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Charlotte Cotton, the former Director of the National Media Museum's Media Space in London who was to have been the keynote speaker at the Association for Photography in Higher Education 2012 conference and AGM has pulled out of the event. The APHE is currently seeking a replacement. 

The APHE event is titled: Photographic Futures: Visual Literacy for the Creative Industries and will be held at the University of Derby from 11-13 July. 

Details: http://www.aphe.ac.uk/

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NMeM: Media Space funding

12200927099?profile=originalAmateur Photographer magazine reports that more than half of the £4 million needed for the Media Space gallery at London's Science Museum will have to come from private sources. More importantly the project has been underwritten to full cost of £4 million by the National Museum of Science and Industry (NMSI) suggesting that if private funding is not forthcoming NMSI will pay for it anyway. 

Responding to a freedom of information request, the National Museum of Science and Industry (NMSI) told AP: 'It is anticipated that over 50% of the project cost will come from private sources, such as corporate sponsorship and donations from individuals.  However, fundraising will continue through the life of the project and beyond to cover the associated costs.' 

'The project team are working with the full £4m budget,' stated the NMSI, adding that it has so far spent '£620,000' on the development. 

Media Space is due to open in Spring 2013. 

For the full report see: http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/Most_of_Science_Museum_gallery_requires_private_funding_news_312057.html

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NMeM: Life Online opens today .....

12200937500?profile=originalLife Online is the world's first gallery dedicated to exploring the social, technological and cultural impact of the internet. This permanent gallery will trace the history of the internet, uncover how it has changed people's lives and track the latest trends.

The gallery covers two spaces within the Museum. The first is a permanent exhibition in the foyer with the second being a changing temporary exhibition on Level 7. The first exhibition to feature is [open source]: Is the internet you know under threat? - an exploration of the open source nature of the internet and the current threats to net neutrality which could signify the end of this culture.

Further details can be found here.

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12200944658?profile=originalThe Guardian newspaper reports... When Aaron Guy peered into a forgotten box in an ancient Newcastlebuilding, he could not have guessed the treasures contained inside. The curious photo archivist had stumbled upon a remarkable set of original early glass negatives, detailing everyday street scenes of 19th-century Newcastle.

Meat markets, fairs, rag sellers, small corner shops and larger than life street characters are among the subjects which feature in the high-quality, 300-image collection.

Guy, who works at the city's Mining Institute, was helping to shift old furniture for the Society of Antiquaries when his attention was diverted to the box.

"The society were moving to a smaller building and were passing some of their belongings to other organisations," he said. "I was just being nosy really, peering into boxes, when I happened to spot that one contained some really old glass negatives. I thought they seemed interesting so we asked for permission to bring the plate boxes back to our office to have a proper look."

The work seems to date back at least to 1880 and the cohesion of the images suggests at least a third of them may have been created by a single photographer. His deliberate documentation of working-class life was unusual for the period, perhaps more in tune with the celebrated street photographers who followed in his footsteps almost a century later, in the 1960s and 70s.

The most arresting images are from the Newcastle streets, but the collection also contains work from other parts of the north-east, most recognisably Tynemouth and Lindisfarne.

For more see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/29/19th-century-newcastle-photographic-plates

and http://www.mininginstitute.org.uk/

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12200943683?profile=originalA PhD research studentship covering stipend and tuition fee costs is offered within the Photographic History Research Centre (PHRC) in the Faculty of Art, Design and Humanities. Under the interdisciplinary research strand “Practising Photography in the Sciences”, PhD proposals are sought that explore the reciprocal relationship between photography, science, and the arts and humanities.

PHRC undertakes innovative research on photography and its practices from the early nineteenth century to the present day, and over a wide range of social and cultural manifestations. Applications that explore aspects of the interconnected sets of social and cultural processes, networks of photographic knowledge, science and technology, aesthetic, evidential and informational values and institutional practices are particularly welcome. Proposals might consider, for instance, the role of photographers in science, the development of specialized photographic methods, or photographic materials for particular scientific activity. They might consider the emerging methodological research questions in this area, they might address the epistemologies surrounding photography in sciences and in the humanities, or they might consider photography in popular science.   “Practising Photography in the Sciences” is a key research cluster in PHRC and the studentship reflects its international reputation in this field.

Supervision will be available from Professor Elizabeth Edwards and Dr Kelley Wilder who have active research interests in the history of visualization in both the physical and biological sciences. PHRC is a dynamic and growing research community. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the development of this community.

Candidates might come from a range of possible disciplines:  history of science, science, art history, science and technology studies, visual anthropology, and visual culture studies.

For a more detailed description of the PHRC please visit our web site or contact Professor Edwards (eedwards@dmu.ac.uk) or Dr Wilder (kwilder@dmu.ac.uk) who will be happy to discuss the studentship further.

This research opportunity builds on our excellent past achievements and looking forward to REF2014 and beyond. It will develop the university’s research capacity into new and evolving areas of study, enhancing DMU’s national and international research partnerships.

Applications are invited from UK or EU students with a good first degree (First, 2:1 or equivalent) in a relevant subject.  Doctoral scholarships are available for up to three years full-time study starting October 2012 and provide a bursary of £13,770pa in addition to university tuition fees.

To receive an application pack, please contact the Graduate School Office via email at researchstudents@dmu.ac.uk.  Completed applications should be returned together with a full CV and two supporting references.

Please quote ref:  DMU Research Scholarships 2012

STARTING OCTOBER 2012

CLOSING DATE:  April 27th 2012

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Calling Swindon .....

12200943286?profile=originalThe Swindon Museum and Art Gallery is exhibiting a collection of Albert Beaney photographs, and is inviting local residents born during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s to see if they recognise themselves or neighbours.

His collection, consisting of more than 40,000 negatives and photographs dating from 1945 until 1970, was acquired by the museum in 1998 with help from The Swindon Society and has been a hidden treasure just waiting to be unveiled. With support from the Swindon Society the collection is now in the process of being digitalised. But you can see some of them in this exhibition here, and you can read an earlier BPH posting about the project here.

Photo: Albert Beaney Collection, Swindon Museum and Art Gallery

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12200935668?profile=originalDrawn from the extensive private collection of the architectural photographer Steven Evans, Seeking Solace: Francis Bedford’s Framing of Victorian Ideals celebrates the work of English photographer Francis Bedford (1816–1894).  

A master draughtsman and lithographer in the 1840s and 1850s, Bedford took up photography and positioned himself as one of the premier landscape and architectural photographers of his time. He successfully marketed his photographs in the form of albums, stereo cards, cartes de visite, and prints and was included in all but two exhibitions held at the Photographic Society of London during the 1860s. His work comprised picturesque landscapes and ecclesiastical ruins found in the British countryside, as well as impressive cathedral architecture. These subjects suited the tastes of Victorian society, which sought solace within the countryside, away from over-crowded and unhealthy urban centres. Seeking Solace presents this theme in the first solo exhibition of Bedford’s work since the 1860s, introducing this photographer to a North American audience.

The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated publication. Both the exhibition and the publication were researched and produced by second-year, graduate students in the Photographic Preservation and Collections Management, Master of Arts programme, Ryerson University, under the direction of Professor David Harris. Over the course of a twelve-week term, the students learn about the researching and curating exhibitions and producing an accompanying publication, from inception to realization. The Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Family Charitable Foundation and the Ryerson Image Centre have generously supported the project. The exhibition will be on view at the I.M.A Gallery, located at 80 Spadina Avenue, from April 4th–28th. An opening reception will be held on April 5th from 6–9 pm.

 

I.M.A Gallery, 80 Spadina Avenue Suite 305, Toronto ON, Canada

www.imagallery.ca

April 4th-28th, 2012, W-S: 12-5 pm.

Opening Reception: April 5th, 6-9 pm. 

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Image: Francis Bedford

Miner’s Bridge at Betws-y-Coed, North Wales

1859 (negative exposed)

Mounted albumen silver print

 

Image: Francis Bedford

Swallow Falls at Betws-y-Coed, North Wales

1859–1864 (negative exposed)

Unmounted albumen silver print

 

Image: Francis Bedford

Choir Arcade at Tintern Abbey, South Wales

1858 (negative exposed)

Mounted albumen silver print

 

Image: Francis Bedford

The Sphinx and The Great Pyramid, Gizeh [now Giza]

March 4-5, 1862 (negative exposed)

Mounted albumen silver print

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Key historic texts on photography

I'm involved in launching a series of books which will include some key texts on aspects of the history of photography.  Aimed at an international audience (museums, academics and those interested in the history of photography) I'd very much welcome feedback and suggestions from Group members. 

For example, are there important historic texts you'd like to see made more widely available and accessible? What kind of topics would make a particularly valuable contribution to the study of photography? Or perhaps you'd like to be involved in providing an introductory context for certain historic texts? 

I'd be very happy to provide more information on an individual basis to anyone interested, prior to the public launch of the series.

Graeme Farnell

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National Photography Symposium

12200933475?profile=originalRedeye is proud to present its fourth National Photography Symposium on 27 to 29 April 2012. It takes place in London as part of what promises to be a highly stimulating hotbed of photographic events at World Photo London.

The National Photography Symposium explores the most critical and talked-about subjects for photography and photographers. It's strongly recommended for anyone interested in the development of photography in the UK, who might want to understand or influence how the big decisions get made. It takes place in and around Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. Speakers this year include Simon Norfolk, Jem Southam, Anne McNeill, Peter Kennard and many more.

For more information and the full programme see: http://www.redeye.org.uk/programme/national-photography-symposium-2012

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12200935076?profile=originalFor all you Captain Scott fans out there, Bonhams in London wil be holding a special Polar Sale next Friday (30/3) to mark the centenary of his tragic death. It will include a farewell letter found on Scott's body in November 1912, written on March 16 by the man himself, and expected to sell for £150,000 at auction.

If your pocket is not deep enough, then this lot might be a bit more tempting - an album of 60 photographs by Scott of the Antarctic’s trail-blazing Preston-educated cameraman Herbert Ponting, estimated to sell for between £30,000 and £40,000. Also in the auction will be Ponting’s January 1911 photograph of Scott’s ship, the Terra Nova at the Ice Foot, Cape Evans, for £4,000 and £6,000, while Ponting’s signed image of the crew of the Terra Nova could fetch between £6,000 and £8,000. 

You can view the auction catalogue here, and some images here. For me, I think I'll just stick with the catalogue for now ....

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12200939074?profile=originalIn a basement at Shrewsbury's archives library a huge stack of plain brown boxes lay on shelves in rows 24 high. Between them, they contain 45,000 photos, some dating back to the 19th Century and about many of which almost nothing is known. Some 23,000 images have already been catalogued by volunteers since 2006 but almost the same number again are lacking simple information on the scenes, events and people depicted.

Volunteering for Shropshire's Heritage, a three-year Heritage Lottery-funded project, hopes to recruit a team of volunteers to complete the photo archiving job. About 15 volunteers are currently involved with the project, and more volunteers are required.

All of the photos that are catalogued will also be digitised and uploaded to the Shropshire Archives website. A series of exhibitions is also planned. The full report can be found here, and volunteering details here.

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12200934653?profile=originalThis is an opportunity from d'Overbroeck's College in Oxford, looking for an enthusiastic and able graduate to join a flourishing department. The College is happy to receive applications from newly qualified teachers, though a PGCE is not a requirement for this post. The post is part-time and the successful applicant will be expected to work two full days each week of term.

The vacancy has arisen because the College’s principal photography teacher, Elina Medley, is taking maternity leave. She expects to return to work after the Spring half-term. The successful applicant will teach in the Sixth Form at AS and A2 levels.
They are looking for a teacher who has a strong practical understanding and expertise in Photography combined with the strong teaching skills that include an ability to engage and enthuse students. They expect the appointed teacher to offer teaching in both digital and film work. A broad understanding of contemporary photographic practice and theory and the history of photography is expected. The A Level units are all coursework based and while this gives a teacher a high degree of flexibility in planning the courses, it also requires good organizational skills and the ability to work within a team.
They will expect the appointed teacher to organize and accompany students on location trips and gallery visits. Every year they have students going on to BA Photography courses as well as broader Art Foundation courses and admission for these competitive courses demands a high standard of work being produced.
All teachers are expected to contribute to the College’s extra-curricular programme. Applicants should complete the Form entitled Application for a Teaching Post which can be downloaded from the web-site www.doverbroecks.com/posts . The Application Form and Covering  Letter should be emailed to HR@doverbroecks.com and the signed copy sent to Heather Bates, FTAO Richard Knowles, Administrative Principal, d'Overbroeck's College, The Swan Building, 111 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6JX. The closing date for applications is Monday 16 April 2012.

Full details, including application etc can be found here. Good luck!

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Anyone for a round of 19th century golf?

12200945297?profile=originalDiscovered in the early 1990s and dating back to the mid 1850's, this rare collection of Tom Morris-owned photographs is going on display for the first time. Known as the “golfing version of Tutankhamen’s Tomb”, this rare collection of 24 images - valued at around £350,000 - were discovered gathering dust in a St Andrews home by two collectors. Owned by Old Tom himself, they include personal photos of him and his family along with images of early Open champions like Willie Park, Andrew Strath and perhaps the greatest of them all - 'Young' Tom Morris.

It comes with a great story as reported in the Scotsman. They were discovered 'by chance' in the early 1990s after the original owner phoned a well-known English golf collector about selling a bag full of old hickory clubs. What seemed to be a wasted trip of rusty clubs and of little value, the owner then headed down the garden, pulled open the wooden door which hadn’t been opened for decades and in one corner they found a group of framed photos piled one on top of each other.

The first image was a head and shoulders portrait of Old Tom himself. Asked how she came to own them, she said that they belonged to Old Tom Morris and were passed down to her family after he died in 1908. Some of the photos were still in the black funeral frames they had been placed in after his death.

The rest they say is history, and you can read it here. Details of the exhibition can be found here.

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12200941660?profile=originalI am not able with an iPad to load an image..
It is a portrait of sir Henry Taylor . He is wearing a beret. It is the same image I see that the v+a owns and also a museum in Sweden. I'm also wondering about having this image conserved. As soon as I can post an image for you both to see..thanks.



I need help in determining the rarity of an image.
Thanks.

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Ackermann's Photogenic Drawing Box

As part of my PhD research on cameraless photography in the 19th century I am looking for Ackermann's Photogenic Drawing Box sold in 1839. This box contained all the necessary requisites to make a cameraless picture of flat material (a printing frame, brushes, prepared paper, bottles with liquids, sponge etc) and was no camera, which is often assumed.

So far I could find several announcements in journals of the time and the booklet which came with the box (republished by the RPS), but was unable to locate any real, still surviving box.

Any further hint on this would be most appreciated!

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Last week I went to see the exhibition at the Royal Collection that I found deeply moving for a number of reasons. It was the first time that I had seen the two photographers work exhibited side-by-side and it is a testament to both photographers of the quality of the work but of the men themselves. Ponting's work clearly the more creative of the two with its breath taking vistas and sensitive framing left me a with a feeling of awe and tragedy. It is impossible to look at these images without feeling a surge of loss for the mean captured on the paper. The most moving image of all was the photograph taken when they reached the South Pole realizing that they had been beaten to their prize. The look of absolute hopelessness and despondency in their eyes is haunting and profoundly moving.

It is on for another three weeks so you need to be quick. The impression of this work will stay with me for a long-time to come.

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12200944896?profile=originalThe victims: Winston Churchill, King Edward VIII & Wallis Simpson, the Queen, Louis Blériot and Welsh miners, to name but a few

The culprit: Fleet Street photographer Jimmy Jarche

Not to be outdone by BBC's Frith, ITV's first instalment of the returning Perspectives documentary strand features actor David Suchet, a keen amateur photographer, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Fleet Street photographer Jimmy Jarche. He sets himself an assignment to meet the standards of modern day Fleet Street photojournalism by emulating and in some cases replicating Jarche’s classic photographs, with the aim of getting his pictures into the Sunday Times magazine. 
David’s journey takes him around the country, from a South Wales coal mine to 10 Downing Street, and from archives to art galleries. It provides an insight into Britain then and now through the images he uncovers and attempts to capture, shows how skilled photographers have to be in order to get the shot, and the challenges facing them.  Woven into the narrative is David’s story of the relationship with his grandfather, and his own passion for the unique power of photography.

After uncovering the depth, range and quality of Jarche’s archive, David also attempts to discover what the experts’ view is of his grandfather’s work and invites their appraisal of its importance and where he sits among the pantheon of acclaimed 20th century photographers. David also visits the archives of the imperial war museum with his brother John Suchet, to examine photographs from Jimmy’s time in North Africa and Burma during the Second World War. He then tries to get a sense of the challenges that face a war photographer, seeing just how difficult it is to take accurate pictures in the middle of a gun battle during training with the British Army.

'Perspectives – David Suchet: People I Have Shot' will be aired next Sunday 25th March 2012 at 10:15pm on ITV. You can read the official press release here, and a news article here. A related BPH post on Suchet can be found here too.



Photo: Jimmy's 1911 image of Winston Churchill, then Home Secretary, in a top hat (seen on left), during the armed Siege of Sidney Street in the East End.


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Francis Frith’s West Sussex

12200944090?profile=originalIf you can't get enough of Frith, then you're in luck. Especially if you happen to live in West Sussex too!

This is because West Sussex libraries in Chichester, Bognor Regis, Littlehampton and Crawley are the first of ten in the county to showcase photographs taken by renowned photographer Francis Frith over the next three months, until 31st March. All together nearly a total of 200 photographs, dating back from the 1890s to 1930s will be on display to coincide with the BBC 2 series. 

They will then be on show at Worthing and Horsham from Monday, April 2, to Saturday, April 21, and Shoreham from Monday, April 2, to Friday, April 13.  The libraries will also be selling A3 reproductions of the photograph - you've seen the series, you've read the book, now buy the prints!

All the photographs featured in the displays are available to view at the West Sussex Past Pictures website.

Photo: Copyright Francis Frith Collection.

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12200943871?profile=originalDon't get too excited, guys, but this is the girl you've all been waiting for ......

Published recently, this book tells the remarkable story of the Kodak Girl, one of the most durable and successful marketing campaigns in advertising history. Created by George Eastman, inventor of the inexpensive hand-held camera, the Kodak Girl traces the intersection of American culture with photography as it evolved from a studio-bound practice to a snapshot obsession for the masses.

Martha Cooper’s extensive collection of Kodak Girl material ranges from advertising, by Kodak and other camera manufacturers, to photographs from all periods, engravings, trading cards, matchbooks as well as commemorative stamps and Valentine’s Days cards. This rich collection considers the relationship of the Kodak Girl to the birth of the snapshot during the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries, and is accompanied by two essays on the seminal role of women – on both sides of the camera – in photography's early history.

Available from Amazon using the link on the right and more info here: http://www.steidlville.com/books/1241-Kodak-Girl-From-the-Martha-Cooper-Collection.html

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