.com. The deadline for applications is open until Sunday 25 May 2025.

Visit the Icon PhMG group updates page to find out more.

 Here is Paul Hill's article in Amateur Photographer about my Romney Marsh photographs exhibited in 2025 at Rye Art Gallery.

My film "Notes from a Landscape" which accompanied the exhibition can now be viewed on You Tube https://youtu.be/QVhZP05ByHc?si=dZFqmjY9rA4pvJxg 

In a new blog post researchers Giorgia Tolfo and Katherine Howells reflect on their recent project focusing on the metadata in the National Archives's photographic copyright collections (COPY1). They look at the opportunities and challenges of collaborative digital experimentation.

As a result of this copyright registration system, in COPY 1 there are over 133,000 individual entry forms containing this valuable and fascinating information. Crucially, through the hard work of volunteers over several years, the entry forms for the registration of photographs have been fully transcribed into Discovery, making this rich metadata available to researchers.

Since this metadata has been made available on Discovery, researchers have been able to search the information using keywords. However, for a long time we have recognised that the research potential of this information goes much deeper than enabling simple keyword searching. Through the wide range of digital methods of data analysis available to us now, there could be many more opportunities to use this metadata to illuminate historical trends, surface new and little-known stories and much more. To invite new perspectives on how we could maximise the potential of this metadata, we have now released the full dataset on GitHub. Researchers can download it freely and experiment with it.

Read the full blog post here: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blogs/research-projects/developing-an-enhanced-dataset-for-the-history-of-photography/

Images: COPY1 records for P H Emerson's Gathering Water Lillies / The National Archives, Kew

Photographer Ans Westra had a long and rich relationship with the Alexander Turnbull Library, depositing her significant collection of documentary photographs over many years. Following her death on 26 February 2023 Turnbull staff members Mark Strange (Senior Conservator Photographs) and Paul Diamond (Curator Māori) reflected on her legacy. You can read their blog on the National Library of New Zealand website and browse Ans' digitised work.

Many other tributes were paid to Ans' by the photographic community and the arts and culture sector, including this blog by Athol McCredie (Curator of Photography at Te Papa Museum of New Zealand).  {Suite} Gallery are the agents for Ans' work, and their site includes more biographical information, examples of her extensive photographic legacy and a link to the recording of her funeral.

The annual Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards celebrate excellence in photography and moving image publishing. They recognise individuals who have made an outstanding or original contribution to the literature, art or practice of photography or the moving image. Two winning titles are selected: one in the field of photography and one in the field of the moving image. The author/s or editor/s of each winning book receive a £5,000 cash prize.

Submissions are welcome from publishers, authors, collectives and individuals self-publishing their work. There is no entry fee.

• Books must be published between 1 January and 31 December 2025
• Books must be published, distributed or available to buy (including online) in the UK

Further details, terms and conditions, and the entry form for the 2026 Awards can be found here.

Housed in the extraordinary spaces of Palazzo Grifoni Budini Gattai, which for years hosted the Photothek of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, the exhibition offers a critical and engaging reading of Florence through photographs by Italian-German artist and filmmaker Armin Linke, in dialogue with historical documentary photographs from the Photothek. The exhibition explores archives, museums and collections where works of art, documents, materials and knowledge have sedimented, forming and transforming the image of the city of Florence. The exhibition will be accompanied by a concept book that should appear in January 2026.

Armin Linke: The City as Archive. Florence
Curated by Hannah Baader and Costanza Caraffa

An exhibition by the
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut

12 November 2025–31 January 2026

Holiday closure
22 December 2025–1 January 2026

Palazzo Grifoni Budini Gattai
Via dei Servi 51
50122 Florence

Opening hours
Thursday 14–20, Friday 14–19, Saturday 14–19

Free admission

Contact:
cityasarchive@khi.fi.it

More on the KHI website

The W. W. Winter Heratige Triust (WWWHT) are looking for a Treasurer and new trustees to help build a sustainable future for one of Britain’s oldest photographic studios offering public and community benefit. We would welcome applications from those with skills and knowledge of accountancy, legal services, project management and fundraising.

We would also welcome applications from Derby’s local communities serviced by the studio.

ORGANISATION OVERVIEW:
Winter’s historic studio and archive of images will bring communities together, building a deep appreciation, locally and nationally, for Derby’s pioneering industrial and cultural heritage. Preserving past skills, whilst embracing the latest advances in photography to engage, inspire and foster creativity and human connection.

OBJECTIVES
• Preserve & Share – Digitally and physically safeguard Winter’s unparalleled photographic collection telling the story of Derby, its people, industries and culture, making it accessible to all, whilst ensuring that contemporary stories are preserved for tomorrow.
• Refurbish & Reimagine – Revitalise the world’s oldest purpose-built photographic studio, ensuring it remains an active, vibrant space evolving for future generations.
• Engage & Inspire – Use photography to bring communities together, spark creativity, and encourage cross-generational and cross-cultural storytelling.
• Innovate & Evolve – Embrace both historic and emerging technologies to explore the evolving role of photography in human connection and history.
• Sustain & Grow – Develop a sustainable future for Winter’s, where commercial photography services support our wider cultural, artistic, and educational activities.

ROLE DETAILS:
The Trustees share responsibility for the sustainable future of the Winter’s photographic studio and the development and delivery of engagement activities organised by WWWHT.
The Trustees also represent the organisation to a range of internal and external stakeholders, ensuring effective relationships within the community.
Trustees are expected to bring their own personal experience, knowledge and skills to the role to further the objectives of the WWWHT.
The Treasurer is also responsible for keeping records of and reporting on the WWWHT income and expenditure, both to board and to the Charity Commission.

TIME COMMITMENT:
6-8 hours a month

ATTENDANCE:
Monthly meetings – 2 hours online
Quarterly meetings – 4 hours in-person

ROLE DESCRIPTION:
Trustees are expected to attend board meetings and where appropriate sub groups working on specific tasks. They will also assist in the development of funding applications, activity plans and forward planning. Trustees also have an important role in raising the profile of the charity within their own communities and beyond. The role is likely to evolve in the future as WWWHT progress our objectives.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
Personal Qualities
• Friendly and approachable
• Clear communication skills, both written and verbal
• Happy to volunteer on evenings and weekends when required
• Enthusiasm or interest in photography
• An empathy with the needs of others

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE:
Previous trustee experience is not necessary, but a willingness to gain knowledge of charity law, good governance and operation relevant to WWWHT and it’s work is essential.

SKILLS:
Essential
• Good team working skills
• An ability to listen and understand multiple viewpoints
• Experience and knowledge of good accountancy practice (Treasurer only)

Desirable
• Knowledge of charity law and the implications of the Subsidy Control Act
• An understanding of Copyright law
• Experience of the development of a fundraising strategy and preparing grant applications
• Experience of project management
• Knowledge of Arts Council England and National Lottery Heritage Fund grant opportunities.
• Knowledge of connections to local Derby community groups
• Experience of completing annual reports and submitting them to the Charity Commission

 Closing Date: 31st October 2025

W. W. Winter Heritage Trust

To Apply or express an interest in this position please email – office@winterheritagetrust.org or phone 01332 345224 

I was wondering if anyone could shine a light on the history of this image of Fort Attock I accquied recently. A large print it bears a resemblance to photograph collection in the National Army Museum from Sergeant Poe, Somerset Light Infantry, 1880 (c)-1897. The hand writting is similar but slightly different as the Museum seems to have confirmed. The records are slightly sketchy regarding who was stationed here at the time, the only clue is the handwritten note saying "Commanded here 1885-86." 

Historically an interesting time line as a certain Richard Nugent Stoker was stationed as  Garrison Surgeon of Fort Attock Other than that, I have drawn a blank to who the person might be or the photographer might be. Of course, this is now the headquarters of the Pakistan Army (SSG), as a friend found out when he was arrested trying to cross the bridge.

Any information or ideas of where to research next would be most gratefully recieved 

Richard

On this day in 1926 John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television from premises in London's Frith Street. The building which is now the renowned Bar Italia is already marked with a blue heritage plaque. One hundred years to the day it has been joined with a World Original Site plaque. A ceremony today marked the unveiling by Iain Logie Baird, formerly television curator at the National Media Museum, and John's grandson. 

The BBC with a particular interest in the event was there to film the unveiling which falso included Charlotte Connelly from the National Science and Media Museum which houses a Baird Televisor and Baird's experimental apparatus including test dummy 'Stookie Bill'.

See: https://worldoriginsite.org/television-john-logie-baird/
and https://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/tv-100/#televisiongoespublic

Throughout September, I'll be blogging about a series of stereocards that I recently purchased as part of my ongoing research into the influence of 3D on early press photography.

The significance of the cards I'll be looking at is that they can be attributed to James Edward Ellam (1857-1920), an amateur stereographer from Yorkshire who enjoyed a successful career in London as a news agency photographer servicing Fleet Street.

He is best-known for his stereos for the Underwood & Underwood company of King Edward VII & Queen Alexandra in their Coronation robes, King Edward with his grandchildren at Balmoral (both in the National Portrait Gallery, London) and a set featuring Pope Pius X at the Vatican in Rome.

As I've obtained 30 of his amateur stereos, I thought I would write a blogpost-a-day this month about each of the cards.

In the process, I hope to shed further light on a period of James's career when he was making the transition, like other aspiring press photographers, from amateur to freelance/professional status.

You can follow the posts on my blog Click here

Credit: "The Cloisters, Durham Cathedral 1894" by J.E. Ellam.

Late spring will see two new heritage plaques being unveiled. One will be for Julia Margaret Cameron, and the second will be a new plaque for Christina Broom. The dates and locations - both in London - and how people might attend will be announced here later. 

Grant Scott has put out a call for information on the 1967 exhibition Modfot One and the promotion of contemporary photography in the UK in the 1960s. Please get in touch if you think you have anything to contribute in the way of memories, facts and stuff. 

Contact: Dr Grant Scott e: gscott@brookes.ac.uk

For information on Modfot see: https://the-golden-fleece.co.uk/wp/modfot-one/

Apologies for the last minute post, but a colleague is hosting a talk on Saturday 24 May on Cambridgeshire's longest running Photographic Studio and the Photographers who worked there- including women photographers Lettice Ramsey and Helen Muspratt. The talk will be held at Huntingdon Library on Princes Street, Huntingdon PE29 3PA, from 1:30PM-3:00pm. Huntingdon train station is just a 10 minute walk from the library, parking is available on Malthouse Close (Princes Street Car Park and RCP PARKING St Benedicts Shopping Centre).

Please see the website for more details: Local and Community History Month Talk: Post Office Terrace, Photography Studio — Library.Live

The seminar is organised by Museum of Cinema - Tomàs Mallol Collection (Girona); Department of History and Art History of the University of Girona (UdG); Research Group on the Origins of Cinema (GROC); and the Research Project of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities entitled: 'The impact of electricity on turn-of-the-century cinema and photography: from transformations of vision to the animism of objects (1885-1919)'

The call for papers for the 15th Seminar is open. The deadline for submissions is 31 March, 2026. 

15th International Seminar on the Origins and History of Cinema
Electricity and its impact on modern visual and auditory culture
cfp: deadline: 31 March 2026
see: https://museudelcinema.girona.cat/eng/institut_seminari_2026.php
seminar: 5 & November 2026

This conference will explore how photography has shaped and recorded the urban architectural heritage of Scotland. By examining Scottish photography from the 1840s to the present day, architectural styles, photographic records, and the influence of new technologies, the conference will provide a comprehensive look at how cities and towns have been represented and perceived through the lens. Academics, students, architects, photographers, and cultural historians will gather to discuss how photography influences not only the perception of Scotland’s built environment but also the way our modern towns and cities are planned and designed.

SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES, a conference organised by Studies in Photography
5 November 2025
National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
For full programme and to book: https://studiesinphotography.com/blogs/news/shifting-perspectives-a-conference-organised-by-studies-in-photography

This is the first exhibition in England of photographs of 19th century China taken by the legendary Scottish photographer and travel writer John Thomson (1837-1921). Thomson's collection of 650 glass plate negatives is now housed in the Wellcome Collection Library, London. This exhibition of almost 150 prints from the collection was shown in venues across China in 2009 before coming to Liverpool. Following the Merseyside Maritime Museum it will tour to Hartlepool in late 2010 and The Burrell Collection in early 2011.

John Thomson (1837–1921) was born in Edinburgh two years before the invention of the daguerreotype was announced to the world in 1839. This discovery was the beginning of photography. That same year Fox Talbot introduced the calotype process, and with this new medium David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, two remarkable Scottish photographers living in Edinburgh, produced nearly 3,000 images, including city views, landscapes and scenes of everyday life. Their work undoubtedly had a profound influence on Thomson. In the years leading up to Thomsonbecoming a professional photographer, the technology of photographyalso developed at an incredible speed. The invention of thewet-collodian process in 1850 is regarded as the watershed: it reducedthe exposure time and the cost of making photographs; it also producedsharper images. The wet-collodian process quickly replaceddaguerreotype and calotype. As Thomson remarked: ‘the detail inwet-collodian negatives was of microscopic minuteness whilst presentingthe finest gradation and printing quality which had never indeed beensurpassed by any known method’. But this in itself added to hisdifficulties: it was necessary to make the negatives on glass platesthat had to be coated with wet-collodian emulsion before the exposurewas made, thus there was a large amount of cumbersome equipment thathad to be carried from place to place.

Yet Thomson persevered. To endure hardship was part of his Victorian education. He showed enormous energy and stamina. Like many of his Victorian contemporaries, he was excited by the opening up of Africa and Asia to the West, and he shared in the enthusiasm for exploring exotic places. He believed that by using photography, ‘the explorer may add not only to the interest, but to the permanent value of his work’. And ‘the camera should be a power in this age of instruction to instruct the age’.

In 1862, Thomson set out for Singapore, where he opened a studio and established himself as a professional portrait photographer. Meanwhile, he also became increasingly interested in the local culture and people. From Singapore he travelled into Malaya and Sumatra and took a number of photographs of local landscapes and people. In 1866, after moving to Bangkok, he made his first photographic expedition into Cambodia and Indo-China (Vietnam). His photographs of Cambodia and Siam (Thailand) established him as a serious travel photographer, and gained himmembership of both the Ethnographic Society of London and the RoyalGeographic Society.

During his second trip to Asia, Thomson based himself at the thriving British Crown Colony of Hong Kong in 1868. There he studied Chinese and Chinese culture while making a few short trips into Guangdong. Thomson’s major China expedition began in 1870. For two years he travelled extensively from Guangdong to Fujian, and then to eastern and northern China, including the imperial capital Beijing, before heading down to the River Yangtse, altogether covering nearly 5000 miles. In China, Thomson excelled as a photographer in quality,depth and breadth, and also in artistic sensibility. The experience hegained, and the techniques he developed, on the streets of Beijing laidthe foundation for his Street Life in London, compiled five yearslater. This established him as the pioneer of photojournalism and oneof the most influential photographers of his generation.

After returning to Britain, Thomson took up an active role informing the public about China. Besides giving illustrated presentations, he continuously published photographic and written works on China. He sensed that a profound transformation was taking place in the world, and ‘through the agency of steam and telegraphy, [China] is being brought day by day into closer relationship with ourselves … China cannot much longer lie undisturbed in statii quo.’ Undoubtedly his photographs contributed greatly to 19th-century Europe’s view of Asiaand filled the visual gap between East and West. He became known as‘China’ Thomson.

Yet what marked Thomson’s work out was not simply the massive amount of visual information he offered. His uniqueness was his zeal to present a faithful and precise, though not always agreeable, account of China and Chinese people. He wanted his audiences to witness China’s floods, famines, pestilences and civil wars; but even more so, he wanted share them the human aspect of life in China. He wanted his work to transcend that of the casual illustration of idiosyncratic types, to portray human beings as individuals full of peculiarities.

In 1920, Thomson decided to sell his 650 glass negatives, including those of China, to the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, but died before the transaction could be completed. Eventually Henry Solomon Wellcome (1853–1936), the American-born pharmacist and philanthropist, bought the negatives from Thomson’s heirs.

Although Wellcome’s museum had a medical and historical theme, Wellcome was a cosmopolitan, and, in some aspects, compulsive collector. He also had an anthropological approach to history, and his ultimate aim was to create a Museum of Man, although this dream was never realised. After his death much of his collection, including Thomson’s negatives in three wooden crates, ended up in the Wellcome Library in London, where they remain today.

The 150 images included in this exhibition are all from the Wellcome Library’s collection. While a few images were reproduced in Thomson’s published works and shown in exhibitions, the great majority of his photographs have never been exhibited. Take, for example, the stereoscopes. Each of these negatives comprises two photographs taken from slightly different angles. Previously, due to the cost of photo-publishing, only one of the exposures was printed.

The images included for this exhibition have been chosen mainly for their locations, namely those of Beijing, Guangdong and Fujian. The photographs Thomson took in Fujian and Guangdong are his strongest series of landscapes. But they also show his sensitivity. The human aspect of his work was even more evident in his photos of the poor. In Guangdong and Fujian, he became increasingly concerned with the lives and conditions of ordinary Chinese. As he travelled further, this concern developed. In the imperial capital of Beijing, Thomson not onlydisplayed his talent as professional portrait photographer, his streetscenes of Beijing showed that he was ahead of his time. These deeplymoving images are sometimes compared to street photographs by the great20th-century masters like Andre Kertesz, Henri Cartier-Bresson orRobert Doisneau. But more importantly, they will remain as incrediblyvaluable historical material for anyone wishing to understand19th-century China and its people in their struggle to become modern.

Further information on John Thomson can be found here : http://www.nls.uk/thomson/china.html