The Royal Society is holding two lectures that will be of interest to blog readers:
'Photographing ancient Mesopotamia: Talbot, Fenton and the British Museum'
Friday 23 October, 1-2pm
Mirjam Brusius
Around 1850 A.H. Layard excavated several ancient Mesopotamian sites, the artefacts of which were brought to the British Museum. Here the trustees discussed the use of photography in the field and in the museum. W. H. Fox Talbot, inventor of the Calotype photographic process and a fellow of the Royal Society, became a strong supporter of the application of photography in archaeology. However, the trustees were not immediately convinced. This talk will explore early debates about the use of photography for research purposes.
Mirjam Brusius is writing her doctoral thesis on William Henry Fox Talbot at the University of Cambridge. She is a researcher on the British Library project 'Science and the Antique in the Work of William Henry Fox Talbot', and is currently a visiting fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin.
The lecture is free, but space is limited, to reserve a space, use the Society's online booking form or telephone +44 (0)20 7451 2606.
The Nine Lives of William Crookes
Wednesday 18 November, 6.30pm
Chemist, photographer, editor, public health campaigner, business man, electrician, gold miner, glassworker and occultist: how did Sir William Crookes combine these, and other, "lives" to forge a scientific identity and become President of the Royal Society in 1913?
William Brock is Emeritus Professor of the History of Science, having taught history of science and also directed the interdisciplinary Victorian Studies Centre at the University of Leicester. His most recent book is William Crookes (1832-1919) and the Commercialization of Science (2009).
To book a space for this event please email library@royalsociety.org or telephone 020 7451 2606.
The Society's current photography exhibition, From Fossils to Photography, continues. The exhibition is open during Library working hours (10am - 5pm, Monday to Friday) until November 2009. Entry is free but by appointment only - if you would like to visit please email: library@royalsociety.org or telephoning 020 7451 2606.
For more information visit: http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=7242Read more…
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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The British Library has announced a series of events around its major autumn exhibition Points of View which takes place from 30 October 2009 to 7 March 2010. These include a whole day of lectures and workshops on 7 November as well as one-off events including Brian May talking about the photographer T. R. Williams and Larry Schaaf on William Henry Fox Talbot. Below is a exclusive, handy print-out and keep guide to these. Most of the events are free but have limited availability so booking is recommended. Visit http://www.bl.uk/whatson/events/date/sept09/index.html to do this. Further events for January to March will be announced in due course.
Events and lecturesImagining the impossible: The truth about spirit photography
Sat 31 Oct 2009, 14.30 - 16.00
Price: £6 / £4 concessions
Images of departed spirits, ghosts and ectoplasm captured on photographs became a huge sensation between the 1860s and 1930s. As spiritualist mediums and their many clients, and even establishment figures such as Arthur Conan Doyle, enthused about these apparently miraculous messages, others sought to uncover widespread fraud and trickery. An entertaining illustrated talk, especially for Halloween, by Gordon Rutter, Head of the Charles Fort Institute and scholar of strange experiences and anomalous phenomena.
A Village Lost And Found: Into an extraordinary stereoscopic world
Wed 11 Nov 2009, 18.30 – 20.00
Price: £7.50 / £5 concessions
Discover Brian May and Elena Vidal’s painstaking excavation of exquisite stereo photographs from the dawn of photography, as they transport us back in time to the lost world of an Oxfordshire village of the 1850s. Pioneering stereographer T.R. Williams created these powerfully atmospheric views of rural society in 1856, which burst into glorious 3D life when seen through viewers supplied to each audience member. Their intriguing story is presented by lifelong stereograph enthusiast and world-renowned musician Brian May and photographic historian and conservator Elena Vidal,
Professor Heard’s peerless Victorian magic lantern show
Sun 29 Nov 2009, 14.30 – 16.00
Price: £7.50 / £5 concessions
Professor Heard introduces the weird and wonderful magic lantern entertainments once presented in public halls and private drawing rooms throughout the 19th century. An intriguing and amusing show that draws on a unique collection of original mechanical moving pictures, sights, frights, moral warnings, adventures and pictorial curiosities.
‘I have captured a shadow’: Fox Talbot and the dawn of photography
Mon 7 Dec 2009, 18.30 -20.00
Price: £6 / £4 concessions
Frustrated with his inability to draw while in Italy, William Henry Fox Talbot conceived of the art of photography in 1833. He achieved his first successes at his Wiltshire home of Lacock Abbey by the following spring but delayed announcing his achievement to the public until 1839. Photography was thus born into an era propelled by rapid industrialisation and buffeted by great social upheavals. It both preserved the past and predicted the future.
In 2006, the descendants of William Henry Fox Talbot made an extraordinary donation to the British Library. The inventor of photography had started his own archive at the age of eight. Included in this donation were hundreds of notebooks, thousands of letters and many crucial examples of his early photographs. This collection provides an unusually rich and comprehensive resource for studying both the invention of photography and its context in the Victorian era.
Drawing on these resources, this illustrated talk by Larry J. Schaaf will explore the invention and early progress of the art of photography through the eyes of Talbot himself. The art and the artist advanced together.
World expert on early photography Larry J. Schaaf is the author of many book, including The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot
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Photography DayThe wonderful world of early photography: A discovery day
Sat 7 Nov 2009, 11.00 - 16.30
Price: Free, limited availability, booking recommended
Enjoy, explore and learn about the remarkable early years of photography at a packed day of free talks, displays, workshops and activities.
All day eventsWillett and Patterson's amazing camera obscura
Time: 11.00 – 16.30
Location: British Library, Piazza
Price: Free, drop in
A chance to experience the projected images that amazed earlier generations: artists, scientists and holiday-makers. Complete with its authentic booth and operators, this is one of the finest touring camera obscuras in the world.
Madam La Luz's photographic parlour
Time: 11.00 – 16.00
Location: British Library, Entrance Hall
Price: Free, drop in (subject to demand)
Dress up in 19th-century costume and have your picture taken by professional photographers in our lavish Victorian photo studio.
Early photography advice sessions
An introduction to looking after photographs
Time: 11.30- 12.30
Location: British Library, Centre for Conservation
Price: Free, drop in (limited capacity)
Many families have photographic collections ranging from those taken over 100 years ago to the present day. In this presentation you will learn about the different types of photographs and how to avoid storage problems in photographic collections.
Images of the past
Time: 13.30 – 16.30
Location: British Library, Entrance Hall
Price: Free, drop in (time slots may be in operation subject to demand)
Bring in your own early photographs and meet our team of conservators. Discuss their themes, dates, techniques and learn how best to care for them and protect your own collection for future generations.
Talks and EventsPhotographic History without Photographs
Time: 11.00 – 12.00
Location: All talks will take place in the Conference Centre Auditorium
Book now: Free, advance booking available
In a heavily illustrated lecture, Michael Pritchard explores a little-known but intriguing world of photographic history sources: trade catalogues, patents, company documents, auction catalogues, handbills and printed ephemera. Presented in conjunction with the 2009 Let's Talk About Photography lectures promoted by the Photographic Materials Conservation Group of the Institute of Conservation
Magic Lantern Show
Time: 12.30 – 13.00
Book now: Free, advance booking available'New light through an old hole'
Time: 13.30 – 14.30
Book now: Free, advance booking available
The History, Science and Art of The Pinhole Camera. Justin Quinnell, who uses pinhole photography will be launching his book Build Your Own Paper Camera . The lecture will take the audience on an entertaining visual journey through the science, art and 500 million year history of the pinhole camera.
Magic Lantern Show
Time: 15.00 – 15.30
Book now: Free, advance booking availableCurator Talk, Points Of View: Capturing the 19th Century in Photographs
Time: 16.00 – 17.00
Book now: Free, advance booking available
John Falconer, discusses the highlights of the exhibition and the British Library photographic collection.
WorkshopsPinhole Camera workshop
Time: 11.00 - 12.45
Suitable for families with children aged 7 – 16
Book now: Free, advance booking recommended (limited places)
Pinhole Camera workshop
Time: 15.00 - 16.45
Suitable for ages 16 and over
Book now: Free, advance booking recommended (limited places)
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Scully & Osterman will offer an Ambrotype Class in London at Minnie Weisz Studio under the Victorian Arches, King's Cross, 123 Pancras Rd London NW1 1UN between 7-8 October 2009.
The class will provide an introduction to the wet-plate collodion process and participants will make ambrotype portraits and still-lifes. The class size is limited to six students with two instructors: Mark Osterman and France Scully Osterman
For more information visit: http://www.collodion.org/workshop.html. For details please email sculloster@gmail.com or call: Minnie at +44 (0)7974 311907 to register.
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The Royal Collection has put it's first photograph exhibition online. The 1987 exhibition, Crown and Camera, curated by Roger Taylor and Frances Dimond, and shown at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, is now available online on the Royal Collection’s website. The exhibition presents a survey of the 19th century photographic material in the Royal Collection, from 1842 to 1910. It includes the earliest photograph in the collection – a daguerreotype of Prince Albert taken in Brighton in March 1842, two outdoor daguerreotypes of the 1848 Chartist meeting in Kennington and work by Fenton, Reijlander and others.
The site can be found here: http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/microsites/crownandcamera/Read more…
The Art Newspaper reports that British photographer Martin Parr is in talks with Nicholas Serota of the Tate Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum to leave his collection of historic and contemporary British photographs to the nation. Neither institution would confirm the story. Parr claims he is not looking to make a profit on any deal.
Over the over the last twenty years Parr has assembled an important survey of 700 British documentary photos and book dummies. This includes the work of around 18 practitioners, many of them collected in depth, which spans the last five decades.
For the full story click here.
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In conjunction with the National Media Museum, the University of Bolton wishes to offer a postgraduate research studentship for a suitable candidate to undertake research on relevant collections within the National Media Museum in the following areas:
Interpretations of China by nineteenth century European - chiefly British - photographers
Images of China prior to the Cultural Revolution
A comparative study of images of China from European and Chinese perspectives
Applicants should:
Hold a Masters level qualification in photography
Be fluent in spoken and written English and Mandarin
Be aware of European and Chinese cultural contexts
Have experience of research
Have experience of working as a photographer
Be able to work independently
Have a strong visual sense
Understand the history of photography
Be motivated and enthusiastic
The Yang Memorial Scholarship is for three years, subject to a satisfactory performance review at the end of twelve months.
The closing date for applications is Wednesday 30th September 2009 at 12pm.
Interviews are expected to take place at the beginning of October.
Application forms and further details are available on request by emailing Susan Farrell: sf1@bolton.ac.uk. Alternatively, please telephone her on +44 (0)1204 903611 (no C.V.s accepted).
Yang Memorial Scholarship
Professor Yang Xiaoguang was Dean of the Dalian College of Image Art and a key influence in setting up the MA Photography at the University of Bolton that runs both in Dalian and Bolton. Tragically he was killed in a traffic accident in Nepal while teaching a photography workshop in 2008. Amongst many other interests Professor Yang had a keen interest in the study of Chinese photographic archives held outside of the country, many of which provide a unique visual insight into everyday life in China in periods when few Chinese photographers shared the same passion to document.
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Peter James, Head of Photography at Birmingham Central Library has been given the 2009 Colin Ford Award by the Royal Photographic Society.
The award, instituted in 2003, bears the name of Colin Ford CBE, the first Director of the National Museum of Photography Film and Television in Bradford (now the National Media Museum). It is normally given each year to honour an individual who has contributed in a major way to curatorship. It has previously been awarded to staff members at the NMeM.
Peter has an outstanding record of exhibitions and work in photographic history and in commission contemporary photographers based around the library's collections. He is currently working on plans for the photography collections as part of the library's move to a new building.
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