SPECIAL ISSUE 2020
HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
CONTENTS HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
EDITORIAL
Journal of the Archaeology and Heritage Group
3 Perspective
Special Edition 2020
4-6 What is the purpose of
Editor David Bryson heritage.editor@rps.org
archaeological and heritage photography? GWIL OWEN ARPS
Advisory Editor Eric Houlder LRPS
HISTORY
Advertising enquiries David Bryson heritage.editor@rps.org
7-10 In the beginning.
Archaeology & Heritage Group Committee Members
11-13 The inaugural
Gwil Owen ARPS Chair heritagechair@rps.org Mike Glyde Secretary heritagesec@rps.org George Backshall, LRPS Treasurer heritagetreasurer@rps.org David Bryson Heritage Photography editor heritage.editor@rps.org R. Keith Evans FRPS Roger Lewis ARPS
DAVID BRYSON
ERIC HOULDER LRPS
meeting to form the Archaeology Group. JOHN WALDEN LRPS
MEMBER PROFILES 14-19 A Life in Archaeology. ERIC HOULDER LRPS
and Heritage Photographer, Trustee and President Elect. SIMON HILL FRPS
29-33 Osteological
Colin Murrell
Photographer. DAVID BRYSON MIMI
Copyright in all text and photographs is held by the credited authors, or as otherwise stated. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any form without prior written permission of the Publisher. Print ISSN 0958-0565 Online ISSN 2632-3346 Front cover photograph Coppergate Helmet Simon Hill FRPS
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20-28 Archaeological
Shaun Parkes
Published by the Archaeology and Heritage Group of the Royal Photographic Society, September 2020.
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34-39 Historic Environment Consultant. MIKE GLYDE MCIFA
PUBLICATIONS
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40-45 Journals, Newsletters, Books, Archives and Social Media. DAVID BRYSON
38-39 Information for contributors. DAVID BRYSON
Back cover photograph Windmill pump Clows Top, Worcestershire Mike Glyde MCIFA Printed by digitalprinting.co.uk Milton Keynes, MK9 2FR United Kingdom. 2
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EDITORIAL
Perspective Special Issue of Heritage Photography DAVID BRYSON
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his edition of Heritage Photography has several purposes it is designed to provide a background for new and old members alike as it includes information about our growing online archives and information for contributors as well as profiles and work of several group members. It is also has an external focus for the many organisations that may not know about the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) in general and in particular the Archaeology and Heritage Group. There are many courses at Universities and Colleges, short programmes or study sessions at the University of the Third Age, local and national museums. Archaeology has been popular in TV programmes from Chronicle to Time Team to more recent programmes like Digging for Britain. Heritage is also a growing area of interest with Universities having undergraduate and masters programmes for example MA in Public History and Heritage from the University of Derby https://www. derby.ac.uk/postgraduate/history-courses/publichistory-heritage-ma/, MSc in Forensic Investigation of Heritage Crime from Cranfield University https:// www.cranfield.ac.uk/courses/taught/forensicinvestigation-of-heritage-crime, MSc in Care of Collections, Cardiff University https://www.cardiff. ac.uk/study/postgraduate/taught/courses/course/ care-of-collections-msc. There are also research centres dedicated to this for example Cambridge Heritage Research Centre https://www.heritage. arch.cam.ac.uk/ and on Instagram https://www. instagram.com/cambridge_heritage/. There are also courses that look at Archaeology and Heritage Studies at undergraduate and postgraduate level with BAs at Worcester https://www. worcester.ac.uk/courses/archaeology-heritagestudies-and-history-ba-hons and York https:// www.york.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/baarchaeology-heritage/. There are also many organisations dedicated to Archaeology and Heritage. These include local groups like those near Peterborough https:// peterborougharchaeology.org/archaeologyheritage-organisations/, national organisations like English Heritage, and internationally the International Council on Monuments and Sites, https://www.icomos.org/en, and professional bodies like the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists https://www.archaeologists.net/.
This issue has two-sides it is introducing the Archaeology and Heritage group of the RPS to a wider audience and hoping that our work will become more visible. It is hoped that this can lead to more people interested in photographing our archaeology and heritage joining us to share their work and that other organisations can make use of the expertise of our members through dialogue and collaboration. The content of this issue of Heritage Photography reflects these themes from the viewpoint of the Group’s Chair Gwil Owen looking at the purpose of archaeological and heritage photography. This is followed by a brief history of the group by Eric Houlder who can remember the early days when we were the Archaeology Group and the reproduction of the article covering the inaugural meeting by John Walden, first published in 1987. Then we have four member profiles starting with Eric Houlder who has lived a life in archaeology but is now retired, then Simon Hill who not only is one of our groups members but also a Trustee for the RPS and President Elect. Simon recounts his early interest in photography and how the RPS and its distinctions marked the development of his career as a photographer. Do look at his many awards on his personal website https://www.simonhillphotos. com/awards not mentioned in his article. This is followed by David Bryson who looks at the skills required and acquired over a career in photography and education now applied to osteological photography. The fourth is by Mike Glyde who is our Secretary who is working as a Historic Environment Consultant in the Midlands. See also the back cover. Then we cover the group’s publications from the first journal Archaeolog, through to newsletters and the development of Heritage Photography and the digitisation project which has preserved these as an Open Access resource and examples of how members have published photographs on their own and in collaboration with authors in books. Finally a guide about how to contribute to Heritage Photography To learn more about us go to our website at https:// rps.org/groups/archaeology-heritage/ or join our facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/ groups/rpsah
DAVID BRYSON 3
EDITORIAL
What is the purpose of archaeological and heritage photography? Chair of the Archaeology and Heritage Group. GWIL OWEN ARPS.
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efining what is exactly Archaeology and Heritage is difficult. Archaeology as a profession, or as a hobby, embraces many activities. They include digging up things (obviously), specialised scientific analyses and the anthropology of earlier societies. This last itself can include my mother’s grave and the art of Neanderthal man. Heritage has been added to our title more recently to reflect an interest in the built environment, particularly the religious landscape. Add to all this museums and prehistoric landscapes and it becomes evident that our photographic recording must be equally diverse. The Archaeology Group was set up in the early 1970s to remedy a perceived lack of photographic tuition within archaeology, in particular within the enthusiastic amateur sector. Archaeology at the time was heavily influenced by the strictures of professional archaeologists, such as Sir Mortimer Wheeler, who considered that photography was, being an objective and scientifically accurate pursuit, necessary for archaeological research. Everything should be recorded for later use as an investigative tool. This was in contrast to many Victorian photographers who favoured the recording of monuments and antiquities from a general art perspective.
of a specific archaeological approach. Similarly the Wheeler approach, that this all embracing photographic recording to be a vital part of the scientific record is also suspect. The flaw being made obvious by the number of researchers visiting museum sherd collections to find what no-one could see from the period photographs.
Flint “Careful lighting can show differences in use wear”
Photography today - not excluding that within archaeology - is now ubiquitous as a casual endeavour. It is available to all on the simplest mobile phone, in many cases rivalling in its usefulness the output of high end professional cameras. The membership of the A&H group reflects this varied approach, an approach which mirrors the vast range of modern archaeology. Now is a sensible time to reassess the value of photography within archaeology: in what areas can it operate, where does it’s value lie within the range of current archaeological techniques. Sorting out why we use photography in this broad context is key to doing it well: that is doing it informatively. First of all we should recognise that the artistic approach to antiquities has been a consequence of our general cultural values, not necessarily 4
Human ranging rod “An indication of size can be shown in many ways.”
What can photography offer to archaeology? First and foremost it should be recognised that photography continues to be, with some exceptions, an illustrative device, not a scientific analytical tool. A flint flake can have its use suggested and emphasised by careful lighting. Its formal metrics will be expressed in numbers: its use may be derived from molecular analysis of residues.
Man’s skeleton “The use of a scale prompts ideas of scientific study”
Infant skeleton “Whereas lack of a scale leads to social values and the human condition.”
Scales are included in most archaeological contexts but are rarely anything more than a general indication of size or distance. For instance how can we tell from the photograph whether a ranging rod is metric or imperial? Except for details of sections a good idea of size can be derived from vegetation and general landscape features.
by putting a dig in its landscape context, or similarly by giving grave goods precedence over skeletal remains.
Defining the different approaches to archaeology can help in choosing the photographic method. Take three simple uses of photography - recording a dig, illustrating an object and suggesting the “human condition” of a past society. The photographic approach is the same for each, the mantra being “viewpoint, timing and lighting” - but not necessarily in that order.
Lastly photographs can reflect the public attitude to archaeology - its usefulness to society. There are of course some other remote sensing methods analogous to, and sometimes included in the photographic spectrum. Infra red and ultraviolet recording does show what is invisible to the naked eye. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) can add a different perspective from that of conventional
For the site photograph choice of camera is not of great importance. Scales and colour patches are useful. Timing depends on what is being revealed. Viewpoint is usually “up or down a bit”. Lighting can be waiting for a cloud to pass or perhaps having the team hold up a large white sheet to provide shade. Objects do not usually depend on timing though I have had a badly fired pot slump under the camera’s gaze. Lighting and viewpoint can be adjusted to emphasise shape, texture or decoration. Suggesting the human element of the past is a more tenuous concept. It can be done, for example,
Lidar “Lidar shows landscape forms unaffected by vegetation.” 5
Amarna visitors “Archaeology can be protected as here by fencing, but is often threatened by development and agriculture as shown in the background”
microscopy. Lidar can reveal landscape features not shown by conventional photography. With it impossible sun angles can be simulated to bring out otherwise unnoticeable topography. All these methods still fall, or are used, mostly within the general definition of illustration, not analysis. This comprises the majority of archaeological photography. This balance has begun to change. Now, with digital technology developing apace, accurate measurements can be derived, and 3D representations created; colours can be accurately defined. The distinction between illustration and scientific evidence should not be forgotten in enthusiasm for the new. Despite technological progress photography remains first and foremost a descriptive tool. The key for good photography within archaeology is to recognise what specific attributes an object, or site, has and to make those apparent and appealing both within and without the archaeological community. What is evident to the specialist archaeologist may not be obvious to others however observant or educated they may be.
GWIL OWEN ARPS
Bone needle “SEM imagery (Bottom) shows aspects not realised in conventional photography (Top).” 6
HISTORY
In the beginning Personal recollections of the group’s foundation Eric Houlder LRPS.
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he early 1970s was an important time for archaeological photography. After a long period of indifferent site photography, as evidenced in many published reports and the poorly exposed slides seen too frequently at contemporary conferences, a disparate group of enthusiasts was gradually forcing up the picture quality. Meanwhile, improvements in materials and equipment too were enabling those non-photographers responsible for much site photography to achieve higher standards. Several articles in the popular photographic press, by amongst others the present writer, had been well received. Three books, updating though not necessarily improving upon Cookson’s Photography for Archaeologists, were published within a few years of each other demonstrating that there was a demand for instruction in site photography (Matthews 1968, Simons 1969, Conlon 1973). The book by Matthews surprisingly, has no archaeology in it! Archaeology itself was changing. The Wheeler Box system was gradually giving way to Open Area excavation, whilst the pace of development in town
and country was outpacing the older systems of summer digs and haphazard rescue and record. Since before the Second World War, excavations had generally been organised in the summer academic vacations. This was convenient as the organisers were, with few exceptions, academics themselves, whilst the volunteers who did much of the actual digging were often students, teachers, or amateur archaeologists who could choose their work holiday week or fortnight in the summer. Any chance discoveries made by development or agriculture were investigated by the same academics, by local museum curators, or by local enthusiasts. The CBA (Council for British Archaeology) was a co-ordinating body set up in the closing years of the War. It published an annual Calendar of Excavations which carried details of proposed digs and how to join them. In the offseason it carried brief reports of each site for the benefit of participants. I grew up with this system. After digging as a volunteer on a number of local sites, I was befriended by a couple who had both, individually,
Mr Pinchitraker’s photograph of the Group’s birth in Audley House, London in 1974. Left to Right, Lt Col Derek Knight, MBE Hon FRPS, later President of RPS, Sir Mortimer Wheeler, Robert Pitt ARPS, Brian Tremain FRPS, and Kenneth Warr, RPS General Secretary. 7
The Sutton Hoo Mound One, layed out on the Wheeler Box System with two baulks already removed, and some squares unexcavated. Note that in its day no-one ever called it anything but a grid. Courtesy Dr R Bruce-Mitford & the Trustees of the British Museum.
An Open Area excavation from the tower, Wood Hall, North Yorkshire. Courtesy WHAT Ltd and V Metcalf.
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risen up the ranks since before the war. Peggy, or Margaret Markham White, see more in the Trowel Blazers website Women in Archaeology, Geology and Palaeontology (https://trowelblazers.com/), had been a supervisor with Rik Wheeler, whilst Kenneth Wilson her second husband, a published war poet, was Museums Education Officer in Leeds. They trained several younger enthusiasts like me in the Wheeler System. Peggy also knew Cookson, whom she referred to as ‘Cooky.’ She recalled someone tiring of his overenthusiastic ramblings by telling him.
“Archaeological Photography is not like that. It is three men (!) on a rainy hilltop with a camera in a gumboot under the hedge.” I subsequently directed a number of local and regional digs and then went on the become a supervisor (not yet a photographer, though I did shoot some official pictures) under Paul Ashbee, a top rank archaeologist, who had the distinction of being the first archaeologist to use CCTV cameras on a site, The Wilsford Shaft. I joined him and Dr R Bruce-Mitford on the second dig at Sutton Hoo in 1967. All this whilst heading history departments in local schools, marrying, setting up a home, and having a family. Clearly I had a lot more energy then. Meanwhile, archaeological site photography had been staggering along largely outside the mainstream of professional photography. The reason, or blame, for this in my opinion lies with Rik Wheeler and his photographer, Maurice Cookson. Cookson always advocated the large format field camera, the larger the better. Wheeler in supporting Cookson also recommended the same. However, whilst producing superb monochrome results in experienced hands, this flew in the face of progress which was firmly in the smaller, metal precision camera camp. Exotic film emulsions like infrared, ultraviolet, and even common or garden colour film was easier and more precisely exposed in the newer instruments, and largely unavailable for the former, except as expensive sheet film. I except from this general criticism those professional photographers working for archaeologists in university and museum environments. These people could squeeze fantastic quality out of even Victorian large format field cameras, and knew instinctively when to use more modern instruments. However, they were a small minority and barely scratched the surface of the vast mass of excavated material. OGS Crawford the aerial photographer was using Rolleiflex instruments, whilst Mercie Lack and Barbara Wagstaffe used Leicas at Sutton Hoo in 1939. Some site photographers already knew about precision cameras even pre-war, but were outnumbered by the ranks of those who read
Cookson’s book: Photography for Archaeologists (1954). I purchased this book myself, but already knew enough about photography to realise its shortcomings regarding equipment and materials. Its advice on site preparation was exceptionally good, however, and is still largely apposite. Luckily, my directors were also forward looking. Paul Ashbee, who had known Cookson personally, was using 35mm in the 1960s and probably before, whilst Vincent Bellamy my first ever site director was using two 35mm cameras, for mono and colour, in the mid 1950s. Thus, by the early 1970s there was an increasing interest and competence in site and aerial photography. The founding of Current Archaeology in 1967 was something of a catalyst for site photographers. It was not the only magazine dealing with archaeology in Britain, nor the first. Indeed, Antiquity, originally intended to acquaint the interested general reader with our subject had quickly become something of a specialist journal, whilst the somewhat downmarket – in this context – Archaeological Newsletter had begun post war and finally petered out during the early ‘60s, taking my subscription with it into limbo. So Current Archaeology quickly became the only general magazine for archaeologists in Britain. Like, I suspect, many other archaeological camera users I quickly formed an ambition to achieve a cover image for Current Archaeology, an ambition that took some years to come to fruition. Even before our Group was formed, the RPS had taken an interest in archaeological photography. For example, its Science Committee had sponsored a three day symposium in December 1970 on Photography in Archaeological Research, and many of the prominent specialists in museums and heritage agencies were RPS members. By 1974, the rise of archaeological units and the increasing professionalisation of the discipline left those of us who were in the middle, so to speak, wondering how to maintain our involvement with the subject. In the early months of that year notices appeared in Photography magazine and in Current Archaeology to the effect that the RPS was considering forming an archaeology group, and announcing a special meeting in the Conference Room at RPS Headquarters, 14 South Audley St, London, on 2nd April in the evening. I very quickly joined, sent my apologies for absence to the RPS, and eventually forwarded my group subscription of five shillings (25p). The founder was an Australian photographer, Robert (Bob) F Pitt ARPS who had been working in the Holy Land, which is why most of us had not heard of him before. Sensibly, he had enlisted the help of Sir R E Mortimer Wheeler, known to contemporaries as Rik, short for Eric. The meeting was well attended, and reported upon at length in 9
A typical pre-war site photographer’s camera with focusing cloth and dark slides holding glass plates. It has a simple reflecting viewfinder of dubious accuracy.
The Photographic Journal (1974), and in an excellent report in Current Archaeology. There were sixty people present when the meeting began, chaired by Robert Pitt ARPS. Luckily, one of those present, RPS member Mr Pinchitraker of Kathmandu, Nepal, took a photograph of the platform group, and though initially printed on coarse brown paper as an insert in The Photographic Journal May 1974, it is reproduced here. Left to right: Derek Knight, RPS President, Sir Mortimer Wheeler, Robert Pitt, Brian Tremaine (acting Secretary of the proposed group), and Kenneth Warr, RPS General Secretary. The meeting began with Robert Pitt welcoming Sir Mortimer Wheeler, who entertained those present with a detailed account of his introduction to archaeological photography before the Great War. He described his meeting with the young Maurice Cookson, and their adventures together in attempting to make the camera tell the truth! He closed his address by saying how his friendship with Cookson had taught him much, and how he was surprised that the RPS had not had an archaeology group before. In the discussion which followed numerous questions were asked by amongst many others Henry Cleere, Director of the CBA, Tom Jones ARPS, Photographer to the well known Mucking 10
site, and Andrew Selkirk, Editor of Current Archaeology. A Committee was formed with Brian Tremaine FRPS as its first Secretary. Its task was to assemble a programme of meetings, lectures, workshops and visits. Thus was the Group born.
Acknowledgements I am indebted to my friend, Andrew Selkirk, Founding Editor of Current Archaeology, for unearthing his memories and the relevant Current Archaeology reports. Also to my late friend and mentor Peggy Wilson for remembered quotes
References Matthews S.K. (1968) Photography in Archaeology and Art, London: John Baker. Simons H.C. (1969) Archaeological Photography, London: University of London Press Ltd. Conlon V M. (1973) Camera Techniques in Archaeology, London: John Baker. Cookson M. B. (1954) Photography for Archaeologists. London: Max Parrish. Editor (1974) RPS Archaeological Group. The Photographic Journal; 114, May: 221.
ERIC HOULDER LRPS
HISTORY
The inaugural meeting of the Archaeology Group Sir Mortimer Wheeler and others speaking to the meeting to form the Archaeology Group reproduced from ‘The Photography Journal’ article 1987 by JOHN WALDEN LRPS.
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have been trying to find out the background to the Archaeology & Heritage Group. How was the Archaeology Group, as it was called at the beginning, formed has not been as easy to do as it sounds! However one of our members, Brian Tremaine, FRPS who was the original Hon. Secretary of the Group, has sent a tape recording of the very first Archaeology Group meeting which took place in the RPS Headquarters at 14 South Audley Street, London W1.
meeting is perhaps about 100 years late; but better late than never.” Later Bob Pitt went on to say: “We also want to be clear about our definition of archaeology’’ for our purposes and that definition is: “That it covers photography of the whole range of antiquities, not only of excavations. So included in that will be the photography of coins, the photography of museums, the photography of ancient monuments as they stand in the field, and anything else that bears Art”.
Although The Royal Photographic Society was founded in 1853, It was not until the mid 1970’s that the Archaeology Group was established, and one of the speakers at the inaugural meeting was the then Vice-President and later President of The Royal Photographic Society, Lt. Col. Derek Knight, MBE, Hon. FRPS. He explained some of the history of the RPS and quoted from “The Photographic Journal” of March 3rd 1853
The “Patron” of the Archaeology Group at it’s inception was the late Sir Mortimer Wheeler and he was present at the inaugural meeting. He said “Well now, ladies and gentlemen, my friends here too. It occurs to me it’s a little over sixty years since I too my first photograph. Rather long - 60 years ago when as a youthful Graduate I applied for the probationary post under the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments for England. Then a recently founded Institution, it had been founded five years before and very much on it’s first legs, I’d never then held a camera in my hand, but that was remedied by one of my slightly older colleagues who put a Kodak into my hand and said “Now get to work’: Well, the camera and I got to work. We were turned into Westminster Abbey which believe me is one of the darkest buildings; and I set up my camera with a view to taking photographs - a series of photographs a few of which came out - of the Royal Tombs there in Henry VII’s Chapel. Those Royal Tombs, as those of you who know these things will remember, are covered with little figures, little “weepers” they are called; the figures are Knights and Ladies all wrapped up in the upmost darkness, I set up my camera and 30 minutes later I thought it had probably had enough. I turned it off and that photograph, believe me or believe me not, was the best photograph ever taken in Westminster Abbey!
“The aims of The Royal Photographic Society were the promotion of the art and science of photography by the interchange of thought and experience amongst photographers” and Derek Knight went on to say:
“. . . the aims are exactly the same today. The idea is for people with photographic interests to gather together for meetings, conversations and exchange of thoughts to build up and to improve the standards of photography.” This philosophy was to be applied to the then newly-formed Archaeology Group and it is as relevant in 1987 as it was either in 1853 or the mid-1970’s. Probably the “prime mover” in the establishment of the Group was the Rev. Robert Pitt, an Australian Archaeologist and Photographer. He took the Chair at that first Group meeting and said: “I do feel that the people sitting here tonight should have been our Great-Grand Parents and that British Archaeology and British Photography, both at home and abroad, should have gotten off the ground at the same time, so I feel that this
I was encouraged by this, but discovered shortly that this was premature and that It’s very difficult indeed to get the camera to tell the truth, and that was my first lesson of my young career as a photographer; as an archaeological photographer how do you get this damned thing to tell the 11
Sir Mortimer Wheeler (left) showing visiting dignitaries - including Lady Megan Lloyd George, née Arvon George (front right)- around the Roman site of Segontium in 1922. Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales Source, Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr.com/photos/cassowaryprods/
truth? It would tell all sorts of wicked lies, but tell the truth? It was another matter. However, I soon learned, and I was saved from utter ignominy by the outbreak of one of those Wars, in 1914. Then I changed my corduroys for some other sort of uniform and went away on other business. But I never quite forgot this early experience When I came back from the War five years later and tried to find a job I decided I was going to be a photographer - high class photographer - I don’t mean a low class photographer! It’s much better to start at the top and work down; and that I began to do so I attached myself again to the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments. My salary was £100 a year, I had a wife and a small child ..... pretty difficult to run you know a wife and small child on £100 a year even then. So I went to lunch at the Garrick I remember, with the head of that establishment (the Royal Commission); a man Iong passed to I hope a happier world, and I finally, on the strength of Sauterne and lobster, popped the question to him ‘’What about a little increase in my exiguous salary? Because in the War of course one earned reasonable sums, but now back in the piping days of peace those sums were disappearing rapidly. Well I remember as we crossed Trafalgar Square on the way back from the Garrick, “Do you know, my boy, that there has been a War?” He’d had a happy time in Whitehall for five years and I’d been out in other parts of the World; but. 12
nevermind, I was so angry that I dashed along to my little club it was the Royal Society’s Club in those days, picked up a newspaper and found an advertisement, and applied for the job, And for some reason or other, scarcity value or ignorance on the part of the recipient I got the post and had great pleasure in saying “goodbye” that afternoon to my former Chief. Well now, all this led in the following years to a thing called ;’Archaeology’’. Never mind what that is - I can’t spell it myself now! Archaeological field work was wrapped up I discovered from the outset in this mysterious occupation of photography and by degrees I produced a slightly higher proportion of success. Well this went on - I became an employer then, I employed photographers. But the photographers I employed in those days were not nearly as good as the “home-made product” I thought. But it was in the early 30s or late 20s (I was in Wales then) I found a photographer in London, whose name I forget who had a young assistant in his late teens. I took to him at once, I appointed him my “domestic” photographer and from then until his death. A very few years ago, he was my photographic advisor and one of my closest friends. When the war came, the second one this time, he joined the Royal Air Force as a photographer He obtained the enormous rank of Wing Commander; Wing Commander photography in brackets!
When I went out to India in 1944 I found that he was already there waiting for me on the quay. He’d heard that I was coming and there he was on the quay “disguised’’ as a Wing Commander. I once more took him onto my staff - with a slight reference to the Royal Air Force just out of politeness and he then trained for me the whole of my Indian archaeological staff. I was at that time the Director General of a thing called ‘’Archaeology in India”, which I suppose was pretty large of it’s kind. It had many, several hundreds, of employees, all of them knew less than everybody else, and he took these people over and magnificently trained them. So he was not only responsible in the first instance for training considerable archaeological staffs in this country, but he trained that section of the archaeological staff of the great Sub-Continent. He was a devoted photographer; he came with me to France on one occasion and he taught a large part of Brittany how to take decent photographs. He used to gather, his station was at the pump in the local village, all the youth and others of the environment to learn from him how to take photographs. An extraordinary fellow, his name was Cookson. He afterwards became a member of the Archaeological Institute in the University of London. Well that is roughly the sort of way in which I tumbled myself tor what it’s worth into Archaeology. Now a few years ago my friend Robert Pitt came to me and put this scheme which he had already discussed with you, of an Archaeological section of The Royal Photographic Society. I was delighted to hear this and the only thing that struck me was why the Devil was it so late! Why hadn’t it happened 30. 40 or 50 years ago The germs of it were there, but now at last those germs have fructified and we are, I hope I may say so ladies and gentlemen, the fruit. It’s been a long process of gestation and my function here tonight is a sort of elder- not Statesman - though heaven knows what I am - elder something! I offer you A) my warmest greetings, B) my highest expectations. I’m perfectly sure from my knowledge of what goes on here and abroad, we needn’t limit our efforts to this country The need abroad is in some cases even more pressing than it is here. We are in Archaeological photography ahead of a good deal of our Continental contemporaries. Set your standards and it’s extraordinary how these standards spread over the sea. Even France, which has not a tremendous reputation technologically, is taking notice. When just before the last War I took an expedition to northern France to do some work there, we showed the French a great many things they had never heard of before - I’m talking photographically! It was only the other day I was talking to one of my senior Patrons in the French Acadamie and he reminded me about how we came out to Normandy & Brittany in 1938/39 and really showed them the new way.
Sir Mortimer Wheeler blue plaque, 27 Whitcomb Street, Leicester Square, London, English Heritage. Source: Blue Plaques Guy, Creative Commons Licence https://www.flickr. com/photos/127346781@N05/16388049742
Now we mustn’t get swollen heads over this, that’s where we start not where we end and I’m delighted to be here tonight, not to take part in your proceedings which, of course, I’m not entitled to do, but to be allowed to be present at them and to see the “launching’’ of this new section. I wish it every possible good will and if at any time I can in some obscure way ease the path, either here or overseas, I would be very proud if you would call upon me. You see when you’ve lived a hundred years (laughter) one has an opportunity to collect all sorts of friends and conditions! It might just happen that I know a lot of people overseas and I might be able to help those of you who might be going for instance to northern France!” The meeting continued with much discussion about the formation of the (then) new Group. One idea seemed to be that there would be a register of photographers who would be available to work on “digs” as and when required, and this is something that the 1987 Committee may well look into again. Over the years since the Group was formed we have broadened our base to include “Heritage” in our title, and today Archaeology is only one aspect of our members’ interests. Although we are among the smaller groups within The Royal Photographic Society we try to have a varied and interesting programme, and under the present Chairman, Victor J. Heppelthwaite, ARPS we can look forward to a bright future
JOHN WALDEN LRPS 13
MEMBER PROFILE
A Life in Archaeology Eric Houlder LRPS Eric is a longstanding member of the Archaeology and Heritage Group and has been the editor for many issues of the journal and newsletters.
My first ever burial, cleaned and pictured at St John’s Priory, Pontefract, 1958. Clearly there is massive room for improvement in both disciplines. Photographed using a Coronet Viscount.
I
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chose this title deliberately as I came into photography via archaeology. In my early and mid teens in the 1950s, I did try a little photography, namely trying to photograph a model aeroplane: a Dornier 215, made up from a wartime kit – with my father’s Vest Pocket Kodak, purchased in a bazaar in Cairo whilst he was stationed in North Africa with the RAF. When this was only moderately successful, I obtained a series of cheap up to date cameras. However, a little book Dad had obtained on the troopship home in 1945 had a greater effect on my future.
Later, they dug a trial trench, and I asked to join in. The following year, a proper excavation was planned on the medieval monastic site beneath the field, and again I joined in as a volunteer; I was too young to join the WEA class, and too busy with the demands of school and the family dairy Business1. Whilst digging, a number of us planned to form a local archaeological society and held a meeting in the parish hall. Thus, in April 1957, The Pontefract & District Archaeological Society2 was born. In 1962, after college, I became Honorary Secretary and am currently Chairman.
The book was Sir Leonard Woolley’s Digging Up the Past, 1930. Though quite out of date in many ways, this fired my imagination, though the library at my traditional grammar school had nothing at all on archaeology to follow it up with! Pelican books helped a lot, but the real catalyst was the television programmes of Mortimer, later Sir Mortimer Wheeler. Then, one day in 1956 a group of people began a probe survey in a local field, the Grange, and I learned that they were studying a Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) class in Basic Archaeology, led by their tutor, Vince Bellamy.
Photographically I had a slower start, beginning with the aforementioned Vest Pocket Kodak, moving briefly to my mother’s quarter plate instrument, and then to a series of inexpensive cameras, and finally to one of the first Japanese SLRs to come on to the market in 1961, an Aires Penta 35. In the early sixties I qualified as a History teacher, purchased Cookson’s Photography for Archaeologists, and married Joan. My connection with Vince Bellamy’s dig continued, and I befriended one of the older volunteers whom I was thrilled to learn had known Maurice Cookson whilst
had to regretfully decline, although the Wilsons did accept.
With Joan outside our tent at the Sutton Hoo dig campsite at the Wood Hall Hotel, Shottisham in 1968.
In the Cross keys at Wanborough, 1970 with digging friends John and Maggie Lambert.
working as a supervisor for Mortimer Wheeler himself. Peggy3 and her husband Kenneth settled in Ilkley and trained a number of younger enthusiasts to be meticulous excavators. We repayed her by eventually becoming supervisors on many of the top digs in Britain, including Mucking, Silbury Hill, and Sutton Hoo. There were few professional archaeologists then, and most of us were content to undertake digging in our spare time and holidays, so were technically amateurs. In 1967 I bought into the Minolta MD SLR system with an SR1v, and remained a devotee until the advent of digital imaging. Later, it was joined by a Yashica TLR and then by a Mamiyaflex system. I still have both systems. Also in 1967, I and others received an invitation on British Museum notepaper to join the second excavation at Sutton Hoo. This internationally known site requires no description as readers can find the basic facts of the iconic excavation on line or by visiting it, as it is now a National Trust property. This caused some elation and later some disappointment, for the following year I received a letter from Richard Atkinson himself requesting my presence as a supervisor on the BBC sponsored dig at Silbury Hill. This site and Sutton Hoo were being dug at the same time, and I had already promised to become a supervisor at Sutton Hoo; I
At this point it is apposite to mention other experiences which proved useful to me as an archaeological photographer. One of them occurred in the beautiful summer of 1959 whilst working as an unqualified supply teacher. The school was situated alongside the Aire & Calder Navigation, and the woodwork teacher with the senior boys had built a dinghy which we launched into the canal. I had shot a reportage series of mono picture of this event with an inexpensive 35mm camera called Ideal Color (sic) 35, though it was not until the sixtieth anniversary that I considered publishing the resulting feature, to some local acclaim4. By far the most useful experience was working as a Saturday wedding photographer for a couple of local studios. Many problems occurred and I had to think on my feet, improvising a changing bag from my jacket when for example, a new Rollei Magic jammed solid halfway through the ceremony. The Mecablitz electronic flash supplied, taught me a great deal too. In July 1968, after a couple of weeks digging a Deserted Medieval Village (DMV) under Lawrence Butler in Northamptonshire, we re-joined the Sutton Hoo dig with me as a supervisor of a quarter of the site, to become half the site the following year. Though not employed as a photographer, the Directors, Rupert Bruce-Mitford and Paul Ashbee, recognised my growing expertise and used it at times. I also learned from them, particularly site preparation at which Paul excelled. It transpired that he too had been taught by Maurice Cookson. The lavish funding for the Sutton Hoo dig ended in 1969, and though there was a final season on reduced money and personnel in 1970, I was approached together with another of the supervisors to become a supervisor on another ship dig. This was an offer from Norway, to join a dig on a buried Viking ship beyond the Arctic Circle. Pay was generous, but there was no certain prospect of further work at the close of the dig, and as Joan and I had planned to begin a family in the early Seventies, we had to turn it down. We dug two more summer seasons: in 1970 on a Roman roadside settlement at Wanborough in Wiltshire in advance of the M4, and in 1971 a Saxon village at West Stowe in Suffolk. Victoria was born in summer 1972 and Mark in summer of 1974. Meanwhile, archaeology was becoming more professionalised, and the old style summer digs were becoming a thing of the past. I made a conscious decision to concentrate more on my career in education, and to improve my site photography for amateur sites locally. To this end I joined the new RPS Group as it formed, and attended the early conferences. Locally, I directed (and photographed) several seasons work on M28b at Thorpe Audlin, and in the process 15
Using a Mamiyaflex with paramender for a close-up of post medieval plaster at Wood Hall, Womersley in about 2000. Photograph by Simon Tomson. 16
Photographing a section through the ditch of a C4th Roman fort near Winwaedfield, 1987
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became an unwitting expert on Roman Roads. Aerial archaeology5 at weekends demanded much less commitment than excavation, and I was lucky enough to work alongside some of the ‘greats’ of the genre, including one of the Malta Gladiator pilots. By this stage I was processing my own colour and monochrome photographs, and contributing to magazines and even the occasional book. Professionally I became Head of History at my old grammar School, a pre-Conquest foundation, though the aim (unfortunately realised) was to eventually transform it into a mixed comprehensive. Our local society was asked in 1985 to lead the investigation of an area of the old town due for re-development, but sensibly I realised (as Field Director of PontArc) that this was too big a bullet for a small group to bite. Instead, the West Yorkshire Archaeology Service was brought in to lead the work, and I met another person who was to have a great effect on me. This was Tony Wilmott, at the time a jobbing archaeologist but eventually Senior Archaeologist at English Heritage. We not only discovered the original town, but an early Saxon church and surrounding cemetery. I was able to involve a number of my senior students in the dig; even the Head Caretaker joined in, such was the enthusiasm. Shortly after that dig finally closed, a late Saxon cemetery was discovered by builders close by, and I found myself directing a cemetery dig under rescue conditions. It was here that I pioneered the now common practise of stencilling the dimensions on scales. Throughout the following years we continued digging at Thorpe Audlin, recording ancient buildings in the town, and writing features for regional magazines as well as journals. By the end of the ‘80s, National Power was planning to extend their ash tipping site from Eggborough power station to the village of Womersley. It would cover a medieval moated site, so North Yorkshire County Council sponsored a long term dig of the site under Vivienne Metcalf. I became site photographer on the dig each summer, and eventually following early retirement from teaching in 1997, Chief (and only!) Photographer to the Wood Hall Archaeological Trust. Wood Hall was run on the old system with amateur and student volunteers led by professional staff. There was time for experimental work, and time off site for darkroom work too. I had professional accounts with material manufacturers, and was sent new emulsions to try, like ultra-violet and Agfa’s new mono slide film. My deteriorating hearing was pampered by working out in the countryside, whilst my other health problems gradually subsided, a consequence of the lessening of stress, I was informed. The work at Wood Hall was confined to spring, summer and early autumn, so I was free to undertake one of the most interesting assignments to ever come my way. The discovery of a burial pit on the site 18
of the battlefield of Towton (1461) led to a dig in which I was not involved, though as a professional site photographer I was asked to tender for the job of photographing the skulls of the victims for publication. Much of the work was macro and micro utilising my bellows and/or extension tubes, in the studio at Bradford University’s Department of Archaeological Science. As a result I became one of the few people to have handled every single burial from the mass grave. Shortly after I retired from teaching, I was asked to become chairman of the Council for British Archaeology’s Yorkshire region, and I served two terms in that role. Later I was elected a Trustee, and still hold that position. At about this time, the accidental draining of the bed of the River Aire at St Aidan’s opencast mine led to the award winning excavation under John Buglass, another person who had a great effect on my archaeological experience. This dig was entirely unpaid, and I volunteered to undertake all the site photography at my own cost, which was quite considerable, I eventually discovered. The work won a prestigious award from the British Archaeological Awards, with the photography being particularly commended. More voluntary excavation followed under various directors, and during this time analogue photography was replaced by digital. Though having little physical involvement, I was asked to write the Site Photography Protocol for an excavation on the site of my local hospital; a site on which I had dug alongside the inimitable John Inglis back in 1963. I did take a few official pictures, but these were the last of my career, as in 2010, at seventy, I decided to completely retire. However, the demand for my earlier pictures is such that I still spend much time, pleasurably occupied restoring the colour images which have faded as the result of projection through the years. Looking back, I have been very lucky in my friendships, and in my long career as an amateur, later professional, archaeological site photographer.
References 1. Houlder, E. (2020) I don’t Miss the 4-00 am Alarm at All. Down Your Way, January. 2. Houlder, E. (2007) Described in The First Fifty Years, Pontefract. 3. See https://www.trowelblazers.com for more about Peggy Wilson. 4. Houlder, E. (2019) In the Summer of ’59. Down Your Way, July. 5. Houlder, E. (2020) Aerial Adventure. Heritage Photography, January.
ERIC HOULDER LRPS
Using extension tubes for an in-situ photograph of the Wood Hall Ring, 1998. Photo Simon Tomson. 19
MEMBER PROFILE
Archaeological and Heritage Photographer Simon Hill FRPS Simon is a Trustee and President Elect of the Royal Photographic Society and a member of the Archaeology and Heritage Group.
L
ong before I started at school, I had developed a passion for taking and looking at photographs. This passion for photography stayed with me throughout my school years, flourished at art college and, ultimately, formed the bedrock of my work as a professional photographer. There is a photograph in my parents’ house, of me with a very simple ‘point-and-shoot’ camera, taken in our back garden a few weeks before my fourth birthday. My parents had bought this camera for me so I would stop pestering my dad to allow me to use his treasured Voigtländer Vito CL. In the fifty or so years between my first interest in photography and today, as President Elect of the Royal Photographic Society, taking photographs has always been and remains my passion. I was born and grew up in Shirebrook (in Old English, scirebroc, hence my Twitter and Instagram name, @scirebroc). For centuries it remained a small farming hamlet but, when the twin shafts of the colliery were sunk in 1895-6 by the Shirebrook Coal and Iron Company, it quickly grew into a mining town on what became known as the North Derbyshire Coalfield. Within a year of sinking the shafts, a ‘model village’ of over 400 houses was being built to house the miners and their families. The colliery was one of the most productive in the coalfield but its demise began with the 1984-5 Miners’ Strike and, in May 1993 - only two years before its centenary - the colliery closed as one of the casualties of the 1992-94 Coal Crisis. To the rear of my childhood home, in clear sight of the colliery on higher ground to the south-east, there were cattle fields surrounded by thick hedges out of which grew some fairly substantial trees Front cover: Coppergate Helmet An eighth-century Anglo-Saxon helmet found in York. It was discovered in May 1982 at the bottom of a pit that is thought to have once been a well. The helmet is one of six Anglo-Saxon helmets known to have survived to the present day, and is by far the best preserved. Photographed for the Yorkshire Museum.
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great for climbing and falling out of! At the bottom of one of these fields there was a gap in the hedge, plenty wide enough for a small child to crawl through and find, on the other side, a ‘wasteland’ completely overgrown with brambles and nettles. It was in this wasteland that my interest was sparked in all things archaeological and historical. Below the topsoil, at a depth much less than the height of a small child’s Wellington boot, the earth turned black and crumbly. Using small spades intended more for the building of sand castles at the beach, my friends and I would organise ourselves into teams and dig through the black earth often to a depth greater than our height, angling the sides of the trenches to reduce the chance of collapse. Laid down when Charlotte Brontë was publishing Jane Eyre, the Potato Famine was ravaging Ireland, Tennyson was replacing Wordsworth as Poet Laureate, and long before the sinking of the colliery, this unassuming patch of long-abandoned land had for many decades been a rubbish dump but was now our very own archaeological excavation - although, at that time, I don’t think any of us had ever heard the word ‘archaeology’ let alone imagined ourselves to be ‘archaeologists’! Mixed in with the deep and heavily compressed layers of century-old coal fire ash was all manner of Victorian rubbish … broken bottles, pottery fragments, remnants of clay pipes, beef ribs, pigs’ jaw bones and, occasionally, old tins and bits of rusty ironwork. Thus, my twin interests of photography and archaeology started a mere stone’s throw from each other: with my first camera in my parents’ back garden and with a plastic spade at the bottom of the field behind our house. It would be another twenty years before these two interests would again come together. Sometime during 1982, while doing my A Levels at the local comprehensive school, I remember having a fairly heated ‘discussion’ with my careers tutor when I tried to explain that I didn’t want to go to university but would rather go to art college
Domesday Book (detail). Drawn up on the orders of King William I, Domesday Book is a nationwide survey of the landholdings and resources of late 11th century England. Its 913 pages and two million Latin words describe more than 13,000 places in England and parts of Wales. The native English gave it the nickname ‘Domesday’ after God’s final Day of Judgement when every soul would be assessed and against which there could be no appeal. Its official custodians, now The National Archives, have used this title since the 1170s.
and become a photographer! Later that year, I submitted a portfolio of ten photographs to the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) and took the same portfolio to an interview at art college. That panel of ten 12”x16” black and white photographs, printed in my parents’ blacked-out bathroom using a Paterson “Darkroom in a Box” and spray-glued on to 20”x16” cardboard mounts, gained for me a Licentiateship of the RPS and an unconditional offer to study Professional Photography at art college. In September 1983, while the colliery broke record after record for production - achieving output of over one million tons on seventeen different occasions - I started as a ‘fresher’ at Blackpool College of Art, studying under the triumvirate of Roger Goodwill, Gordon Reid and Geoff Clark. I left college a year early, in 1985, foregoing my final year and the Professional Qualifying Exam to undertake a photo-documentary project in the Outer Hebrides. I graduated with two diplomas, one in Professional Photography and one in Design; I was also honoured to receive the British Institute of Professional Photography ‘Student of the Year’ Award and, most importantly, I gained my ARPS on the way! Sadly, in the time it took me to gain my diplomas, the Miners’ Strike had set Shirebrook Colliery on an irreversible course to closure.
After finishing my documentary project in the Outer Hebrides, I worked for a couple of years as an advertising photographer - this was a huge mistake! I have no idea, to this day, why I decided to venture into the world of advertising. I can say with all honesty, that the world of advertising made very little impression on me and I made very little impression on the world of advertising! A few months after a calamitous photoshoot in which I inadvertently ‘killed’ the Easter Bunny (that is another story for another day!) I joined the York Archaeological Trust (YAT) as its Head of Photography.
“This was perhaps the best career decision I have ever made and was a decision that would influence the rest of my professional life.” For ten years, between 1987 and 1997, I led a group of up to five photographers and various administrative staff recording the archaeology and architecture of the city of York. In addition to the daily routine of archaeological record photography in the muddy waterlogged trenches that is so typical of riverside excavation in York, I introduced new aspects to the work of the department. Continued on page 26 21
Photographs for The National Archives, see next page for captions 22
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Photographs for the National Archives Formerly known as the Public Record Office, this is the official archive of the UK government and for England and Wales. It is guardian of some of the nation’s most iconic documents, dating back more than 1,000 years. I was commissioned to photograph over 300 of these artefacts which included Domesday Book and Magna Carta, during thi the VIDAR media project to design and build the PRO Education Centre in 2000. See pages 8-9.
This is a reproduction of the gold seal in the Archives Nationales in Paris that King Henry VIII of England attached to his ratification of the treaty of perpetual peace with King Francis I of France. Death Mask of Dr John Yonge, 1516 This is a copy of the death mask of Dr John Yonge, Master of the Rolls, who died in 1516. Other versions of Yonge’s death mask are in Westminster Abbey and the National Portrait Gallery. Gold coins, 1780 These coins could be described as pirate’s booty. They were found in the Admiralty Prize Court Miscellany. The official description of the document ‘Intercepted mails and papers Dutch 1780-7’ gives little idea of the unexpected treasure inside. No 106 Squadron, WW2 An album of operational photographs from No 106 Squadron. The ‘106’ was involved with many daring missions during WW2 including low-level dusk raids on industrial sites in central France.
Top Row (left to right) Jack the Ripper, 1888 A postcard, claiming to have been written by ‘Jack the Ripper’ sent to the Central News Agency before being forwarded to Scotland Yard. Waterloo Medal, 1815 Awarded to Driver William Gallas of the King’s German Artillery and enclosed with his discharge papers. The medal and papers were never claimed by Gallas or his family. Abdication of Edward VIII, 1936 Edward is the only British monarch to have abdicated voluntarily. The ‘Instrument of Abdication’ is signed and dated 10 December 1936. Anglo-Spanish Treaty, 1605 This treaty, seventeen years after the launching of the Armada in 1588, brought to an end almost two decades of warfare between Spain and England. Tudor Wallpaper, 16th century One of several samples of block printed wallpaper which had been used to line deed boxes belonging to the Court of Wards and Liveries. Middle Row (left to right) Magna Carta, 1225 The document shown here is the third version issued in 1225 by King John’s son, Henry III. This is the final, definitive form which entered the statute books as the first and most fundamental assertion of English rights. Gold seal of Henry VIII, 1527 24
Bottom Row (left to right) Birth certificates, 1819 Parish registers are now mostly held in county record offices. Thousands of registers once held by chapels of religious dissenters such as Baptists, Presbyterians and Methodists are now in The National Archives. Instrument of Surrender, 1982 The Falklands Conflict began with the invasion and occupation of the islands by Argentine forces on 2 April 1982. During the ensuing conflict over 1,000 British and Argentine service personnel and civilians lost their lives. The Argentine forces surrendered on 14 June 1982. Great Seal of Elizabeth I, 1586 This is the second Great Seal of Elizabeth I which she used from 1586 until her death in 1603. The Great Seal was the most important of all seals as it was used by the monarch to sanction public acts and edicts. Suppression of the slave trade, 1847 Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807 and turned its efforts to suppressing the slaving activities of other countries, often through trade agreements. This document is a trade agreement with the Chiefs of the Garraway River in West Africa.
Cromwell’s Cabinet. This beautiful cabinet, given to Oliver Cromwell as a diplomatic gift by the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1656, shows the status to which Cromwell had risen as Lord Protector. This is one of several hundred artefacts that Simon Hill photographed during his project to design and build the new Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon, in 2020. Photographed for the Cromwell Museum, Huntingdon.
Viking age coins, coin die and lead trial piece from the excavation at Coppergate, York. York’s mint, the only one in the region, confirmed the economic importance of the city. Before the Viking invasion, Northumbria’s coins were somewhat shoddy but from about 900 the Vikings were producing silver currency of a quality equal to the rest of England. Photographed for York Archaeological Trust / Council for British Archaeology. 25
Stonehenge, Wiltshire. One of the most famous landmarks in Britain, the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge in is regarded as a cultural icon about 3100BC. The site is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage.
We ran an insanely busy picture library, produced video sequences for distribution to UK and European television broadcasters, put together multi-screen audio-visual shows (using a bank of twelve Kodak Carousel projectors onto three screens), and worked on the creation of encyclopaedic collections of images using Laserdisc (a very short-lived technology), PhotoCD (which didn’t last must longer than Laserdisc) and CD-ROM. Around the same time, we began the transition from film photography to digital photography although I tried (somewhat in vain) to slow down our pace of adoption because of the relatively low picture quality of early digital cameras when compared to medium format film. The YAT was a wonderful place to work; an incredible and collaborative team working tirelessly to excavate, record and interpret the Anglo-Saxon, Roman, Viking and Medieval archaeology of the city ahead of relentless development.
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The Director and Deputy Director - Dr Peter Addyman and Dr Richard Hall - taught me so much about managing a team of creative and enthusiastic professionals, giving each member of the team the room, resource and encouragement to develop their own exciting initiatives but with an oversight that ensured the viability, sustainability and strategic direction of the organisation as a whole. It was during my time with the YAT that I gained my Fellowship of the RPS. In 1991, nine years after gaining my Licentiateship, and with a panel of twenty photographs that I had taken for several volumes of the academic publication The Archaeology of York, I was finally able to put the letters FRPS after my name. My panel was featured in the Photographic Journal with one of my photographs making it on to the front cover. This was also the year that I had my first photographs published in National Geographic Magazine - an ambition I had held since my schooldays.
n. Archaeologists believe it was constructed between 3000BC and 2000BC although the circular earth bank and ditch have been dated to
I have never been accused of “taking it easy” more often accused of “burning my candle at both ends and in the middle” - and during my time at the YAT, I studied for a Master’s degree at St Martin’s School of Art and began teaching on undergraduate and post graduate courses in photography and film. At the same time I managed to secure some really challenging freelance photography commissions. These commissions included The British Academy’s Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture, Volume IV, South-East England, recording and publishing, in a consistent format, all known surviving fragments of the earliest English sculpture dating from the 7th to the 11th centuries. In addition to this substantial project, I also worked on commissions from English Heritage, the National Trust and the Ordnance Survey. Earlier, through the YAT, I had produced the cover photographs for two publications in the Ordnance Survey Historic Map
and Guide series. Not wanting to restrict myself to projects in the UK, I began to look further afield for projects. In 1993, I was appointed photographer and codirector to a Council of Europe project called The Viking Routes and two years later as photographer and co-director of an Oxford University multimedia project, The Roman Empire. Both of these projects involved extended travel across Europe photographing some of the most important Viking and Roman sites and artefacts. In 1996, I continued my work with Oxford University when I was contracted as the photographer for the excavation of the Hôi An wreck site in the South China Sea. This project was led by Mensun Bound of Oxford University’s Marine Archaeological Research Establishment (MARE). The project took four years and cost an estimated US$14 million, recovering over 250,000 intact examples of ceramics. The project was covered in numerous magazines around the world. 27
Spence Collection. The decorations - Companion’s neck badge of the Order of the Bath (left), Distinguished Service Order (second left) and Territorial Decoration (far right) - and medals of Colonel Gilbert Ormorod Spence CB DSO TD. An accomplished artist, Gilbert Spence (1879-1925) commanded 5th Battalion Durham Light Industry during the First World War and, on his death in 1925, bequeathed a superb collection of militaria, including his medals, to Preston Park Museum. Photographed for Tees Valley Museums / Arts Council England.
My work with the YAT and my independent freelance commissions brought me into contact with many museums and galleries, first as a photographer but this soon expanded into work as an exhibition designer … that second diploma was going to come in useful after all. When the YAT decided to completely renew its JORVIK Viking Centre visitor attraction in the heart of York, I had an idea … I offered to buy the ‘old’ JORVIK for
£1 and in so doing provide the YAT with a means to avoid the considerable cost of dismantling and disposing of the ‘old’ JORVIK. With a group of friends, we completely dismantled the ‘old’ JORVIK, built a temporary version in a redundant church and, when the ‘new’ JORVIK opened, we dismantled it again, shipped it to Iceland on a three-year rental agreement before touring it across Europe. The profits from this deal allowed me to set up JANVS Design and VIDAR Media - specialist design and media companies working with museums, galleries and cultural attractions across the UK, Europe and Scandinavia. Almost thirty years later, I now divide my time between my work as a professional editorial photographer, and my ‘other job’ as Group Managing Director of VIDAR Media Group (following the merger of my original companies). The group has won many awards for its design-andbuild work including Museum of the Year, European Attraction of the Year and Global Attraction of the Year. We have even won bronze and silver-gilt medals for designs at the Chelsea Flower Show!
Ripon Jewel. The original church on the site of Ripon Cathedral was founded by St Wilfrid (c.634-709) in 672. Found close to the Cathedral in 1976, the ‘jewel’ is a small gold roundel 29mm in diameter. This type of inlaid jewellery was fashionable during Saxon times and would have been worn by kings, nobles and important churchmen. Photographed for the Dean and Chapter of Ripon Cathedral. 28
Who would have thought that the four year old boy photographed with a simple camera in his parent’s garden would, fifty years later, become President Elect of the Royal Photographic Society? What a wonderful journey it has been and what a wonderful journey it continues to be as a Fellow, Trustee and President Elect of the Royal Photographic Society.
https://www.simonhillphotos.com/
SIMON HILL FRPS
MEMBER PROFILE
Osteological photographer David Bryson David is the current Heritage Photography editor and works at the University of Derby as Senior Lecturer in Forensic Anthropology and Photography.
T
he journey that anyone follows in a career are very variable with many twists and turns on the way. In this piece I am going to look at what I am doing now and how what I have learnt throughout my career has helped me develop my photographic skills. I too have a convoluted background but this will become evident as I look at the skills required to take photographs of bones and teeth. I have been taking photographs of bones and teeth over the past 14 years ever since I was asked to teach on a module for the Forensic Science programme at the University of Derby called “Techniques in Human Identification”. The aim of the module was to cover two sides of identification. First, the development of a bioanthroplogical profile; the sex, age, stature and ancestry, but also aspects that let us know more about the individual and their life. This covers looking at the bones for difference from what is termed “normal” called non-metric variations and pathologies like osteoarthritis which can tell us more about how the person whose skeleton we are examining lived. The second half of the module looked at putting flesh on the bone students observed an autopsy, looked at whether we can identify individuals from biometric features like eyes, ears and feet; what we can tell from looking at injuries. So what does this have to do with photography? An essential element of learning about osteology “the study of bones” is handling the bones and looking at features that help identify which bone is which. This is easy when the bones are complete but often archaeological remains are either incomplete or in small pieces, often both. Alongside handling a key learning tool is the use of photographs. These can be photographs taken by students, from text books or those developed for learning materials. It is at the latter end that I started taking simple photographs of the University collection of bones. These were either simple photographs of an individual bone on a white background for easy printing and labelling or a black background for online learning resources. These often had larger margins than would be normal to support drag and
Scapula anterior surfaces showing variations in the suprascapular notch from absent through to deep.
drop quizzes. Photographs also included variations showing several bones in one photograph or a sequence of bones which were collated into a single image or placed onto an online image collection. One of the key aspects of bioanthropology is understanding that we are all different, which includes our bones. A classic example in our family is the difference between me and my brother we are both about 6’ tall but when we sit down my brother is taller. The difference is that he has a longer back and I have longer femurs. As I created the photographs for teaching I drew on my background from the University of Aberdeen where I studied Anatomy including dissection and physical anthropology, now termed forensic anthropology or bioanthropology. I actually went to University to study geology but that is another story. My understanding of teaching and learning from my year taking a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, including Visual Education which included black 29
Osteology: Features of bones Condyle A large, rounded articular process.
Anterior and posterior views of the right tibia
Eminence A relatively small projection or bump. Intercondylar eminence.
R. Lateral view of the skull
Protuberence
Suture
Meatus
Articulation between cranial bones. Here between frontal and parietal bones
A short canal.
A usually rounded part that sticks out from a surface.
External auditory meatus Spine A relatively long, thin projection or bump.
External occipital protuberence
Nasal spine.
Line or ridge Tuberosity
A long, thin projection, often with a rough surface.
Process
Condyle
A projection or bump with a roughened surface.
Popliteal line on the tibia.
A relatively large projection or prominent bump.
A large, rounded articular process.
Mastoid process
Temperomandibular condyle.
Crest
The base of the skull; right superior view, far right inferior oblique.
A prominent ridge. Labelled here the anterior tibial crest.
Sinus A cavity within a cranial bone. Malleolus
Foramen
Protuberances of bones in the ankle, medial malleolus of tibia.
An opening through a bone.
Posterior view of the right femur
As above a nutrient foramen.
Head
Foramen
Canal
An opening through a bone.
A long, tunnel-like foramen, usually a passage for notable nerves or blood vessels.
Foramen magnum for spinal cord.
Cervical vertebrae.
The proximal articular end of the bone.
Right anterior view of proximal humerus
Right anterior view of distal humerus
Tubercle
Epicondyle
A projection with a roughened surface, generally smaller than a tuberosity.
A projection near to a condyle but not part of the joint.
Fossa A broad, shallow depressed area. Trochanteric fossa of femur
Trochanter One of two specific tuberosities on the femur.
Neck
Greater trochanter and
The region of bone between the head and the shaft, most notable in femur.
Lesser trochanter Articular process A projection that contacts an adjacent bone.
D.Bryson October 2018
Wall Chart created to help students learn the names of parts of bones from tuberosities to protruberences.
Upper 3rd molar growing out of the maxilla, photographed using focus stacking.
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Medial epicondyle.
Hook like occipital protruberence, photographed using HDRI and focus stacking.
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Traction osteophyte. This photograph shows the anterior edge of a lumbar vertebra with a series of osteophytes. These are bony spurs that develop as a result of osteoarthritis. This specimen comes from the Little Chester Anglo-Saxon collection courtesy of the Derby Museum & Art Gallery.
Cleft chin, this is a normal variation and can be seen in many people including film stars for example Michael Douglas for the older generation and Aston Kutcher for modern.
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and white processing and printing and video “reel to reel” with big old fashioned BBC cameras at the University of Aberystwyth. The final part of the mix helping me was my background in clinical photography from my training for two years at the University Hospital of Wales, now part of Cardiff University and then working at Ninewell’s Hospital in Dundee and then freelance as a Medical and Personal Injury Photographer in Bromsgrove and Redditch and surrounding areas. This mix of skills is not uncommon in archaeological and heritage photography where we need to learn about the subject we are photographing, how to take photographs and what photographs to take to illustrate the subject. We then also have to take into account the end purpose of photographs, we usually divide these into a number of themes: •
Recording using specific views.
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Photographs taken to illustrate features often close-ups.
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Press and publicity, photographs that show people as well as subjects to show context and help with marketing.
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Research with a series of photographs for example before and after burning at different temperatures.
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Teaching and learning, for learning and to preserve fragile materials.
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Publication, together with written descriptions photographs help us visualise what these mean. For example as part of skeletal reports, research papers and books.
The second strand of my taking on more Osteological photography initially was the access to the Anglo-Saxon skeletal remains from Little Chester in Derby courtesy of the Derby Museum and Art Gallery. These remains were found in the upper layers while archaeologists were working on the Roman Camp in Derby. In fact some of the Anglo-Saxon remains were buried inside the remains of Roman walls. I presented some of the pathological findings in a poster at an Archaeology conference and presented at a Forensic Anthropology conference and found that a lot of the photography varied from poor to dire. Though there were a few good photographs most showed a lack of basic technical skills including; not matching colour temperature of the light source to the film type/digital colour balance, distorted perspective, lack of knowledge of anatomical positioning for photography i.e. poor alignment of the Frankfurt plane and plain out of focus or showing signs of camera shake. What was worse to mind was that some poor photographs were praised as being excellent.
The reason behind this is two-fold, firstly that basic photographic skills are not always part of the curriculum and it is assumed everyone knows how to use a camera. So they are given a camera and take photographs - enough said. Secondly, it used to be that materials like bones were passed on to photographic departments or specialised photographers. There are some of these still around but many University photographers are now embedded in marketing departments or have been made redundant and employed as freelance on as needed basis for marketing or press and publicity, so not available to work with students or researchers. This has led me to work on a book on how to photograph bones and teeth. This includes basic technical aspects, anatomical orientation of bones and lighting, digital imaging techniques including high dynamic range imaging (HDRI), focus stacking, stitching and combinations of these techniques, the use of alternative light sources for ultraviolet fluorescence, reflected ultraviolet and infrared luminescence, the use of stereophotography and 3D object photography. This task has involved all of my photographic and post-processing skills but like any area of photography I am always looking to produce better photographs. The book has been delayed in recent months as while I may have my cameras during lockdown due to Covid 19 I don’t have access to any osteological materials. I have only been a member of the Royal Photographic Society for 5 years so not yet submitted for any distinctions. However, I intend to apply via the Imaging Scientist Scheme in the near future and several of my images have been selected for the International Imaging Science and Scientific Photographer of the Year Exhibitions. I have been the editor of Heritage Photography since September 2018. I have been fortunate in developing my expertise through access to a range of skeletal materials and working with colleagues at the University of Derby including Sanita Nezirovic and Dr Nivien Speith and technicians Caroline Mills and Amelia Harrison.
DAVID BRYSON MIMI Member of the Institute of Medical Illustrators
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MEMBER PROFILE
Historic Environment Consultant, Mike Glyde Mike is the current secretary of the group and is a Professional Historic Environment Consultant with 30 years’ experience in the sector.
Avebury stone circle in the fog using infrared film. Photographed using an Olympus OM4ti Late 1980s, scan of a print.
G
wil Owen’s editorial at the beginning of this issue of Heritage Photography touches on the point of ‘what is archaeology?’ It is the 300,000 year story of human existence and the traces left behind by past people and communities. It covers the gamut from an early Palaeolithic stone tool, to late 20th century cold war nuclear monitoring bunkers and everything in between. Words alone cannot portray this finite resource and photography is pivotal in not only documenting it, but explaining it, making us feel it, sense it, and understand it.
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Biography My career in heritage was born out of my interest in photography. My first job doing a paper round was used to save up to buy a second-hand Olympus OM-10 in the early 1980s, eventually moving up to the, then mighty, Olympus OM4Ti! I have always been the kind of person who is interested in many things at the same time, but over the years it is photography that’s been the underlying constant. When I was in my late teens, I joined my local camera club. Shout out to Pershore Camera Club though now part of Pershore Arts
https://www.pershorearts.org.uk/. It was while at this club that I met up with some other folk of similar age, and we started a bit of fun going out to photograph standing stones and stone circles - Avebury was one of our regular haunts. This was where I first tried infra-red film. (Photo 1) We even hired a minibus and went on a week’s holiday together to the Isle of Lewis to visit the Callanish circle, which remains my personal favourite monument in the UK.
So, the origins of my heritage photography are firmly rooted in an aesthetic interest rather than academic. However, the more places we visited the more interested I became. In the early 1990s, I was an apprentice avionics engineer, which also explains my interest in aviation and space, when I used my annual leave to go and volunteer on an excavation of a Neolithic site called Crickley Hill in Gloucestershire. I was hooked and over the next year I studied a correspondence A-level in Archaeology, passed, quit my job as an engineer and went to study Archaeological Science at the University of Sheffield. It was here that I discovered the fascinating subject of aerial archaeology, the recording, mapping and interpretation of archaeological remains seen from the air. Another shout out to Chris Cox and Rog Palmer for shaping my future archaeological specialism!
A standing stone on the Isle of Lewis, 4000 years old and used as a foot rest or hiding place. I still love this image as it captured the folly of youth!
I wish I still had the slides, negatives and prints, but almost all have been lost over three decades of moving and life, digital is so much easier to manage! I was glad to find an envelope with a few of my prints in when clearing out my father’s house after his death a few years ago. They are a bit battered and forlorn but scanned up okay for this piece. I used either colour slide or black and white film and developed and printed my own images in my bedsit kitchen. We did not always treat the sites with the care and reverence I would today, but we were young and stupid, and tried silly images. Today I am old and stupid.
Old-school self-timer selfie at the Crickley Hill Excavation circa 1993. Yes, I am the idiot with the yellow child’s digging tool!
One of the many sites, revealed by cropmarks that I photographed from the air over Worcestershire in the late 1990s. This is a multi-phase site dating from the Late Bronze Age through to the late Roman period. The differential ripening of the arable crop growing over the ploughed-out enclosure ditches can clearly be seen.
The step into the world of professional archaeology was more like a trudge, with many months volunteering for my local archaeology unit, now called Worcestershire Archives and Archaeology Service. In an event now lost in the midst of time, I managed to team up with a retired gent who was a private pilot and was in a syndicate flying a Cessna 172. In the summer months of the late 1990s early 2000s we would fly over the river terraces of the Severn and Avon in Worcestershire, and I would photograph cropmarks and landscapes from the large open window. I remember how exciting it was, not least the flying, but the fact you never knew what you would find. The chances of cropmarks showing are reliant on a whole string of factors that it’s amazing that they can be seen at all. Some sites would show regularly each year and sometimes you would photograph a site that has remained unknown for thousands of years. My photography identified Neolithic ceremonial cursus monument complexes, Romano 35
Field archaeologist excavating in cold wet conditions, Somerset 2019.
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Orthophoto from a composite of 200 vertical images taken with a Mavic Pro drone. A string of enclosures and trackways of the remains of a Roman Settlement, Worcestershire, July 2020. 37
British farmsteads, post medieval cross-based windmills and World War 2 defensive sites. I eventually got a job as a Field Archaeologist and then progressed to a warm indoor job as the County Planning Archaeologist, responsible for monitoring developments and advising on which archaeological works would be needed to fulfil the planning regulations. After 16 years I left and took the role of a Principal Historic Environment Consultant for Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions https://www.woodplc.com/capabilities/ environment-and-infrastructure-solutions, where I am still happily working today.
My views on heritage photography Throughout my career, photography has never been far away. Indeed, like many, the camera is like an additional limb. To me there are two quite clear focuses for heritage photography and it has nothing to do with professional or amateur status, but the purpose of the photograph being taken. Most field archaeologists are proficient photographers whose reason to take an image is to document as objectively and factually as possible a feature, find, building, structure or feature being excavated. It forms part of the site archive; it allows post-excavation review and permits future revisiting of the site to see exactly how it was in that moment of time. Some of these images can be striking and wonderful in their own right, but the vast majority of images are simple factual records, aesthetics, composition etc. are not required. There are published standards for field archaeology photography, especially when related to recording standing buildings, produced by Historic England that helps ensure consistency of recording across the country (see https://historicengland.org.uk/ images-books/publications/understanding-historicbuildings/). Post-excavation and museum work may involve more specialised and creative photography, especially when documenting and illustrating finds, objects and environmental material (see Simon Hill’s and David Bryson’s pieces in this edition). There are many other skilled photographers in the profession but we don’t see their work due to the limited extent of the final published material, which most often goes into what is called ‘the grey literature’ reports that are not formally published but provided to clients and Historic Environment Records as a requirement of the planning process (see https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/). I hope that the current outreach of the Archaeology and Heritage Group of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) will encourage many of these people to see their work as a work of art as well as a record and take the steps to have their photographic skills recognised by joining the group to share skills and ideas within the wider heritage photographic community and achieve RPS distinctions. 38
Then there is the aesthetic photography of the historic environment; where the picture tells a story beyond a flat record conveying mood and emotion to helps bring heritage alive. To give an insight into a site or monument that helps explains its purpose, or how it relates to the local people and communities living near the site. This is the specialist photography of the illustrator, the majority of whom do not necessarily work in the heritage sector. These photographs grace the guidebooks and coffee-table books on heritage themes. I find myself in the latter camp. I like to photograph places and structures in a way that expresses the essence of the place or its function. I have started a small project photographing the old field wind pumps that are now a disappearing part of our agricultural landscapes (see back cover). As part of my work I do not need to do the recording side of things, as this is done by specialist field units. I still however take photographs for my job, documenting the field work, and I like to acknowledge and photograph the field staff of commercial units, the unsung heroes of British Archaeology, who do the overwhelming amount of archaeological excavation in the United Kingdom. Recently I trained as a remote pilot for flying drones and am a registered drone pilot with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). This has enabled me to continue aerial photography, but on a smaller scale, you can’t cover the whole county in an afternoon! You have to check for likely sites on the ground first before taking the camera up. I was fortunate this year to record a large Roman settlement that had not been recorded in full before. Having checked it out I went back a few days later to conduct an automated mapping flight (200 overlapping images). The site had faded a lot, but still proved useful in defining the layout and extent of the site. I am also photographing every one of the 200 parish churches from a low altitude showing the churches in their landscape setting. I am donating a copy of each image to the church to use as they feel fit. I may put them all together in book at the end, I still have 150 to do as Covid-19 put a spanner in this summer’s photography! British Archaeology has changed beyond all recognition from the pre-1980s niche academic specialism to what is now a highly skilled commercial profession employing thousands of archaeologists across the country. Photography has always been and will always be an instrumental tool in fieldwork and post-excavation work, and I hope we can encourage more archaeologists to recognise their talent and work towards a distinction with the RPS.
MIKE GLYDE MCIFA Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeology
St. Peters Church, Pirton, Worcestershire. One of the 200 parish churches I am photographing from low altitude.
Unlisted 19th century tide hut, Workington, Cumbria. A tidesman used to shelter here, and raise signals indicating the state of tide to alert shipping coming in and out of the harbour. 39
PUBLICATIONS
Journals, Newsletters, Books, Archives and Social Media The publication of journals and newsletters has always been a feature of A&H Group, members have had photographs published in books as authors or collaborators. The group also has a small but active facebook presence. DAVID BRYSON
S
ince the formation of the Archaeology and Heritage Group the production of journals and newsletters has been an essential part of the benefits for members. The role of these has always been to publish members photographs and stories from reports of events and exhibitions to feature stories and technical developments. Many of the early publications were in black and white for economy but later issues were in full colour a big plus compared to many journals and newsletters.
Archaeolog 1978 - 1980 ISSN 0143-0661, eISSN 2632-3354 The first publication was produced when the group was the Archaeology Group of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) and for a short span was printed 6 times per year in black and white. “Archaeolog” was originally conceived for those living far from the Group’s mainstream activities. As an overseas member commented in a letter 1979 “I have been associated with the RPS for a number of years now, and at various times belonged to a number of groups. This is the first time in my experience that any of the groups has remembered those, such as myself, in some far-flung corner of what was once an empire. I do thank you sincerely for your Group journal, and sent by airmail too!”
Fifteenth Century Porch at Shoreham Church, Kent by Bert Crawshaw ARPS, Archaeolog, December 1978.
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Report of a demonstration of new equipment, Toyo 5x4 view cameras
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Programme for 1979 including meetings and annual congress arranged for Ironbridge, Salop.
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Romsey, King John’s Lodge report on guided tour and their photographic experiences at the venue.
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Mosque mounds markets short piece by the editor
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History told beneath the waves, report on a talk by Ray Sutcliffe, BBC-TV producer for “Chronicle” about his work in the field of underwater archaeology.
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Members photographs and letters.
Philip Mumby from New South Wales, Australia.
The journal acted as a newsletter for the group as well as publishing short pieces about archaeological sites and technical advances in equipment and their use. For example the December 1978 issue contained:
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Editorial by Angela Clarke
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Photographing Brasses by regular contributor Eric Houlder
Newsletters These were published regularly and replaced Archaeolog covering initially the news about meetings and programmes of events but also some short articles with photographs.
Heritage Photography Issues 2 1993 and 3 1996.
Branding has changed over the years from 2009 to 2018.
Newsletter cover from Winter/Spring 2005
In the online archive there is a single newsletter from 1989, then regularly two editions per year from 1995-2009. From the Spring-Summer 2002 edition to Spring-Summer 2009 the newsletters became more like archaeolog a cross between newsletter and journal and led to the first colour issue of Heritage Photography in Autumn 2009.
Heritage Photography 1989-Present ISSN 0958-0565, eISSN 2632-3346
Current Heritage Photography design from 2018 - Present.
The journal over the past 2 years has not only increased to 3 issues but at least 24 pages each. This has allowed for longer features articles with more photographs. We are always looking for contributions to Heritage Photography and many of the recent issues have had a theme to encourage breadth in the range of photographs and stories published.
Concurrently with the newsletters, after the group changed from being the Archaeology Group to the Archaeology and Heritage Group a new journal was produced “Heritage Photography” which is still in production today. Issues 1, 2 and 3 were produced in black and white with spot colour on the cover, A5 format, and published in 1989, 1993 and 1996.
The Photographic Journal
The next issue was published in full-colour Autumn 2009 with 2 issues per year from 2010 Spring and Autumn up to 2019 when publication was increased to 3 issues per year January, May and September.
Freely available and fully searchable, a digital archive of the RPS Journal from 1853 to 2018 is available, providing an unrivalled wealth of photographic history at your fingertips. The Society has been able to digitise the entire run of the Journal from 1853 to 2018 over 30,000 pages. Fully searchable this is a major resource for photohistorians, genealogists and Society members.
From the September issue in 2018 the design of Heritage Photography was updated using the RPS’s InDesign template for journals.
The RPS Journal first appeared in March 1853 and it has been published continuously ever since. It is the world’s oldest photographic periodical and has reported on Society activities as well as charting the changes in photography up to the present day.
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Special issue of The Photographic journal from April 1987.
Terry Buchanan’s article on the photography of stained glass including some following the Yorkminster Fire in 1984.
Many issues of the journal have either featured photographs from A&H members achieving distinctions or their work has been highlighted in special issues. One example of a special issue was in April 1987 and included work by members who are still active in the Special Interest Group.
I spent several weeks copying and reprinting old photographs for a book on the History of Malvern not exciting but essential for the author. Similarly for many members writing and photography has gone hand in hand whether writing about local heritage or creating works of national and even international significance.
Examples of members’ articles in this issue included: •
An Introduction to Archaeological Photography by Eric Houlder LRPS
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Photographing Britain’s Industrial Heritage by Nigel R. Neil LRPS
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Victorian Wall Paintings in Herefordshire by John Spence LRPS
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Photography of Stained Glass by Terry Buchanan
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Lighting Small Artefacts by Terry Buchanan
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A Light Tent Diffuser by Terry Buchanan
The group has members spread widely about the UK but also around the world. Here 4 books collaborations between the author Manolo Galliano and Victor Hermida one our overseas members from Gibraltar.
The archive is at https://archive.rps.org/.
Books and photography for books As photographers we can’t always be researchers and authors but equally authors can’t do without our skills. The aim of this section is to illustrate the range of Archaeology and Heritage books members have either written or to which they have contributed photographs, see also pages 44-45. 42
Victor Hermida, left and author Manolo Galliano right, heading up the Cathedral bell/clock tower.
They are available from https://shop. gibraltarheritagetrust.org.gi/. Under the shadow of the Crescent and the Cross: The turbulent history
Range of books by Manolo Galliano, photographs by Victor Hermida LRPS.
of Saint Mary the Crowned, Mosque, Church and Cathedral, The Franciscan Monastery of Gibraltar, Of Monks and Nuns and Mirrors of Sanctity: Gibraltar’s Lost Churches.
Heritage Photography: The work of the Archaeology and Heritage Group of the Royal Photographic Society This 52-page book of members’ photographs was published in December 2007. A few hard copies are still available. It covers a wide range of members work. The book is currently being digitised and revised as an e-publication.
Inside page from the Heritage Photography book showing different cultures of archaeological excavators.
Archive, e-journals and digitisation Over the past three years as many of the journals and newsletters have been digitised and added to the RPS’s Issuu site and collated into Stacks. Archaeolog journal archive https://issuu.com/royalphotographicsociety/ stacks/3782f5b650344be1804c2ee97aa57207 Heritage Photography journal archive https://issuu.com/royalphotographicsociety/stacks/ e5208ecd8f7d49a7b1a1ef0043524256. There is 4 month embargo on digital issues which become available once the next issue of Heritage Photography has been published.
Social Media We are not at the forefront of social media but we intend to further develop our presence and that of A&H Members online. Our web pages are part of the RPS website and can be found at https://rps.org/groups/archaeologyheritage/ and our group facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/rpsah.
Front cover of the book by A&H Group members published in 2007.
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Book covers from publications either written by or photographs contributed by Gwil Owen, first 10, and Eric Houlder, last 7.
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FEATURES
Information for contributors All you ever wanted to know about contributing photographs and stories to Heritage Photography. DAVID BRYSON
H
eritage means much more than churches and includes the photography of country houses, industrial sites, and village and townscapes. It includes the photography of artefacts indeed anything to do with our heritage which very broadly is what we have inherited from our forebears and equally what we will leave those who follow us.
What can I contribute?
Our members’ interests in the photography of archaeology and heritage are wide-ranging. The journal is an opportunity for members to share their photographic work, and so also their interest in their chosen field of specialisation.
Photographs, captions, biography and intent: Rather than a lot of writing just submit a range of your photographs on a topic. Instead of a story it is useful to know a bit about you as a photographer and why you took the photographs or created the collection of photographs.
The journal is a good introduction to the work of the group and a means of appreciating and learning about the range of interests and photographic work, and the techniques used, see previous issues at https://issuu.com/royalphotographicsociety/ stacks/e5208ecd8f7d49a7b1a1ef0043524256. What “heritage” is and means is open to interpretation the key for the journal is to look at the breadth of “heritage photography” and indeed the alignment with the remit of the royal photographic society. This can be seen in the mission “to educate members of the public by increasing their knowledge and understanding of photography and in doing so to promote the highest standards of achievement in photography in order to encourage public appreciation of photography”, please see the current strategic plan on the RPS website.
Getting involved We welcome offers of help for the journal in terms of contributions but also design and publication. If you are interested training will be available to support you, please contact the editor.
Open access The printed issue of journal, issued 3 times per year and is one of the benefits for members of the Archaeology and Heritage group, so the previous issue is only released after publication of the current issue (i.e. 4 months embargo). For example the January issue will be released on issuu once the May edition has been distributed. Authors may use the pre-print, post-print or final published version of their article providing attribution is made to the journal. 46
Features: articles that combine photographs with a narrative, your story of the photographs, places and meaning. Short articles: Just a few words and a couple of photographs enough to fill one or two pages.
Technical “how to ..”: From the simple to the complex, short insights accompanied illustrative photographs that could help us all become better photographers. Reviews: reviews of books, journals, websites, exhibitions, galleries indeed anything related to heritage that might be of interest to the group. Editorials: have you got something to say about heritage photography? What opinions do you have? Why not share your ideas in a short piece with one or two photographs? Events reports: if you are going to an event consider taking photographs, general reportage, and then a write up describing the event. This could be a combination of one or more people otherwise you might end up observing and recording rather than being involved. Theme or topic: do you have an idea for an issue covering an aspect of heritage? Let us know so we can e-mail members widely for contributions. For example, trams: past and present, heritage in packaging design, world heritage sites, stained glass windows, member’s local museums and art galleries, your ideas and photographs our help and support to take it to publication. Places to visit: Short pieces about where to go to take photographs are ideal for a 2 or 3 page spread. Guest editor: We have just opened up Heritage Photography to guest editors. You would be expected together with the editor to develop your own theme or one of the current themes, write the editorial ‘Perspective’ and encourage submissions.
Themes
Text
We try and arrange features, photographs and editorials around themes. Forthcomng themes include:
The text file can be in any format e.g. Word .doc, .docx, .rtf, .txt. Please do not send as a .pdf or .pub (Microsoft publisher). The text along with your photographs will be reformatted using the RPS journal template for consistency.
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Small objects, anything smaller than houses and churches
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Prehistoric archaeology and heritage
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Military and aviation
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Feats of engineering
Please look at the website and broadcast e-mails for theme and send any ideas for themes to the editor.
What should I write? The aim of the text is to support your photographs. Text can be narrative telling the story of how you took the photographs or why you took them, what they mean to you through to technical, how you took them. The text could be more descriptive as an article for country living or even as if part of a textbook. The choice is up to you but remember the audience and what they would want to know or ask you about your photographs.
Text files should contain: •
Short title for your work
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Your name with rps qualifications if any
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A short sentence describing your work. You can use a suitable phrase or quote from your text that captures the essence of your article and that could be used online to encourage readers to look at your work.
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Captions together with file numbers for all of your photographs, this is especially helpful for readers where there is spread of photographs on a page without text.
Submission For submission of large image files please contact the editor via e-mail heritage.editor@rps.org who will be able to share a Dropbox file request with you for your article.
The journal is not an “academic” publication so the writing can be informal or reflective for example using ‘I’ and writing in whichever tense you find easiest.
Proofs
Photographic requirements
This can then be commented on and corrections returned to the editor.
Photographs should preferably be full-sized tiffs from raw after post-processing or if working with jpgs in camera, full-size jpg after post-processing. The file should be RGB as it comes. The journal is produced using InDesign so the photographs are imported then final work exported as a high-resolution pdf file for printing and then archived online using the RPS’s issuu account. Please note that smaller files might not be able to be considered for full page spreads or the front cover image. The editor reserves the right to select which photographs to include and will try to use them to support the flow of the story. Others may be on a page on their own or shown as a sequence on a double page. If you have a specific requirement for order please let the editor know using a diagram or details as to where you want photographs to be in your text. Please do not sharpen or over-sharpen we would prefer the photograph to be as taken with minimal post-processing. We may adjust/crop an image in preparation for publication but you will be able to see how this looks prior to publication for final approval.
Each contributor will be sent a proof of their work inside the issue using InDesign’s Review feature for checking in advance of publication or a pdf.
As a contributor you will receive an extra copy of the publication in addition to your normal copy, if you are already an A&H member.
Copyright Copyright in all text and photographs is held by the credited authors, or as otherwise stated. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any form without prior written permission of the Publisher.
Non-members submissions We welcome non-members submissions. However, we prioritise members work and contributions. We also will review any non-members work for photographic quality and suitability for Heritage Photography.
Contact the editor If you have an idea for a theme, photographs or articles with photographs for the journal please contact the editor heritage.editor@rps.org.
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Once a common site across the agricultural landscape, windpumps like this example at Clows Top in Worcestershire, are an increasingly uncommon site as they fall out of use and are demilished or left to decay. Photograph Mike Glyde MCIFA.
