Here is Paul Hill's article in Amateur Photographer about my Romney Marsh photographs exhibited in 2025 at Rye Art Gallery.
My film "Notes from a Landscape" which accompanied the exhibition can now be viewed on You Tube https://youtu.be/QVhZP05ByHc?si=dZFqmjY9rA4pvJxg
It is said that the first casualty of war is truth. But in the arena of war photography, the truth is never simple. Drawing on an incredible range of imagery from the Imperial War Museum's vast collection and other major archives around the globe, expert curator Hilary Roberts presents a new perspective on the role of image manipulation in this field over the past 170 years,exploring the consequences for our understanding of historic and contemporary conflicts.
From the staged scenes and hand-coloured Daguerreotypes of the Crimean War at the very beginning of conflict photography to the AI-generated protest and propaganda imagery of today, Roberts explores the myriad ways in which layers of meaning can be added, erased or changed completely. As The Camera at War so powerfully reveals, sometimes this has been done in order to present a closer approximation of the truth, and sometimes for the causes of national morale, subterfuge and control of the winning narrative. Witht he current wars in Gaza and Ukraine, conflict is on the public's mind nowmore than ever.
Hilary Roberts is an independent curator of photography. She joined the Imperial War Museum's (IWM) Photograph Archive as a junior curator in 1980. As the Archive's Head Curator (1996-2013), she oversaw the development of IWM's photographic collections and the Archive's transition to digital photography, before moving to a research role. A specialist in the history and practice of conflict photography, Hilary has numerous broadcasts, publications and exhibitions to her name, including IWM's highly praised trilogy of exhibitions Don McCullin: Shaped by War (2010-2012), Cecil Beaton: Theatre of War (2012) and Lee Miller: A Woman's War (2015-2016). Hilary was awarded the Royal Photographic Society's Award for Curatorship in 2017.
The Camera at War. 170 years of weaponizing photography
Hilary Roberts
Ilex Press, with IWM
£40, 256 pages, hardcovers.
The Royal Photographic Society's Historical Group and the Wolverhampton School of Art invite proposals for papers for the 2026 Research Symposium. This year’s event continues our commitment to exploring photography’s rich and multifaceted history, while placing it in dialogue with contemporary issues and technological transformations. We welcome contributions that examine photography’s historical trajectories alongside its evolving role in today’s cultural, scientific, and technological landscapes. The symposium aims to foster critical conversations that connect past practices with present innovations, whether through archival research, artistic experimentation, or interdisciplinary inquiry.
Suggested Themes:
We welcome proposals from both established and emerging researchers. As in previous years, we aim to reserve a part of the programme for first-time presenters. Presentations may be 10 or 20 minutes in length and delivered in person or online. Speakers will be invited to submit their papers for consideration in the RPS journal, The PhotoHistorian.
Submission:
Please send your proposal (title, abstract of up to 250 words, and preferred presentation length) to Janine Freeston at historicalresearch@rps.org and Dr Euripides Altintzoglou at E.Altintzoglou@wlv.ac.uk by 12 January 2026.
We look forward to receiving your proposals and to another inspiring day of photographic research and exchange.
In this new 'Record Revealed' post from The National Archives, I highlight this photograph of the Fisk Jubilee Singers registered for copyright protection with the Stationers' Company in 1874. This photograph is a portrait of the 11 members of the Jubilee Singers, an African American a cappella group from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. The choir members were students at the university and all but two of them were formerly enslaved. At the time the photograph was taken, in Spring 1874, the Jubilee Singers were visiting Britain as part of a European tour to raise funds for the university.
This photograph was engraved and published in other source inluding the Illustrated London News, but the copyright record provides a bit more detail about the people involved in its creation. The post also highlights connections between the singers and philanthropic organisations and people in Britain, including an interesting link with Hackney Juvenile Mission.
Read more here: Photograph of the Jubilee Singers - The National Archives
Image: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): COPY 1/25/182
From the start of the 2025/26 academic year, Professor Gil Pasternak (left) has taken on the role of Director of the Photographic History Research Centre at De Montfort University. Pasternak is Professor of Photographic Cultures and Heritage and serves as the EU and UK Editor for the peer-reviewed journal Photography & Culture. Under his leadership, the Centre is set to continue its tradition of academic excellence while also introducing new public engagement initiatives and interdisciplinary collaborations.
The PHRC remains committed to showcasing cutting-edge research in the field and to increasing opportunities for public learning, participation, and dialogue - it is Pasternak’s intention to expand the Centre's activities further. The PHRC is also in the process of appointing an international PHRC Scientific Advisory Committee - to increase academic collaboration and broaden the inclusivity and reach of the Centre's events and activities.
Programmes
Among the PHRC's new initiatives in 2025/26 is a public-facing online seminar series titled Research Seminars in Photographic Cultures and Heritage. These free-to-attend sessions are delivered via Microsoft Teams and are open to all with prior registration. The programme of talks scheduled for the current season, alongside details and registration links are all available on the PHRC’s website.
The programme for Semester One 2025 includes three talks, all free to register and delivered online:
Some changes are underway that will impact prospective MA students in particular. The distance learning Photographic History MA programme - which is delivered by PHRC staff - has temporarily frozen recruitment while the teaching team revises module structures and assessment methods. Partly, the aim is to better support practitioners looking to develop their photographic practice in direct relation to the study of photographic history and theory. While the relaunch of the programme is pending successful revalidation, it is hoped that recruitment will reopen later in the current academic session, with new students commencing their studies in the 2026/27 academic year.
The PhD programme at PHRC remains unaffected, and the PHRC continues to serve as a vibrant hub for doctoral research in photographic history, broadly defined. Doctoral students at the Centre explore photography and photographs, alongside other materials and processes, both as means of historical documentation and as cultural artefacts, deepening knowledge and understands about the medium’s technological, social, cultural, and political entanglements in the past and the present alike.
Conference
The PHRC will host its annual international conference in 2026, continuing a tradition that began in 2013. The theme for the 2026 conference is Photography's Tacit Knowledge; among other related issues, it will explore the implicit, unspoken, and embodied ways of knowing within photographic practices and histories. The two-day hybrid event will take place on 15–16 June 2026, at De Montfort University in Leicester and online. The call for papers is scheduled to be published in mid-November 2025, with submissions of paper proposals due by January 2026.
This conference will explore how photography has shaped and recorded the urban architectural heritage of Scotland. By examining Scottish photography from the 1840s to the present day, architectural styles, photographic records, and the influence of new technologies, the conference will provide a comprehensive look at how cities and towns have been represented and perceived through the lens. Academics, students, architects, photographers, and cultural historians will gather to discuss how photography influences not only the perception of Scotland’s built environment but also the way our modern towns and cities are planned and designed.
SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES, a conference organised by Studies in Photography
5 November 2025
National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
For full programme and to book: https://studiesinphotography.com/blogs/news/shifting-perspectives-a-conference-organised-by-studies-in-photography
In a new blog post researchers Giorgia Tolfo and Katherine Howells reflect on their recent project focusing on the metadata in the National Archives's photographic copyright collections (COPY1). They look at the opportunities and challenges of collaborative digital experimentation.
As a result of this copyright registration system, in COPY 1 there are over 133,000 individual entry forms containing this valuable and fascinating information. Crucially, through the hard work of volunteers over several years, the entry forms for the registration of photographs have been fully transcribed into Discovery, making this rich metadata available to researchers.
Since this metadata has been made available on Discovery, researchers have been able to search the information using keywords. However, for a long time we have recognised that the research potential of this information goes much deeper than enabling simple keyword searching. Through the wide range of digital methods of data analysis available to us now, there could be many more opportunities to use this metadata to illuminate historical trends, surface new and little-known stories and much more. To invite new perspectives on how we could maximise the potential of this metadata, we have now released the full dataset on GitHub. Researchers can download it freely and experiment with it.
Read the full blog post here: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blogs/research-projects/developing-an-enhanced-dataset-for-the-history-of-photography/
Images: COPY1 records for P H Emerson's Gathering Water Lillies / The National Archives, Kew
A new episode of the A Photographic Life podcast has been posted every Wednesday since 13 June 2018. Its cuartor Grant Scott is inviting listeners and readers to a special day of all new photography related conversation, discussion and chat. It will be an opportunity to meet fellow photographic travellers, share opinions, ideas and make new friends. All the conversations will be recorded so if you are unable to attend no problem, you will be able to catch up on these at a later date wherever you get your podcasts.
The day will consist of:
10.00am – Open
10.15am – Introduction: Dr Grant Scott
10.30am – The Story: Alys Tomlinson talks with Dr Grant Scott
Alys Tomlinson is a photographic artist based in London. She works mostly in black and white analogue on a large format camera, exploring themes of faith, ritual and identity. Alys grew up in Brighton and studied English Literature and Communications at the University of Leeds. After graduating, she moved to New York for a year and was given her first commission for Time Out, before returning to London to study photography at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design. She later completed an MA in Anthropology of Travel, Tourism and Pilgrimage (Distinction) at SOAS, University of London, which tied in with her long-term, personal project about pilgrimage. Her book Ex-Voto was published by GOST Books in 2019, and Lost Summer was self-published in 2020. Alys recently finished work on a feature-length documentary film Mother Vera co-directed with Cécile Embleton. Her latest project Gli Isolani (The Islanders) was published by GOST Books in 2022. She combines commissioned work for editorial, design and advertising clients with personal work, which she publishes and exhibits. Alys’s work is collected privately and is in the following collections: National Portrait Gallery (London), The Rencontres d’Arles Collection, The Bodleian Library, and the Amber Side Collection. www.alystomlinson.co.uk
11.15am – Q and A
11.30am – Break
11.45am – The Archive: Dr Michael Pritchard
Dr Michael Pritchard joined Christie’s, the fine art auction house, as a photography specialist in 1986 and grew their auctions of cameras and photographic equipment, setting many world auction records. Also working as an auctioneer, Pritchard became Director and International Business Director for collectibles for the auction house. He joined the Royal Photographic Society in 2011 as Chief Executive, becoming Director of Programmes from 2018-2023. During his tenure he brought a renewed public profile for the RPS and oversaw an expansion in its public activities, growing its membership to the largest in its history. In 2024 he established his own photographic consultancy and continues to support the RPS. Pritchard continues to actively research the history of photography and regularly delivers conference papers and publishes across the field. He has taught the history of photography at De Montfort University and catalogued and organised the Kodak Historical Collection at the British Library. He edits the British Photographic History website and The PhotoHistorianmagazine. He gives regular talks and has broadcast on a wide range of photographic subjects. His book A History of Photography in 50 Cameras (Bloomsbury) was published by Bloomsbury. https://mpritchard.squarespace.com
12.30pm – Q and A
12.45pm – Lunch
2.00pm The Portrait: Chris Floyd talks with Dr Grant Scott:
Chris Floyd is a British photographer and filmmaker. His photographic work has appeared in some of the world’s most highly respected publications, including Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Harper’s Bazaar, GQ, Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine and Wallpaper* among others. In 2022 he published his first monograph dedicated to the broad sweep of his career Not Just Pictures a 320-page volume, including his portrait work and 60 pieces of text that tell the stories behind some of his favourite pictures. Chris has produced commercial work for Apple, Avis, Glenfiddich, Philips, Sony, The National Lottery, and Virgin Radio. As a director he has produced moving image work for BMW, Anthropologie, Nissan, Mr Porter, Sleaford Mods, The Smithsonian, Space NK, UBS, and Virgin Radio. https://www.chrisfloyd.com
2.45pm – Q and A
3.00pm – End
A Photographic Life ‘LIVE’ 2025
Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, NHBB Building on the Headington Campus
Sunday, 26 October 2025 in the . Admission is free but registration is required
To book: https://unitednationsofphotography.com/2025/09/28/live-a-photographic-life-live-2025/
We’re looking for a Research Fellow in African Film and Visual History to join the international team responsible for the new research project The Uganda Film Unit Archive: Digitisation, Research and Restitution, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The project is led by Darren Newbury, Professor of Photographic History, School of Humanities and Social Science, University of Brighton and Richard Vokes, Professor of Anthropology and International Development, School of Social Sciences, University of Western Australia; and involves collaboration with the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation.
You will be working closely with Professor Newbury and Professor Vokes playing an important role in the content mapping of the digitised Uganda Film Unit archive and related archival and historical research; supporting fieldwork, data collection and analysis relating to the responses to the archival footage among Ugandan publics and communities; and disseminating the project findings through conference presentation and publication.
To be successful in this role, you should have:
The appointment is for a fixed term (18.5 hours per week, 0.5 full time equivalent) with an ideal start date of 01/12/25 and an end date of 30/09/28.
Research Fellow in African Film and Visual History (0.5 full-time equivalent)
University of Brighton, School of Humanities and Social Science
Closes 28 October 2025
Details and apply here: https://jobs.brighton.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=HU3231-25-209
What does the photographic image share with synthetic dyes, fertilizer, and pharmaceuticals? Inspired by the city of Basel’s position as a global center of the chemical industry, this symposium investigates photography's chemical relations, tracing the networks shaped by material resources, industrial infrastructure, and scientific expertise, as well as the ecological legacies of photographic production. The symposium will conclude with an artist talk and workshop led by photographer and researcher Alice Cazenave (Goldsmiths, University of London), an advisor to the UK-based collective Sustainable Darkroom and current Ansel Adams Fellow at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona.
Chemical Histories of Photography
Symposium organized by NOMIS Fellow Katerina Korola
23-25 October 2025
Basel, University of Basel
Details: https://eikones.philhist.unibas.ch/en/news/events/event-details/chemical-histories-of-photography/
On the occassion of the Wolf Suschitzky Photography Prize 2025 we are delighted to present a special event celebrating two exciting new photography book publications about Austrian-British émigré photographers, Edith Tudor-Hart and Wolf Suschitzky. Both publications include many photographs which have been published for the first time.
In their respective talks, presenters Kurt Kaindl (Salzburg), Stefanie Pirker (London) and Julia Winckler (Brighton) offer insights into the photographers’ visual archives, largely now held at FOTOHOF>archiv in Salzburg, and from which these two new publications extensively draw upon. Contextual biographies of the two siblings will foreground the strength and ongoing relevance of their photographic legacies.
This event also coincides with several current exhibitions including the Wolf Suschitzky Retrospective Exile and Journeys, Monschau, Germany (until 21 December 2025), and Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon, Isokon Gallery, London, which runs until November 2025.
BOOK LAUNCH - Edith Tudor-Hart: A Steady Eye in Turbulent Times & Wolf Suschitzky: Exile and Journeys
15 October 2025 at 1900
Austrian Cultural Forum London
28 Rutland Gate
London SW7 1PQ
Book here: https://www.acflondon.org/events/book-launch-edith-tudor-hart-a-steady-eye-in-turbulent-times-wolf-suschitzky-exile-and-journeys/
For the first time, you can explore the full breadth of the AmberSide film, photography and paper archive in one place. The catalogue is text-based, allowing researchers, students and the public to navigate the Collection’s themes, projects and stories. While the collective cannot publish most images online due to copyright restrictions, the catalogue provides an unprecedented window into the scope and richness of Amber’s work.
This milestone has been made possible through support from the National Archives and the Pilgrim Trust’s Archives Revealed programme, and represents the result of a full year’s dedicated work. Special thanks to our Project Archivist Mark Cordell, AmberSide Trustee Liz Rees, and an incredible team of volunteers.
This is just the beginning: the catalogue will continue to grow and evolve as more materials are documented and made discoverable. It forms an invaluable tool for anyone interested in documentary film, photography, and the social history of the North East and beyond.
Various photographers later followed in the footsteps of Henry Van der Weyde to equip their studios to extend their opening hours or alleviate dull weather. One such person was London photographer James Arthur Langton (1856 – 1945), who later traded as A. J. Langton, or Arthur J. Langton.
He had several studios, however c.1890 the printing on the back of one of his carte de visite stated that “At the Edgware Road Studios Portraits are taken at NIGHT or in any Weather by His Patent “PHOTOLUX” Apparatus, results equal to the best Sunlight Portraits.”
I’d be interested to hear from anyone who can provide me with information about this patent electric lighting system, was it really "His"? Thank you.
