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I wonder if anyone can shed light on the possible existence of a Chevreul photographic process. I’ve come across the following announcement in the Lynn Advertiser of 28^th March 1857.

"W. Taylor begs to announce that he has completed his arrangements for carrying out the beautiful system of pure, untouched Photography, so successfully practised by M. Chevreul, of Paris, – producing Portraits equal in richness to the highest finished Mezzotint Engravings, and leaving nothing to wish for either as regards faithful resemblance or artistic finish."

I understand that Michel-Eugène Chevreul was a chemist whose career included work on dyes, colour theory and the chemistry of fats, but I can find no mention of a specific photographic process being credited to him. He was, however, involved - both as mentor and promoter - with the work of Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor, who made advances in the preparation of glass negatives and albumen paper, and there do seem to have been occasions when Chevreul presented Niépce’s work to the photographic community. Is it, therefore, likely that Taylor was actually adopting (and misattributing) one or more of Niépce’s improvements to the wet collodion process? Or have I missed something? Any thoughts would be most welcome.

Recording of a Facebook Livestream, first broadcast on Thursday 23rd April 2020. Whether self-isolating or with the family, this special live stream event with Lost Glasgow’s Norry Wilson is a must for all to gather round. In this presentation Norry offers his take on Oscar Marzaroli’s incredible photographic record of the city and the legacy his work gives, as well as looking at the photographers who preceded Oscar and those who were influenced by his record of the changing face of Glasgow.

The following vintage cameras and photographs were stolen from a house in north-east London on 9 April. If you are offered them or have sight of them please contact: CONTACT:CMS@MET.POLICE.UK

1.Detective camera disguised as a pair of binoculars c.1890.
2.Another detective camera disguised as a pair of binoculars c.1900.
3.A Ticka detective camera disguised as a pocket watch, hands at seven minutes past eleven.
4.Dr.Kreugner detective camera disguised as a book c.1890.
5.An unusual very flat seven inch diameter circular camera,the Stirn, made of copper c.1890.
6.Five mahogony/brass and bellows cameras by Watson,Sanderson etc.c.1900.
7.A group of brass encased lenses some engraved Ross,Goddard,Grubb, Harrison and Schnitzer.1850's to 1870's.
8.Two small circular Scioptic  balls incorporating two lenses set into rich brown lignum wood .c.1720.
9.Various small cased portraits (less than six  by four inches) of men,beautifull women and a labourer.One stamped in gilt Claudet,Regent St.,London.
10.A group of colour photographs on glass,portraits,scenes,flowers and still life scenes.Some stamped A and L.Lumiere.
11.A group of small positives  on glass of people and rural scenes in Ireland c.1890 in a green solander box.
12.Sepia photographs of Ireland c.1890
13,A large framed black and white portrait of James Joyce,three feet by two feet,black frame four inches wide signed by Bernice Abbott for the Tibet Fund.

 CONTACT:CMS@MET.POLICE.UK

This is a recently acquired salt print, 'Col. Dickson, Royal Engineers' by Roger Fenton. It is mounted on the usual large 18 x 24" page. Rather than having the number printed in the title, it is hand written in ink on the obverse. Is this an early 'proof'? A later copy?

Many thanks for any information.

One of the great pleasures in collecting old negatives is finding the odd 'ruby in a mountain of rock'. Whilst recently scanning a group of glass negatives I had recently purchased and had loosely titled 'Camberwell, Southwark and Richmond Collection' I came across the image of a middle-aged gentleman sitting with a young girl in the back garden of a house somewhere in the outskirts of London.

A not uncommon picture of Edwardian life found in similar collections of informal middle-class family portraits, but for some reason this gentleman looked familiar. A quick look at the list of captions found on the inside of the negative box lid revealed that the subjects were, 'Mr Cobham & Vera with hat', dated May 27th, 1906.

I instantly recognised him to be Sir Alan Cobham, the intrepid aviator and entrepreneur, but then immediately realised that it couldn't be him as he would surely have been a much younger man than the one in my picture, taken in 1906. A quick check on the internet of images of Sir Alan indicated that he did indeed resemble the image of the man in my negative, and after further research it turned out that the man in the garden was Frederick Cobham, father of Alan, so the young girl must have been Vera, Alan's younger sister.

I subsequently discovered further images of the Cobham family in the collection, including the one attached of the whole family, with dog. Possibly this has been published before, but I would doubt it. I haven't been able to ascertain who took the photograph but I am currently researching the collection, so hopefully I will discover their identity, or at least the name of the family at whose residence the Cobhams visited in the late spring of 1906.

Little could any of them have known then, just how this young boy would begin to influence the development of commercial aviation some 15 or 20 years hence.

Sue Davies who has died, after a short illness, aged 87 years, was the founder director of London’s The Photographers’ Gallery, the first public space dedicated solely to photography and photographers in the United Kingdom. During her twenty years as gallery director she established it as the go-to place for photography, particularly in its early years when photography was largely ignored by the UK’s arts establishment and there were no other galleries of photography. The Photographers’ Gallery exhibitions were diverse, ranging from historical photography, the work of contemporary photographers, and themed shows, often with an international perspective.  They were supported by an eclectic talks programme and a bookshop that was the best for photography anywhere in the country.

Susan Elizabeth Davies (née Adey) was born in 1933 and had a childhood that ranged from London, Iran and New York. She attended secondary school in London. She married John R T Davies (1927-2004) the jazz musician, recording artist, producer  and sound restorer in 1954 and they had three children, Joanna, Stephanie  and Jessica. Davies worked at various magazines including the Municipal Journal  and then had a part-time job at the Artists Placement Group in London before taking a job at the ICA.

Davies joined the ICA in 1968 as exhibitions secretary. It was at the ICA where she met Bill Jay who was using it as a venue for his Photo Study Centre which held regular photography talks. The Spectrum exhibition which ran at the ICA from 3 April-11 May 1969 was a landmark event for photography in Britain examining the role of photography, 500 women photographers and showcasing individual photographers including Tony Ray-Jones, Enzo Ragazzini, Dorothy Bohm and Don McCullin.

This activity awakened her passion for photography, and a determination that the absence of a proper place for photography in Britain needed addressing. By 1970 she was planning a gallery dedicated to photography. With the agreement of her family she re-mortgaged her home and gained the backing  of people such as Tom Hopkinson and Magnum agency photographers such as David Hurn. Jay’s Do Not Bend Gallery opened in 1970 and Davies was generous to acknowledge his influence and gallery as a first, although its brief extended beyond photography to the wider arts.

The Photographers’ Gallery opened on 14 January 1971. It aimed to provide a central London showcase for exhibitions of the best photography, to create a centre for the sale of photographic prints, and to offer a selection of photographic books, catalogues and magazines. It was also to act as an exchange house for exhibitions touring the continent and to initiate touring collections. The first exhibition was The Concerned Photographer curated by Cornell Capa. Following this was a show of Edward Weston’s photography, and thematic shows around industry, fashion and landscape, as well as young photographers.  As Martin Parr HonFRPS has recently commented: ‘to find a place that loved photography, it was absolutely exhilarating to go in there’.

The Gallery was set up as a charity, relaying on grant-aid and private benefactors. Hopkinson was the first chair of trustees and it was supported by an impressive roster of individuals, photographers, companies, and volunteers who made it all happen.  The premises at 8 Great Newport Street provided 3500sq.ft. of space to exhibit photography and for photographers and the public to meet and to listen to speakers. In 1980 the gallery expanded into No. 5 Great Newport Street and the freehold was purchased.

In 1972 the New York Times writing about London’s photography scene said: ‘In London's Photographer's Gallery, however, almost everything photographic is welcomed, including the kind of reportage whose only claim to attention is the interest of its subject matter...The Photographers' Gallery remains the only place in London that shows new photography regularly, and consequently, it has become a kind of catch‐all. ..And where else was it to go?

Davies’ work for photography was recognised with the Royal Photographic Society’s Progress Medal and Honorary Fellowship in 1982 and she was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours in 1988.

Davies was encouraged to step down as director in 1991. The British Journal of Photography suggested that the decision was, in part, based on the continual need to find funding to keep the gallery afloat. Even in 1972 Davies had said ‘we suffer from a chronic lack of money’ and this was always a challenge.  Her replacement’s first job was to deal with a dire financial situation, due, in part, to changes in how London boroughs funded the Gallery.  The BJP’s assessment of her time at the Gallery was fulsome: ‘Davies deserves the highest praise for what she has achieved in raising the profile of photography in Britain, not just via the walls of Great Newport Street, but by 20 years of example set to the many similarly successful funded galleries around the country’.  Its programming may have been mixed but at its best, as the BJP noted, ‘it was brilliant’.  

After leaving the Gallery Davies continued to be involved in photography as a visiting lecturer and curator.

The roll call of those who worked at the Gallery or took part in its activities is a long one and there are just a few personal recollections below. There are many others with their own memories of Davies and the Gallery.

Zelda Cheatle, who worked at the Gallery’s Print Room in the 1980s said : ‘it’s hard to remember that there was no photography anywhere before Sue....  she really defined British photography; but her Eastern European exhibitions by Kertesz and Brassai, etc, and Giacomelli and Fontana, and O Winston Link and so many more were brought to a British audience’.

Chris Steele-Perkins, the Magnum photographer commented: ‘Sue was responsible for encouraging young photographers as well as bringing the work of greats, like Winston Link, André Kertész, and William Klein to a British audience. For my generation TPG was like a clubhouse and I owe lasting friendships and important contacts to Sue and the atmosphere she created around the gallery. Without TPG's notice board I would never have worked on Survival Programmes.’

The curator India Dhargalkar who started her career at the Photographers Gallery under Davies said: ‘she was one of the most influential people in the early days of the photography art scene in the UK.  Under her direction it was a time of exciting and innovative exhibitions, opening the door to new photographers who have since become well established thanks to her support’.

Brett Rogers OBE, the current director of The Photographers Gallery, said: ‘Sue’s vision for the Gallery was rooted in a spirit of collaboration. From the outset, she gathered a group of like-minded people to work with her to ensure that TPG was first and foremost a place for photographers to exhibit, share, meet and sell their work. Equally she wanted to offer an environment to inspire, educate and inform audiences about the pivotal - and unique - role photography plays in our lives and communities.’

It can be hard, with a 2020 perspective, when photography exhibitions attract record crowds, receive massive media coverage and photography permeates our real and virtual worlds, to imagine how poorly it was seen in the late 1960s. That Davies was able to achieve so much for the public benefit, and for British photography, supported by others, is a testimony to her vision and perseverance.

It is poignant and sad that next year’s celebrations of The Photographers’ Gallery’s half century will now be held without her presence.  Her legacy is the Photographers’ Gallery and, even more importantly, the vibrant gallery scene and respect for photography that she helped to establish and define.

© Michael Pritchard

With thanks to Roxanne Maguire,  Zelda Cheatle, Chris Steele-Perkins, and India Dhargalkar.

Images: Chris Steele-Perkins HonFRPS, Sue Davies, 1982 (centre), Mayotte Magnus-Lewinska FRPS (top left); montage courtesy of The Photographers’ Gallery.

UPDATE - 2

Read more here: 

The Guardian obituary: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/apr/30/sue-davies-obituary

Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Davies

BBC Radio 4's Last Word: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08c0h6g 

I have recently been comparing collections holding Roger Fenton’s Crimean war images and have discovered that the titles of some portraits in the Library of Congress (LOC) in Washington are different to the same images in the Royal Collection Trust (RCT). The portrait entitled Colonel Goodlake at the LOC is entitled Lieutenant Colonel Chapman C.B., Royal Engineers at the RCT. Also, the LOC’s Lieutenant Colonel Chapman, C.B., Royal Engineers is entitled Major Chapman at the RCT. In addition, the LOC’s Major Chapman, 20^th Regiment is entitled Major Goodlake, Coldstream Guards at the RCT. I believe that the RCT titles are correct and would like to suggest that the LOC investigate the matter and clarify the situation.

Incorrectly labelled photographs cause mistakes to be made by authors using contemporary pictures in publications on the Crimean War. An example is the book entitled Images of War, The Crimean War, which is published by Pen and Sword. The authors have used the LOC titles in the captions of two of the portraits mentioned above.

I have usually notified collections when I have found conflicting or incorrect titles to Crimean War pictures in the past. Some thank me for my efforts, but others do not reply. I have not followed up whether the changes I suggested to most of the collections were made or not. Today, I quickly went through Fenton’s images in the John Paul Getty Museum in the USA and found all but one were correctly named. However, the title of Cavalry Camp looking towards Kadikoi (84.XM.1028.26) was incorrect as it shows a picture that is correctly entitled as View of the Lines of Balaklava from Guard’s Hill, Canrobert’s Hill in the distance at the LOC and RCT. There were also some typing errors, such as ‘Captain Porial’ instead of ‘Captain Portal’.

I also recently found that two of Fenton’s Crimean portraits in the RCT showing the same army officer with the same horse at the same location at roughly the same time had two different names in the images' titles. The first (RCIN 2500272) was entitled Major Hussey Fane Keane, who was described as being in the Royal Engineers (see above right). This information is correct. However, the second (RCIN 2500348) showing the same man was entitled Major Giles Keane, who was described as being in 86^th Foot (see below left). This information is incorrect. There was a Major Giles Keane in the 86^th Foot at the time, but the regiment never fought in the Crimea being stationed in India. I haven’t the slightest idea how the RCT came by this name for the portrait. Again, more care needs to be taken by collections in making sure their accessions have the correct names and descriptions.

Ideally, institutes holding historical photographs should interact with each other to ensure that titles of images conform between collections, but I suppose a lack of funds, time and perhaps motivation prevents this from happening. I should also mention here that, as a specialist in Crimean photography with a first-hand knowledge of the topography of Sevastopol and its environs, I approached the head of a well-known collection and offered to improve the descriptions of its Crimean War photographs. This offer was declined even though I was willing to do the job for the sake of posterity at no cost to the collection. I am now in coronavirus lockdown and busy writing articles for publication in the RPS’s The PhotoHistorian and the CWRS’s The War Correspondent so that the information I have on what is seen in Crimean War images does not disappear when I do.

The Wiener Holocaust Library has made available an online version of its 2019 exhibition of Gerty Simon's life and work Gerty (Gertrud) Simon (1887-1970) was a German-Jewish photographer renowned in the 1920s and 1930s for her portraits of important political and artistic figures in Weimar Berlin and interwar London. In the 1930s, as a refugee from Nazism in Britain, Simon rapidly re-established her studio. She was soon photographing notable personalities from British public and cultural life to great acclaim. 

In 1934, Gerty Simon was described as the 'most brilliant and original of Berlin photographers'. But since Simon stopped taking professional photographs in the late 1930s, her career has been forgotten.

In 2016, The Wiener Holocaust Library received a large number of Gerty Simon's original prints of portraits taken in Berlin and London from the estate of her son Bernard (Bernd), along with documents relating to her life and work. In 2019, The Wiener Holocaust Library staged an exhibition on Gerty Simon's life and work featuring many of her works, including 18 original prints.

In 2021, a version of the exhibition will be shown at Villa Liebermann, where, for the first time in 80 years, the work of this pioneering photographer will be brought to public attention in Berlin.

Image: Gerty Simon, self-portrait montage, Berlin, c. 1925-1932.

Source magazine has provided free access to the digital edition of Issue 96 - Privacy: Picturing Our Inner Selves until the end of April. It features portfolios from Rachel Glass, Maurice Hobson and Gillian Wearing, fashion and marketplace columns, reviews, and interviews. 

Accessible here: https://bit.ly/2X9kZ8S.

Produced to coincide with our Oscar Marzaroli retrospective this short AV work features poignant narration by Marie-Clare Marzaroli sharing recollections of her father and reflecting on the huge legacy he left behind.

Glasgow's Street Level Photoworks has made available a Facebook live stream artist talk with Frank McElhinney on his project 'Only for Freedom', followed by a Q+A with Street Level director Malcolm Dickson.

Might anyone have any details of a process introduced 1861 by Squire & Co for colouring a paper photograph to resemble a painting on ivory. It is was announced in Photographic News, vol . 5, no . 171, 13 December 1861, i

It was marketed as  the elephantinon process  and was evidently for making paper photographs look like paintings on ivory but with libraries shut I cant find the PN to consult.

The term is the ancient Greek name for a black dye made from burnt ivory  but may refer  in photography to a soft ivory-glow look rather than actual black?

An example would be great to find..

Gael

I am looking for any information about the Photographer of this recently acquired albumen photo: Sir Henry Fletcher being served by mess waiter Robert. Seller says it's from an 1853 Album from the Musketry School at Hythe.

Curiously, The Grenadier Guards website is selling copies of this image, but listing the waiter or location as Windsor.

Leicester's De Montfort University's Photographic History Research Centre annual conference for 2020 titled Camera Education: Photographic Histories of Visual Literacy, Schooling, and the Imagination will take place on 15-16 June 2020. Due to COVID-19 it will be run online and can be booked through the link here at a cost of £20. 

Read more about the programme and speakers here: https://photographichistory.wordpress.com/annual-conference-2020/

Chiswick Auction's Fine Photographica sale will go ahead online on 29 April. The auctions includes a number of British photographers from Robert Howlett's portrait of I K Brunel (lot 105) to work from George Rodger, Richard Sadler, Fay Godwin, John Swannell, T R Williams (lot 111), Francis Bedford and others. Of particular note is a group of ten stereo-daguerreotypes by Schneider & Sohn (lot 114). 

The photographic equipment section includes a small selection of Leica and other cameras. 

The catalogue is available to review and download here: https://www.chiswickauctions.co.uk/auction/details/29%20April%202020%20A-Fine-Photographica?au=518 

The only known wartime film footage of a secret site connected to Bletchley Park has been discovered. The 11-minute silent film, believed to be a compilation of footage recorded between 1939-1945, shows members of MI6 Section VIII at Whaddon Hall, Buckinghamshire. During World War Two, this was a most secret site where Ultra intelligence produced by the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park would be sent, and then passed on to Allied commanders in the field.

Dr David Kenyon, Research Historian at Bletchley Park highlights the rarity of this find: “No other film footage of a site intimately connected with Bletchley Park exists. We don’t know who filmed it and the footage doesn’t gives away any state secrets or any clues about the work the people in it are doing. If it fell into the wrong hands, it would have given little away, but for us today, it is an astonishing discovery and important record of one of the most secret and valuable aspects of Bletchley Park’s work.”.

The reel of wartime footage, preserved in its original canister, has been donated to Bletchley Park by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

The film, shot mostly in black and white with some colour footage, shows men and women off duty at Whaddon Hall and at Whaddon Chase, where some staff were billeted. There is also footage of the Whaddon hunt, a football game, and a cricket match in beautiful summer sunshine. Identified figures in the film include Brigadier Richard Gambier-Parry, Head of SIS Section VIII, based at Whaddon Hall 1939-1945, as well as Bob Hornby, first Engineer, in charge of workshops and Ewart Holden, Stores officer. Several figures in the film have not been identified and Bletchley Park Trust is appealing for anyone who recognises someone in the film to get in touch via enquiries@bletchleypark.org.uk

Peronel Craddock, Head of Collections and Exhibitions at Bletchley Park said: “The Whaddon Hall film is a really significant addition to our collection. Not only does it show us the place and the people in wartime but it’s the first piece of film footage we’re aware of that shows any of the activity associated with Bletchley Park at all. We’re delighted it has been donated to Bletchley Park Trust where it can be cared for and help tell the story of the huge team effort that underpinned Bletchley Park’s successes during World War Two.”

COVID-19 has meant that the new print issue of The Classic will not be made available at its usual distribution points in selected galleries and institutions as they are currently all closed. The publisher, Michael Diemar, has decided to make  the latest issue available as a pdf from its website.

Issue 3 includes:  

• Frozen Films - The Andrée Polar Expedition 1897
• Samuel Bourdin on Guy Bourdin
• Jim Ganz at the J. Paul Getty Museum
• Photographs in the Royal Collection Trust
• Hugh Rayner on Samuel Bourne
• The McKinley Collection

Download The Classic here: https://theclassicphotomag.com/

Matthew Broadhead, a descendent of the Victorian Leicester photographer F. W. Broadhead (1846-1925)  has made over 250 photographs from his third great grandfather's studio available online for the first time.

The photographs can be seen here: www.flickr.com/photos/fwbroadhead

Matthew can be reached at his website: www.matthewbroadhead.com or by email: info@matthewbroadhead.com

The James Hyman Gallery has launched a special fundraising sale in support of the NHS. James and Claire Hyman' collection of British photography is one of the UK's most important private collections and Claire works as surgeon within the National Health Service. 

The Gallery has put together a selection of works by some of the major photographers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, at reduced prices, and will donate all profits to the National Health Service.

Browse the sale here.

Image: 

Bill Brandt
Oakworth Moor, Yorkshire
Vintage Gelatin Silver Print, 1944

James Hyman notes: