Cats.

“My wife Yoko first brought Chiro home from Kasukabe when she was just a four month old kitten.”
– Nobuyoshi Araki, Itoshi No Chiro (Chiro, My Love), 1990

Oh no I hear you scream bloody cats on the web. Get used to it, there may be a few more around here over the next couple of weeks. I love cats me. Dogs are OK but they can be prone to eat their own shit. Cats don't even like to look at theirs.
 Araki loved his cat so I'm in good company. Thought I'd make some cat work, so I've been looking at cats in Art as well as all that 'Cats in sinks' Internet shite .
 THIS series by Araki is a good place to start. It's as good as animal photography gets. "Never work with animals or kids" they say. Animals because it's hard, kids because it's Britain and you would probably get nonced off but that's a post for another day.

Anyway more cat stuff coming up. I'm just a smitten kitten me.

A little bit of Evans

Nice little 'all things' Evans website from The Florence Griswold Museum HERE. Thanks to Andy from FlakPhoto.

J T Chapman.

Doesn't he look the bollox? Proper gentlemen photographer proud with a bit of status, photographer as a respectable professional. You can take a trip back and learn more about the gent above at THE JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY over the next few months. The man in question is J T Chapman and he was a ground breaking Manchester photographic entrepreneur and inventor. He invented and maufactured a ready made 'Dry Plate' known as the 'Manchester'. You can read more about him HERE. The exhibition is on until 28th November and is free. There's also some events. I tell you what I'll let James Robinson senior photographer at the library (top job!) fill you in.......................




Underexposed

Following recent discoveries in the John Rylands Library Special Collections, UNDEREXSPOSED is an exhibition in Collaboration with MOSI, celebrating the life of one of Manchester’s early photographic pioneers, J.T. Chapman.

Chemist, inventor and photographer, Chapman invented some of the processes that were to become standard in early photography. However, he is widely omitted from history books as he published his formula under the pseudonym ‘Ostendo non Ostento’ (I show, not boast). Working from Deansgate, Manchester, Chapman also invented and sold his own cameras and projectors.

The exhibition also showcases a selection of glass plate negatives, recently discovered and linked to the Langford Brooke family of Mere Hall in Cheshire, which have been cleaned, re-housed and digitised by CHICC.

CHICC is The Centre for Heritage Imaging and Collection Care, a JISC funded project to develop a Centre for Heritage Digitisation, based within the University of Manchester.

The John Rylands Library will be holding a series of events associated with the exhibition, for more information please contact 0161 306 0555 or email jrul.events@manchester.ac.uk


Further Information:

The CHICC project has already created partnerships with several institutions including the National Trust, digitising a Chaucer manuscript at Petworth house in Sussex. The project has also worked with Chethams, MMU, Manchester Museum, publishing companies and private individuals, using the latest digital technology and conservation techniques to deliver the best possible output, while caring for the object during the process.

On Wednesday 3rd November, the Curators of the exhibition will be holding a close-up session, looking at the glass plate negatives, best ways to photograph the negatives and best ways to look after them.

Monday 8th of November sees the arrival of Professor Heard’s Peerless Magic Lantern show. At 4.30, Phantasmagoria! A family friendly show will begin, suitable for ages 7+. Featuring hand painted stories, sights, and frights from before the days of moving cinema. A later show at 7.30 will be a much darker affair, as the Professor introduces us to Victorian Ghosts and the Gothic. Both events are free, however booking is essential. To book please contact the events team on 0161 306 0555 or email jrul.events@manchester.ac.uk

David Wilkie Wynfield (1837-1887)

Above, self portrait of David Wilkie Wynfield (1837-1887)

A major influence on a young Julia Margaret Cameron, D W Wynfield was as close as you could get to a Pre-Raphaelite photographer. He is perhaps one of the early practitioners who were guilty of setting photography on it's 'inferiority to painting trip' as he seems to have used the then new medium as a way of replicating painterly effects. More about him HERE. And examples of his portraits HERE.

I Wish More of Us Could Expose.

Way back in the mists of time, pre 9/11 when Americans loved terrorists and donating to their favourite charity the IRA, when the Kennedy family thought FAR & AWAY was a documentary, in the town that suffered most, Belfast, they set up a photographic archive of events that were happening on their streets. Collecting since 1983 and amassing half a million images often by unknown photographers such as the photograph of a paramilitary 'punishment' above BELFAST EXPOSED has continued to be community focused while also exhibiting work by acclaimed local and international photographers. This strikes me as a model that more cities including this one would do well to adopt.

If only Manchester had a few quid to spare to start things off but I know they haven't, what with the recession and all, they have to cut costs.

London Photograph Fair.

What a twat that RANKIN is, thought Billy Connolly.

THIS has got to be worth a punt if you happen to be in London town on the 8th November. You could buy yourselves an entire art project, if APPROPRIATION is your game .

Dedicated Follower's of Fashion.

This is going to be a brilliant resource.

"The Gallery of Costume is delighted to have been awarded a generous grant from the Getty Foundation to enable us to sort, organise and make accessible our photographic archive to support research and scholarship through web access.The Gallery of Costume photograph collection forms part of the significant library and archive accumulated by Drs C Willett and Phillis Cunnington during the 1930s.

Since 1947 when Manchester Corporation acquired the archives, they have been considerably expanded and are now the most comprehensive specialist resource for dress study outside London.The archive of images comprises over 25,000 portrait photographs dating from the 1840s onwards, although the bulk of the photographs are from the period 1860 - 1914."

Same reason why I rate this. A blinding use of this blogging lark. All this knowledge being assimilated. Fuck Art lets dress up........

In Atget's Shoes.

The above images are by Atget & Christopher Rauschenberg respectivly. Between 1997 and 1998
Rauschenberg set out to retrace Atget's steps and rephotograph many of the same views, he made over 500 of these images An audio interview can be heard here courtesy of Lens Culture. I like most photographers also love Atget, and was looking for things about him on the Internet when I came across this project below.

These images are by Atget and the University of South Florida Art Dept Paris Summer School, which again aimed to rephotograph Atget's Paris. This project was started in 1987 and some of it can be seen here.

Memorial Photographs

This post has nothing to do with the fact that Halloween has just gone! I found this article over on Photojojo which is a surprise as it's far from their usual fare. http://photojojo.com/content/photojojo-original/memorial-post-mortem-photography/ I always found this branch of photography fascinating, not least because we no longer do it. It is partly no doubt to do with our modern unhealthy relationship with death.

I last attended a funeral in 2007, it was my Grandads. It is the first family function I can remember in a long time where people knowing that I am a photographer didn't ask why didn't you bring your camera? I must admit I wanted to but was to scared. I knew that it wouldn't have been accepted and would have upset people, not something you want to do at a funeral. But why is that? why are funerals and death the one big life event that we don't feel we can/should record?

Old Shoe Boxes of Memories (so to speak)

Images courtesy of oldsalford.co.uk

I received an e-flyer the other day from The Photographers Gallery, London letting me know about a course they are running called "Investigating The Archive, photographic collections of London" for London readers and anyone interested the dates are 4th October-1st November details Here:http://www.photonet.org.uk/index.php?pvid=993 and Here:http://www.bbk.ac.uk/study/ce2007/FFWO099U.html which got me thinking about what we've got here in Manchester/Salford. So here's a bit of a rundown,

1. Manchester City Council's Local Image collection. One of the better known, and largest.http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?categoryID=200062central/&documentID=326
2. North West Film Archive, primarily a moving image collection. However it does contain a collection of still images relating to Cinema's here in the North West. External shots, internal and also the workforce. http://www.nwfa.mmu.ac.uk/
3. Chetham's Library. Not only the worlds oldest public library but also home to The Phelps Collection. Dating from the late 19th & early 20th century and featuring of 3000 glass plate negatives & lanten slides from both locally and further afield. http://www.chethams.org.uk/photographs.htm#photographs
4. Salford Local History Library. One of my favorite places to go and do research. Friendly and passionate staff there, they have over 50 000 mainly local images! http://www.salford.gov.uk/living/yourcom/salfordlife/aboutsalford/salfordlocalhistory/lhlibrary
5. Old Salford. This brings me to one of the many beauties of the digital age. It enables local enthusiasts the ability to archive and display images like never before. Hats off to www.oldsalford.co.uk
6. Aiden O'Rourke. I couldn't do a list of photographic collections around Manchester without mentioning Aiden O'Rourke. Photographing (&blogging) Greater Manchester & other worldwide cities since the early 90's, Aiden has a huge online collection at http://www.aidan.co.uk/index.php
7. David Rumsey Collection. Absolutely nothing to do with Manchester but I found it online while I was sat in Salford and anyway it's great (although you may have to do a bit of messing about to get in) so I'm including it! http://www.davidrumsey.com/collections/photography.html

So that's my little rundown. By no means complete I'm sure but it should give you something to look at over the weekend. If you know of anymore, let me know. I'm going to go and put that lot on the side bar as a links list. I do all this for you for free you know, ain't I lovely..............

Image by Andre Zucca

by Charles Bremner over at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

"An unusual warning has been added to a Paris exhibition that has shocked some visitors and media, despite the absence of sex, violence or religion.
The photographic show has caused offence by depicting the French capital in the Second World War as a sunny place, where people enjoyed life alongside their Nazi occupiers." More http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article3767951.ece

Wisconsin Death Trip

Image by Charles Van Schaick

Yesterday's post got me thinking about James Marsh's film "Wisconsin Death Trip" http://www.wisconsindeathtrip.com/ which is based on the 1973 book of the same name by historian Michael Lesy. The idea for the book came from photographs discovered by Lesy that date from the 1890's taken by the town of Black Falls resident photographer Charles Van Schaick. The words from local news reports from the time along with records from the local asylum for the insane. From the films website;

"The town of Black River Falls seems gripped by some peculiar malaise and the weekly news is dominated by bizarre tales of madness, eccentricity and violence amongst the local population. Suicide and murder are commonplace. People in the town are haunted by ghosts, possessed by devils and terrorized by teenage outlaws and arsonists".