Blogs

The Mail onlline has reported that a phootgraph album sold at a C&T Auctions for £22,400. It says: 'An old photo album containing pictures of the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire taken by Prince Albert [actually Ernst Becker] has sold for £22,000 after it was originally valued at just £200.

The leather-bound album containing 240 photos - four of which are of Maharaja Duleep Singh - was discovered by a house clearer who had won a contract to clear out a property.

It was taken to an auctioneers in Rochester, Kent, along with three other albums, where it was expected to make about £1,000, but surprisingly sold for 22 times that.

Read more here.

Singh was a member of the Photographic Society, later the Royal Photographic Society, from 1855 until his death. 

The work of progressive English organisation The Kibbo Kift Kindred (1920-1932) is presented in an archive exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery opening 10 October 2015.

Intellectual Barbarians: The Kibbo Kift Kindred explores the creative output of the group, whose idealistic ambitions for world peace were rooted in a shared appreciation of nature and handicraft. Part of the Whitechapel Gallery’s programme of exhibitions curated from archives, the display features rarely seen prints, photographs, woodcarvings and clothing, and revisits the group’s major exhibition at the Gallery in 1929.

The Kibbo Kift Kindred was formed in 1920 by commercial artist, writer and pacifist John Hargrave after he became disillusioned with the perceived militaristic tendencies of the Boy Scout movement, of which he was a key figure. Hargrave’s new group expressed a complex social, economic and spiritual philosophy based on naturalist principles and committed themselves to the creation of a new world. Their 1929 exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery was a means of spreading their ideas and philosophy to a wider public.

A highly original mystical-medieval-modernist style was adopted across the creative practices of Kibbo Kift, from their insignia to their costumes and rituals. Activities such as hiking and camping were pivotal and were given spiritual importance, while the group’s aesthetic drew heavily from ancient Egyptian, Anglo-Saxon, Celtic and Native American styles in craft, dress and language. The art of abstraction, advertising and experimental theatre were also key references. Kibbo Kift presents a forgotten moment in the history of British art and design but their futuristic vision continues to have resonance today.

Unusually for the time, Kibbo Kift was open to all ages and genders and allowed men, women, boys and girls to camp together. Although relatively small in number, the group’s notable members and supporters included suffragettes Emmeline Pethick Lawrence and Mary Neal, scientist Julian Huxley, social reformer Havelock Ellis, novelist H. G. Wells and surrealist photographer Angus McBean.

This display takes as its starting point the major Kibbo Kift Educational Exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in the late-1920s, which showcased the group’s ambitions and their remarkable body of visual art.  Highlights include rarely-seen sculptures, designs for ceremonial dress, and photographs of the group taking part in rituals, parades and camping trips. Drawing from major public and private collections including The Museum of London and London School of Economics, the display offers a new interpretation of Kibbo Kift’s unique vision for the present day and sheds light on the diversity of the Whitechapel Gallery’s educational ethos in the early 20th century.

To coincide with the exhibition, the book The Kindred of the Kibbo Kift: Intellectual Barbarians by  Dr. Annebella Pollen, Principal Lecturer, History of Art and Design and AHRC Research Fellow, University of Brighton, is published by Donlon Books in October 2015. The first full-length title to explore the creative output of Kibbo Kift, the book showcases over 100 largely unseen examples of the group’s accomplished art and design, including previously unpublished photographs by Angus McBean.

10 October 2015 – 13 March 2016
Gallery 4, Free Entry

See: http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/about/press/intellectual-barbarians-kibbo-kift-kindred/

Could you lead a participatory exhibitions, events and learning programme to engage the widest possible audience with Photography? Provide curatorial and research expertise as a key member of the Art Department and deliver broad access to the photographic collections at Amgueddfa Cymru?

The successful candidate will have excellent knowledge of photographs and photographic practices from the 1830s to the present day and an innovative and creative approach to public engagement.

Contract: 35 hours per week 
Salary: £24,523.91 - £31,143.17 per annum
Closing date: 26 October 2015 (by 5pm)

View the full job description (PDF)

This photograph has been consigned to the November 13th Photographs sale at Heritage Auctions but I can't get a positive ID on the photographer.  Possibly O. G. Rejlander?  Any leads would be appreciated.

Portrait of a Young Girl, English, circa 1860, albumen print, 161 x 133mm. Sheet size 460 x 328mm.

This photograph has been consigned to the November 13th Photographs sale at Heritage Auctions but I can't get a positive ID on the photographer.  Any leads would be appreciated.

Two Boys, English, late 1850's, albumen print, inscribed in pencil on verso “Possibly Winfield”, 268 x 214mm. Sheet size 505 x 343mm.  The Winfield in the inscription probably refers to David Wilkie Wynfield (1837–1887) but this image does not seem to match his oeuvre.

Victorians in Camera explores the world of nineteenth century photography from the subjects' point of view. Using a wealth of contemporary evidence – in both words and pictures – the book seeks to relive the experience of Victorian photography, following customers into palatial studios where artists created exquisite images floating on a silver surface, and into low photographic dens where hucksters turned out murky likenesses on thin pieces of blackened iron.

• What did the Victorians want from a portrait?
• Where did they go to have it made?
• What was it like to be photographed in a Victorian studio?
• What did clients get for their money?
• How did they feel about the results?

 For further information, go to:

http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Victorians-in-Camera-Paperback/p/10955

The Leamington Spa Local History Society and The Royal Photographic Society have commemorated Henry Peach Robinson (1830-1901) with a blue plaque at the site of his Leamington Spa studio. The plaque was unveiled by Mayor of Leamington, Councillor Amanda Stevens on Wednesday, 23 September 2015. Robinson joined the Photographic Society on 5 March 1857, the same year that he opened his studio. He exhibited for many years at the Society's annual exhibitions, most famously with his combination prints such as Fading Away. He sat on the Society's Council and became a Vice President. In 1891 he resigned from the Society to join the Linked Ring but was reconciled in 1900 when he became an Honorary Fellow of the RPS. 

The unveiling was attended by photographic historians Geoff Blackwell, a Society trustee, Colin Ford CBE, and Michael Pritchard, together with Leamington residents and local historians. 

Hello, I am hoping that someone here can shed light on this Julia Margaret Cameron cabinet card , recently acquired.

Beautiful image,

I am trying to identify the sitter and the date. Apparently sold at Swann Galleries, May, 2015, identified as an unknown woman, (possibly Annie Chinery-Cameron), JMC's daughter-in-law.

It does not appear in any size in "Julia Margaret Cameron, The Complete Photographs" by Cox and Ford, 2003, 

i can find no other copy of this image online, save the Swann catalog entry.

Cameron fans, is this a fake?  It sure doesn't look like Annie Chinery to me..

.

Best Regards, David

The Royal Photographic Society has honoured photography curators Els Barents, Maria Morris Hambourg and Roger Hargreaves at its annual Awards ceremony held last week. Els received the Colin Ford Award (seen right) which recognises a major contribution to curatorship. She is the recently retired director of the Huis Marseille Museum for Photography in Amsterdam.

Maria (below, left) received the Society's Outstanding Service Award particularly recognising her role at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Roger (below, right) has worked at the NPG, curated many photography shows and currently works with the Archive of Modern Conflict. 

In addition Paul Goodman, formerly at the National Media Museum, received the Society's Fenton Medal for his work at the museum on behalf of the Society's Collection which is housed there. 

See more here: http://www.rps.org/news/2015/september/the-rps-2015-awards-announced

The London-based Alkazi Foundation for the Arts in collaboration with the National Museum and Archaeological Survey of India will be presenting the exhibition: Imaging the Isle Across: Vintage Photography from Ceylon (see poster here: India.jpg). The exhibition will be inaugurated on Saturday, 26 September 2015 at 5pm at the National Museum Auditorium. The exhibition is a partner event of the Delhi Photo Festival, 2015.

The history of photography in South Asia is a story of itinerant practitioners, seeking to expand the eye of the lens by exposure to the farthest corners of the world. Though Ceylon came under British rule only in 1815, it followed the maritime expansion of the Portuguese, the Dutch, Danes and the French – the first of which identified it in their sea-charts as Zeilon, from which the modern name Ceylon was derived and maintained till 1972.  Featuring vintage photographs drawn primarily from the Alkazi Collection of Photography, this exhibition takes its viewers through a mapping of sites as well as visual tropes and themes emerging from early photography via diverse mediums of production such as albums, illustrated books and postcards. These traces remain foundational in generating a imagistic canon that etched the life of a swiftly transforming country, as did the coming of a modern, pictorial language instituted by Lionel Wendt, the art photographer and patron.

We are extendedly grateful to the contributions and support of the University of Cambridge, Centre of South Asian Studies; the India-Sri Lanka Foundation, Ismeth Raheem, Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes, Dominic Sansoni and Anoli Perera.

Leicester's Photographic History Research Centre at De Montfort University has announced its autumn seminar programme. The evening talks are free of charge and open to everyone. The first takes place on 20 October and the full programme is available here.

Peter Eric Palmquist was killed by a hit and run driver on January 13, 2003, at the age of 66. He had been a professional photographer for more than 50 years, 28 of them at Humboldt State University. He is considered one of the most important photo historians of the 20th century. His emphasis was the American West, California, Humboldt County before 1950, and the history of women in photography worldwide. He published over 60 books and 340 articles. With co-author Thomas Kailbourn, he won the Caroline Bancroft Western History Prize for their book, Pioneer Photographers of the Far West. Professor Martha Sandweiss, Princeton University, wrote, “He (Peter) established new ways of pursuing the history of photography, and with his collections and research notes soon to be accessible at Yale, he will be speaking to and inspiring new generations of students and researchers forever.” Established by Peter’s lifetime companion, Pam Mendelsohn, this fund supports the study of under-researched women photographers internationally, past and present, and under-researched Western American photographers before 1900.

A small panel of outside consultants with professional expertise in the field of photohistory and/or grant reviewing will review the applications in order to determine the awards. Applications will be judged on the quality of the proposal, the ability of the applicant to carry out the project within the proposed budget and timeline, and the significance of the project to the field of photographic history. Each recipient of the award will agree to donate upon completion of the project a copy of the resulting work (i.e., published book, unpublished report, thesis, etc.) to the Humboldt Area Foundation to submit to the Peter Palmquist Archive at Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library and a report to Humboldt Area Foundation at the end of the grant period.

Click here to download an application form.

RANGE OF AWARDS: $500 - $1,500

ELIGIBILITY

Individuals researching Western American photography before 1900 or women in photography as well as nonprofit institutions conducting research in these fields are eligible to apply.

APPLICATION GUIDELINES

1. Complete application form and budget form

2. Write a short statement explaining your study of either:

• Under-researched women photographers internationally, past and present
• Under-researched Western American photographers before 1900

3. Since submission of a vague plan of work often results in rejection of an application, we urge you to provide as clear and complete a statement of your work plan as possible.

4. Statement must be double spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-point font, and no more than 1,250 words. Statement must describe how funds will be used.

5. Include a copy of your resume or curriculum vitae no longer than 3 pages.

6. Previous Palmquist Grant recipients may reapply if they include the following information:

• Report the specifics of what was accomplished with the award
• Report the specifics of how the funds were used to reach that accomplishment

No other materials (additional samples of work, etc.) will be considered: please enclose only the items listed above.

Completed applications must be postmarked by: November 2, 2015 by 5:00 pm, and submitted to:

Humboldt Area Foundation • 363 Indianola Road, Bayside, CA 95524

Award Recipients will be notified by December 16, 2015

A new exhibition Cameras of the United Kingdom has opened at the JCII Museum, Tokyo. The exhibition includes one of William Henry Fox Talbot's original 'mousetrap' cameras from The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum. This is the first time that any of the Talbot cameras have been loaned for an overseas exhibition.

The exhibition provides a survey of the history and development of the British camera. and runs from 15 September until 20 December. 

See:http://www.jcii-cameramuseum.jp/top_e.html

and a Japanese news report here: http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20150915_721205.html

Image: Left - Hiroshi YANO (Director of JCII) -Right- Yasuhito KOBAYASHI (Director-General of KYPC) unveil the Talbot 'mousetrap' camera one of the highlights of the exhibition at the opening ceremony on 15 September. 

The Science Museum has announced a new exhibition of portraits by pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, marking the 200th anniversary of her birth. The exhibition, which will include the only existing print of her iconic portrait Iago, draws from the world’s largest collection of Cameron’s photographs, part of the Science Museum Group’s unparalleled National Photography Collection.

Cameron’s bold portraits of influential artistic and literary friends, acquaintances and family members including Alfred Tennyson, Thomas Carlyle, William Holman Hunt and several striking photographs of her niece Julia Jackson, mother of Virginia Woolf, both revolutionised photography and immortalised the Victorian age. Her purposefully unconventional approach, using a lack of sharp focus and technical faults to harness photography’s expressive power, instilled feeling and energy into her images and became a hallmark of her style despite fierce criticism from the photographic press.

Exploring the vibrant life and genius of the trailblazing British artist, the exhibition will feature unique objects including a daguerreotype portrait (the first known image of Cameron) and her camera lens (the only piece of her photographic equipment known to survive). Also on display will be handwritten notes from the original manuscript of her autobiography Annals of My Glass House, personal letters by Cameron and others and a selection of extremely rare photographs taken in Sri Lanka during her final years.

A key element of the exhibition will be one of the National Photography Collection’s greatest assets: The Herschel Album, compiled by Cameron in 1864 as her finest work to date and a gift to her friend and mentor, the scientist and photographer Sir John Herschel. Representing for many the finest album of Victorian photography, it was the first photographic item to be placed under an export ban and saved for the nation in 1975. This marked a major milestone in the classification of photography as art and vindicated Cameron’s artistic aspirations for her medium.

The exhibition is co-curated by Colin Harding, Curator of Photography and Photographic Technology at the National Media Museum, Bradford, and Tim Clark, Associate Curator, Media Space. Kate Bush, Head of Photography, Science Museum Group said: ‘Julia Margaret Cameron is deservedly regarded as one of the founding figures of modern photographic portraiture. The range of her work, from tender, naturalistic observation, to dramatic staged tableaux, anticipates every subsequent approach to the genre. Her closely framed faces, bold, expressive and minimal, are as radical and visionary as the woman who created them.’

Julia Margaret Cameron: Influence and Intimacy
24 September 2015 – 28 March 2016
Virgin Media Studio, Media Space, Science Museum, London.
Entrance free.

See more at www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/mediaspace.

Image: Iago, Study from an Italian, 1867, Julia Margaret Cameron © National Media Museum, Bradford

In 1864, Walter Woodbury patented a photo-mechanical printing process which effectively allowed carbon prints to be mass produced. Many consider that this was the definitive process developed to produce permanent photographs.

Peter McCallion is completing his PhD documenting how he has reprised the process at the University of the West of England’s Fine Print Research Centre. Peter will explain the process’s history and his research. He will demonstrate the final stage in the process: the printing/pressing of an actual Woodburytype. This is a very rare opportunity to see a demonstration of this process.

The associated blueprint-II exhibition includes a modern carbon print comparison with an 1870s vintage Woodburytype print.

12 September, 2pm. More information: http://institutephotographyscotland.org/Woodburytype.html

Trongate 103 – Glasgow Print Studio

103 Trongate
Glasgow
G1 5HD

FURTHER INFORMATION

Glasgow Print Studio

A rare opportunity to see the original 1870s album containing experiments by amateur photographer Fanny Pickard which have inspired some 21st century ‘coffee prints’ (on exhibition in Java – ology) Alongside will be 19th century reference works on photography and fine examples of woodburytypes and photogravures, processes used in book and magazine illustration. The technology behind the mass-production of photographs is explored further in Blueprint II.

Visitors can drop in to see the dozen items on display, selected from the University’s collections. Blueprint curators and printmakers Roger Farnham and Harry Magee will also be present to discuss processes.

Organised by Sarah Hepworth/University of Glasgow Special Collection. More information: http://institutephotographyscotland.org/fanny_pickard.html

University of Glasgow Library
Wednesday, 9 September, 2-4pm.

University of Glasgow Library

(Level 12: Special Collections)
Hillhead Street
Glasgow G12 8QE

0141 330 6767

FURTHER INFORMATION

Blueprint II
Java-ology

Just to mention that the book about Walking Pictures is nearly complete.  The publisher has posted two short videos about the project on their YouTube channel.

These look at the book (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzBtsgqyPBg), and also at a series of images taken on one spot in Mablethorpe over 40 years or more (https://youtu.be/cwB9aZ9-h3M)