Blogs

A new exhibition at the V&A Museum, London, explore its origins, adaptations and reinventions over 157 years of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland from manuscript to a global phenomenon beloved by all ages. Photography from Lewis Carroll to Julia Margaret Cameron features in the exhibition of course and is also the subject of an online essay 'The real Alice in Wonderland'. 

For details of the exhibition which is due to open on 27 March (but check the date as a result of COVID) see: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/alice-curiouser-and-curiouser

To read the essay see: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-real-alice-in-wonderland

Image: Alice Liddell aged 7, photographed by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) in 1860. Wikimedia commons.

A new web site conceived by journalist and broadcaster Barry Fox has been launched to bring together more than 100 years of technology industry photography in one place. The aptly-named www.tekkiepix.com features a multitude of historic photos spanning more than a century of technical milestones and product launches – and the fascinating stories behind them.

2021 heralds the fiftieth anniversary of home video recording and the introduction of the consumer video cassette recorder – and this is just one of the industry breakthroughs documented by this unique site. For example, type ‘U-matic’ in the search field to discover when the first video recorder went on sale and to reveal who manufactured it.

No subscriptions or fees are required to use the site, which is a completely free, non-profit treasure trove of pictures and articles covering the history of home gadgetry before the days of Apple, Google, YouTube, Spotify and Netflix. Tekkiepix also includes a comprehensive timeline of consumer technology landmarks starting from 1877.

Founder Barry Fox commented, “Tekkiepix has taken a great deal of time, investment and hard work to prepare and publish. The Covid lockdowns have provided the opportunity for me to sort, digitise and meticulously index many piles of press and publicity photos that I had been storing in my garage and attic.”

So far, many hundreds of rare pictures have been processed and posted, along with the intriguing stories behind each image. As a keen photographer, many of these pictures were captured by Barry personally at numerous product launch events, while others were issued by technology manufacturers over the years. Barry carefully archived the collection rather than disposing of the images. He added, “Tekkiepix is giving these publicity pictures the chance of a second life.”

There is much more material to be added, with boxes of negatives and transparencies still to be scanned, and Barry hopes that through donations from enthusiasts, or perhaps sponsorship by an interested organisation, he can expand Tekkiepix much further: “I have added a Donate button to encourage contributions. Through this support, I’ll be able to build the site and turn it into an even more valuable and educational resource for younger generations to appreciate in the future.”

Many of the companies that originally distributed the pictures to the media for PR purposes have long since closed or been sold, and Barry believes this may be the only lasting record of these historically important photographs.

Over the past six months, Barry has been generously assisted by former technology magazine editor Richard Dean in professionally re-vamping and expanding the original ‘DIY’ site design, with support from photographer and website designer John Kentish.

See: https://tekkiepix.com/

Bonhams' auction of Travel and Exploration on 10 February includes an album of mountaineering photographs by William F Donkin and Vittorio Sella, dating from the 1880s. It is estimated at £6000-8000. Donkin was a member of the Photographic Society from 1881 until his death in a mountaineering accident in 1888 and the Society's honorary secretary. 

The catalogue entry notes: William Frederick Donkin died, aged 43, during a climbing expedition to the Caucasus in 1888. Fêted at the time of his premature death, with a retrospective exhibition of his work held at the instigation of the Alpine Club (of which he was honorary secretary from 1885-1888) and Photographic Society in 1889, Donkin has subsequently been overshadowed by the longer lived Sella. This is undoubtedly due to the lack of details known about his life (no entry on ODNB) and scarcity of his works. The current album includes many views attributed to him.

The album was originally with The Rucksack Society. 

See the full catalogue entry here.

Hundred Heroines which celebrates women in photography is presenting an online symposium to discuss the work of the Heroines showcased in its Anemoia online gallery, It will have some special guests and will include a Q&A.

Chaired by Haley Drolet (Research Assistant, Faculty of History, Oxford University). Hundred Heroines will welcome Amanda Hopkinson, Ralph Harrington, Monika Baker and Jean Bubley to discuss the work of Edith Tudor Hart, Berenice Abbott, Homai Vyarawalla, Fanny Foster, Esther Bubley, Gerti Deutsch and Nancy Sheung. They are all featured in the exhibition. The event promises to give new insight to the life and work of these Heroines.

The full programme will be announced on the Hundred Heroines website shortly.

Bookings can be made here

Click here to join the Hundred Heroines mailing list for updates.

Image: Homai Vyarawalla. Rehana Mogul and Mani Turner at work in sculpture class at the J.J. School of Arts. A live male model can be seen in the background. Bombay, late 1930s. HV Archive/Alkazi Collection of Photography

Recent scholarship surrounding the development, use, and reuse of colour photography has highlighted the need for more research and debate about photographic colour, in terms of histories, technologies and the emotions they have affected. Long told as merely a triumphalist history of technological achievement, colour photography is steeped as well in controversy, in the re-telling of history, in activism, in politics of individuals, communities and countries. Colour photography, while a boon to some, has been developed and deployed at the expense of others. The PHRC seeks contributions especially from scholars who seek to make the voices of such individuals and communities heard.

In this 9th annual conference of the PHRC we invite papers addressing contemporary debates in and around colour photography. We invite short abstracts of 150-200 words on topics that address themes like:

• Historical and contemporary uses of colourisation
• Emotional and affective responses to colour photography
• Industrial histories
• Activist and political uses of colour in photography
• Colour photography in race and identity politics

Due to the nature of online conferencing, PHRC will innovate its format this year, and thus we are seeking very short abstracts of 150-200 words, and up to 5 keywords for a 15-minute presentation.

Please send abstracts for consideration to phrc@dmu.ac.uk by 26 February 2021 - including name, contact details and institutional affiliation (when applicable).

Photography and Its Many Colours. Innovations, Emotions and Activism
14-15 June 2021
ONLINE via Microsoft Teams (De Montfort University, Leicester UK)
Follow on Twitter: @PHRC_DeMontfort
Conference hashtag #PHRC21

Image: Patricia Wilder 

Farleys House & Gallery is presenting Lee Miller: Fashion in Wartime Britain, a major exhibition opening on 21 March 2021. The exhibition will explore the under recognised body of fashion photography made by the renowned surrealist photographer during the Second World War. It will feature over 60 of Miller’s images for British Vogue from 1939 to early 1944, many of which have never been seen before. The exhibition will be accompanied by a major new publication, featuring over 100 recently archived images.  

This important aspect of Lee Miller’s wartime work has previously been overshadowed by her role as a front line correspondent in the final years of the war. New research, undertaken for the exhibition and book, on Miller’s wartime diaries has uncovered the sheer volume of editorial shoots for British Vouge that she worked on for most of the early 1940s. Despite paper rationing, British Vogue was kept in print throughout the war under the influential editorship of Audrey Withers and was seen as an opportunity by the British government to encourage women to join the war effort. Its pages were transformed into a guide for “soldiers without guns”, whilst continuing to advise on fashion and how to make the most of what was available in spite of clothes rationing, which was introduced in 1941. Miller’s fashion output was so prolific that in 1941, Audrey Withers described just how important Miller was to the publication: ‘she has borne the whole weight of our studio production through the most difficult period in Brogue’s [British Vogue’s] history’.

Photographs on display will provide insight into the prevailing fashions of the day, from factory wear to evening gowns and suits by famed designers including Norman Hartnell, Digby Morton, Hardy Amies and Bianca Mosca, one of the few female fashion designers from the period. Despite the difficult wartime conditons, Lee used her surrealist eye and technical skills in the art direction of her photographs and often took models out of the studio to museums, a taxidermy shop and onto the streets. Most notably she photographed broadcaster Elizabeth Cowell, one of the first female television announcers, against a backdrop of bombed out houses in London.

In 1940 during the early days of the war Lee wrote to her parents, describing the immense difficulty of shooting during the Blitz and the team’s perseverance: ‘the studio never missed a day – bombed once and fired twice – working with the neighbouring buildings still smouldering – the horrid smell of wet charred wood – the stink of cordite – the fire hoses still up the stair cases and we had to wade bare foot to get in – little restaurants producing food on a primus stove – carrying water to flush toilets and whoever could, taking the prints and negs home to do at night if they had the sacred combination of gas, electricity and water.’

The exhibition will be accompanied by a lavishly illustrated coffee table book, featuring over 100 photographs, published by Lee Miller Archives, with contributions from Robin Muir, Amber Butchart and introduction by Lee Miller’s granddaughter Ami Bouhassane.  

The exhibition and book have been made possible with support from the DCMS Culture Recovery Fund awarded by the Arts Council England. Farleys House & Gallery and the Lee Miller Archives were saved from imminent closure due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic following a successful crowdfunder in the summer of 2020. The crowdfunder enabled vital conservation work to take place on the house and helped to support future programming. Without the funding and continued encouragement and support of everyone through these difficult times Farleys and the Lee Miller Archives would not be able to continue.

Lee Miller: Fashion in Wartime Britain
Publication date 21 March 2021
Available for pre-order from February through www.leemiller.co.uk and all good bookshops.
ISBN: 9780 9532389 8 9

Gallery opening hours & ticketing information
The exhibition will be on view from Saturday 21 March – July 2021.
Farleys House & Garden is open every Thursday and Sunday, 10am to 4.30pm
Tickets will be available from early March 2021. Pre-booking advised through www.farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk.

Image: Image credit: Lee Miller, Corsetry, Solarised Photographs, Vogue Studio London England 1942 © Lee Miller Archives, England 2020. All rights reserved.

Out of the Archive is a new online talks series exploring how photography archives can both document the past and inspire the present. It is presented by Four Corners and will bring in organisations and artists working with archives to share untold stories, initiate new work and catalyse community projects. It runs on Thursdays throughout February

The next two talks are: 

Revisiting Radical Community Photography | 11 February | 6.30 - 8.00pm 
A closer look at the radical, youth-led photography projects recording South and East London in the 1970s and 1980s by photographer Paul Carter, who will be discussing the influential Blackfriars Photography Project, as well as the more recent SE1 Stories initiative, which is documenting and celebrating the history of community action around Waterloo and North Southwark.

Also joining are Andrew Woodyatt and Tamara Stoll from the Rio Cinema Archive. They will be sharing their discovery, documentation and publication of a vast collection of images produced by the Rio Cinema’s Tape/Slide Newsreel Group, which gave a voice to unemployed young people in Hackney, and now offers a fascinating insight into the era. Register here 

Photographers in the Archives | 18 February | 

Anita Corbin and Ingrid Pollard  will talk about their work reactivating photography archives to create new projects. Further details coming soon. 

See more and details of past talks here: https://www.fourcornersfilm.co.uk/whats-on/out-of-the-archives

Photographic artist Melanie King, who uses cyanotype and alternative processes in her work has collaborated with Professor Lucie Green to produce Solar Orbiter, a series of ITV screen idents. They will be shown during February 2021.   

Melanie King, who is based  in Kent works with alternative photography processes, with a specific focus on astronomy. Lucie Green, is a professor of physics at UCL.

The piece of art is based on the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter mission which launched in February 2020 and is the latest spacecraft sent to study the sun. The spacecraft has to endure searing heat, but in doing so it has taken images of the sun closer than any other spacecraft. Data gathered by the spacecraft’s suite of telescopes provides views of the sun in ultraviolet light and X-rays, and will help shed light on why the sun produces huge explosions and eruptions in its atmosphere.  

Melanie says: "Myself and Lucie produced a cyanotype using ultraviolet light, a form of light which is produced by the Sun. As Lucie has been working on the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter mission, we were inspired to use shapes found within the Solar Orbiter craft to form the logo. Part of the ident was filmed at Airbus Stevenage."

See: https://www.itv.com/itvcreates/articles/melanie-king-and-prof-lucie-green

and https://www.melaniek.co.uk/itv-solar-orbiter-cyanotype#0

Images: ITV and Melanie King / Twitter / https://twitter.com/MelanieKKing/status/1356191228472274944/photo/3

William Robert Hogg worked as a photographer for Jabez Hughes of Ryde. He was frequently sent to photograph Queen Victoria at Osborne House. Later in life he ran a tobacconist shop and sub post office in the town but still recorded the area on his plate camera. The Isle of Wight Heritage service holds a collection of over 200 glass negatives of Hogg’s work of which 81 can be seen here. The photographs date from the 1910-1920s.

The Isle of Wight Heritage service also holds a collection of photographs by Sandown photographer James Dore 1854-1925.

See: https://www.iow.gov.uk/Residents/Libraries-Cultural-and-Heritage/Heritage-Service/Cowes-Maritime-Museum/The-photographs-of-William-Robert-Hogg-1844-1928