MUYBRIDGE'S 360-DEGREE "PATRICIAN'S" VIEW OF SAN FRANCISCO, taken from the central tower of Central Pacific Railroad magnate Mark Hopkins's unfinished Nob Hill home at the corner of California and Mason streets. Muybridge captured the view over a period of several hours, as evidenced by the shifting shadow. The photographic panorama is a remarkable technical achievement as it took numerous calculations to correctly orient each exposure in order to assemble a continuous image. This example with the clock in the fifth panel at a quarter to two.
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We expect Kingston to feature heavily in this documentary, with the town centre, the river, Muybridge’s birthplace, the Coronation Stone and Kingston Museum all being filmed as part of the development of this exciting documentary, as well as featuring the Museum’s world-class Muybridge collection. The programme includes Alan Yentob in conversation with Peta Cook, Kingston Museum Curator who talked to Yentob about Muybridge, the collection and the Museum’s ground breaking new exhibition Muybridge Revolutions. The Museum and Heritage team has provided the BBC with much appreciated support in the creation of the documentary, including the supplying of images, references and animations.
This also serves as great publicity for our exhibition Muybridge Revolutions which has been extended until March 19th 2011.
There is a link to the programme on the BBC's iPlayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wdlkz
Cllr Simon Hancock, who has been Haverfordwest Museum’s curator for 30 years, launched his book ‘A Photographic History of Victorian and Edwardian Haverfordwest 1860 – 1914’ as part of the town’s 900th anniversary celebrations.
The book is a social history of the town between 1860 and 1914 and includes a host of new visual and textual material that has never been seen before. The book has been a monumental undertaking for the local historian, who began his research in 1998, when he originally planned to create a small picture book of the town.
The full report can be found here.
Photo: The book is the culmination of 12 years worth of work for Simon Hancock.
The second volume of Quaritch's series on the history of photography in China is now available. The History of Photography in China: Western Photographers 1861-1879 is the most extensive general survey, in any language, of Western photographers who began working in China in the 1860s and 1870s. Over eighty different photographers are discussed – from well-known professionals to little-known amateurs – with a mass of biographical information, much previously unpublished.
The book is divided into chapters on the Hong Kong Studios, Photography in Peking (Beijing), Photography in the Treaty Ports, Roving Photographers, The Ruins of the European Palaces in the Yuanmingyuan, and Photographic Periodicals. Documentary appendices list the published work of various photographers and print extensive extracts from contemporary reviews and other writings. The book concludes with a bibliography, general and regional chronologies, and a biographical index.
An acclaimed international authority on the subject, Terry Bennett has been collecting and researching nineteenth-century Chinese, Japanese and Korean photography for over twenty-five years. This volume is illustrated throughout with over 400 images, sourced from private and institutional collections worldwide.
The book is available at a pre-publication special price of £60 (normal price £70). To order please contact Daniella Rossi at the address below or email d.rossi@quaritch.com. Copies will be available for shipment on 6 December 2010.
For Christmas delivery, please place your orders by the following dates:
Domestic
First Class - Tuesday, 20 December
Second Class - Saturday, 18 December
International Airmail
Western Europe - Monday, 13 December
Eastern Europe, USA and Canada - Friday, 10 December
South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Australia and New Zealand - Monday, 6 December
Details of volume 1 can be found here: http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/new-publication-chinese Quaritch is also offering vols 1 & 2 for £100 (pre-publication only).
Bernard Quaritch Ltd
40 South Audley Street, London, W1K 2PR
Tel: +44 (0)20 7297 4888 Fax: +44 (0)20 7297 4866
The J. Paul Getty Museum presents In Focus: The Tree, a survey of important technological and aesthetic developments in photographic representations of trees. The latest in the In Focus series of thematic exhibitions, this presentation of nearly 40 photographs provides visitors with an opportunity to explore the Getty Museum’s world-renowned permanent collection of photographs through the inspiring subject of trees.
Loosely organized into single tree portraits, trees in the landscape, abstract forms drawn from trees, and daily uses of the tree, the exhibition highlights photographers from different eras, juxtaposing their works to create an interesting dialogue, says Lyden. One of the earliest works in the exhibition is William Henry Fox Talbot’s iconic An Oak Tree in Winter (1842-1843), which captures the lace-like pattern of bare branches against a stark winter sky.
A daguerreotype by John Jabez Edwin Mayall from 1851 entitled The Crystal Palace at Hyde Park, London, captures the site as it appeared when new, an impressive glass structure built around existing Elm trees. Mayall’s image shows man’s progress in using modern materials such as glass and steel in an attempt to surpass nature and showcase science and industry.
In conjunction with In Focus: The Tree, a book by co-curator Reynaud entitled The Tree in Photographs will be published in January 2011, and will expand the theme of the exhibition. The book will include all of the images featured in the display, as well as many others. Click on the Amazon link on the right to search for it.
The full press release can be found here, and details of the exhibition here.
Since 1964 the National Gallery of Art (Washington DC) has offered professional museum training to candidates from all backgrounds through a variety of internship programs. Nine-week summer internships provide opportunities to work on projects directed by a Gallery curator or department head.
Curatorial: Photography
The intern will assist in the research and organization for an exhibition on the 19th-century French photographer Charles Marville. He or she will aid in producing the catalogue and organizing the exhibition. Tasks include fact-checking, editing, and conducting research for a comprehensive chronology as well as maintaining object lists, researching individual objects, and helping to coordinate loans for the exhibition. The intern will participate in the daily functions of the department, including research on the permanent collection. Current advanced art history, 19th-century French studies, or French history graduate students and 2011 graduates of such programs are invited to apply. Knowledge or coursework in the history of 19th-century photography is preferred. Advanced reading knowledge of French is required.
The intern will assist in the research and organization for an exhibition on the 19th-century French photographer Charles Marville. He or she will aid in producing the catalogue and organizing the exhibition. Tasks include fact-checking, editing, and conducting research for a comprehensive chronology as well as maintaining object lists, researching individual objects, and helping to coordinate loans for the exhibition. The intern will participate in the daily functions of the department, including research on the permanent collection. Current advanced art history, 19th-century French studies, or French history graduate students and 2011 graduates of such programs are invited to apply. Knowledge or coursework in the history of 19th-century photography is preferred. Advanced reading knowledge of French is required.
Eligibility
Eligibility varies according to internship. Several opportunities are geared to undergraduates graduating in May 2011. The majority of slots are for currently enrolled graduate students of all levels and those graduating in May 2011 with a relevant degree (such as MA, MBA, MFA, M Arch, M Ed, JD, or MLS). Please check prerequisites carefully. Applicants from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. This is an international program.
Terms
Summer interns are in residence at the Gallery from June 13 to August 12, 2011. Interns receive a stipend of approximately $4,500 that is subject to all applicable taxes.
- Deadlines
- January 6, 2011
- Deadline for application packets. Send one original and five copies of the application form, six copies of your full résumé or CV, and one copy of official transcripts from each undergraduate and graduate institution attended to our mailing address. Applications received after this date will not be considered.
- January 14, 2011
- Semifinalists will be notified of their status and asked to submit additional materials by January 21, 2011. Semifinalists will be asked to send a writing sample (approximately 20 pages, including footnotes or endnotes, bibliography, and images) to our e-mail address. Recommenders listed on the application form will be contacted directly by the Gallery's academic programs staff.
- January 21, 2011
- Deadline for recommendations and the writing sample.
- March 11, 2011
- Finalists will be selected.
He is most famous for the pictures he took of the Titanic. But the work of Cork-born Jesuit priest Father Francis Browne extended to four continents and nearly 42,000 prints. Hailed as "Ireland's greatest photographer", a new book has revealed never-seen-before images taken by the cleric in Ireland from when he first picked up a camera in 1897, until shortly before his death in 1960.
Father Browne's great collection of negatives lay forgotten for 25 years after his death in 1960. It was by chance in 1986 that Father O'Donnell discovered the lost collection in a large metal trunk and brought the negatives to the attention of the features editor of the 'Sunday Times' in London, who dubbed them "the photographic equivalent to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls".
His legacy was a collection of nearly 42,000 photographs, including the ones he took aboard the Titanic in 1912. Fortunately, he disembarked at Queenstown, now Cobh, on the orders of his superiors. All rights to the Father Browne collection are owned by the Jesuits in Ireland.
As a result, this new book, The Father Browne Yeats, is published by Messenger Publications, publishers of 'The Scared Heart Messenger', or search for it in the Amazon link on the right.
The full news report can be found here.
Falmouth Art Gallery has a small but important collection of 20th century and contemporary photography. It boasts the largest collection of Lee Miller photographs outside of the Lee Miller archive and has remarkable images by Eve Arnold, Fay Godwin and Linda McCartney. The collection is particularly strong in Surrealist photographs including works by Lee Miller’s husband Sir Roland Penrose, Man Ray and Jonathan X. Coudrille.
Contemporary photographers include Bob Berry, Susan Boafo, Vince Bevan, Miles Flint, Nick Meek, Steve Tanner and Anthony & Kate Fagin. See also ‘Underwater Photography' for marine photographs by the award winning Mark Webster.
Falmouth Art Gallery will be exhibiting material from this collection under the title 'Masters of Photography from 12 February-2 April 2011. The exhibition will profile in particular the work of Ian Stern.
To view the Falmouth Art Gallery's 20th century photographic holdings on their web catalogue: http://fag.looksystems.net/Collection/Masters_of_Photography
Manchester design consultancy NRN Design has been appointed to create new Internet galleries at the National Media Museum in Bradford, which will explore the history, evolution and social impact of the Internet. The contract is worth £88,000. More illustrations are available here. The same company was responsible for the computrer games lounge situtated in the museum foyer.
National Museums Scotland is one of the UK's leading museum services. Operating five museums and one of the largest multidisciplinary collections in the UK, it aims to be a world-class museums service that educates, informs and inspires. A major redevelopment and modernisation programme is currently being implemented across our organisation, including a £46 million redevelopment of the Royal Museum building. This investment will create new displays, enhance learning and public facilities and provide high quality visitor experiences.
This is a temporary, full time appointment for a period of 9 months. You will support the Photography team to achieve objectives relating to the Royal Museum Project and Online Collections, by providing digital photography, primarily of collections.
You will have a recognised professional qualification in Photography at HND or degree level (or equivalent), together with a good knowledge of photographic and digital imaging techniques and studio flash lighting. You will be familiar with imaging software, including Adobe Photoshop; both PC and Mac platforms; scanners and related software; and will have a high level of professional technical competence. Demonstrable relevant professional experience is essential, including the use of digital imaging technology, and you will have proven ICT skills in Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook. Experience of working in both museum and commercial photography environments is desirable, as is a driving licence.
The selection event will be held on Friday 14 January 2011.
National Museums Scotland is committed to being an Equal Opportunities Employer.
Closing date for completed applications is 10/12/2010
Details, including an application pack, can be found here.
Known as an adventurer, a scholar, and possibly a spy (!) - Dutchman, Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, (1857 - 1936) proved that he was also a pioneering photographer with his rare 1885 photographs/sound recordings of the holy city of Mecca.
Started life as a theology student at Lieden University, Netherlands, Hurgronje was later appointed as an adviser on the native affairs of colonial Netherlands East Indies. In 1880, he wrote his doctorate thesis entitled "Het Mekkansche Feest" (The Festivities of Makkah) which described the Haj pilgrimage and its customs.
In 1884, through a partial funding from the Dutch government, he was sent to Mecca/Jeddah. During this short but comprehensive stay, he observed and chronicled the daily lives of the local society through photos, written memoirs and sound recordings. Unfortunately, he was forced to leave earlier than intended after unfound accusations of his involvement in an attempt to steal a historical artifact.
His camera equipment wasn't wasted. After Snouck's departure, Al-Sayyid Abd al-Ghaffar, a local physician that the Dutchman had worked alongside, began using the camera, possibly becoming Mecca's first home-grown photographer. Al-Ghaffar continued sending his images to Snouck in The Netherlands. Many of the photographs were originally credited solely to Snouck but they are now jointly credited, with experts unable to tell who shot what.The images, archived by Leiden University Library, were published four years after Snouck's trip. Original copies of the album now sell for about $45,000, according to the gallery.
Under the patronage of Princess Reem Al-Faisal and in collaboration with Netherland’s Leiden University Library and Hes & De Graaf Publishers, this exhibition “Mecca — A Dangerous Adventure,” features re-photographed and re-produced 19th century platinum prints of the works of Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936).
Details of the Snouck Hurgronje article, including a slide show, can be found here, and the exhibition here.
Photos: Group portrait of sharif Yahya with camel slave and two lower sharifs; Dutch scholar Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje.
An on-going exhibition which opened earlier this year (with another commencing in 2011) showcases the royal portraiture of Marcus Adams. Marcus opened his Children’s Studio on Dover Street, London in 1920. He quickly established a reputation as a leading child photographer through his ability to capture the personality of his young sitters, who included the children of the writers A.A. Milne and Agatha Christie. Adams wanted his subjects to feel completely at ease, believing that photography was ‘ninety-five per cent psychology and only five per cent mechanical’. The studio was filled with gadgets and toys, and had no visible equipment or dazzling lights. Instead, Adams built a special camera in the form of a toy cabinet, which he operated remotely while he moved about and talked to the children. As many as 200 photographs would be taken during a typical royal sitting, resulting in at least 50 successful images. A number of the portraits were kept by the Royal Family, some were published in newspapers and magazines, and others appeared on postcards, postage stamps, calendars, commemorative china, and even biscuit tins and jigsaw puzzles.
Details of both exhibitions can be found here and here.
Photos: Marcus Adams; Prince Charles by Marcus Adams bromide print, 1953
9 5/8 in. x 7 1/2 in. (244 mm x 191 mm) Purchased, 1980; Primary Collection, NPG P140(27);
Walton Adams is Reading's oldest commercial and family photographic business established since 1867.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1884, Watkins was active in NewYork in the 1920s, where she had a studio in Greenwich Village and worked with Clarence White and the other great photographers of the period including Stieglitz and Strand. Her work in advertising and art photography was often innovative and experimental, and she exhibited internationally.
In 1928 she visited her four elderly aunts in Glasgow, which became her base for the rest of her life, allowing her to travel in Europe and particularly in Russia where she made some of her most striking work. However, after the war she became very reclusive. Joe Mulholland was her neighbour, but in the many years he knew her, she never referred to her photographic career and it was only after her death that the nature and scale of her achievement became evident.
A newspaper article on Watkins can be found here, and details of the exhibition here.
It includes an archive of historical documents, letters and estates records of this Gloucestershire garden, as well as over 50 original glass photographic plates dating from 1910until 1917.
Any BPH members with green fingers can read the full report here.
Photo: The archive includes over 50 original photographs of Batsford dating back to 1910.
From the collections of the V&A and Royal Anthropological Institute to those at local libraries and in professional archives such as Magnum Photos, London plays host to a surprising variety of often unknown photographic collections and archives, all of which are kept for different purposes.
Using practical explorations, visits and thematic discussions this course arranged by the Photographers' Gallery and Birkbeck considers the histories, preservation, use and related issues involved in these fascinating archives.
There are nine sessions in total, from 8 January - 10 February 2011, with a combination of Saturday mornings, 10.30am-1.30pm, and weekday evenings, 6pm-8pm. Full dates to be announced.
For more information and to book: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/study/ce/modules/FFWO099H4.html, 020 7631 6651
If you’ve been looking for yet another good reason to come visit us at the Fox Talbot Museum in the historic village of Lacock, here it is! The Fox Talbot Museum is presenting a series of photographic workshops for next summer, comprising:
- Dawn of Photography, with Mark Osterman and France Scully Osterman
- Wet and Dry Collodion on Glass, also led by Mark and France
- Daguerreotype Workshop, with Mike Robinson
- Photogenic Drawing Workshop, with Richard Cynan Jones.
Registration for these workshops starts now and is limited to small classes so sign up soon to avoid disappointment.
Come visit us at www.talbotworkshops.co.uk for more information and registration details.
Fay Godwin (1931 - 2005) was one of Britain's greatest landscape photographers. She is best known for her 1985 exhibition and accompanying book, Land - a very personal celebration of the British landscape that enjoyed enormous popular and critical success. A comprehensive background on Godwin can be found here and here, and details on the current NMeM exhibition here.
Godwin's Land exhibition was a critical and popular success during akey period for photography. Professor Roger Taylor (Photo historian) and Colin Ford (Head of National Museum of Photography, Film and TV, 1983-93) recount this achievement in a short film which can be found here.
In a blog report earlier this year BPH noted that the National Media Museum was looking to save a rare photograph by pioneering 19th century British photographer, Roger Fenton, entitled 'Pasha and Bayader'. Today it has been confirmed that the photograph has been saved, and it is no longer in danger being moved abroad.
The Art Fund and the National Media Museum has managed to jointly raise over £100,000, and the image will now be on display in the National Collection of Photographs.
Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund, said: "This captivating tableau is of huge importance to the display and study of photography. The intriguing interplay between the characters and Fenton's visual trickery are sure to fascinate viewers, helping bring a wider understanding of 19th century art and culture."
The Art Fund noted (see here): Fenton created Pasha and Bayadere in 1858 as part of a series of photographs inspired by his recent expedition to photograph the Crimean War. It is an important and beautiful expression of an orientalist theme in British art of the nineteenth century and reflects the Victorian fascination with the ‘exotic’ east. Fenton himself appears as the ‘Pasha’ and the musician is the English landscape painter, Frank Dillon, who originally owned the print.
- Medium: albumen silver print
- Dimensions: 42 x 38cm
- Grant Paid: £49,000.00 ( Total: £108,506.00; Export stopped)
- ArtFunded in: 2010
- Vendor: Descendants of Frank Dillon
Only two examples of this image exist - the other is in the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and is believed to be a proof.
The full report fromt the Daily Telegraph can be found here.
