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The Impact of Photography on the Centennial of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity

I have often written and spoken about the impact of photography and its invention on the course of history and its transformations. Photography has played a major role in bringing about many of these transformations and significant changes in historical events. It has influenced various artistic, scientific, political, and social fields, becoming a fundamental pillar and cornerstone of these disciplines.

Photographic images have supported numerous in-depth studies and written research, adding an unparalleled level of credibility and serving as a highly valuable visual reference. They have also created a visual astonishment by capturing what was previously transmitted orally or considered theoretical assumptions.

Einstein and the General Theory of Relativity

On November 24, 1915, Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity, challenging Newton’s law of universal gravitation and several other physical and cosmic laws. He proposed that space and time are deeply interconnected and influenced by gravity—asserting that they are, in fact, a single entity called "spacetime." However, he was initially unable to provide practical proof of his theory.

Despite completing all the mathematical and physical aspects of his theory, including formulating cosmic hypotheses to support it, the scientific community remained skeptical and demanded practical evidence to verify its validity.

The Hypothesis of Starlight Bending and Its Photographic Proof

Einstein hypothesized that light rays could bend if they passed through a gravitational field. Even before publishing his theory in 1915, he devised an experiment to test this hypothesis. The idea was that if light rays from a group of stars behind the Sun passed through the Sun’s gravitational field, the light would bend due to gravity, allowing the stars to be seen from Earth—even though they were actually behind the Sun.

Einstein concluded that the best time to observe this phenomenon would be during a total solar eclipse when the Sun’s surroundings would become visible. While this idea seemed logical, relying on the naked eye to observe the eclipse was problematic due to potential discrepancies in individual observations. Thus, it became essential to document the positions of stars and their light paths using photography, which would enable scientists to calculate the distances and shifts in starlight caused by gravitational bending.

The First Attempt to Photograph the Eclipse

Einstein announced his hypothesis about light bending nearly a year before publishing his theory, calling on astrophysicists to photograph the solar disk during a total eclipse, as this would provide the only practical proof of his theory.

Two physicists responded to the call: German astrophysicist Erwin Freundlich from the Berlin Observatory and William Campbell, director of the Lick Observatory in the United States, a pioneer in astrophotography specializing in photographing comets and nebulae.

The two scientists coordinated their efforts and identified the best locations to observe the total eclipse—Crimea and Kyiv, both under Russian control. Freundlich headed to Crimea, while Campbell traveled to Kyiv as a contingency in case of poor weather conditions in one location.

However, when World War I broke out on July 28, 1914—just 24 days before the eclipse—Russian forces confiscated Freundlich’s astrophotography equipment and imprisoned him as a German prisoner of war. Meanwhile, Campbell, though allowed to remain in Kyiv as an American, was unable to capture any images due to heavy cloud cover that obscured the Sun during the eclipse. He eventually had to leave Kyiv without his expensive equipment due to the ongoing war.

With no photographic proof, Einstein decided not to delay publishing his theory, fearing that someone else might claim the discovery. He published the General Theory of Relativity in 1915, sparking intense debate and increasing demands for empirical verification.

The Second Attempt to Photograph the Eclipse

In 1916, British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington learned about Einstein’s theory and the only possible method to confirm or refute it—photographing a total solar eclipse and capturing the stars around the Sun. Enthusiastic about the project, Eddington immediately began studying astrophotography, learning how to capture solar eclipses. He familiarized himself with photography fundamentals, camera operation, preparing glass negative plates, exposure timing, and image development.

The next total solar eclipse was scheduled for June 8, 1918, and would be visible in its entirety from Washington, D.C. However, due to the ongoing war, Eddington was unable to travel. Thus, Campbell, still committed to the project, was the only one able to attempt photographing the eclipse.

Although Campbell managed to capture some images in Washington, they were somewhat blurry due to recurring cloud cover, similar to his experience in Kyiv. Nevertheless, he believed the images were sufficient to analyze Einstein’s theory.

The Third Attempt and Campbell’s Announcement

Campbell spent an entire year analyzing the few eclipse images with his colleagues.

By late 1918, the war had ended, and Campbell announced that he would reveal his findings in 1919. Meanwhile, Eddington identified another upcoming total eclipse on May 29, 1919, which would be visible off the western coast of Africa, and planned to capture it.

The Fourth Attempt and Eddington’s Announcement

Eddington traveled to the African coast and took numerous photographs of the eclipse. In July 1919, as Campbell prepared to present his findings at the Royal Astronomical Society in London, Eddington sent a telegram stating that his results might contradict Campbell’s and that he needed two more months to complete his analysis.

In November 1919, Eddington held a session at the Royal Astronomical Society, revealing his photographic evidence supporting Einstein’s hypothesis that light bends due to gravity. He presented historical photographs showing multiple stars behind the Sun that appeared visible due to the bending of their light around the solar disk.

The Photographic Revolution in Astronomy

Eddington’s findings ignited a surge of interest in astrophotography across Europe, the United States, Australia, and Canada. Astrophysicists eagerly awaited the next total eclipse in September 1922, visible off the western coast of Australia, to further examine Einstein’s hypothesis.

Many astronomers began learning astrophotography, making it an essential tool in celestial observations. Numerous observatories worldwide incorporated astrophotography as a fundamental skill, even requiring it for employment applications.

Determined to re-examine Einstein’s hypothesis, Campbell redesigned his astrophotographic telescope, developing an advanced camera known as the "Einstein Camera."

This camera measured 13 meters in length, with a glass negative plate measuring approximately 35 cm by 50 cm, offering unprecedented image resolution—far superior to Eddington’s 15 cm by 20 cm plates.

After capturing images of the eclipse in Australia, Campbell meticulously analyzed them with fellow physicists and astronomers. Their calculations confirmed that Einstein’s hypothesis was correct. Instead of announcing his findings to the media or the Royal Astronomical Society, Campbell first sent a personal telegram to Einstein stating: "Your hypothesis and theory are correct, and Eddington was right."

Photography as the Ultimate Proof

Without photography, it would have been impossible to empirically prove a theory of this magnitude—one that overturned 200 years of established physical and astronomical laws. Despite thousands of pages of mathematical equations and calculations by Einstein and other physicists, photography provided the final, irrefutable proof of the General Theory of Relativity and its cosmic implications.

 

By Mohammad Hannon / originaly written in Arabic and published in Arabic newspapers.

Palestinian-Jordanian Photographer

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Ben Harman was appointed Senior Curator of Photography at the National Galleries of Scotland in 2024. In this illustrated talk, he will share his thoughts on the current status of photography in Scotland with reference to its history and the background to recent developments, current practices and trends. He will also look forward to the challenges and exciting future ambitions of curating Scotland’s photography collection.

Past, Present, Future: Curating Scotland’s Photography Collection
Tuesday 11 February, 12.45-1.30pm.
National Galleries of Scotland, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL and online
Free, but registration required: register here for the: live event or streamed live

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In passing: R Derek Wood (1933-2024)

BPH has just been made aware of the passing of R Derek Wood. He was an important researcher in to the early history of photography and microscopy, in addition to his day job in medical imaging and research. He maintained an important website that housed his photography papers and writings published from c.1970-2008. 

Wood's career was in research on electron microscopy in bio-medical research laboratories in London and he published extensively in this area. Away from work he undertook important and meticulous research into the early history of photography mainly over the period from 1820s to 1860s. His subjects ranged from Niépce, Daguerre, Beard and Talbot, legal disputes, Herschel, J B Reade, daguerreotypy, and others. This was all undertaken at a time when there was little similar research taking place, and when digitisation and online resources were decades away, necessitating long visits to local archives, the Public Record Office, learned societies, and the British Museum reading room. His publications date from 1970 although he had an interest prior to this. His papers remain a valuable source of information. 

Wood was a member of the Royal Photographic Society for a time from 1966 and its Historical Group which was founded in 1972, leaving in 1972. He published a paper with Mrs E D Shorland on 'The Daguerreotype Portrait of Dorothy Draper' in The Photographic Journal, December 1970. His research appeared in a variety publications including Annals of Science, History of Photography, History Today and British Journal of Photography

He was member of the European Society for the History of Photography from its inception in 1977 and was editor/compiler of the ESHPh’s bibliography Photohistorica 1993/94 and he published in PhotoResearcher. He presented a paper 'Fourteenth March 1839, Herschel's Key to Photography, the Way the Moment is Preserved for the Future' at the ESHP's 30th anniversary congress, Vienna, in 2007. 

He was married to Alison. 

Rupert Derek Wood
Born: Romney Marsh, 1933- died: Bromley, Kent, 2024)

See archived website with papers at https://web.archive.org/web/20180314160924/http://www.midley.co.uk/

A long list of photography and medical papers can be seen at https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UAIzhg4AAAAJ&hl=en

Details of his website archive can be seen here: https://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/midley-history-of-early

Thanks for European Society for the History of Photography for advising of R Derek Wood's death. 

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Professor Steve Edwards has been appointed Manton Professor of British Art. Beginning in April, he will serve as the inaugural Director of The Courtauld’s new Manton Centre for British Art, the new home for The Courtauld’s research and teaching on British art. Edwards is currently Professor of the History and Theory of Photography at Birkbeck, and before that had been at the Open University. 

Named after British art collectors and philanthropists Sir Edwin Manton and Florence, Lady Manton, The Manton Centre for British Art will serve as an intellectual hub for art historians, curators, artists, and students nationally and internationally, providing a platform for sharing world-leading research and teaching the next generation of British art specialists. It will be located initially at The Courtauld’s current campus at Vernon Square and will later be housed in purpose-designed premises at Somerset House.

The Manton Centre was established by the Corutauld in 2024 with a $12 million donation. The Centre, named after British art collectors and philanthropists, Sir Edwin Manton and Florence, Lady Manton, will help secure The Courtauld’s ambition of becoming a world leader in the field of British art, and marks the continued commitment of the Manton family to arts education. The Manton Centre for British Art will serve as an intellectual hub for art historians, curators, critics, artists and students nationally and internationally, providing a platform for sharing world-leading research and for teaching the next generation of British art specialists.

Located initially at The Courtauld’s current campus at Vernon Square, King's Cross, the Manton Centre will later be housed in the purpose-designed premises at Somerset House, providing the physical and intellectual home for The Courtauld’s research and teaching on British art. The Courtauld’s specialists in British art will become members of the Centre and help shape its activities and development. The Centre will operate as the base for students taking modules in British art as part of their MA degree and also provide a home for The Courtauld’s PhD students researching British art.

The Centre will present an ambitious and dynamic programme of events including:

  • An annual lecture in memory of Sir Edwin and Lady Manton
  • An annual international conference devoted to a major topic in the field
  • Regular workshops devoted to specific areas of British art
  • An annual programme of seminars and lectures enabling scholars, curators, critics and artists to share their thinking and research
  • An annual ‘scholar in residence’ programme, designed to host a leading figure in the field of British art.

The Manton Centre for British Art will also pursue collaborations with other scholarly and artistic institutions both in the UK and around the world. In pursing these collaborations and partnerships, the Centre will engage with all areas and periods of British art, and with a wide range of partners and interlocutors.

See: https://courtauld.ac.uk/news-blogs/2025/executive-dean-and-deputy-director-and-manton-professor-for-british-art-announcement/ and https://courtauld.ac.uk/news-blogs/2024/the-manton-centre-for-british-art-announcement/

https://www.bbk.ac.uk/our-staff/#overview

Edwards' Birkbeck biography notes:  Steve grew up on a council estate and he was a manual worker before going to art school with the intention of becoming a great artist, instead he found politics and theory. He studied the MA in Social History of Art at the University of Leeds with John Tagg and Griselda Pollock, receiving a Distinction, and then did PhD research at Portsmouth Polytechnic and the University of Leeds with Adrian Rifkin (and for a short while with the late Robbie Grey). Between 1991 and 1997 he was Head of Historical & Theoretical Studies in Photography at the University of Derby. In 1997 he was a visiting scholar at the Victoria & Albert Museum; the same year he moved to the Open University, where he contributed teaching material on nineteenth- and twentieth-century art to a variety of courses and edited three Open University textbooks. In 2006 he was a Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan. Steve was made Professor at the OU in 2013 and, between 2012 and 2016, he was the Head of the Department of Art History. He joined the Department of Art History at Birkbeck in 2016 as Professor of History & Theory of Photography.
Administrative responsibilities: Research Director and REF lead; Co-Director History and Theory of Photography Research Centre
Visiting postsVisiting Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 01-2016 to 03-2006; Visiting Professor, Université Bordeaux-Montagne, 10-2018 to 12-2018
Professional activitiesSenior Teaching Fellow HEA; Editorial Board: Oxford Art Journal; Editorial Collective Historical Materialism Book Series (Brill/Haymarket); Co-convenor Research Seminar Series 'Marxism in Culture', Institute of Advanced Studies, Senate House
Professional membership: Senior Teaching Fellow HEA; AHRC Peer Review College
He has published extensively on photography and is currently working on the book looking at the early business of photography. 

Image: © Michael Pritchard. Steve Edwards delivering a paper at A New Power symposium, Bodleian Libraries in March 2023. 

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The National Stereoscopic Association is pleased to announce its sixth annual "Sessions on the History of Stereoscopic Photography" at the 51st annual 3D-Con held at the Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul on 7 August, 2025. Presentations are welcome on any art historical, visual studies, humanities or social science scholarship in stereography from its inception to contemporary stereo-media. We project stereoscopically on the 3D-Con's big screen, and our growing community of international scholars represent diverse research from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century.

Please fill out the contact information form on the web page below. Then upload on a separate file your abstract of 600 words maximum, followed by a biography of no more than 300 words, and up to five images (optional).

National Stereoscopic Association’s 51st Annual 3D-Con
cfp: Sessions on the History of Stereoscopic Photography VI
Thursday, 7 August 7, 2025
cfpdeadline: 21 May, 2025
https://3d-con.com/history.php (Press the tab for “Sessions on the History of Stereoscopic Photography.”)
Notification of acceptance by 6 June, 2025

Image: John Heywood, 1864

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13423385093?profile=RESIZE_400xA monograph on the photographer W J A Grant has just been published. Grant is best known for his photography with the expeditions of Benjamin Leigh-Smith, Sir Henry Gore-Booth and the Dutch national exploration vessel 'William Barents'. His first Arctic voyage took place in 1876. Grant was elected to membership of the Photographic society of London in 1863 and he exhibited in Society exhibitions from 1869. He was also a member/subscriber of the Amateur Photographic Association. 

W J A Grant (1851-1935). Arctic Photographer
Arthur G Credland
Illustrated, A4, 47-pages, privately published, 2025
Details of availability and price from the author: e: bracer@bracer.karoo.co.uk

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The annual Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards celebrate excellence in photography and moving image publishing. They recognise individuals who have made an outstanding or original contribution to the literature, art or practice of photography or the moving image. Two winning titles are selected: one in the field of photography and one in the field of the moving image. 

  • Submissions are welcome from publishers, authors, collectives and individuals self-publishing their work
  • Books must be published between 1 January and 31 December 2024
  • Books must be published, distributed or available to buy (including online) in the UK

Winners receive a £5000 prize. Winning, short and longlisted books are featured in public displays and may be included in special events. There is no entry fee, and the submission process is easy and quick

Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards 2025 – Final Call For Entries
The deadline for entry of the submission form and digital files is 11.59pm on Friday 31 January 2025
Further details, terms and conditions, and the entry form for the 2025 Awards can be found here:
https://kraszna-krausz.org.uk/book-awards/

 

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13421879475?profile=RESIZE_400xThe Scottish Society for the History of Photography has just published the latest number of Studies in Photography (Winter 2024). As ever it includes range of articles from across photography's history up to the present day, alongside reviews and interviews. Photographers featured include Calum Colvin, Ian Phillips McLaren, Nan Goldin, Alexander Hamilton and Mike Weaver. There are interviews with with Rebecca Hicks of Purdey Hicks Gallery and Frank Mckenzie from the Jospeh McKenzie Archive. Reviews include the V&A's Fragile Beauty and Zelda Cheatle presents her curator's choice. 

Studies in Photography
The Scottish Society for the History of Photography
126 pages
ISSN 1462-0510
Details here: https://studiesinphotography.com/

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In passing: Mike Weaver (1937–2024)

13420530690?profile=RESIZE_400xBPH has just become aware of the passing of Mike Weaver on 24 June 2024. For many he will be remembered as the co-editor with his partner Anne Hammond between 1991 and 2000 of History of Photography. From 1978 to 1983, he worked as chairman of the Photography Advisory Group of the Arts Council of Great Britain, and was a photographer in his own right, although he would claim otherwise.

Amongst other titles, he authored The Photographic Art: Pictorial Traditions in Britain and America (London: Herbert Press, 1986) and The Art of Photography 1839-1989 (Yale, 1989), and edited British Photography in The Nineteenth Century: The Fine Art Tradition (CUP, 1989). His published works stretched from Talbot, Cameron and Coburn, to Strand and Mapplethorpe.

I was fortunate to hear several of his conference lectures. They were always interesting and often provocative, offering a distinctive perspective and reading the work of historical photographers. As Geoff Batchen notes: 'Mike Weaver was always a powerful presence in any gathering devoted to the study of photography: learned, single-minded and articulate (and sometimes also irascible) and determined to bring the focus back to pictures and their artistic capacities, where he thought it belonged.'

An obituary by Geoffrey Batchen was published on History of Photography website on 10 December 2024: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03087298.2024.2417527?src=exp-la

Anne Hammond writes about Mike's own photography in 'Mike Weaver. The Eye of the Photo Critic' in Studies in Photography (Scottish Society for the History of Photography, Winter 2024, 122-123) 

A Polaroid portrait of Mike Weaver by Mark Haworth-Booth is in the NPG collection. See: https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp152263/mike-weaver

Image: © Mark Haworth-Booth. Mike Weaver, colour Polaroid print, 1978-1983. NPG Collection, London, given by Mark Haworth-Booth, 2005. NPG x199233. Reproduced with the photographer's permission. 

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13420486254?profile=RESIZE_180x180You will lead a large multidisciplinary customer facing department. At IWM Visual Resources deliver a museum-wide service for multimedia digitisation of our collections for access and preservation, as well as marketing photography and video for on brand events and marketing. These outputs form key aspects of the IWM’s: public, commercial, collections access, collections preservation, and learning programmes.

You will inform the strategic development of this service, maintenance of the Collections Digital and Digital Futures Strategies and delivery of its access and preservation digital outputs. You will be skilled in commissioning specialist advice from internationally recognised experts on digital access and preservation, your team and liaison with senior management to recommend and deliver strategic programmes of work (running over several years) from concept to completion.

The post holder is responsible for all elements of management of this team including staff, equipment and systems.

Note that members of the Creative team are located at IWM London, and the Digitisation team at IWM Duxford; you will be expected to travel in this role. This post will be based at Duxford.

Head of Visual Resources
IWM, based at Duxford
Closes 10 February 2025
Details here

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How did color get into photography? The exhibition True Colors - Color in Photography from 1849 to 1955 answers this question with outstanding works from the ALBERTINA Museum's photo collection. The desire for color in photography has dominated the world of photography from the very beginning. True Colors traces the development of color photography, from the first experimental techniques in the 19th century to generally applicable analog color photography.

Even in the early days of photography, daguerreotypes and salt paper prints were colored by hand to create colorful images. Monochrome pigment papers, which enjoyed great popularity until the 1890s, also contributed to the broad chromatic diversity of 19th century photographs.

The first successful color process, which was reserved for an exclusive circle, was introduced in 1891. The brilliant images in the so-called interference color process are based on the physical principle of standing waves, which also allows us to see colored reflections in soap bubbles. The unique pieces from the ALBERTINA Museum’s Collection represent a unique focal point.

The autochrome process, which was introduced in 1907, brought about a major change in image culture. It was also practicable for amateurs and helped its inventors, the Lumière brothers, to achieve great commercial success. However, it was mainly used as a glass slide for projection. At the same time, around 1900, fine art printing processes were developed that used color pigments to produce multicolored image solutions. They fulfilled the artistic aspirations of the Pictorialists and were commonplace in large photo studios until the 1930s. For a long time, the challenge was to obtain colored prints on paper. This was also achieved at the beginning of the 20th century with the use of various three-color processes, which were assembled in several steps.

Kodak finally achieved the breakthrough to easy-to-use and therefore mass-market color photography in 1936 with the first 35mm color slide films. These products revolutionized the use of colour photography in the following decades, which form the conclusion of this ALBERTINA Museum exhibition.

True Colors provides an insight into the rich holdings of the ALBERTINA Museum's photography collection, the historical part of which is based on the collection of the Höhere Graphische Bundes- Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt (GLV). The exhibition demonstrates the great public interest, the constant development and the various fields of application of historical photography in color. True Colors also explores the impact of popular color processes on the visual culture of the early 20th century.

Curatos: Dr. Anna Hanreich & Dr. Astrid Mahler

True Colors. Color in Photography from 1849 to 1955
24 January-21 April 2025
Vienna, Albertina Modern
See: https://www.albertina.at/en/albertina-modern/exhibitions/true-colors/

 Image: Anonymous | Laboratory still life, around 1906 | The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna – Permanent Loan by Höhere Graphische Bundes-Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt © Photo: The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna


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In passing: Barry Taylor (1938-2025)

13415469473?profile=RESIZE_400xBarry Taylor, who was managing director of Olympus Optical Co (UK) from 1977 until 1999, has died aged 87 years. During his career at Olympus Barry was behind a series of memorable advertising campaigns, the establishment of Olympus’s London photography galleries, and through Olympus supported photography more widely across Britain.  

In 1975 Japan’s Olympus Optical Company took over an existing distributor – David Williams (Cine Equipment) Ltd and from 1 July 1975 it became the first Japanese manufacturer to distribute its own range in the United Kingdom. Headhunted form Polaroid, Barry became interim managing director and was the first managing director of Olympus Optical Co (UK) Ltd – later Olympus Cameras – when it became the first wholly owned subsidiary of a Japanese parent company in 1977. The firm moved from Glasshouse Yard to the familiar Honduras Street address. For the next twenty-two years Olympus, under Taylor, put itself in the public consciousness through a series of popular television and press campaigns, and partnerships including the London Marathon in 1993 and JPS Lotus.

13415469490?profile=RESIZE_400xTaylor and Ian Dickens, his marketing director, established Olympus as the leading photographic brand in the UK. Part of this was down to a series of memorable TV campaigns from 1977-1991, the most famous being for the Olympus Trip camera and featuring David Bailey and a range of celebrities including Michael Elphick, Eric Idle and James Hunt. Bailey appeared in over ten television commercials, and the phrase “David Bailey? Who’s he?” still resonates amongst a certain generation.

In addition to Bailey, Olympus forged relationships with many of the leading photographers and photojournalists of the 1970s and 1980s. They included Terence Donovan, Terry Fincher, Duffy, Patrick Lichfield, Lord Snowdon, Lord Lichfield, Barry Lategan, John Swannell, Don McCullin, Jane Bown, Mirella Ricciardi, Eric Hosking, Don Morley, and Bob Carlos-Clarke. Celebrities such as Peter Sellers were also brought to promote the Olympus OM camera range.

13415469290?profile=RESIZE_400xIn many ways Olympus was ahead of its time when it established a photographic gallery, under the direction of Geoff Ash, in the colonnade next to London’s Ritz Hotel in 1979. The RPS’s Photographic Journal noted it brought a welcome addition to London’s limited gallery scene. It proved so popular that a larger gallery space in Princes Street, off Regent Street, London, under curator Martin Harrison, was opened in 1983 with the two spaces running concurrently for a period. Exhibitions had a five-year waiting list and featured the likes of Elliot Erwitt, Helmut Newton, Bruce Weber and Jacque Henri Lartigue. Today such brand-building spaces are more common.

Another project that Barry supported was the Olympus/Royal Photographic Society commemorative blue plaque scheme for photographers which was announced in 1995. Dickens notes: ‘Bailey had pushed English Heritage to put one of their plaques on the London house once owned by Roger Fenton and it eventually happened - the first for a photographer. We all agreed there should be many more, but the application process was very slow. As such, we came up with our own scheme in conjunction with the RPS. The plaques were blue and hexagonal in shape and we commissioned ten, each of which were unveiled by notable folk.

13415470289?profile=RESIZE_180x180The ten Olympus plaques commemorated: Julia Margaret Cameron, Henry Peach Robinson, Eadweard Muybridge, Samuel Bourne, James Craig Annan, Anna Atkins, Angus McBean, Lee Miller, Edward Chambré Hardman, and Alvin Langdon Coburn. Olympus, with Westminster City Council, supported a plaque for Terence Donovan in 1999. 

Olympus was also instrumental in saving Dimbola by purchasing the house when it looked like it would be demolished, and it remained committed to the project for many years. The house opened to the public in 1994. Olympus also supported various other causes including The Photographers’ Gallery appeal and the RPS’s National Centre of Photography appeal.

Barry was awarded a Royal Photographic Society Fenton medal and honorary membership in 1993 for his distinguished commitment to photography and the photographic industry. At the time of his award the British Journal of Photography’s (28 October 1993) Hector Crome commented ‘Olympus is fortunate indeed to posses such a charming, urbane and gracious gentleman to front its UK operations’

Dickens noted ‘working closely with Barry was a real privilege as the medium of photography was our focus’ and on the occasion of the Ritz gallery opening the RPS’s Journal noted that Olympus had ‘an almost unequalled record when it comes to supporting good photography’. Much of the credit for this belonged to Barry who recognised the wider value of supporting photography, building a brand and raising public awareness to grow sales.

He leaves a wife, Wendy, and three children to whom BPH sends its condolences.

Dr Michael Pritchard

POSTSCRIPT: Dr Brian Hinton MBE, Executive Chair, Julia Margaret Cameron Trust writes...

"I think it is only right to say that without Barry's support both personally and at Olympus the very existence of Dimbola as a flourishing museum and arts centre, with photography at its heart would not have been made certain. Barry was a wam and approachable man, while no one was in any doubt about his business acumen and drive. I could see the obvious affection and respect from the likes of Bailey, Lichfield, Lategan et al   He reassured a very shy Mary McCartney at Dimbola when we showed her Sadlers Wells project, and she blossomed in his presence.

We miss him dearly, both as a benefactor and a friend, and want to mark his life in some way in house, in a permanent way. 

The photographic world will not see his like again."

--------------------------

With thanks to Ian Dickens, former Olympus Cameras marketing director 1979-2000.
See nine of Olympus’s Bailey television advertisements here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnU91RWv8hkIm
Images: 
(Top:)  Barry Taylor, at the 1985 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Olympus was the co-sponsor of the JPS Lotus team; (middle:) two examples of Olympus celebrity advertising from 1976 with Peter Sellers and Patrick, Lord Lichfield; (Lower:) Blue plaque CC Simon Harriyott.

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13410315082?profile=RESIZE_400xThe landmark British photo-magazine, Picture Post (1938-57), was launched in the era of the Spanish Civil War and the Popular Front. Conceived for Hulton Press by Stefan Lorant (a Hungarian editor exiled from Nazi Germany), Picture Post had a transnational staff and a global outlook. It was the leading British example of an international phenomenon – the birth of photojournalism and the photo-essay. The equivalent of Life in the US and Paris-Match in France, the magazine achieved circulation figures of 1.7 million.

Before the establishment of large television audiences, the photographs published in this general readership magazine offered audiences a shared perspective on the UK and its place in the world. Picture Post reported extensively on the Second World War as it unfolded across the globe, as well as documenting both the Cold War and the wars of decolonization after 1945. It helped popularise a progressive attitude to society and politics, shaping the debate about postwar reconstruction and the establishment of the welfare state. Yet, its coverage also reflected sexist and racist ideas of the era, as well as patronizing or critical perspectives on disadvantaged communities and young adults.

To mark the opening of a major exhibition about Picture Post at Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales, we will be hosting a one-day public workshop that aims to bring together an international cohort of researchers, curators, archivists and librarians to discuss the development and impact of Picture Post.

We invite proposals for 15-minute papers or panels of 3 to 4 contributors. Please send a title, abstract (250 words) and short biography (150 words) to Tom Allbeson e: allbesont@cardiff.ac.uk.

We encourage contributors to engage with the multifaceted histories relating to the genesis, development and legacy of Picture Post. We are interested in a broad range of methodological approaches to the emergence of photojournalism and the photo-essay format pioneered by mid-century, general readership photo-magazines.

Picture Post (1938-57): Genesis, History & Legacy of a Photo-Magazine
One-day workshop, Cardiff, Friday, 13 June 2025

Deadline for CFP: Friday 14 March 2025
Programme announced: Friday 14 April 2025

Read the full call here (CFP - Picture Post Workshop, June 2025.pdf)

Organisers:
Dr Tom Allbeson, Reader in Media & Photographic History, Cardiff University, allbesont@cardiff.ac.uk
Dr Bronwen Colquhoun, Senior Curator of Photography, Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales, bronwen.colquhoun@museumwales.ac.uk 
The event is co-hosted by the Tom Hopkinson Centre for Media History (School of Journalism, Media & Culture, Cardiff University) and Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales. 

 

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Research: Toxicity in stereocard mounts

13407478654?profile=RESIZE_400xA paper just published in Studies in Conservation by Kim Bell and Robin Canham of Queen's University Library, Canada, has analysed the card mounts of stereocards, based on a limited sample of North American cards recently donated to the library. Their analysis by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy has indicated the significant presence of different heavy metals in the mounts, reflecting the chemistry used to colour them. This should not be a particular surprise as Victorian wallpapers, book cloths, papers and textiles have long been recognised as problematic. Bell and Canham's research is the first time XRF has been applied to stereograph card mounts. 

It is worth quoting part of their conclusion: While this is an initial study, this research identified the significant presence of potentially harmful heavy metals, specifically arsenic-, lead-, and chromium- based pigments on nineteenth century stereograph cards and highlights the pervasive use of toxic substances in Victorian-era consumer goods. These findings extend our understanding of the historical usage of toxic pigments beyond popular previously recognized mediums such as wallpapers, textiles, and books, and demonstrates the prevalence of health hazards in historical collections. and, they add, it is imperative that GLAM [galleries, libraries, archives, and museums] workers know the inherent risks present in their collection materials to protect themselves and their communities.

Although Bell and Canham do not make any assessment of the direct risk to individuals handling cards, by being in proximity with stereograph card mounts, or the risk through inhalation or ingestion, this new knowledge should act as a prompt for collections to update their risk registers, and ensure that staff and visitors are properly attired, made aware of the risk with handling or storage, and that any risk is mitigated.

Toxicity in 3D: XRF Analysis for the Presence of Heavy Metals in a Historical Stereograph Collection at Queen’s University Library, Canada
Kim Bell and robin Canham
Studies in Conservation, published 14 January 2025, online, open access
Taylor and Francis
See: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00393630.2025.2450976

Image:  The desktop setup of the Bruker III-SD pXRF with sample stage accessory on top. The stereograph card was placed on top of the sample stage with the edge of the card just covering the examination window. A sheet of Mylar® polyester film was placed on top of the stereograph to prevent abrasion. The accessory shield was placed on top of the film. Photo credit: Robin Canham.

With thanks to Rebecca Sharpe for drawing attention to the paper. 

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Photo Oxford has announced a series of alternative process workshops during March and April to explore the art of cyanotypes, anthotypes, phytograms, botanicograms, chemigrams, caffenol film development, pinhole cameras, photography as performance, and psychogeography. They include: 

  • Caffenol film processing with Melanie King
  • Photography, Drawing & the Magic Lantern with Alexander Mourant
  • Anthoptype with Nettie Edwards 
  • Exploring Air - Bodies in Space with Diego Ferrari
  • Phytography workshop with Dr Karel Doing
  • Botanicogram workshop with Megan Ringrose
  • Chemigram workshop with Sayako Sugawara
  • Psychogeography workshop with Sean Wyatt
  • Pinhole camera workshop with Ky Lewis
  • Cyanotype workshop with Lucy Kane

Full details of timings and costs are on the festival website: https://www.photooxford.org/workshops

Image: Ky Lewis

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A series of monthly blogs posts highlighting the rare photography material held in Leicester's De Montfort University's Special Collection has just started. DMU's Special Collections houses rare photography periodicals from Kodak Ltd's research library, the Robert F White collection of printed materials mainly relating to cameras and photographci technology, the Photographers' Gallery library, publications, books and auction catalogues from the Wilson Collection, and periodicals from Thomas Ganz, amongst many other items. All are accessible by appointment. 

The first blog by Professor Kelley Wilder (pictured above) showcases and discusses two photographically-illustrated books by Jessie and Charles Piazzi Smyth published in 1858, Teneriffe, An Astronomer's Experiment: or, Specialities of a Residence Above the Clouds London: Lovell Reeve 1858, and  Report on the Teneriffe Astronomical Experiement of 1856, London: Taylor and Francis, 1858. 

Read the blog here: https://library.dmu.ac.uk/archivesblog/home/PHRC-Takeover-1-Teneriffe-an-Astronomers-Experiment-by-Piazzi-Smyth-1858

Find out more about Special Collections access and holdings here: https://library.dmu.ac.uk/specialcollections

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In passing: John Blakemore (1936-2025)

13411606866?profile=RESIZE_710xJust received the sad news that my old friend and teaching colleague, the legendary John Blakemore died last night after a short illness. He had been taken into hospital in Derby over Christmas.

Born in Coventry in 1936, he was probably best known for his landscape work, but he had worked in many areas of the medium and was an inspirational teacher, mostly at Derby University. His work has been exhibited all over the world and he has had several acclaimed books published. He has been the recipient of Arts Council awards, a British Council Travelling Exhibition and in 1992 won the Fox Talbot Award for Photography. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in 1998.

There is so so much more I could say about JB, but that will come later. For now, our thoughts are with Rosalind, his stalwart partner, and his extended family and close friends.

Image: © Paul Hill / This is John leading one of our workshops at The Photographers Place in Derbyshire around 1980.
 
 
BPH adds: read more about John here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Blakemore John's archive is at the Library of Birmingham. see: https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50140/photography/1415/john_blakemore/3
A fuller obituary will follow.
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13406396700?profile=RESIZE_400xA behind the scenes look at the creation of the Lee Miller Archives which today houses more than 60,000 negatives of Lee Miller’s work, 20,000 vintage prints, many manuscripts and ephemera.

Ami Bouhassane (Co-Director of the Lee Miller Archives and grand-daughter of Lee Miller and Roland Penrose) presents the story of how Lee Miller’s family came to conserve and disseminate her work, that of Roland Penrose and their home Farleys, which has become an artists house that is open to the public. To self fund the archive produces a constant stream of books, films, exhibitions and works with Farleys to open the house. In 1977, when Lee Miller died her photography work had been mostly forgotten, this presentation tracks the history of the archives, its knock backs and some of the major exhibitions created that brought Lee Miller's work back into the public eye, whilst at the same time enabling the conservation, administration and financing of the archive which is privately run and supports itself though revenue received from its activities.

This story is an attestation to the 47 years of hard work and determination to preserve and continue the legacy of Lee Miller, Roland Penrose and their home at Farleys.

The 45 minute zoom presentation will be followed by a Q&A with Ami.

Attic to Archives - the story of the Lee Miller Archives
29 January 2025 at 1830 (UTC)
Free, or  with a £10 donation

Details and booking here

Image: boxes of Lee Miller's work in the attic, Farleys House, Muddles Green by Antony Penrose.
© Lee Miller Archives, England 2020. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

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