Heritage Photography Autumn 2014

HERITAGEPHOTOGRAPHY

Archaeology& Heritage Group

Chairman

R Keith Evans FRPS 7, Grassy Lane, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 1PN Tel: 01732 743943

Secretary

RodneyThring LRPS 27, College Ride Camberley, Surrey GU15 4JP

Treasurer

Jim Tonks ARPS

Earlton, 174, ChairboroughRoad

High Wycombe Bucks HP12 3HW

Editor

Eric Houlder LRPS 31, Fairview Carleton, PontefractWF8 3NT West Yorkshire erichou/der@gmail.com

Committee

Ken Keen FRPS

Chelin Miller LRPS (Webmaster)

Dr Mike Sasse

Garry Bisshopp

Publishedby

Right:

3D/ Photography:rotatingthis Romanmilestoneand taking multipleImagesmakespossible an accurate3-dlmenslonal record - see ConferenceReport on page 3. Originalon Mam/yaflex, grazedlightingfrom iwo fixed positionas the turntable revolved

Eric Houlder LRPS.

PERSPECTIVE

Group Chairman:

R. Keith Evans FRPS

WELCOME to this latest incarnation of the A & H Group's newsletter Heritage Photography. As I explained in our Spring 2014 issue, we now have for the first time a journal professionally edited and produced, and dedicated to the interests of all our Members, archaeologists or not.

Our new Editor, Eric Houlder LRPS, is a retired professional archaeologist and historian. He has worked as site supervisor on numerous archaeological investigations, from postwar work at Sutton Hoo to recent discoveries throughout northern England; in addition, he has directed numerous excavations in his own area. More relevant, he was Site Photographer to the Wood Hall Archaeological Trust, and the St Aidan's Sunken Ships Project. Eric is also Chairman of an award-winning northern archaeological society, and a member and past-Chairman of the committee of the Council for British Archaeology, Yorkshire.

Eric has for some years been Archaeology Editor of Heritage Photography. With his long experience in writing, lecturing and publishing, he will, I believe, ensure that this and future issues of our newsletter will be more closely relevant to Members' interests and needs.

By the time you read these words, the Group's 2014 season of Events will have successfully concluded. All nine of them have been well attended and, I feel, greatly appreciated by those Members taking part - whether they have visited a notable cathedral, church or 'stately home' for example, or attended the presentations at the Group's Print Day in May or Annual Conference in October.

I particularly enjoyed our visits to Winchester Cathedral in March; to the remarkably well preserved First World War Royal Flying Corps aerodrome at Stow Maries in Essex; and to Uppark, the National Trust's fine 17th-century house near Petersfieldhere we were privileged to have a morning's photography in a house filled with the treasures collected by several generations of the family still in residence today.

Shortly our 2015 provisional Programme of Events will be finalised and placed on the A & H Group website. I and your Committee Members look forward to meeting you at one or more of them.

EDITORIAL

I am tempted to begin by saying "Here we go again ...", as I edited, typeset, and supervised the printing of our previous Newsletter from 2002 to 2009. Since then Keith, our Chairman, has improved it beyond recognition, and our grateful thanks go to him as he relinquishes the task.

My five year break has been most useful as I have grappled with new software, a new camera system (MFT), family health problems, and three new grandchildren. All our members with grandchildren, and younger members who are still dealing with children, will know which has been the steepest learning curve! To those without children yet, I must declare that I would not have missed a minute, though I except from this the bits about software and ill health.

Keith's Chairman's Perspective opposite, says something about me, and members wishing to find out more can nowadays Google my name and find many thousands of references, though thankfully, most refer to Eric Holder the US Attorney General, my near name-sake. Sufficient to say here that I took my first deliberate archaeological photograph in 1956, and have been learning ever since. The break has also enabled me to appreciate just how wide our remit is under the 'Heritage' heading. As you will discover in this and subsequent issues, portraits, landscapes, and even wild flowers form vital parts of our heritage, so do not worry that our pages will be over-loaded with archaeology,

though if your contributions fail to arrive, I may have to dip into my back catalogue. Be warned!

Sadly, many new recording techniques are impossible without the possession of vastly expensive equipment, e.g. LiDAR, as described in our Autumn 2013 issue. I was therefore gratified to discover recently, that the very latest technique, 3Di, as discussed in a future issue, is available to

everyone with a reasonable camera and an internet

tion. Watch this space!

In complete contrast, the requirements for accurate and efficient recording of artefacts has not changed appreciably although equipment has. In this issue, Brian Tremain FRPS, demonstrates just how it is done. Finally, please continue to send me your contributions. Text in Word, images as jpegs (300 dpi is quite adequate for reproduction). As is usual, I shall try to avoid editing where possible, and only adjust to make your contribution fit in to our house style.

Eric Boulder, Editor.

THE 2014 ANNUAL GROUP CONFERENCE

Emphasis at this year's Annual Conference on the eleventh of October - the fortieth since the Group's inception - was very much on Archaeology: the chairman, in opening the Conference and introducing the first speaker, reminded the audience that a primary aim of the Archaeological Group, as it then was, was "to advise and assist archaeologists in photographically recording" their excavations and discoveries. The opening talk, by historian and archaeologist Eric Houlder LRPS, lived up to this aim with a detailed description of "3Di Photography" -the relatively new technique of taking multiple digital images of an archaeological site or artefact, each differing slightly in viewpoint, then combining these via a complex software algorithm into a three-dimensional rotatable picture revealing the subject in minute detail. Subtitled "a new tool for the record photographer", Eric's presentation illustrated both the technique in use, and examples of the resulting images.

Eric Houlder followed this opening talk with a second, on the markedly different topic of portraiture. Entitled "Obituary Portraiture", his theme was the desirability of making good portraits of prominent archaeologists and other site workers, as a permanent record while they are still alive and active. His own such pictures, taken over the past 50 years, showed many well-known - and lesser-known - fellow archaeologists, both at work and in more formal settings. 'Such pictures', he emphasised, 'should be made on a more disciplined and deliberate basis than just casual snapshots - they are as important a record as are our painstaking photographs of excavations and archaeological treasures'.

Recording Britain's 'stately homes'

Third presentation of the morning session was by Dr Mike Sasse- "English Manor Houses and Stately Homes". His pictures spanned the entire history of such buildings, from the early defensive structures such as Berkeley Castle , through their transition to fortified manor houses; then to the 'great halls'; and finally to the manor house as we know it todaythe often awe-inspiring home of the 'Lord of the Manor', and in turn of the landed gentry with large estates and numerous tenant farmers.

Such houses as Burleigh in Lincolnshire, and Dyrham Park near Bath, were among the most impressive buildings included among Dr Sasse's detailed photographs, which well illustrated the variations in style from Tudor, Jacobean and Palladian to 'Greek Style' and 'Victorian Gothic'. Many others, he reminded us, were destroyed or left to become derelict: typical here was Clumber Park near Worksop, where only the gardens and foundation walls remain of this oncegreat estate.

Last presentation of the morning, "Mosques and Monasteries from Mongolia to Myanmar", was an account by Chelin Miller LRPS of her travels in China, Mongolia and SouthEast Asia over a period of four years, making a comprehensive photographic study of not only their religious buildings but also the lifestyle of their people. These ranged from the nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes of Mongolia to the Buddhists of a rapidly modernising China, and to the monks, nuns and novices of Cambodia and Myanmar. A fascinating glimpse of people and places, and an important aspect of Heritage photography. Continued on page 5

Che/inMiller LRPS.

connec-

PAST PEOPLE PICTURES

Eric Houlder LRPS

This is really a story of failure, for hav-

reasonable photograph of Dr Rupert ing reached my eighth decade and hav- Bruce-Mitford as I could not avoid ining worked with some of the most eluding him in a shot of the ship's keel important archaeologists in Britain and mast step! from the 'fifties until the present day, I

When Tony Wilmott, English Herithave few portraits to show for it. Look-/ age's Senior Archaeologist, visited his ing back, the opportunities missed have old society (of which I was and am been catastrophic. Chairman) I waited until he was deep

Some years ago an old friend and in conversation with old friends and sometime boss died. The image - not shot him with my 150-600mm equivamine - used in most of the obituaries in lent lens (an old Sigma 75-300 mm), the nationals dated back to the 'fifties. hand-held and braced on a chair back. It was not a good one either and incor-

Earlier this summer, Philippa Langley porated a lot of useless (in this context) visited my home town. Philippa is the space. Luckily, I had one or two decent lady whose intuition and persistence transparencies of him and after scan- finally resulted in the excavation ofRining and editing submitted the best one chard III's grave in Leicester. She was to the Antiquaries website where it is giving a lecture to another local society still featured together with my appreci- of which I am a member. I took my ation. camera and arrived early.

This latter experience taught me a valu-

The venue was a restored church with able lesson. For years I had shot pie- rather poor lighting for photography, tures of archaeological sites, and indeed Kevin Leahy. especially as the evening went on. I really did have more images of dead Kevin was/is responsible for the However, a reasonably modem digital people than living ones. From this point cataloguing and recording of the camera can do a good job by simply I determined to keep a file of pictures Staffordshire Hoard. upping the ASA rating, even if it is of archaeologists, historians, and peo- now called ISO. Before the talk, I pie connected with the two disciplines. Initially, I went asked her if I could shoot some pictures and she agreed. through my slide sheets and scanned in pictures of those peo- However, like many people she was a self-conscious poser, pie who were either famous or eminent in their fields. Sadly, so I decided to rely on pictures shot during her presentation. I this search did not turn up many subjects, simply because un- sat in the audience a few rows back in an aisle seat and used til very recently I made a point of avoiding portraiture. My my 45-200 mm (90-400 mm 35mm equivalent) hand-held at short time with Channel Four's Time Team produced good 3,200 ASA. Some pictures showed movement in spite of the transparencies of Tony Robinson and Victor Ambrus, whilst I image stabilisation which was being pushed to its limits. already had some reasonable pictures of Professor Mick As- However, some were just usable. ton, shot when I spent a day with

As I write news has come in of the him in a medieval hermitage - but early death of another old friend, that is another story. John Mcilwain of Bradford UniAnother old friend died recently. versity. John is/was well known for As a fellow committee member of being the forensic archaeologist in several societies I searched my charge of the search for the 'lost' files for images of Margaret, and victims of summary execution in found precisely two. I searched my Northern Ireland during the trouolder, film image files and found bles. He appears on many ofmy none. Sadly, familiarity really does pictures of the Wood Hall site breed contempt, for in almost fifty where he was Deputy Excavation years I failed to take one decent Director. Later, at the university, he image of her. was instrumental in setting up the Twenty years ago, Arnold Aspi- St Aidan's Sunken Ships Project. I nall, one of the pioneers of geo- Philippa Langley. say appears on many of my images, physics, did a demonstration for Philippa is the lady whose tenacity led to but search as I might, there is no students on a site where I was Pho- the discovery of Richard I/I's grave in picture of him which could be detographer, and the two.images I Leicester. scribed as a portrait. As with too shot then yielded good scan-able many others, it's too late now for a transparencies. Regrettably, my re-shoot. time as a Supervisor at Sutton Hoo in the '60s was during my I hope that this tale of failure and neglect spurs our members, 'avoiding portraiture phase,' so that the many opportunities I particularly the younger ones, to shoot portraits of prominent had to photograph people like Basil Brown and Charles Phil- figures in their respective fields. After all, the personalities lips yielded distant images of both, though I did manage a are as important as their contributions to our disciplines.

Continued from page 3

'Living history' in Rome ... and in Suffolk

Following lunch, the next talk was by Walter Brooks on "Rome - the Eternal City". Though a common romantic epithet of Rome, in this case the title was literal, for as Walter explained and illustrated, the original heart of the present-day city consists of'layers' of archaeological history. For some 2,200 years, as Rome became more and more heavily populated, its residents built 'new' on top of 'old' - so a great deal of the old is still in situ. An example well illustrated in Walter's accompanying photographs is the Fourth century church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, built on top of what excavations have revealed to be two Second century Roman houses, with well preserved pagan and Christian wall paintings.

Concluding the Conference programme was a remarkable but true archaeological reminiscence by Eric Houlder LRPS.

"The Strange Case of the Chianti Bottle in the Ship Trench" recounted his discovery, on the famous Sutton Hoo Saxon burial ship site in Suffolk, of a buried Chianti bottle and the remains of its wicker basket. This was in August 1968, when he was a site supervisor of renewed excavations on this prewar site.

Eric's account of the discovery, and of his subsequent research into why and when the bottle might have been buried in the original ship trench, formed a part-serious, part- humorous conclusion to what had been another excellent Group Conference.

PHOTOGRAPHING ARTEFACTS

Brian A Tremain FRPS

Brian Tremain FRPS, a founder member of the A & H Group, began his professional career at the Science Museum in London; he then joined the National Maritime Museum, and fmally spent six years as Head of Photography at the British Museum. He gained the RPS Hood Medal in 1983 for his work in Museum and Archaeological Photography. Here he reveals some invaluable techniques in the successful recording of artefacts, whether on site or in a laboratory or museum.

Dictionaries define the word 'artefact' as I photographed my car's rubber footmat lit from above ,______ _. 'something made or fashioned by man', usu- (left), (we are used to the sun and sky being above us). ally old and most commonly associated with Lighting from below (below) reverses the highlights and Archaeology.

Heritage Photography has published many excellent articles

shadows, making bumps appear to be hollow.

My second example (opposite top) came about when wishing I was able to illuminate a highly reflective article (such as a new coin) square on, without having the camera reflected in it. On a table top, I supported the camera squarely above the subject, looking down through a sheet of glass set at 45°. Light from a diffuse source was thus reflected down onto the subject, with a box placed to stop any direct light falling on it and a black card preventing any light being reflected from the upper side of the glass.

My third example demonstrates how the use of polarising filters allows the camera to 'see through' unwanted reflections.

For simplicity let us consider that a polarising filter only allows light rays (radiating in all directions) to pass through in one direction - say horizontally by blocking the vertical waves. If one looks at light passing through such a filter with a second polarising filter, when it is rotated to be at right an-

on the subject, and what I hope to show here are some less commonly used ways of photographing artefacts which I have learned over my sixty years of doing just that!

As there are always many ways of photographing anything, one must be quite clear as to the purpose of the photograph and how it is to be used. Most 'artefact' photographs aim to record clearly as much detail as possible, with sympathetic lighting and viewpoint so that the observer could learn little more even from the object itself. Rather demeaningly, though accurately, this is termed 'record photography'. My first example illustrates how getting away from nature can completely reverse the truth!

Raised bumps on my carfootmat

gles with the first one, light stops passing through. This applies to direct light.

In my example of an old black and white photograph (right) (my Aunt Hilda!) where part of the image has become 'silvered', some of the blacker areas look metallic and reflect quite a lot of light. Now ifone places a sheet of linear polarizing material in front of the light source, polarizing the light, and then places a circular polarizing filter in front of the camera lens, rotating the camera filter to remove the shine on the dark areas, it brings the image back to its original contrast. The job is done!

THE NEO-CLASSICAL HOUSES OF SYMI

Richard Bell LRPS

-. The Dodecanese are the most easterly of the Greek island groups, extending north along the Turkish coast from the principal island, Rhodes.

In Classical times they were associated with the Ionian Greek settlements on the western shores of Asia Minor and, more distantly, Persia.

• 1 1 Subsequently they fell under the sway of Rome and then passed a,;,..._ __, through various hands - Byzantine, Crusader, Venetian, Ottoman, Italian and, briefly, Germanbefore being re-united with Greece after the Second World War.

The legacy of these diverse occupations and influences includes a rich blend of cultures and styles which may have contributed in some measure to the particular character of the little houses for which Symi is celebrated.

In the past Symi, one of the smallest islands in the Dodecanese group, generated weath and influence out of all proportion to its size through its traditional crafts of shipbuilding and sponge-diving, skills nurtured since pre-Classical times. In antiquitiy the island was heavily forested and enjoyed an enviable reputation throughout the Aegean for the fleetness of its ships, a quality much prized by successive customersthe various Greek city states, the Knights of St. John, and several eastern potentates amongst others - to whom Symi often provided both vessels and crew.Under the Ottomans the island, in common with many other in the group, enjoyed con-

siderable autonomy in exchange for, in Symi's case, an annual tribute of sponges to the Sultan. As with shipbuilding, however, only vestiges of the sponge trade survive today, though natural sponges are still to be found in the harbour-front shops. But thanks to the sponge trade in particular, in the late 19th century Symi was richer and more populous than Rhodes, a wealth which was reflected in a prolific surge in building activity by the enriched merchants.

Fortunately, much of this legacy survives today, especially in their houses which are seen to best advantage as the daily ferry from Rhodes enters the long narrow harbour of the principal town, Yiallos. They rise on either side, seemingly on each other's shoulders, little pastel coloured buildings clinging to the rocky slopes like so many dolls' houses. So to which of the many influences in Symi's past can this singular style be traced, and why are they popularly labelled 'neo-classical'? The most obvious answer would appear to be that when they were built, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Symi and the Dodecanese were under Italian control and influence. Yiallos with its narrow streets and balustraded

The long narrow harbour of Yiallos.

houses are identical they nevertheless conform to an overall scheme of subtle variation, building alley by alley, level by level into a coherent visual experience.

Because it lies off the beaten track, for the present Symi has been spared the ravages of mass tourism; the relatively few visitors who arrive on the daily ferries from Rhodes, or the occasional cruise liner, are mostly confined to harbour level by the steep and many-stepped alleys. Thanks to this, and to a Preservation Order controlling new building work, the future of these unique little buildings would appear to have been secured, in the short term at least.

The accompanying photographs were taken on a Mamiya 645 medium format camera mounted on a Manfrotto 550 tripod, with 50mm, 80, 150 and 300mm lenses, on Fuji Provia 100 film. For this article, the transparencies were then scanned with an Epson V 750 jlatbed

balconies, has often been described as a Venetian village. Not surprisingly, the external features of these little buildings, their pedimented roofs and openings, pilasters and architraves, speak the language of Rome, and perhaps one need look no further for a likely source: the late Italian baroque in an island setting. But resonances of the world of Ancient Greece, however fanciful, are difficult to ignore.

Whatever the origins of ... seemingly on each others' the style, its most obvishoulders. ous features - colourwashed walls in pastel hues, shallow roofs behind pediments, the absence of external roof drainage (scarce rainwater is collected internally), the judicious use of strong colours - are remarkable for the restraint and consistency with which they have been applied, one reason for the 'classical' part of the label! Simplicity and understatement are evident throughout, and while no two Late

Houses clinging to the rocky slopes.

Seen to best advantage from the ferry.

LOOKING BACK

The 1975 Group Conference at Wicken Bonhunt

Bert Crawshaw ARPS was a stalwart of the Group for many years. He shot this self-timer image and is deservedly numbered One. Your Editor doesn't deserve to be second, but he did not number the key. Thanks to the member who sent this image and traced a partial key many years ago. Scan by EH.

THE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

FRIDAY. 7-00pm registration; 7-30pm, supper; 8-15pm, Welcome by Barri Hooper, Warden; Opening of the Conference by Robert Pitt L.Th., ARPS; 8-30pm, The Organisation of Archaeology in the County of Essex, by John Hedges County Archaeology Officer; 9-30pm, The Scope of Photography in Archaeology, Trevor Hurst, Dept. of Urban Archaeology, London.

SATURDAY. 8-30am, breakfast; 9-00am, The Organisation and Process of Archaeological Research by David PriceWilliams of the City University, London; 10-45am, coffee. 11-00am, Studio Photography in Archaeology by Peter Dorrell, Institute of Archaeology; 1-00pm, lunch: 2-00pm to 3-45pm, Large & small format Macro Photography by Michael Allman FIIP, FRPS ofHarrow College of Technology. 3-45pm to 4-15pm, tea. 4-15pm to 6-00pm demonstrations by Michael Allman; 6-30pm. Buffet meal followed by a reception and the film The Aerial Archaeology of Northern France by Roger Agache. 10-00pm, bar, followed by bed.

SUNDAY. 8-30am Breakfast; 9-00am, Trevor Hurst (subject unspecified); 11-00am, questions; 11-30am coffee; 11-45am, Aerial Photography in Archaeology by Derek Edwards of the Norfolk Archaeological Unit; 1-00pm, lunch. 2-00pm, The Archaeology of the Saffron Walden Area by an unnamed member of the staff of the Essex County Archaeology Unit; 2-45pm, Summary and Closing Address by Robert Pitt L.Th., ARPS, Group and Conference Chairman; 3-00pm, coffee; 3-1 Spm, Visit to the Bartlow Hills ancient burial site conducted by staff of the Essex County Unit; 5-00pm, Delegates depart.

It was all pretty concentrated, and at some point we all gathered for Bert to take the group picture. Some years ago, a member sent me a print of Bert's picture, and a partial key to the individuals. Below the images is a list compiled by that member (who did not enclose a covering letter) and myself. Needless to say, the current committee would be most grateful if any member can assist in filling in the gaps in either names, Distinctions, or whether the person is now deceased.

Heritage Photography. Autumn 2014, Page ij