Blogs

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a sensational new exhibition inspired by Alan Sillitoe’s groundbreaking novel, published in 1958, and the 1960 film adaptation, directed by Karel Reisz.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning‘helped frame its cultural moment’. Taking seminal moments from book and film, this exhibition explores the depiction of social change in contemporary photography, focusing in particular on working-class culture in the late 50s and 60s. It highlights the various approaches taken by a generation of photographers drawn to ‘the regions’ in an attempt to capture the authenticity of ‘ordinary lives’.

The exhibition features a selection of previously un-exhibited photographic Stills from Reisz’s film, together with work produced by the so-called ‘Young Meteors’, John Bulmer, Graham Finlayson and Terence Donovan, working for The Manchester Guardian and the latest print media magazines. Independent work by Roger Mayne and Shirley Baker also contributes to the show, alongside pictures by industrial photographer Maurice Broomfield. These works are complemented by an array of accomplished local professional and amateur photographers.

Drawing its material from Nottingham and the Midlands, the Black Country and Manchester, the exhibition Saturday Night and Sunday Morningcaptures the essence of Sillitoe’s world, and the country at a point of profound cultural change. It has been curated for the Djanogly Art Gallery by Anna Douglas and Neil Walker, assisted by Damian Hughes

Running concurrently with Saturday Night and Sunday Morning in the Angear Visitor Centre is an exhibition of Stills by Dean Rogers. A graduate of Nottingham Trent University, Dean Rogers has, for the last ten years, worked closely with some of our most talented film directors including Shane Meadows and Anton Corbijn. Commonly picturing actors ‘off set’ and employing a cinematic approach to lighting, his photographs are full of narrative possibility and emotion. This exhibition complements the selection of film stills included in the Saturday Night and Sunday Morning exhibition.

More information is available here: http://www.lakesidearts.org.uk/Exhibitions.html

‘Off the shelf: the self and subjectivity in the artist’s book’ is an exhibition dedicated to various expressions of subjectivity in artist’s publications. It aims to bring together contributions from a variety of formats and editions that consider the self in the artist’s book.

The exhibition will focus on contemporary publications and welcomes submissions from a wide range of genres, including: handmade books, object-books, sculptural books, altered books, installation books, photobooks, photozines, print-on-demand books, zines, serial editions (artists’ magazines), multimedia books and ebooks. Potential topics might include, but are not limited to: 

• Self-portraits as self-analysis
• Archival practices of the self
• Family albums and personal narratives
• Gender and feminist narratives
• Queer identities
• Auto-biography and fictional biographies
• Sexualities and space
• Performance of the self
• Travel book and diasporic strategies

To submit your book, visit the page

http://offdshelf.wordpress.com/submit

Books should be sent by Friday 19^th November 2012.

offdeshelf@gmail.com

OFF THE S{H}ELF: THE SELF AND SUBJECTIVITY IN THE ARTIST’S BOOK

OPEN CALL

http://offdshelf.wordpress.com/

7- 9 December 2012

Stockwell Studios

McCall Close, Jeffreys Road London SW46QU

Plymouth University has been awarded £9,950 from Arts Council England’s Grants for the Arts scheme towards an important research and development project which aims to ensure new work made by contemporary photographers has a life and legacy that can benefit future generations - the general public, researchers and students.

Led by photographer Jem Southam, Professor in the School of Art and Media at Plymouth University, the project will involve partners in Birmingham, Manchester and London and will be completed in March 2013. 

Established and emerging photographers need to think about what future they want for their work, where it might go, who will have access to it, and how much contextual information should be kept and made available. 

Key elements of the project include: research into models of good practice, consultation with photographers and the publication of case studies examining different approaches to the ways photographers plan and organise their work and its legacy. The research outcomes will be published on websites and in specialist media and feedback and information exchange will help shape the next phase of the project, including practical guidance for current and future generations of practitioners.

This research is part of a wider, pioneering research project which aims to develop a national strategy for the preservation and dissemination of the work and archives of critically-recognised photographers working from the 1970s to the present day. The ultimate strategy will be of relevance to photographers, collectors, collecting institutions and policy-makers, with the final outcomes having an impact on students, researchers, photographic practitioners and audiences well into the future.

Background

Independent photographic practice has developed significantly since the mid 1960s. Hundreds of photographers have made new work, frequently in the form of sustained series, which explores artistic as well as social, cultural and political issues, much supported through Arts Council and other public funds. The work has resulted in publications and exhibitions in public galleries, experienced by a wide range of audiences.

However, the extended value of this practice, whereby such work can contribute to a wide-ranging and powerful cultural and historical legacy for current and future audiences, has been neglected and is seriously under-developed.

What is the problem?

a)         There are currently some 20,000 students studying degrees in photography and related courses in the UK at any one time. For those that plan to pursue photographic practice as a career, it is vital that consideration of the public legacy for their work is embedded in their developing professional practice. This does not happen at present, nor is there any guidance on how to address the issue.

b)         Most of the work and archives of a generation of photographers who significantly developed and extended the practice of contemporary photography in Britain is held, in effect, in private ‘archives’ i.e. in the photographers’ own homes and studios, with little of the material publicly available for research or display;

c)         Photographers’ archives contain valuable contextual material – negatives, contact sheets, work prints, correspondence, articles and reviews - which provide an important insight into the creative working processes of photographers – important for students, researchers, practitioners, historians now and in the future; this work is not adequately represented in public collections. Some public institutions have acquired important archives, but the approach is currently ad-hoc;

d)         Many photographers themselves are at a loss to know how to deal with their archives and there is little information or guidance available to help them;

e)         There is a widely held assumption that digitisation will provide all the answers to the storage and preservation of a photographic practice; however its durability is untested. There are already many people, not just within the artist community, who are sceptical about the longevity of digital storage;

f)          Whilst a small number of national institutions are coordinating a strategy for collecting prints for their collections, no national strategy exists for collecting and making available photographers’ archives; 

g)         There currently exists no public forum in which to debate and share information on this subject in order to develop a strategic approach. 

In October 2011 a study day brought together contributors from Tate, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Photographers’ Gallery, National Monuments Record, commercial galleries, photographers and academic institutions, including PARC (the Photography and the Archive Research Centre) at LCC, University of the Arts, London.

The discussions led to unanimous agreement that these were very important issues that needed attention. Also, they significantly informed us about the issues and challenges facing photographers and collecting institutions and helped determine our plans.

NOTES 

Project partners

The Photography Research Group at Plymouth University, which includes: Jem Southam, photographer and Professor of Photography in the School of Art and Media (leading this project); writer and curator Liz Wells; writer, curator, former Director of Photoworks, David Chandler.

Birmingham Central Library, which holds one of the UK’s National Collections of Photography, led by Head of Photographs, Pete James. As well as holding extensive historic photographic collections, Birmingham Library actively collects contemporary photography, and has recently acquired the work and archives of established figures such as Paul Hill and John Blakemore.

Redeye, the Photography Network, a not-for-profit organisation set up to support photographers at every level, led by Director Paul Herrmann. Based in Manchester, UK, Redeye has subscribers and users across the UK and globally.

PARC (Photography and the Archive Research Centre), LCC, University of the Arts, London, led by writer and curator Professor Val Williams.

Dr. Jane Fletcher, photographer and Senior Lecturer, BA (Hons) Photography at the University of Derby. Jane formerly worked at the National Media Museum in Bradford.

Project coordinator/researcher

Val Millington is an experienced arts and cultural sector researcher and consultant. Now freelance, Val’s former roles include Director of Visual Arts and Crafts for South West Arts and Director of the National Federation of Artists Studio Providers. She was also Chair of the Board of Spike Island in Bristol for six years.

Contact

Please email Val Millington for further information, or if you would like to keep in touch and receive project updates from time to time, including invitations to the consultation events we are planning in London, Manchester and Bristol in early 2013.     Val Millington, tel: 01392 278293; m: 07778 922230; e: val.millington@lineone.net

At a special colloquium yesterday invited attendees previewed the National Gallery's new exhibition Seduced by Art and explored some of the images and the links between photography and art. The exhibition is the Gallery's first major photography show, despite a relationship with photography which goes back to the Gallery's Keeper and first Director Sir Charles Eastlake who was the first President of the Photographic Society of London. It hopes to attract 50,000 people to the exhibition. 

This exhibition explores early photography from the thirty years from photography's announcement in 1839 to 1870 and the its most recent thirty years to 2012. Showing photographs from the mid-19th century and the most exciting contemporary photographs, alongside historical painting. It takes a provocative look at how photographers use fine art traditions, including Old Master painting, to explore and justify the possibilities of their art.

Work by leading photographers such as Martin Parr, Craigie Horsfield, Tom Hunter, Sam Taylor-Wood, Richard Billingham, Julia Margaret Cameron and Gustave Le Gray will be on display beside key paintings from the National Gallery collection.

The exhibition has been co-curated by Hope Kingsley from the WIlson Centre of Photography and Christopher Riopelle from the Gallery. As one delegate commented 'Hope is the only person with the knowledge and background to make such an exhibition, and to make it work so well'. The exhibition's thesis is explored in a coherent way and accessible way with appropriately chosen images from both mediums. The selected photographs and works of art help the curators make their points and the physical exhibition space is well used with the hanging and lighting used to give balance to the photography and paintings.Excellent use is made made of the doorways of the exhibition space to frame works beyond. The exhibition is a triumph in its conception and execution and, will be seen as a landmark exhibition. A catalogue is available at £19.95 (softback) or £30 (hardback). 

The exhibition opens on 31 October until 20 January 2013. More information is here: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/seduced-by-art-photography-past-and-present

About the exhibition

Paintings and early and contemporary photographs are presented together according to traditional genres such as portraiture, still life, nudes and landscape, highlighting the universality of the themes and influences across all the works, both past and present.

Drawing attention to one particular and rich strand of photography’s history – that of the influence and inspiration of historical painting – the exhibition features pictures by the greatest British and French photographers alongside work by an international array of contemporary artists. It includes new photography and video specially commissioned for the exhibition and on public display for the first time, plus works rarely seen in the UK.

Exceptionally, three ‘interventions’ of contemporary photographs by Richard Billingham, Craigie Horsfield and Richard Learoyd will be displayed within the Gallery’s collection, juxtaposed with great 19th-century paintings by Constable,Degas and Ingres.

Works on display

The show includes almost 90 photographs alongside selected paintings from the National Gallery’s collection. Key photographs will come from the Wilson Centre for Photography, Tate, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Media Museum in Bradford, Fundació La Caixa in Spain, and direct from the photographers themselves.

Travelling exhibition

The exhibition will travel to CaixaForum Barcelona (21 February 2013 – 19 May 2013) and CaixaForum Madrid (19 June 2013 – 15 September 2013).

Paintings and early and contemporary photographs are presented together according to traditional genres such as portraiture, still life, nudes and landscape, highlighting the universality of the themes and influences across all the works, both past and present.

Drawing attention to one particular and rich strand of photography’s history – that of the influence and inspiration of historical painting – the exhibition features pictures by the greatest British and French photographers alongside work by an international array of contemporary artists. It includes new photography and video specially commissioned for the exhibition and on public display for the first time, plus works rarely seen in the UK.

Exceptionally, three ‘interventions’ of contemporary photographs by Richard Billingham, Craigie Horsfield and Richard Learoy are displayed within the Gallery’s collection, juxtaposed with great 19th-century paintings by Constable,Degas and Ingres.

Pete James, Head of Photographs at Birmingham Central Library talks to Andrew Lacon and Stuart Whipps about the work they are making for REFERENCE WORKS: the Library of Birmingham Photography Project. The project, Birmingham’s largest photography commission, sees four photographers and four students/graduates from Birmingham City University making creative responses to the existing and new library building. The discussion will outline the scope of the commission; describe the process of making new work and the vital role of the Library’s nationally and internationally significant collections at the heart of the new iconic cultural institution.

The event is the first in a series of Photographers Talks linked to REFERENCE WORKS, the Library of Birmingham Photography Project.

www.reference-works.com

Thursday 1 November 2012

6.00 – 7.30pm

Library Theatre, off Chamberlain Square, Birmingham B3 3HQ

Admission Free

Photography The Whole Story concentrates on the pictures and stories behind them. In a world where billions of snapshots are taken every year, why are some photographers and their works considered so significant?

People have always tried to capture moments as images and over the centuries it was the task of artists to select subjects and set them down, but in 1839 a new medium appeared: photography. Originally messy and time-consuming, the photograph rapidly evolved to become a means of capturing the world 'in the blink of an eye'.

If you love photography and would like to know more, Photography: The Whole Story is a celebration of the most inspiring photographs that have come from this very modern medium. Illustrated, in-depth essays cover every photographic genre, from early portraits and tableaux to the digital montages, split-second sports images and conceptual photographs of today.

The book begins with a succinct overview of photography, placing it in the context of the social and cultural developments that have taken place since its arrival. The book then traces chronologically the rapid evolution of photographic style, period by period and movement by movement.

The ideas and works of key photographers are assessed to reveal what motivated them and what each was striving to achieve. Detailed cultural and individual artist timelines clarify historical context.

Supporting each essay are close analyses of key works that single out the characteristics of each period – such as use of colour and visual metaphor, quirks of composition and technical innovations – enabling us to grasp each work’s full meaning. Here are the tiny but telling details of social portraits; the stark, graphic qualities of urban landscapes; the erotic, or the undertones of nude studies; and the humour, anger or pathos of conceptual works.

• ISBN 9780500290453
• 24.50 x 17.50 cm
• Flexibound PLC (with jacket)
• 576pp
• With over 1000 colour illustrations
• First published 2012
• £19.95

See: http://www.thamesandhudson.com/Photography_The_Whole_Story/9780500290453

Helen Sear challenges the traditional values of photography, pressing it into service of her own artistic vision...For British artist Helen Sear, ‘photographic vision is occluded,’ writes David Chandler in his essay, Seeing in the dark, Inside the View (Ffotogallery, 2012). ‘It is not just a layered process (the revealing of which in her work has in itself led to forms of opacity), but it is also a site of enquiry, a subject, one to be unravelled and examined as part of the work’s conception and making, from idea, from theory, and from intuition into practice.’ With her work evolving from a background of ‘performance, film and installation’ art made in the 1980’s, Sear has come to be acknowledged over the past three decades as one of the most significant contemporary artists working today, who has continually challenged the traditional values of photography and press it into service of her own artistic vision, leading David Drake director of Ffotogallery, to suggest she ‘challenges the dominant view of photography as a documentary medium, questioning its indexical relationship with the world.’ Read more...

Image: Pastoral Monument 11, Fumaria Bastardii, 2012. Archival Pigment Print, 27.5” x 27.5”, Edition of 3 + 2 AP’s. (© Helen Sear/Courtesy Klompching Gallery).

England’s Dreaming: Ewen Spencer documents British youth and its place in contemporary society.  In 2001, British photographer Ewen Spencer began his expansive series, Teenagers, that documented the lives of various youngsters during that difficult and frequently fraught and sensitive period of adolescence. Teenagers would form one of the key chapters in his long-form interest in youth culture that now spans over 15 years, which has drawn wide critical acclaim.

Surprisingly, as a teenager himself, Spencer never owned a camera: ‘I simply didn’t have the inclination to pick one up and make pictures,’ he reveals. But, ‘I wish I had. I looked great. My mates — of course — looked better; lounging around the back of C&A in Newcastle on the scooters of older lads that had gone off around town performing there pea-cocking, in search of new threads to wear at the Mod nighters that I was far to young too attend.' Read more...

Image: 6th Form disco, Rossendale, Lancashire, 2000. (©Ewen Spencer/Courtesy of the photographer).

Hello everyone. I'm doing my PhD at Newcastle university, researching about social networks. Now I am doing a survey to find the main reasons to join a niche social network, being 'British Photographic History' a good example of these networks. 

I'll be delighted if you can dedicate some of your time to compete the survey in www.surveymonkey.com/s/nichenet . 

The participants in the survey will enter in the raffle of an ipod nano as a way to say thanks for your collaboration.

Kind regards

Carlos

Stephen Gill explores the microscopic worlds within worlds in his latest work Coexistence...As a teenager, British photographer Stephen Gill held an ‘obsession’ with ponds, that would see him spend long periods of time inquisitively studying this small world through a microscope. ‘That obsessive immersion into a strange and disorientating world had a profound effect on me personally,’ he writes in his latest work, Coexistence, ‘and certainly left its mark on many of the photographic studies I have subsequently produced...’ Read more

Image: Coexistence.

A new book simply titled Photographers was launched last night in London. Written by BPH's Michael Pritchard's it looks at photographers and their cameras. The photographers featured include well-known names from Picture Post and Life magazines, press photographers and names such as Cartier-Bresson, Bailey, Donovan, Eistenstaedt, Burrows and many others. The Leica, Nikon, Speed Graphic cameras are amongst those shown.

The book is published by Reel Art Press and is available at a pre-publication price of £30. See: http://www.reelartpress.com/catalog/edition/47/photographers

Image: Michael Pritchard, left, with publisher Tony Nourmand. 

London auction house Bonhams has closed its London Photographs Department as part of a wider reorganisation. In future photographs will be handled by the Book department. The department was established in 2009 under the leadership of Jocelyn Phillips and it had held a number of successful sales, establishing Bonhams as an leading place to sell photography in the United Kingdom. Prior to 2009 photography had been sold across multiple departments.

Christie's and Sotheby's have realigned their own departments over recent years to concentrate on specific areas of the market such as fashion and contemporary photography. Sotheby's moved its department from London to Paris.

Prior to joining Bonhams Phillips spent over five years at Sotheby’s, working on single owner sales of the collections of Dr William K Ehrenfeld and Marie-Thérèse & Andre Jammes. At Bonhams she had held a selling exhibition of David Bailey's photographs of the 1960s as well as regular photograph auctions. Phillips is the author of Collect Contemporary Photography, published in 2012 by Thames and Hudson. .

Australian photos sent to c19th world fairs which stayed in European/American collections. I am researching an exhibition on the history of the photograph in Australia 1840s - now, for 2015. Most of the photographs Australia sent to world fairs in the 19th c stayed overseas. We are trying to track these down.

If anyone has 19th century Australian photos in their collection please do get in touch on my work email judy.annear@ag.nsw.gov.au

Best wishes and I hope to hear from you

Judy

It is with great sadness that I inform the community of the death of Seán MacKenna, a photographer and historian whose work with historic processes made a major contribution to the understanding of the field. 

Originally an archaeological conservator at the Museum of London, Seán was regarded as the first person in the UK to actively use the wet-plate collodion process when he first started making ambrotypes and negatives some 15 years ago.

His knowledge and enthusiasm for early photography are reflected in the many years he spent as an American Civil War re-enactor and photographer, learning from contemporary US practitioners, original source material, and always striving for the utmost in authenticity.

Seán was still building his own cameras right up until his passing, and his knowledge of Dallmeyer lenses in particular made him an acknowledged expert within the community. He was known for his generous nature, and for his energy, passion and enthusiasm in passing on the knowledge to those starting out with historical processes. Thoughts are with his family at this time.

The Photographers' Gallery is looking for a new Head of Individual Giving. For more information on the role and how to apply, visit http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/vacancies.

Publishers are invited to submit up to ten of books published in 2012 for the Best Photography Book and the Best Moving Image Book categories of the 2013 Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards. The author/s of the winning book in each category will receive a cash prize of £5,000. The initial submissions deadline is 5^th December 2012.

Books on photography or the moving image (including film, video or television, digital imaging and animation) published between 1 January and 31 December 2012 may be eligible for the 2013 awards. Please refer to the rules and conditions attached for further details. 

To be considered, one copy of each of your submissions must be mailed together with the attached entry form to me here at the World Photography Organization, 9 Manchester Square, W1U 3PL, with a deadline of Wednesday 5^th December 2012.

Kraszna-Krausz Foundation chairman Michael G. Wilson, renowned film producer, photography collector and founder of Wilson Centre for Photography, is delighted to announce that the Book Awards will, for the third year, be presented at the 25^th April 2012 Sony World Photography Awards. 

For further information visit the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation and World Photography Organization websites:

http://www.kraszna-krausz.org.uk

http://www.worldphoto.org

The National Media Museum (NMeM) in Bradford is undertaking a three week consultation as it launches a spending review as part of a wider restructure designed to cut running costs after visitors numbers halved in 10 years (see http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/2680769:BlogPost:55593).The review aims to bring down the running costs while also looking at ways to increase visitor numbers through improved public exhibitions, events and cinema programme. There will be job losses amongst staff, including curatorial and collection support roles, and a number of staff are having to apply for a smaller number of roles. 

Heather Mayfield, deputy director of the Science Museum Group - to which the NMeM belongs - announced a 'back to basics' review to 'reconnect the museum to its audiences'. She added: 'We recognise that this is an extremely difficult time for staff and will ensure that consultation will be conducted with the utmost consideration for any staff member affected.'

In a statement, the museum added: 'Visitor numbers have seen a decline from a peak of almost one million in 2001 to 500,000 in 2011 - although this decline has been stabilised over the past 12 months with the opening of the new Life Online gallery and an improved family offer at holiday periods. 'The review aims to deliver an improved public exhibition, events and cinema programme, which appeals more to audiences locally and nationally, supports its status as a national museum and increases access to its world famous collections of film, photography and television.'

A recent review carried out by the museum’s parent organisation, the Science Museum Group, found that average costs per visitor at the National Media Museum were 30% more than at the Science Museum in London, the National Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester and the National Railway Museum in York.  

The museum has been based in Bradford since opening in 1983 as the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television. Despite reports of an 'axe' hanging over the museum the review may represent an attempt to take it back to a focus on its world-class collections under its new Head Jo Quinton-Tulloch as it addresses the relationship between Bradford and the London-based Media Space. Sadly, it seems that job losses amongst curatorial staff will make it far more difficult to realise the review outcomes which will inevitably require better curatorial support.

Update2: A report in Amateur Photographer today (see: http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/photo-news/539224/media-space-project-at-heart-of-cash-strapped-nmm) quotes a museum spokesperson as saying that Media Space remains at the heart of the museum's strategy to open up the Collections despite the review.

As the full funding for Media Space has not been secured this suggests that some of the savings made in Bradford through cutting staff and services will be used to underwrite Media Space's future costs. 

A member writes...Mr Paul Bucherer-Dietschi harbours a rare collection of historical images of Afghanistan, among them a large collection of images created by the Royal Engineers in the Afghan wars. I was fortunate to do approx. 1 year's voluntary work at the Swiss Afghanistan Institute to assist in transcribing English letters of the Royal Engineer photographers and artists and assessing the photographic material. This collection also includes a wonderful set of albums called the "souvenir d'Afghanistan". The online collection can be found here: http://www.phototheca-afghanica.ch/index.php?id=33&no_cache=1

Jerusalem, October 19, 2012 – The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, has awarded John Jacob with the second Shpilman International Prize for Excellence in Photography. Selected from over 50 proposals from candidates in fifteen countries by a jury of leaders in the field, Jacob will receive $45,000 to support his original theoretical project “Reliquum: That Which Remains,” which will investigate the lingering material presence of the past throughout the history of photography and which he then plans to develop into a publication. Created in partnership with the Israel Museum, the biannual Shpilman Prize aims to catalyze and support international research projects exploring theoretical and practical issues in photography. Jacob was nominated by Dr. Monika Faber, Director of the Photoinstitut Bonartes in Vienna, Austria.

The Shpilman Prize Committee, which selected Jacob as this year’s Shpilman recipient, was comprised of a jury of international experts in the field of photography, including:

• Nissan N. Perez (Chair), Horace and Goldsmith Senior Curator, Noel and Harriette Levine Department of Photography, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
• Prof. Dana Arieli-Horowitz, Dean of the Holon Institute of Technology, Holon, Israel
• Prof. Hanan Laskin, Founder of the Photography Department at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and academic advisor to art schools and cultural institutions in Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel
• Prof. Dr. Bodo von Dewitz, Deputy Director, Curator, Department of Photography, Museum Ludwig, Köln, Germany
• Anne Wilkes Tucker, Gus and Lyndall Wortham Curator of Photography, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA

The members of the jury also awarded honorable mentions to two runners-ups—British artists Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, and Italian scholar Dr. Katia Mazzucco—whose proposals the jury deemed of special relevance to current artistic and theoretical research.

About the winner

John Jacob (b. 1957) began his career as an artist and freelance curator, working mostly in Eastern Europe and the FSU. In 1992, he was appointed director of exhibitions at Boston University and a year later, executive director of the Photographic Resource Center. From 2001 to 2003, Jacob worked as an adjunct professor of fine arts at the College of the Atlantic, Bar Arbor, Maine. In 2003, he was a founding director of the Inge Morath Foundation in New York City. In 2011, he joined the Magnum Foundation as director of Legacy Programs, developing projects and partnerships related to Magnum's estate members. Jacob works as a consultant to museums, archives, and artists' estates worldwide and has contributed to a number of books and other publications.

John Jacob summarized his prize-winning theoretical research project as an exploration of photography’s performative qualities, using Roland Barthes’s theories of photography as a framework. Jacob will pay particular attention to vernacular images, including spirit photographs, tintype portraits, and found pictures.

David Bruce writing in the Scottish Society for the History of Photography's (SSHoP) newsletter SSHoP Talk reports that the ambition of building a dedicated centre for Scottish photography at the former Royal High School on the Calton Hill in Edinburgh was not likely to be realised and the vehicle to do it, Hill Adamson Ltd, has been wound up.

The project proved to be beyond reach, financially, and a subsequent attempt to create a network of interested galleries and local institutions failed to meet Creative Scotland’s approval. David discusses the project and what it has achieved as well a potential beacon for the future. Despite the failure of the Calton Hill project Scottish photography both old and new is well and truly on the map.  

SSHoP can be found here: http://sshop.org.uk/

Read more of the history of the SNPC here.