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In September 2014, RIBA’s new Architecture Gallery will present the first major retrospective of Edwin Smith (1912 – 1971), one of Britain’s foremost 20th century photographers. Hailed by Sir John Betjeman as a ‘genius at photography’ and by Cecil Beaton as ‘an understanding and loving connoisseur of his subject’, Edwin Smith captured the essence of the places, landscapes and buildings he photographed.

Ordinary Beauty: The Photography of Edwin Smith will display 100 extraordinary black and white photographs from a collection of over 60,000 negatives given by Olive Cook, Smith’s widow and collaborator, to the RIBA Library. From urban scenes documenting British social history to evocative landscape images and atmospheric interiors, the images displayed reveal the genius and breadth of his work. Alongside his images of Britain the exhibition will show photographs taken on his travels to Europe as well as his published books and photographic equipment. Specially filmed contributions ranging from Alan Bennett to broadcaster Gillian Darley offer personal perspectives of Smith’s work.

Edwin Smith was highly sought-after by publishers and in the 1950s he was commissioned by Thames & Hudson for a series of books, among them English Parish Churches (1952), English Cottages & Farmhouses (1954), Scotland (1955), England (1957), and The Living City: A New View of the City of London (1957). He was also commissioned by Vogue, Shell Guides and numerous other magazines and writers to illustrate features and books on subjects varying from Great Houses of Europe to The Wonders of Italy.

The late Robert Elwall, author of Evocations of Place: The Photography of Edwin Smith and previous curator of the RIBA Photographs Collection:

“The recurring themes of Edwin Smith’s work – a concern for the fragility of the environment, both natural and man-made; an acute appreciation of the need to combat cultural homogenization by safeguarding regional diversity; and, above all, a conviction that architecture should be rooted in time and place – are as pressing today as when Smith first framed them in his elegantly precise compositions.”   

Valeria Carullo, RIBA, co-curator of the exhibition: “Edwin Smith’s images provoke an immediate emotional response and at the same time offer the opportunity for observation and reflection. This exhibition offers a timely reappraisal of his exceptional work and emphasises the prominent place he deserves in the history of British photography”

As post-war social and urban change began to alter the look and character of British towns and cities a movement to save Britain’s heritage gained momentum. The 1950s saw the birth of the Victorian Society and in 1951 the first volume of Pevsner’s Buildings of England was published. Smith shared similar sensibilities and his work contributed to the appreciation of traditional British architecture, local craftsmanship and regional building materials.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of talks, films and events. 

Ordinary Beauty: The Photography of Edwin Smith

Exhibition: 10 September 2014 – 6 December 2014  

Architecture Gallery, RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, W1

FREE ENTRANCE

Image: St Lawrence, Didmarton, Gloucestershire (1961) © Edwin Smith / RIBA Library Photographs Collection

I am pleased to announce that the Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded the London Borough of Sutton Archives £95,900 towards the digitisation, conservation, cataloguing and research of the David Knights-Whittome glass plate negtaive collection. An additional £10K from Sutton Council means a total of nearly £106,000 for the project.

The project will see 11,000 Edwardian images cleaned, digitised, researched, catalogued and made available to the public. The glass plate negatives were taken between 1904 and 1917 by photographer David Knights-Whittome.

The majority of the pictures depict local people, while the rest are an eclectic mix of images of the interior and exterior of stately homes throughout the UK and Europe. There are also images of three generations of the Royal family; local and regional schools, colleges and theatre groups; and weddings.

Sutton Archives is recruiting a team of volunteers who will be trained to handle, clean and digitise the glass plates, and to catalogue and research the images. Volunteers will also contribute to a blog which will record the project.

As part of this two year project there will be sessions for the public and local historians to research their own World War 1 ancestryand learn how to care for their own photo collections. Sutton Mencap will be involved in a project which will involve people with learning disabilities using the images as an inspiration for their own artwork.

Further details from Kath Shawcross, Borough Archivist & Local Studies Manager

k.shawcross@sutton.gov.uk

Daguerreobase, is a European funded non-profit research project that aims to collect at least 25.000 descriptions of daguerreotype objects in the Daguerreobase database and make a digital representation of them available on the Europeana portal. It has just published Daguerreotypes. Europe's Earliest Photographic Records which is freely available as a download here: http://www.daguerreobase.org/en/journal/50-booklet-daguerreobase

In addition in June 2014 the first issue of The Daguerreotype Journal - Sharing the International Cultural and Visual Heritage of Daguerreotypes will be published. This European Daguerreotype Association Quarterly will be published in the context of the Daguerreobase Project and it will be available onwww.daguerreobase.org

The BBC reports that Bradford's National Media Museum (NMeM) saw 480,000 visitors in 2013, in a drop of 13,000 compared to 2012. The NMeM said a fall in cinema goers was responsible for the drop in numbers. The Head of the NMeM, Jo Quinton-Tulloch said the decline in visitors was 'disappointing' but noted that general admissions to the museum's galleries and exhibitions had gone up by 8% compared with 2012.

See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27505644

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, has announced that more than 400,000 high-resolution digital images of public domain works in the Museum’s world-renowned collection may be downloaded directly from the Museum’s website for non-commercial use—including in scholarly publications in any media—without permission from the Museum and without a fee. The number of available images will increase as new digital files are added on a regular basis. 

The Museum's photography collection comprises some 34,886 items, including works by William Henry Fox Talbot Alfred Steiglitz and many of the greats of photography, which will now be downloadable under the initiative.

In making the announcement, Mr. Campbell said: “Through this new, open-access policy, we join a growing number of museums that provide free access to images of art in the public domain. I am delighted that digital technology can open the doors to this trove of images from our encyclopedic collection.”  

The Metropolitan Museum’s initiative—called Open Access for Scholarly Content (OASC)—provides access to images of art in its collection that the Museum believes to be in the public domain and free of other known restrictions; these images are now available for scholarly use in any media. Works that are covered by the new policy are identified on the Museum’s website (http://www.metmuseum.org/collections) with the acronym OASC. (Certain works are not available through the initiative for one or more of the following reasons: the work is still under copyright, or the copyright status is unclear; privacy or publicity issues; the work is owned by a person or an institution other than the Metropolitan Museum; restrictions by the artist, donor, or lender; or lack of a digital image of suitable quality.)

OASC was developed as a resource for students, educators, researchers, curators, academic publishers, non-commercial documentary filmmakers, and others involved in scholarly or cultural work. Prior to the establishment of OASC, the Metropolitan Museum provided images upon request, for a fee, and authorization was subject to terms and conditions.

Additional information and instructions on OASC can be found on the Museum’s website at http://www.metmuseum.org/research/image-resources/frequently-asked-questions.

Image: Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage, 1907.

An illustrated talk about the use of comic cartoon cut-out boards by the beach photographers of Great Yarmouth 1890-1965. Great Yarmouth born photo historian Paul Godfrey has been researching the commercial seaside photographers of the town for several years. His talk will describe the photographic methods used by beach photographers, what life was like for the photographic artist on Great Yarmouth Sands in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century plus the origin and the evolution of some of the designs of the painted boards and much more. This talk is a part of the Great Yarmouth Arts Festival 2014 http://www.greatyarmouthartsfestival.co.uk and is inspired by the Festival’s Trail of Jack Cardiff Boards. Wednesday 11^th June 2014 at 5.30 pm. Admission Free. St. George’s Theatre, King Street, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR30 2PG.

The Vernon Lamb Archive is a collection of new photographs, created between 2013 and 2014 from the original negatives (plates) by Robert White of Hertfordshire. The original collection began about 1910 when Vernon Lamb arrived in Matlock and stopped in 1915 after he joined the Army. However, it is almost certain that all the non army images were taken between 1910 and 1914, whereas the pictures of soldiers were taken between 1914 and 1915.

Read more about the history of the archive, how it was digitised and see the images that have been copied, together with historical research notes here: here: http://www.andrewsgen.com/matlock/pix/vl_archive/index.htm

The archives consists of around 1000 half-plate negatives of which only a selection of the more interesting ones have been copied. 

Image: Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment) Army Training Camp, © The Vernon Lamb Archive and Robert White

More than 100 photographs by acclaimed British photographer Bob Carlos Clarke, including iconic images of Keith Richards, Marco Pierre White, Caprice, Mandy Smith and Rachel Weisz, have been acquired by the National Media Museum for the National Photography Collection.

Carlos Clarke (1950-2006), became best known for his sexually provocative and stylised images, as well as a perfectionism and experimental approach in printing. For 30 years he photographed models, actors, musicians, commercial adverts and several still life pieces.

His career started after he left the Royal College of Art in 1975, but his rise to fame came in the 1980s, and for the next two decades his work was synonymous with glamour, eroticism, fashion and fame.

Greg Hobson, Curator of photographs at the National Media Museum, said: “Bob Carlos Clarke is undoubtedly a significant figure in British photography, representing many of the things that were both most interesting, but also most challenging in the rapidly evolving photographic landscape of the 1980s and 90s. He was a versatile and imaginative photographer, and there is a consistent level of quality in all his work, in particular in the photographs that he meticulously printed himself.”

Lindsey Carlos Clarke, Bob’s wife, said: “I am delighted that these important images are now part of the National Photography Collection, so that the nation has access to them now and in the future.”

Michael Terwey, Head of Exhibitions and Collections at the National Media Museum added: “Carlos Clarke’s exemplary craft in photography makes this a compelling and relevant contemporary acquisition for the National Photography Collection. We are very grateful for the help and support of Lindsey Carlos Clarke, Ghislain Pascal and Philippe Garner over the last year in making a selection of more than 100 prints that are representative of the career of a unique talent.”

The acquisition for the National Photography Collection includes several of Carlos Clarke’s most recognised and acclaimed photographs, but it also features lesser known examples including a shot of Mick Jagger performing at the Roundhouse in 1971, several images from ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy’ series (1994), as well as advertising shots for Wallis and Smirnoff and prints of his intriguing still life work.

 A significant selection of the photographer’s work is currently displayed in the exhibition BOB CARLOS CLARKE: LIVING DOLLS at the Little Black Gallery in London. www.thelittleblackgallery.com

Image: Masked Blonde, 1996 © The Estate of Bob Carlos Clarke

A selection of work by the London photographer Bob Collins (1924-2002) goes on display in a new exhibition, showcasing his photography of life in London, from major events to the everyday, and including some of his earlier amateur images.

While Collins’ portfolio was dominated by portraiture, from stars of the screen to eminent artists, this new exhibition at the Museum of London shines a light on his documentary work, captured as he traversed the streets of London from the late 1940s to the 1960s, and as recently as 1990. The 50 images on display have been selected to show Collins’ acute observational skills when photographing within crowded places, a common theme found amongst the two thousand plus Bob Collins’ images, which the museum holds in its Photography Collection.

The photographs cover a range of subjects - from the London nightlife of the buzzing West End, to the porters of Billingsgate Fish Market during the 1950s. He recorded memorable scenes during the 1960s such as at Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis Championships, central London in the grip of rush hour and anti-Vietnam protest marches. Collectively, the spontaneity and eye for detail seen in his photographs exemplify the technical and aesthetic talents of Collins’ photojournalism

Observing the Crowd: Photographs by Bob Collins can be seen at the Museum of London, 16 May to 13 July 2014. See: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/london-wall/whats-on/exhibitions-displays/observing-the-crowd-photographs-by-bob-collins/

In 2009 the Library of Birmingham acquired a dozen photographs by Daniel Meadows, one of the most influential figures to emerge from the new wave of British independent photography in the 1970s. In May the Library will be presenting a major exhibition of his early work and begin the process of acquiring his entire photography archive.

Curated by Val Williams, Daniel Meadows: Early Photographic Works will include renowned bodies of work such as June Street, Butlins at Filey and the landmark Free Photographic Omnibus project which saw Meadows undertake a journey across England in a double decker bus he had converted into a darkroom and living space. During his 10,000 mile odyssey Meadows photographed almost one thousand people from 22 towns across Britain. He subsequently revisited and re-photographed many of these same people almost 30 years later. Together Meadows’ numerous projects provide an extraordinary window that enables us to look back and see a unique record of England, at work and in its leisure hours, during a critical period in British photographic and social history. 

The exhibition will include new items such as a number plate from Meadows’ Photographic Omnibus and a selection of works drawn from the photography collection at the Library of Birmingham featuring works by Sir Benjamin Stone, Tony Ray-Jones, Meadows, Homer Sykes, Anna Fox and Faye Claridge that reveals the way in which two generations of photographers have been inspired and influenced by the noted Birmingham-born Victorian Record Photographer Sir Benjamin Stone.

Around this exhibition which opens at the Library of Birmingham on 16 May are a series of talks including: 

• Pete James Talk: Daniel Meadows: Archives and Influences
  
  22nd May 2014 6pm – 7pm; 
  Meeting Room Suite, level 1

  Pete James, Curator of Photography Collections will discuss the influence three individuals: Sir Benjamin Stone, Tony Ray Jones and Charles Parker, whose work is held in the Library of Birmingham archives, had on Daniel Meadows's Photographic Omnibus Project.

  To book your tickets now click here
  
  

• Meet Daniel Meadows 
  
  7th June : 2pm - 3pm; 
  Meeting Room Suite, level 1

  Daniel Meadows will discuss the Gallery exhibition ‘Daniel Meadows Early Photographic Works’. He will screen multimedia pieces and show work from his archive of forty years which, this year, is to be acquired by the Library of Birmingham.

  To book your tickets now click here.

• Community Photography in 1970's and 1980's by Professor Ian Grosvenor

  
  10th June 2014 : 6pm – 7pm;
  Meeting Room Suite, level 1

  Ian Grosvenor (University of Birmingham) will discuss Daniel Meadows’ work in the context of the emergence of community photography in post war Britain and the radical political activism in 1970s and 1980s which together had a huge impact on documentary photography in Britain.

  To book your tickets now click here.

The amateur photography of Rupert Potter, father of the celebrated children’s book author and illustrator, Beatrix Potter, will be explored in a new display opening at the National Portrait Gallery to celebrate the centenary of his death. As well as two new acquisitions showing Beatrix Potter on holiday with her father, The World of Rupert Potter: Photographs of Beatrix, Millais and Friends will display portraits taken by Rupert Potter of close family friends, showing the circles within which he socialised and the influence this had on his daughter’s life and work.

A professional lawyer and a keen photographer in his personal time, Rupert Potter (1832–1914) took many carefully posed portraits, particularly during the Potters’ lengthy summer holidays in the Lake District and Scotland, which show his impressive technical skill and aesthetic ability. He was a member of the Photographic Society, later the Royal Photographic Society from 1867 until 1912. As a result of his particular interest in portrait photography and, through his friendship with the painter Sir John Everett Millais, Potter began taking photographs of Millais’ sitters and paintings. Millais rated Potter's photographs so highly that he often used them to assist his working process, such as for his ‘Rosebery’ portrait of William E Gladstone, the second of his four paintings of the Prime Minister.

Beatrix Potter’s journals from the 1880s and 1890s vividly reveal the influence of her exposure to the art world and the life of a working artist before becoming one herself. She later used photography to aid her work, learning with one of her father’s old cameras. With their mutual interests in art and photography, father and daughter enjoyed a close relationship and despite their closeness being tested in later years,

Rupert was a significant influence in Beatrix's development as an artist and writer. Large numbers of Potter’s photographs survive in several collections, with the earliest dating to the 1860s. The World of Rupert Potter: Photographs of Beatrix, Millais and Friends will feature a carefully selected range of Potter’s photographs from the National Portrait Gallery’s extensive collection of his works, some of which were directly donated to the Gallery by Potter during his lifetime. A larger set of 186 photographs relating to his work for Millais was given to the Gallery by Jack Edward Ladeveze, currently Trustee of the Enid Linder Foundation, in 1993.

Two new acquisitions will be on display for the first time, which show Beatrix Potter on family holidays at two different points in her life. The first of these was taken in 1894, with her father and brother, before she became a published author. The Potter family enjoyed frequent holidays in Scotland and the Lake District, which provided the siblings with the opportunity to explore the surrounding countryside and indulge their interest in animals and natural history, and inspired the illustrated children's books for which Beatrix became famous. The second new acquisition was taken in the Lake District in 1906, by which point Beatrix had published eight books, and shows her with the Potters’ family friend, Hardwicke Rawnsley. Rawnsley encouraged Beatrix in her literary ambitions, and as co-founder of the National Trust, his conservationist views deeply influenced Beatrix, which led to her future contributions to the Trust.

Other portraits on display will include photographs of the painter Sir John Everett Millais in his studio with unfinished paintings as well as portraits of sitters used by Millais for his paintings, including his daughter Effie and statesman John Bright. Constantia Nicolaides, Photographs Cataloguer, National Portrait Gallery, says: ‘Rupert Potter was taking photographs at a time when the medium was still very technically demanding, so that the proliferation of his images to be found in various collections today is astounding. Meanwhile, his subjects are of great historical interest, and we are thrilled to add these two self-portraits, also showing his talented daughter Beatrix, to our existing collection of his photographs of distinguished Victorian figures at leisure, and his work for Millais. This display will provide an opportunity to see fine examples of these.'

Images: 

Top: Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Bt in his studio at 2 Palace Gate, Kensington by Rupert Potter, July 1886 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Above: Rupert Potter, Beatrix Potter and Bertram Potter in Lennel, Coldstream by Rupert Potter, 1894 © National Portrait Gallery, London

For further information, please visit www.npg.org.uk and http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/display/2014/the-world-of-rupert-potter-photographs-of-beatrix-millais-and-friends.php

The World of Rupert Potter: Photographs of Beatrix, Millais and Friends, Room 28, 13 May-16 November 2014, at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Admission Free

Bonhams is to sell on 4 June in New York a collection of 98 photomicrographs of snowflakes by Walter Bentley, 1890s-1920s. 

See: http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21652/lot/113/

Bonhams is to sell in New York on 4 June an extensive collection of material from the archive of John David Zumbrun and Camera Craft, Beijing, [1910-1929], including approximately 2000 gelatin-silver photographs, autochromes, panoramas, lantern and glass slides, postcards, colotypes, and negatives.

See: http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21652/lot/7/

Its been a fantastic week in tracking down more information about the Daily Mirror's First World War photographers, especially George Mewes.

George went to Russia at the beginning of the war and became a Official Photographer with the Russian Imperial Army. As well as making a photographic record of the fortunes of the Russian army he wrote a series of articles which were syndicated around the world.

His description of the fall of Warsaw, the cost to the city and the soldiers that defended it is incredible. Keeping in mind that all the images and articles he wrote and took had to be sent overland back to Petrograd. Then a search for a traveller going back to the UK had to be found to personally hand articles and glass plate negatives in to the Daily Mirror offices in London.

After the war George return to Russia to make what can only be described as the first charity appeal film for Save the Children highlighting the Russian famine of 1921. The sole remain copy of this film is held by the Bfi.

In 1926 George created the worlds first stock photography agency the Photographic Advertising Limited.

If any members have further information about George and his adventures in Russia and want to share them with me, please drop me an email at johnm@mirrorpix.com.

Image below is of George Mewes relaxing in the offices of the Daily Mirror 1914

Rob Ball has alerted BPH to a project he has been undertaking since January documenting Dreamland, Margate, with the ferrotype or tintype process. Dreamland was one of the country's oldest amusement parks; at one time, the 16-acre site held a zoo and miniature railway, a cinema, cafes, restaurants, bars, shops and a 2,000-capacity ballroom, not forgetting that in later years it was home to Europe's largest big wheel.

You can follow progress of Rob Ball's work on the Dreamland site. For those interested, the South East Archive of Seaside Photography is well worth a look. Rob Ball is the deputy director.

The project was featured on the BBC website here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-27210062

A blog posting from The National Archives, Kew, discusses E O Hoppé and his naturalisation papers. It also provides a link to a useful guide to photographs at TNA.  In addition to these TNA holds copyright, limited company and design records amongst many, many, others that all have important references to photography, photographers and photographic companies.

In addition, Kew is a great place to conduct research and user friendly with no restrictions on making your own digital camera copies - so much so that copy stands are provided. A marked contrast to some of our other research centres.  

See: http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/travelling-photographer-emil-otto-hoppe/

Bloomsbury has announced the development of a field-defining book series on photography and history which will create a platform for new visual historiographies and methodologies.

Photographs have been formative in political movements, commercial and industrial development, colonial and imperial expansion, geo-politics and international relations, legal practice, the formation of modern national and personal identities and in public narratives of the past. Volumes in this radical and original series will bring photographic practices into the centre of historical analysis and explore their integral role in global histories from the mid-19th century to the current day.

Call for book proposals:

The editors are currently seeking proposals for single-authored volumes of 80,000–90,000 words based on innovative case studies. Titles might cover a wide range of subject matters and photographic practices, but the emphasis must be on the integration and demonstration of empirical, theoretical, methodological and historiographical significance so that the volumes have the widest impact in history more generally.

Studies must demonstrate the ways in which photographs both shape and reflect historical experience and might focus on a range of processes – production, dissemination, remediation, collecting -  of the photographic within history. Exceptional PhD theses will be considered but the proposal must clearly demonstrate how the author intends to develop the work into a book.

The series will be interdisciplinary and welcomes scholars from all disciplines and backgrounds, whether historical, art historical, anthropological, sociological, history of science, archival or curatorial studies.

Series editors:

Professor Elizabeth Edwards, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK; Professor Patricia  Hayes, University of Western Cape, South Africa; Professor Jennifer Tucker, Wesleyan University, USA

Contact:

Please email new proposals to Davida Forbes, Photography Editor, davida.forbes@bloomsbury.com. For more information about Bloomsbury Publishing see www.bloomsbury.com. 

BPH has learnt that Philip L Condax, former Curator of Technology at George Eastman House, died on Monday, 21 April 2014. Phil Condax was born on 24 May 1934, the son of Louis M Condax (1897-1961) and Constance W. Condax. Louis invented a dye-transfer colour process which was commercialised by Eastman Kodak Co in 1945. 

Phil joined the then International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House under Director Beaumont Newhall in 1971, where he curated the Technology Collections starting as 'Assistant Curator, Equipment Archive'. When the Philadelphia-based American Museum of Photography became available after the death of its founder, Louis Walton Sipley, Phil was involved with the then Director and other staff members in securing it for GEH where it filled important gaps. 

Two highlights from his career include the 1980-1981 exhibition Selections from the Spira Collection: An Exhibition at George Eastman House - the first time GEH had held such an exhibition from outside of its own collections; and the 1984 joint IMP/GEH and JCII exhibition The Evolution of the Japanese Camera which showed in Rochester, NY, and Tokyo. He was also in post when the new Mees Gallery - it has since been replaced - was opened in 1992. He attended Photokina regularly where he was able to source material for the GEH collections. 

When Czechoslovakia was firmly behind the Iron Curtain, Phil managed to visit regularly. There were suggestions that during his military service and afterwards he was working for the CIA. He came to know Jan Sudek and bought many important prints for the museum and for his own personal collection.

Condax, along with other senior curators, was made redundant in 1994, in his case over a dispute with the Director, a fact over which he continued to remain bitter. After GEH Phil undertook some museum and photo-history consultancy work, in particular he developed and curated the photographic collection of the Museum of Imagery Technology operated by Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. He co-authored The Photographic Flash: A Concise Illustrated History with Pierre Bron (of Bron Elektronik AG) in 1998.

Jonathan Spira commented: 'I am deeply saddened by the death of Phil Condax, a close family friend.  Not only did he help popularize photography's history but he helped lead the George Eastman House during a very tumultuous period.'

I met Condax several times at his Rochester home and despite a difficult relationship with a demanding father he was a great enthusiast for the work that his father had undertaken on colour. He maintained an extensive archive of his father's work. An example showing Louis Condax with an example of the dye transfer process, from Phil's personal archive is shown left.

He had an affection for Britain and he travelled extensively, particularly to South East Asia. 

Dr Michael Pritchard

• Revisions made 6/5/2014. 

The History and Theory of Photography Research Centre at Birkbeck, London, is holding a series of free events, open to all, at 43 Gordon Sq, London WC1H 0PD. You might need to book to attend some of them, as they contribute to Birkbeck Arts Week 2014.

Tuesday 6 May 2014, 18:00-19:30

Peltz Gallery, Ground Floor

Exhibition and panel discussion: ‘Print Dialogues’.

Victoria Ahrens’s work explores the interstices between photography and printmaking in the depiction of the lost landscape. Working initially from rediscovered analogue snapshots of the Parana River in South America, she reworks the imagery through various screens (silkscreens, projections), questioning the fragmentary nature of memory and the possibility of the ruin in her contemporary print installations. On Tuesday Victoria will be talking about her work with Gabriel Koureas and Patrizia Di Bello. The Gallery will be open from 10:10.

Tuesday 20 May 2014, 18:00-19:30

Room G01

Panel discussion, ‘Working with Photographs: Archives’

From domestic attics to national institutions, photographs are part of many archival collections, where they play a variety of roles as precious specimens, assets to be exploited, or miscellaneous ‘stuff’ taking up too much room. In this informal discussion, Graham Head, who as Head of Information Services at the British Museum led their image and photography programmes, Heidi Hudson from the Kennel Club Picture Library, and Stefan Dickers, Head of the Library and Archives at Bishopsgate Institute, will talk about their experience of working with photographs. Reserve your place for 'Working with Photographs' here.

Thursday 22 May 2014, 18:00-19:30, followed by drinks.

Room G01

Sarah Thomas, ‘Curating “Empire” at Tate: Dissonance and British Art’.

Can works of art – including photographs – confront the troubling legacies of Britain's imperial past? In this talk Sarah Thomas discusses some of the challenges encountered during preparations for a major exhibition planned at Tate Britain for 2015. After the talk there will be an opportunity for prospective students to meet the Course Director for MA History of Art with Photography. Reserve your place for Curating 'Empire' here.

Wednesday 11 June 2014, 18:00-19:30

Keynes Library (Room 114)

Sarah Knelman, ‘A democracy of images? Exhibiting photography in a digital culture’.

Thursday 19 June 2014, 18:00-19:30

Keynes Library (Room 114)

Reading Group

This term we are discussing Steve Edwards, 'The Story of the Houyhnhnms: Art Theory and Photography, part 1', The Making of English Photography (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006), pp.119-164. 

3 July - 25 July 2014

Peltz Gallery, Ground Floor, daily 10:10-17:00

Exhibition, ‘Family Ties: Reframing Memory’

Six artists address the representation of family memory through lens-based works. Suze Adams navigates the borders of fact and fiction in an exploratory re-tracing of her maternal ancestors.  Nicky Bird draws on family albums belonging to others to illuminate personal, political memories connected to place. Jacqueline Butler’s poetic approach alludes to sensory memories prompted by public photographic collections and her personal archive. Rosy Martin re-enacts a lost past as she embodies both of her parents in their family home and evokes a sense of haunting using projections. Lizzie Thynne’s experimental documentary reflects on her mother’s life as well as the inter-subjectivity of all biography and choreographs memories of family and relationships from the Women’s Liberation Movement.  Sally Waterman recalls traumatic memories of family conflict through literary adaptation and staged re-photography. This exhibition responds to themes of the conference Picturing the Family: Media, Narrative, Memory.

Friday 11 July 2014, 10:00-17:00

‘Colours of Memory’: an International Conference on the Writing of Geoff Dyer

For further information email: geoffdyerconference2014@gmail.com of follow @gdyerconference on Twitter.

This autumn the V&A will present the definitive retrospective of the work of Horst P. Horst (1906-99), one of the 20th century’s master photographers. In a career that spanned six decades, Horst photographed the exquisite creations of couturiers such as Chanel, Schiaparelli and Vionnet in 1930s Paris, and helped to launch the careers of many models. In New York a decade later, he experimented with early colour techniques and his meticulously composed, artfully lit images leapt from the magazine page.

This is the biggest ever UK retrospective of Horst's photography and will explore a career that lasted 60 years and one which took in fashion, art, reportage, design and high society. The show will include some of his most famous photographs for Vogue.

The exhibition will display more than 250 of Horst’s best known photographs alongside unpublished and rarely exhibited vintage prints, conveying the diversity of his output, from surreal still lifes to portraits of Hollywood stars, nudes and nature studies to documentary pictures of the Middle East. It will examine his creative process through the inclusion of original contact sheets, sketches and archive film footage.

See: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-horst-photographer-of-style/about-the-exhibition/

Horst: Photographer of Style
6 September 2014 – 4 January 2015

Image: Salvador Dalí’s costumes for Leonid Massine's ballet Bacchanale, 1939. © Condé Nast/Horst Estate