“La Maison démolie”
Photographs of Egypt by Maxime Du Camp 1849-1850
The enigmatic figure photographed among the ruins flickers throughout the texts, like a protagonist in a film, somehow connected to the plot, but never fully developed and seen only in disconnected glimpses.
The in visibility of Hadji-Ishmael: Maxime Du Camp’s 1850 photographs of Egypt
Du Camp’s sense of disorder and disjunction did leave its traces. One such trail appears intermittently throughout the photographs, a cypher that appears, disappears and reappears.
Bubble and Fly:
The Making of Two Iconic Fashion Stories
She studied it, smiled, and remarked, "You’re going to fly it over the Eiffel Tower, yes?" Suppressing a grin, I said, "Maybe."
György Stalter’s Manufacture and Tólápa:
Two Projects About Roma
These picture are subjective, they reflect me, my relationship with the world surrounding me, my vulnerability, my emotions, as well as the people who have collaborated with me.
How David Attie invented Photoshop in the 1950s – and had his career launched by Truman Capote
Brodovitch loved the montages. In fact, he spent the entire class gushing over them.
What Did the Victorians See in the Stereoscope?
It soon became evident that, thanks to the stereoscope, a large number of people who could not afford the expense of going on a Grand Tour, could at least buy stereo cards of the places they wished to visit.
The Epidemic Conflagration
During the epidemic that took place during the winter of 1910-1911, some 60,000 people were struck down by a pulmonary form of the disease that invariably proved fatal.
Images of Persia
Du Khorassan au pays des Backhtiaris, trois mois de voyage en Perse
An exceptional archive, original photographs mostly taken by Henry-René d’Allemagne during his various archaeological, ethnographic and artistic expeditions in Persia between 1898 and 1907.
Warren Thompson:
Stereo Daguerreotypist
Up to now very little was known about American-born stereo daguerreotypist Warren Thompson and the information we had about him was very scant, so much so that nobody knew when and where he was born or what happened to him after the early 1860s.
Women in the Dark:
Female Photographers in the US, 1850-1900, by Katherine Manthorne
On April 22, 1890, citizens of the central Kansas town of McPherson were greeted with a directive in the local paper: “Expression is the key to character. Think of this then have Mrs. Vreeland Whitlock take your picture.”
Photographic Papers in the 20th Century:
Methodologies for Research, Authentication and Dating
Coming in close succession, major authenticity scandals in 1997 and 1999 involving photographs attributed to Man Ray and Lewis Hine sent a shudder of uncertainty across the collecting community.
Image Isn’t Everything:
Revealing Affinities across Collections through the Language of the Photographic Print
A photograph is more than an image. Paper, the physical material of the photographer, plays a vital role in the appearance of a photographic print and in conveying the photographer’s intention for it.
The Troubled Life of a Dandy: John J. McKendry, Curator of Prints and Photographs at the Met (1967-1975)
“Mad Romantic” is a term often used in the literature to describe the biographical journey of the extravagant John J. McKendry.
Steven Arnold
On his studio floor or on small stages, Arnold would construct elaborate sets covered in fabric, paper, and found objects such as masks, jewelry, toys, bottle caps, coins, and shells. These repurposed parts proved the value and power of trash, of the discarded and meaningless, made into precious treasure through Arnold’s photography.
Florence Nightingale:
The Mysteries Behind Her Iconic Photographs
It is very important to bear in mind that when she sailed for the Crimea, the name of Florence Nightingale was totally unknown to the general public. Queen Victoria herself had only heard mention of her a few days prior to her departure and knew very little about her.
Chronic Nostalgic:
How I became a dealer in vernacular colour slides
The chase involved in looking through thousands of amateur photographs in search of those that elicit the same endorphin rush as professional photographers' best work is a challenge of endurance and often a masochistic practice.
Julia Margaret Cameron
A Priestess of the Sun
To prepare for every contingency, the Camerons had brought along their coffins, the maid, and a live cow on the ship traveling to the distant shore.
Francesca Woodman: On Being an Angel
Among the lot, one group stood out and I gravitated toward them. One student took ownership, identifying herself as Francesca Woodman.
The Commissioned Oxford Stereos of Spiers and Son
What makes Spiers and Son’s Oxford in the Stereoscope so unique for the photo historian is that the original negatives used to print the cards have nearly all survived and that there were at least twice as many images taken than were published. It is a real photographic treasure!
Collecting as a Mirror of Changing Times:
Photography at the Städel Museum
“I’ve put several trial photographs on display at the Städel’sches Kunst-Institut”, announced Frankfurt photographer Sigismund Gerothwohl (1808–before 1902) in 1845 in an advertising text in the newssheet of the Free City of Frankfurt.
Walker Evans
at Centre Pompidou, 2017
For Evans, true lyricism entered spontaneously or was discovered after the fact.
From Pigment to Light
Artists frequently hesitate to apply the results of their experiments to their practical work, for they share the universal fear that mechanization may lead to a petrification of art.
Sue Davies OBE
(née Adey, 14 April 1933 – 18 April 2020)
Two days after I arrived in London in March 1975 I started working at The Photographers' Gallery. It was ten days before the photography auction that Philippe Garner and Sue had tirelessly worked on for months.
Photographic destroyers: framing and mounting materials!
The poor quality materials commonly used in commercial mounting and framing can seriously damage photographs, especially gelatine silver prints. Such prints are particularly vulnerable as the finely divided silver, which forms the image, has a huge surface area so is chemically very reactive.
When a family album turns out to be a piece of photographic history
During the summer of 2019, while we were going through stereo cards and photographs at Bruno Tartarin’s professional premises, my assistant Rebecca drew my attention to a photo album she had just leafed through and which had awakened her interest.