Lisa Richards Major Documentary Project Supporting Materials AD6800

AD6800: MAJOR DOCUMENTARY PROJECT Supporting Material Lisa Richards

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Contents Proposal

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Contacting the Global Seedbank

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Seedbank Research

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Contacting Kew

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Dornith Doherty

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Samuel Zeller

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Beyond the Gardens: The Fungarium

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Herbarium

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The Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Museum of Natural History 20 Contacting the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity

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Planning

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Risk Assessment

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Project Proposal (revised)

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Shoot 1 – Herbarium

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Contact sheets 1-10/16 Herbarium

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Contact sheets 11-16/16 Herbarium

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Editing

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Herbarium 38 image edit

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Edit Evaluation

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Taryn Simon

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Anna Atkins

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Updates

64

Paper edit

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Thomas Struth

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Candida Hofer

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Book ideas

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Herbarium & Fungarium further research

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Simon Norfolk

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Bridget Smith

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Shoot 2 – Fungarium

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Contact sheets 1-6/12 Fungarium

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Contact sheets 7-12/12 Fungarium

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Fungarium Edit

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Fungarium 30 image edit

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2 30 Image Edit

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Row B - Congo Red

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Row E - Empire

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Row D - Mapping and Taxonomy

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Title Ideas

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Book Specifications

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Initial Book Edit

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Row C

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Row A

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Presentation Ideas

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Taryn Simon – An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar

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Masahisa Fukase - Karasu

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Paul Graham – American Night

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Box Ideas

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Final Presentation Idea

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Fungarium further research

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Back-up Idea

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Kew Botanical Gardens - contact sheets 1-6/11

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Kew Botanical Gardens - contact sheets 7-11/11

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Final Draft Text – short version

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Images Sequence 1-25

199

Compendium

212

Materials for the box

212

Buying paper/ printing

216

The Whale’s Eyelash

226

Extended Text

232

Designing the Information Booklet

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Dividers, tissue paper & slipcase

242

Final prints

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Making the Box

247

Final Product

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Evaluation

260

Statement

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3 Lisa Richards

AD6800 Major Documentary Project

Proposal My initial intentions for this project were to photograph the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, situated in Norway. The seed bank acts as an insurance seed bank for all of the minor ones in the world, it is being referred to as the ‘Doomsday Seed bank’ and globally is the largest and most important. The purpose of a seed bank is to collect and store as many strains of plant possible for emergency use or in case of extinctions. I have contacted them about visiting on the off chance of getting a positive response, however so far I have been told I would only be allowed access to the outside of the vault, I am very doubtful any situation will change this as access is restricted, and for me next to impossible. Aside from access being an issue, the travel costs and planning would be extremely difficult to accommodate. But, it did give me the idea of looking into seed and plant conservation, DNA specimen conservation, botanical documentation, and other seed banks around the world. I want to use this project to show the importance of conserving plants and DNA, and give a behind the scenes look at something I feel many people are not aware of and document the work that goes into producing these collections. It is often represented in traditional documentary the beginning of this process, going to other countries to collect the specimens etc. but I want to focus on the work that goes on once the specimens reach their location, deriving back to the idea that inspired me about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Each seed or DNA specimen has come from somewhere different to be protected and stored all in one place, they are back up specimens and undisputedly a living document, which form a collection. I want to photograph this and anything to do with the process, to produce a series of uncommonly seen images about the final destination of these seeds and specimens.

This project is quite broad currently and can expand to include other conservational means surrounding this idea or it can narrow down to only focus on one aspect of either the seed bank, DNA bank, or other botanical conservations.

I have contacted KEW Botanical Gardens in London about photographing their work for the Millennium Seed Bank, DNA and Tissue Bank, Herbarium and Fungarium. I believe any of these would be great access for my project and help develop my idea into a more constructed format, as I’d have a further insight into what I am photographing. I plan to begin shooting the project as soon as I get approval for access.

My intended outcome for this project is to produce a book, either hand bound or a collection of prints, which I will then get bound. I’d like to produce a book because I think it is a good way of displaying images and allows for the use of text or other documents in conjunction to the images. I am also interested in publishing and selfpublishing photo books and I feel the research I am doing for my dissertation surrounding photo books would also be beneficial to the final outcome of my major project. I think this would tie in well with my interests, alongside show casing the work in the way I feel would look the best. I plan to shoot the entire project digitally, however I will consider after an initial shoot using colour medium format, as I prefer

4 using these cameras and feel the images produced are of a nicer quality than digital.

For shooting experimental shooting on medium format I will use a Hasselblad as I am comfortable and familiar using them, and I think the square format as well as the quality of image would work well in the presentation of this project. This will depend entirely on how the first shoot goes and if I feel it is right for this project, the access I have, and the time permitted. Primarily and initially, I will be shooting digitally but experiment with film if the subject is permitting.

Contacting the Global Seed bank

5 I first contacted the global seed bank in Norway. I didn’t expect to be allowed access however on the off change that I would be granted access I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity, as travel and expenses could be figured out accordingly.

Unfortunately, in the response I received I was told I’d only be allowed access to the outside of the seed bank, which for me would not be enough for the project and not worth the journey. They however replied very quickly and were very nice about trying to accommodate me. They also gave me access to some of their images and videos that I can use for research.

Seed bank research The link that the global seed bank provided me was to their main site featuring all of the work the organization does which you can see here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/croptrust/albums In the videos you can see the outside of the seed bank and the inside, featuring shelves of plants encased by snow and ice in a very desolate area of Norway.

You can view them here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/91cz90p90inz0ul/AAC7kRRuoN5gj1OhVDU9Pjka/SGSV%20Video?dl=0 Tumblr user ohsoromanov (source: http://www.truthersonly.com/2015/07/02/svalbard-global-seed-vault-sgsv-thedoomsday-seed-vault/) posted: “In an effort to ensure global food security, 10,000 new varieties of crops from around the world are being added to the ‘doomsday’ seed vault in the Arctic.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, on an island off Norway’s northern coast, already stores 825,000 samples of seeds, which represent 13,000 years of agricultural history. The vault provides a back-up to the network of seed banks around the world, which store seeds but can be threatened by war, accidents and natural disasters.

Since 2008, the Svalbard seed vault and its guardians have been entrusted by the world’s governments with the safekeeping of the most prized varieties of crops on which human civilization was raised.”

And posted with the following pictures:

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I think these images are exemplary of what I could have shot if I had chosen to shoot just the outside of the building and they do show I could achieve a variety of images from this, however I feel the narrative alone isn’t strong enough to constitute a project and the time and money put into it wouldn’t be worth it. I am researching the vault however to show what I’ve looked at prior to receiving my response and to inspire me for further ideas. This is also evidence of the images being stronger in a sequence with the aid of text.

These images which accompany an article on mic.com (which you can view here: http://mic.com/articles/124859/norway-s-underground-seed-vault-could-savehumanity-fromextinction?utm_source=policymicTBLR&utm_medium=main&utm_campaign=social#. w2IaWvOWi) are far more the style I’d like to be shooting. I feel the insider images are far stronger and have a better narrative; they are presented as more scientific and act as an aid to the article rather than the typical images. I feel even with a small amount of text they would work well. The article also includes a diagram of what the inside of the bank looks like which is very informative and I think this collaboration of mixed media, i.e. the photographs, text and illustration work together very well to produce an informed and easy to digest narrative.

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10 “Norway is storing 860,000 seed samples underground in case of a global catastrophe In the frozen tundra of the Svalbard archipelago, near an abandoned coal mine, the Norwegian government has assembled one of the most comprehensive “seed vaults” in the world. Jutting out against the forbidding Arctic landscape, the vault serves as a reference library of last resort, that should we need it, could save humanity one day. “ In another article on wired.com entitled ‘Seedbank Vaults Hedge Against Apocalypse’ (http://www.wired.com/2011/10/dornith-doherty/) they include another set of images by Dornith Doherty, which I think would work well in a narrative about the global seed bank, as well as including other images from different storage banks.

I really like these images as a set and I would be extremely happy if could produce a series of images to this style. So, although it will be lacking in the isolated feel, I a m going to be approaching smaller seed banks and genetic researchers to see if I can gain the same access I was asking for the global seed vault. I’d like to be able to produce a series documenting the environment of this research and storage, and photograph the working conditions. I think showing this will make people think about the things we really rely on and the amount of effort put in by researchers and scientists to keep the specimens we have safe. I also want to make to series intriguing to look at so that I can accompany them with text, which will hopefully give people a greater understanding of the impotence of this work.

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Contacting KEW

I first contacted KEW in London asking for access the Millennium seed vault or DNA bank. I also included that access to the Herbarium and Fungarium would be desired too since they are also of interest. I however didn’t receive a response for some time, which resulted in a few phone calls, and a follow up email, so I’ve chosen only to include the first email since correspondence will not be easy to understand. The result of this is that I am allowed access to the Herbarium only, since they are understaffed and will not be able to accommodate me. I will have to consider through further research if just shooting the Herbarium will make for a strong enough project and outcome, and if I should continue with his idea or develop a new one.

Dornith Doherty I’ve previously looked at Doherty’s work when researching the seed vault, however after discovering their website and their projects I am revisiting the photographer.

The images I looked at before and that were used in the article are from the series ‘Achieving Eden’ which consists of two sets of photographs: The Vaults, and a set of images made from x-rays showing pigments of plant specimens. I find this very interesting that they’ve gone down both routes on approach to this project and not used them together. These images are from a variety of seed banks across the world, including KEW London, which I hope to photograph. I think the images alone are very strong and I’ve included below a few, which I have not yet used. I think above all the edit of these pictures; use of colour and composure along with accompanying text is what makes the project strong, which is something I will have to consider well whilst shooting. http://dornithdoherty.com/gallery/vault/

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14 “Spurred by the impending completion of the Svarlbard Global Seed Vault, I initiated Archiving Eden: the Vaults in 2008 to explore the role of seed banks and their preservation efforts in the face of climate change, the extinction of natural species, and decreased agricultural diversity. Serving as a global botanical backup system, these privately and publicly funded institutions assure the opportunity for reintroduction of species should a catastrophic event or civil strife affect a key ecosystem somewhere in the world.

Taken at the world’s largest and most comprehensive collections including the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, Colorado; the Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst Place in Sussex, England; the N.I. Vavilov Institute for Plant Industry in Russia; and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, these photographs trace in precise detail the spaces and technology of involved in this important effort.

Since 2008 I’ve worked in an ongoing collaboration with renowned biologists the most comprehensive international seed banks in the world: the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service’s National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Colorado, the Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in England; and PlantBank, Threatened Flora Centre, and Kings Park Botanic Gardens in Australia. In this era of climate change and declining biodiversity, by collecting, researching seed biology, and storing seeds in secure vaults, seed banks play a vital role in ensuring the survival of genetic diversity in wild and agricultural species. Utilizing the archives’ on-site x-ray equipment that is routinely used for viability assessments of accessioned seeds, I document and subsequently collage the seeds and tissue samples stored in these crucial collections. The amazing visual power of magnified x-ray images, which

15 springs from the technology’s ability to record what is invisible to the human eye, illuminates my considerations not only of the complex philosophical, anthropological, and ecological issues surrounding the role of science and human agency in relation to gene banking, but also of the poetic questions about life and time on a macro and micro scale. I am struck by the power of these tiny plantlets and seeds (many are the size of a grain of sand) to generate life and to endure the time span central to the process of seed banking, which seeks to make these sparks last for two hundred years or more.

Use of the color delft/indigo blue evokes references not only to the process of cryogenic preservation, central to the methodology of saving seeds, but also to the intersection of east and west, trade, cultural exchange, and migration. Lenticular animations created from the collages present still-life images of an archive that appears to change color or move when viewed from different angles. This tension between stillness and change reflects my focus on the elusive goal of stopping time in relation to living materials, which at some moment, we may all like to do.”

Samuel Zeller Zeller’s series ‘Botanical’ has been described by ‘Another Place mag’ (http://anotherplacemag.tumblr.com) as: “a modern photographic reinterpretation of the classical botanical illustrations produced between the 18th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Reality is refracted by the greenhouse’s ground glass and reminds me of the paper used in watercolour paintings. The colors are subtle and sophisticated, they mirror the tones found in these kind of illustrations.

The whole idea was to reproduce preserved nature in the style of botanical illustrations.”

And ‘It’s nice that’ has commented this about the project: “Samuel Zeller’s series Botanical captures the serenity and quietness found in some of the world’s greenest, man-made corners. In a photographic interpretation of classical botanical illustrations from the 18th to 20th Century, Samuel explores the refracted reality caught in the greenhouse’s translucent glass. “It reminded me of the paper used in watercolour paintings,” Samuel explains. “The colours are subtle and sophisticated, and they mirror the tones found in this kind of illustrations.”Blurry outlines of pink and green fauna appear softly pixelated and are framed by the simple, faded metal bars of the greenhouse. Taken at the botanical gardens in Geneva, Switzerland, Samuel feels the series is photographically preserving these glimpses of nature. The whole series feels beautifully romantic and the dreamy contrast of the smooth, blue sky with the bobbled, greenhouse glass only adds to the charm.” (http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/samuel-zeller) Whilst his images are more conceptually artistic that documentary and they imitate paintings there is still a strong undertone of documentary and of serious nature, while his images are ‘pretty’ they show the conditions of these rare plants and their conservation and bring to light the need to conserve natural beauty. This is another approach I could take to photographing the Herbarium, although it is not preferable.

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17 Beyond the Gardens: The Fungarium (by LONELYLEAP) Most people know Kew Gardens as home of the world’s largest living plant collection but are not aware that it is also the location of an internationally important botanical research and educational institution.

I found this video about the Fungarium at Kew, which gave me a further insight on what to expect to shoot if I got access to here. From this video I think I could make a good project if I were able to shoot on multiple occasions in order to develop my work.

Watchable here: https://vimeo.com/36422624 And I also found one on the Botanical Gardens, here: https://vimeo.com/36421901

Herbarium “Kew's Herbarium houses over seven million specimens and plays a central role in research into plant biodiversity on Earth”

(http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/collections/herbarium) “Herbaria are collections of preserved specimens that document the identity of plants. They represent reference collections with many functions including identification, research and education. At Kew, the Herbarium has a central role for research on plant biodiversity, with seven million specimens, including approximately 350,000 type specimens. The collection at Kew is still growing with a yearly addition of around 30,000 new specimens through a programme of joint work with overseas colleagues, expeditions, gifts and exchanges with other institutes at home and abroad. The care of the collections, or curation, is undertaken with great precision.

When studied in the herbarium, specimens sometimes prove to be previously unknown species, which in due course will be described and named as new to science. Other specimens, once examined and determined, will provide essential

18 research material for in-depth studies of systematics, micromorphology, biochemistry, and molecular genetics. The Herbarium is also the repository of many voucher specimens. Such specimens are the only tangible record by which species used in experimental research can be compared.”

I’ve been given access to photograph the Herbarium at KEW following confirmation from my tutors that the images will not be used commercially.

I’ve found a video filmed inside the Herbarium which gave me a good idea of what to expect to be able to shoot in preperation. You can view it here: https://youtu.be/QT8Q22rVvuE I’ve been looking at what exactly there is in the Herbarium and what will be most important to shoot. Although I will decided most of this on the day and circumstance, I have decided that it would make the best photographs and narrative by capturing a variety of shots, e.g general views of inside the Herbarium, plant specimens, scientist and researchers, and the equipment they use. I want to shoot these as clinically and clean as possible and to allow for the most light I will be using a tripod. This video was particularly important for showing the significance of the plant collection at KEW which is something I’d like to bring forth to my images, and the video includes photography which is exemplary to the work I could produce so I’ve included some screenshots.

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20 The Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Museum of Natural History I visited the Natural History Museum and discovered the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity, I took some photos for research regarding their herb and plant specimens. I thought this could work well with my project and have contacted the centre to try and gain access to the labs and archives. My project is now leaning towards the preservation of plant specimens and the researchers/the environments behind the collections. Because of this I have requested to take images of the research spaces and archived collections of herbs and fungi in the museum as well as my images for my shoot at KEW of the Herbarium and Fungarium.

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Contacting the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at The Museum of Natural History I recently visited the Natural History Museum and discovered the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity, I took some photos for research regarding their herb and plant specimens. I thought this could work well with my project and have contacted the centre to try and gain access to the labs and archives. My project is now leaning

25 towards the preservation of plant specimens and the researchers/their environments behind the collections. Because of this I have requested to take images of the research spaces and archived collections of plants, herbs and fungi in the natural history museum as well as my images for my planned shoot at KEW of the Herbarium and Fungarium.

I recently contacted the Natural History Museum to follow up on my research about their plant and herb collections and photographing the labs, however I have emailed again since due to the long wait for a reply and still have not been contacted. I am going to call them in the next few days as i’m concerned I have not properly

26 explained what I would like to photograph, and aim to shoot in the next couple of weeks.

Planning

I have been granted access the Herbarium and Fungarium at KEW on 21st March. I have been given 40 minute to shoot during a guided tour of the Herbarium followed by time in the Fungarium. I will need to be sure of what I need to shoot and have all of the equipment ready to be able to shoot enough and good quality images in this time. From my research into the Herbarium I know that there are a multitude of wing each built at different time periods and on different levels so hopefully this will mean a variety of different looking settings and light. In the case of bad lighting i will be bringing a tripod to get the best use out of my camera, and due to the short notice of the shoot I will have to use my own camera which has a fixed 35mm lens. Whilst I am confident that I will be capable of producing very high quality images and shooting at low light I am concerned about using this lens as it may be too wide for some of the interior shots and distort the images slightly. As it is Easter I am unable

27 to borrow a different camera so i will have to use this regardless, however in the future i will be more prepared and borrow a different camera with a few different lenses. To get the Herbarium in time I have found where it is in relation to KEW botanical gardens and calculated a route that will get me there with time to spare using the london underground, which I can get from victoria station near the coach station I arrive into. The coach that will get me into London in time leaves at 5.15am and arrives at 8.45, leaving me time to account for late arrival or problems on the tube. I will then catch the next train to KEW gardens on the district line. I do not anticipate having any issues with the travel other than time delays as I have done the route before and know my way around London well.

Risk Assessment Location: KEW Botanical Gardens Herbarium & Fungarium Activity/Task Assessed: Photographing inside the Herbarium & Fungarium Assessment Date: 20/03/2016 Hazard Descripti on

Sev erity (wit hout cont rol mea sure s)

Public Transport (coach and London tube)

High

Travel to unfamiliar place

Low

Insufficien t access to first aid and

Low

Pers ons exp ose d (em ploy ees, stud ents etc Mys elf and othe r pass enge rs Mys elf

Mys elf

Risk Control Measures Currently in place

Likelih ood

Risk Level

(with control measu res)

Emergency procedures in place

Not likely

Medium

Maps, phone and internet access, planned route

Not likely

Very low

Qualified first aiders are in the Gardens at all times in the event of an emergency. Qualified first aiders in

Not likely

Very low

Further Action Requir ed – if any

Actio n Comp leted (date and signa ture)

28 medicatio n Low

Mys elf and belo ning s

High

All visit ors and staff

Medi um

Mys elf

Medi um

Mys elf

Harm or theft due to lack of security

Fire/other causes for evacuatio n

Slips, trips and falls, falls from height – Climbing trees

Water courses – lakes, water features, ponds -

Constabulary are also trained in Paediatric First Aid RBG Kew Constabulary based in the Gardens.

RBG Kew Constabulary periodically drive / walkthrough / cycle around the Gardens. CCTV strategically sited within the Gardens. CCTV monitored by RGB Kew Constabulary 24/7.

Emergency evacuation procedures are in place in all buildings. RBG Kew staff and RBG Kew based contractors are familiar with and regularly practice emergency evacuations.

Emergency notices are posted within the site and in all buildings.

Dedicated assembly points are indicated on the evacuation notices.

Access and egress routes (footpaths and driveways) around Gardens maintained.

Moss and lichen removed from walkways / paved areas as required to help prevent slips trips and falls.

Climbing trees is not permitted. (Refer to RBG Kew regulations). Active tree management programme in place Buoyancy aids provided as required and regularly checked. Grassed/paved areas adjacent to water maintained. Areas considered high risk, due

Not likely

Very low

Not likely

Medium

Not likely

Low

Not likely

Low

29 Drowning Slips, trip and falls

Moving plant/equi pment Vehicular traffic – tractors, grass cutters, electric buggies, bicycles etc Work equipmen t – chain saws, strimmers , trimmers, vegetation shredders etc

Medi um

Mys elf and othe r visit ors

to uneven surface, bad cracking etc. fenced off by use of temporary barriers installed until area made safe.

Garden speed restriction of 10 mph in force.

Movement of all nongardening related vehicles is restricted to a minimum during the Gardens opening hours.

Vehicle access restricted to specific routes. Only authorised RBG Kew staff operate horticultural vehicles. Safe working procedures in place to monitor drivers/vehicle movement within the Gardens. In the event of an emergency, nongardening vehicles are provided with escorts (RBG Kew Constabulary or pedestrian). All equipment maintained to comply with health and safety PUWER (Provision and use of Work Equipment Regulations) legislation.

Keys removed from ignition switches. Work equipment removed upon completion of work.

RBG Kew staff and contractors competent to undertake tasks. Ongoing supervision provided. RBG Kew staff identifiable by branded clothing and photo security passes. RBG Kew (on site) contractors identifiable by their company branded

Not likely

Low

30

Hazardou s substance s

Medi um

Mys elf

clothing. Specific risk assessments and method statements in place prior to work commencing. All equipment maintained to comply with health and safety legislation.

Warning signage (as appropriate) displayed prior to work commencing. Barriers installed to prohibit access to unauthorised person in the working area. No work equipment left unattended. Keys removed from ignition switches. Work equipment removed upon completion of work.

RBG Kew staff and contractors competent to undertake tasks. Ongoing supervision provided. All RBG Kew staff and contractors wear high visibility clothing and personal protective equipment.

Specific risk assessments and method statements in place prior to work commencing.

Use of hazardous substances is only undertaken by competent persons.

Hazardous substances are kept in secure environments.

Appropriate signage is displayed

Not Likely

Low

31 Project Proposal (Revised) Lisa Richards AD6800 Major Documentary Project Proposal My initial intentions for this project were to photograph the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, situated in Norway. The seed bank acts as an insurance seed bank for all of the minor ones in the world, it is being referred to as the ‘Doomsday Seedbank’ and globally is the largest and most important. The purpose of a seed bank is to collect and store as many strains of plant possible for emergency use or in case of extinctions. I have contacted them about visiting on the off chance of getting a positive response, however so far I have been told I would only be allowed access to the outside of the vault, I am very doubtful any situation will change this as access is restricted, and for me next to impossible. Aside from access being an issue, the travel costs and planning would be extremely difficult to accommodate. But, it did give me the idea of looking into seed and plant conservation, DNA specimen conservation, botanical documentation, and other seedbanks around the world. I want to use this project to show the importance of conserving plants and DNA, and give a behind the scenes look at something I feel many people are not aware of and document the work that goes into producing these collections. It is often represented in traditional documentary the beginning of this process, going to other countries to collect the specimens etc. but I want to focus on the work that goes on once the specimens reach their location, deriving back to the idea that inspired me about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Each seed or DNA specimen has come from somewhere different to be protected and stored all in one place, they are back up specimens and undisputedly a living document, which form a collection. I want to photograph this and anything to do with the process, to produce a series of uncommonly seen images about the final destination of these seeds and specimens.

This project is quite broad currently and can expand to include other conservational means surrounding this idea or it can narrow down to only focus on one aspect of either the seed bank, DNA bank, or other botanical conservations. After looking at the work of Dornith Doherty I’ve decided that I am especially interested in photographing the equipment the researchers use and the spaces within the banks.

I have contacted KEW Botanical Gardens in London about photographing their work for the Millennium Seed Bank, DNA and Tissue Bank, Herbarium and Fungarium, as well as the biodiversity centre and Angela Marmont centre at the Museum of Natural History. I believe any of these would be great access for my project and help develop my idea into a more constructed format, as I’d have a further insight into what I am photographing. I have currently been given acess to shoot the Herbarium and Fungarium on Monday 20th March and I plan to be shooting the project as soon as I get approval for access to the other places or arrange a reshoot at KEW. My intended outcome for this project is to produce a book, either hand bound or a collection of prints which I will then get bound. I’d like to produce a book because I think it is a good way of displaying images and allows for the use of text or other

32 documents in conjunction to the images. I am also interested in publishing and selfpublishing photo books and I feel the research I am doing for my dissertation surrounding photo books would also be beneficial to the final outcome of my major project. I think this would tie in well with my interests, alongside show casing the work in the way I feel would look the best. I plan to shoot the entire project digitally, however I will consider after an initial shoot using colour medium format, as I prefer using these cameras and feel the images produced are of a nicer quality than digital.

For shooting experimental shooting on medium format I will use a Hasselblad as I am comfortable and familiar using them, and I think the square format as well as the quality of image would work well in the presentation of this project. This will depend entirely on how the first shoot goes and if I feel it is right for this project, the access I have, and the time permitted. Primarily and initially, I will be shooting digitally which will require a tripod but experiment with film if the subject is permitting.

Shoot 1 - Herbarium The shoot at the Herbarium went very well, I was able to arrive at the location on time with no issues and was as best prepared as I could be. I shot on RAW and jpeg to ensure the maximum use of my images, and used a tripod the entire time whilst shooting in the Herbarium. The lowest ISO I could use without the images being too dark, using a too narrow aperture or a shutter speed too low (as I was on a time limit and didn’t want to risk shaky images even with a tripod) was 200, which for the intended use of these images and the file types shouldn’t be an issue in editing or producing noise. I am happy with the amount of images I shot in the time frame, which was an hour extended from 40 mins, and I think I definitely got a lot of usable good quality images. I wasn’t able to shoot the researchers or any people, however i’m happy with the type of images I was able to shoot. I think I got a variety of different settings, equipment and work spaces which will form an aesthetically pleasing and coherent narrative sequence about the Herbarium. I am going to be writing up the information I found out on this visit as well as further research which will hopefully firm a body of informational text about the significance of these spaces within the Herbarium which can accompany the images in the format of a book.

Since I shot raw I have selected one image from each of the similar looking images from looking at the contact sheet, which I will use to find the set of images to open up in photoshop and pick the best one for further editing. This enables me to disregard sets of images I don’t think work well or are technically not good much easier than looking at each image individually.

33 Contact sheets 1-10/16 Herbarium

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43 Contact sheets 11-16/16 Herbarium

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48 Editing After looking through the contact sheets from the Herbarium I was able to select the RAW files and view them in photoshop. I then selected an images from each set of similar images to edit further, checking for camera shake and sharpness mostly. In further editing I tried to keep it simple and clean so only changed in each image the levels, straightened out the images and cropped them, and adjusted the color balance if necessary. A lot of the images were hard to straighten out as the lens was wide but I think the images work well regardless, and if necessary I will put more work into selected images and use the lens correction and perspective tools on photoshop. Ideally for the next shoot I will use a different lens, however I found during this shoot it was often beneficial using a smaller camera with a wider lens as a lot of the room only had narrow spaces to shoot in and It would have been very difficult to shoot anything but close ups if my lens weren’t as wide. I really like the light I got on most of the images as although the Herbarium as a whole was quite dark, a lot of the shots still make use of natural light. In post-production on the RAW files I was able to reduce the highlights in a lot of the images which was extremely useful for those which have windows in as I could get a better overall exposure and reduce shadows/blown out windows. Having shot each shoot more than once also allowed for me to view the images side by side and zoom in to evaluate which image I should use which in a lot of cases proved beneficial as some were not as sharp as the other, or had different composure. Since I cannot shoot all that often during this project I am very happy that I was able to shoot so many images during this shoot and was able to shoot in RAW format and take multiple shots of each shot, this allows for the most use out of the shoot and a much larger edit to select final images from and refine my images.

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51 Herbarium 38 image edit

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Edit evaluation I think there are a lot of images within this 38 images edit that compliment each other and I’m very happy with the way the images turned out, in particular I like the images which make the most use of natural light, and those involving work stations. I think the images once narrowed down will produce a really interesting series and look aesthetically good as well as technically. In this edit I was careful to only use sharp images although I am going to edit out some of the images further. The images from this shoot remind me of the similar images I looked at in research however I think they are of different style. From the 38 image edit I can see I will need to narrow it down and edit out the similar images and weaker ones as well as deciding which work well together and could work sequentially in a book or series of prints. To do this i will do a paper edit as it’s easier to compare the image and order them when I don’t have to use a screen and have access to all of the images at once. For this I am going to do a large edit of my second shoot and then print both large edits to make use of all my images. For the large edit of the second shoot I will use the same process as before and view each image of a similar set to pick the strongest. I think this shoot differs from the next mostly in lighting and the content of the images, where this one uses a lot of natural light and architectural images the next uses only artificial lighting and mainly consists of close ups and detail shots. I think both shoots will come together well to produce a coherent record of the buildings and their purpose, however i need to make a tighter edit and consider the use of text and narrative.

59 Taryn Simon - The Picture Collection

“The Picture Collection On the third floor of the Mid-Manhattan Library on 5th Avenue at 40th Street are housed 1.29 million prints, postcards, posters, and images carefully clipped from books and magazines. Organized by a complex cataloguing system of over 12,000 subject headings, it is the largest circulating picture library in the world. Since its inception in 1915, The Picture Collection has been an important resource for writers, historians, artists, filmmakers, designers, and advertising agencies. Diego Rivera, who made use of it for his Rockefeller Center mural, “Man at the Crossroads” (1934), noted that the scope of this image archive might go on to shape contemporary visions of America—suggesting that today’s “accidents” might be the basis for tomorrow’s collective understanding. Andy Warhol was also a frequent user of the collection, with a particular interest in advertising images—many of which were never returned. The Picture Collection’s content and categories follow a crude algorithm, reactive to the happenstance of image donations over time, the interests of librarians, and the specific requests of library users. The collection serves as a space where images that are historically inscribed and validated exist beside those that are not. This flattening of hierarchies positions generic advertising pictures next to photographs by Weegee or Steichen, and a Rauschenberg or Malevich reproduction next to a travel postcard or an anonymous artist’s work. Romana Javitz, head of the collection from 1929 to 1968, recruited 40 artists through the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s to help clip, cull, and catalogue the collection. In the 1940s, Roy Stryker of the Farm Security Administration donated nearly 40,000 photographic prints to the collection, concerned for the images’ safety in the face of a Congress that might disapprove of their content. Only during the mid-1990s were these pictures, including works by Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, removed from The Picture Collection’s public folders and placed under the protection of the Division of Arts, Prints and Photographs, in direct response to rising market prices for the artists.

In The Picture Collection (2013), Taryn Simon highlights the impulse to archive

60 and organize visual information, and points to the invisible hands behind seemingly neutral systems of image gathering. Simon sees this extensive archive of images as a precursor to Internet search engines. Such an unlikely futurity in the past is at the core of The Picture Collection. The digital is foreshadowed in the analog, at the same time that history—its classifications, its contents—seems the stuff of projection.” http://tarynsimon.com/works/picture_collection/#1 Above I’ve highlighted from the introduction of Simon’s series ‘The Picture Collection’ some key information. Here Simon is documenting archives, in particular the largest picture collection in the world. In itself she is recording records which is conceptually similarly to my work where I am documenting the largest [collection of plant species in the world. Interestingly her work almost mocks this human instinct to archive and record in way which is ironic given her method of doing so. Her photographs organise and present sections of the picture archives and are presented in exhibition.

Interestingly the way she has presented them and labeled them seems archival. This is a very different approach than I have been shooting in documenting archives as she is focused on the concept and the impact of these archives whereas I am more concerned with the housing of the archives. However, from this i have decided that in my next shoot I should as well as documenting the buildings, work stations and equipment I should also document the specimens that have been archived. I avoided this during the first shoot as I didn’t see the purpose of recording records and felt it more important to document the ‘behind the scene’ per say of the record keeping involved in the largest plant specimen collection in the world, however when used alongside my other images I think they could provide more information as well as if presented in the format of a book aesthetically compliment the text. For this I also have to option to use scans of the specimens, similarly to Anna Atkins cyanotypes.

61 Anna Atkins - Cyanotypes of British Algae

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(From Anna Atkins, 1843-1854, Photographs of British algae: cyanotype impressions & Anna Atkins, 1854, Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Flowering Plants and Ferns) “The substance to be recorded is laid on paper impregnated with ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide. When exposed to sunlight and then washed in plain water the uncovered areas of the paper turn a rich deep blue. Atkins employed cyanotype to record all the specimens of algae found in the British Isles. The first part of her work, entitled British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, appeared in 1843, and by 1850 she had produced 12 additional parts. During the next three years Atkins completed the publication with 389 captioned photograms and several pages of text, of which a dozen copies are known. In 1854 Atkins, possibly collaborating with her friend Anne Dixon, produced an album entitled Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Flowering Plants and Ferns. Despite the simplicity of her means, Atkins’s project was the first sustained effort to demonstrate that the medium of photography could be both scientifically useful and aesthetically pleasing.” http://www.britannica.com/biography/Anna-Atkins

64 Atkins was notably one of the first photographers to use photographs for scientific purposes as well as introducing the photo book, she formed an archive documenting british algae in the form of the first photo book by creating photographic cyanotypes.

This process involves creating prints of the plants and it arguably is not a traditional photograph. Nevertheless, the purpose of the book was to document scientifically the algae and make an archive. Although I will not be doing this process, a more modern and digitalised version of this would be to scan in the plants rather than photograph them or create photograms. This could be more effective in a book because of the scientific and clean nature ego scans, they would be on a clean white background and have all details visible which may not be as accurate if i were just to photograph them. However I am not the one creating a record of these plants, just photographing the archives which already exist, so the purpose of this would be purely aesthetic.

Updates Since I’ve been keeping a blog I’ve decided to also output my research as a word doc with a contents table which can be uploaded to issuu.com to be viewed as a book, I think this will be the easiest way to print my research and access it for referral, especially with the use of page numbers. I’ve also decided to keep running the blog along side it as its easier for sliceable links, enlarging images and updating quickly. Since I will be keeping both I’ve decided to post my progress now, before the paper edit. Each update to my research will now be posted on my blog and updated on my word doc, viewable on issue. The same information is accessible on both.

View word here: http://issuu.com/snappography/docs/mdp/1 View blog here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ad6800

Paper Edit After printing off all of the images from the Herbarium and Fungarium edit which made an edit of 64 images (after taking 4 from the edit because they were technically worse than other similar photos), I arranged the similar looking images into sections as photographed. I intend to make an edit of 40 images to begin using in my book design, so I need to edit out 24 images. To do this I will begin by picking between the similar looking images if they would serve no purpose of having multiple images in the book. For example, I am not editing out any of the map images even though they are similar because I think they could be useful in the book, however I will be editing out similar images of the staircases/rails because I don’t think using multiples of these that look similar would be effective.

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The 64 image edit in sections.

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Editing out 16 similar images of the 64, leaving 48.

The 48 image edit rearranged for further editing.

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4 images removed from the 48 image edit, leaving a 44 image edit.

I now need to edit out a further 4 images but I am not finding it difficult to pick between the images. Laying them out like this made it easier to compare the similar images and pick the strongest but now I think each image has merit and am going to take a different approach to the edit.

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From the 44 image edit I decided to pick from it the image which i particularly like and think will work well in the book, and together. I’ve chosen 15 images from the 44, and will use these to begin ordering a narrative. From this i will be adding back in images from the 44 image edit until I have an edit of 30-40 images, which I can then critique and narrow down once more. I think by doing it this way rather than eliminating images from the 44 I will be able to see if they fit in with the narrative better and my choices will be more informed. Once a narrative begins to form I will also be able to see if I need to add in any previously dismissed images.

I’ve added back in a few more pictures, now making this a 23 image edit. I’ve put in the rest of the map images because I think this will work well in my book edit, and a couple of detail shots because the edit was lacking. I intend on putting back in a lot more images from the previous 44 image edit but from this I’ve gotten a few ideas for structuring my book, so am going to be continuing the edit whilst designing the book.

I think the addition of text will really help me with the edit.

69 Thomas Struth Struth’s ‘New pictures from paradise’ display a level of complexity, depth and detail which is hard to explain. Each picture has a certain flatness, never allowing your eyes to settle on just one detail and forcing you to pervasive the image as a whole.

The large format for this concept works really well allowing you to see small details of the image, this gave me the idea to print my book large rather than small. If i am going to focus on a labyrinth theme small details of the image are important and my images having an impact is even more so. Here in Struth’s images each picture connects to the next whilst being utterly different, each has a sense of familiarity and is immersive. I think for my images to work together to make a subtle yet intriguing and effective narrative about the herbarium, and even come across as elusive, they will have to be presented in a similar way.

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Candida Hofer Hofer’s work photographing libraries has a similar concept to documenting the herbarium in that she is photographing collection. I have even found some of her images which bare resemblance to some of the herbarium images. I had known of Hofer’s work before this project and she has been an influence to many of my works however I’d like to specifically look at ‘libraries’ in relation to this project. The use of such images in a book could be presented in very different ways, however in this instance the images are presented as documents rather than part of a narrative.

Nevertheless throughout the book the viewer is able to reflect upon the complexity of each image, similarly to Struth’s large images Hofer’s are incredibly detailed and each image reveals more than the next. I think presenting the book in large format and using minimal text allows each image to speak for themselves and really gets the viewer to think about the context of the images, however another way to interpret this could be similar to a labyrinth style narrative, by removing the use of the word library from the book the images would have to tell more of a story about the building.

This is what I am trying to create with my series. Whilst Hofer’s images are more of a typology I want to be able to create a narrative which will intrigue viewers. “ Höfer’s photographs investigates what a library might be. The potential definitions of a library include: a building that houses a collection of books and other materials, a depository built to contain books and other materials for reading and study, a collection of literary documents or records kept for reference or borrowing, and a room where books are kept. Essentially she shows that the concept of a library is a diverse and complex subject. “ https://thephotobook.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/candida-hoefer-libraries/

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Book idea Labyrinth concept- a structured narrative which reveals more about the context/building as the book progresses, images are intriguing and text is subtle.

There are a few different approaches I could take to presenting this series, however for in a book it would be most effective to create a narrative. I could present the images as stand alone images with minimal or no text, just acting as a document of the herbarium, however it would be much more interesting and especially effective for book format to utilize the use of text. text can add another element to the project and in a lot of cases it will make the difference between a good book and a bad one.

One way to do this is to keep it purely contextual, have each section of text contain lots of information about the building and the contents of the images, statistical and factual information, or perhaps quotes from the people who work there. Doing this i believe is still more effective than no text as it shows you what the images are about and gives a better perception of what you are trying to convey, however it is hard to construct a narrative in doing this. What I have decided to do through looking at other photo books and series, and through discussion with peers and tutors after a critical image edit of my work is to combine the idea of information and education, whilst leaving the context of the images elusive and almost puzzle like. I want the book to create a labyrinth-like narrative, each image with informed text about an element of the image or relating to a more serious social issue, but not being entirely obvious of the purpose of the building or how the images are connected. The herbarium and fungarium archives are an important and overlooked asset to the world, I want people to be able to sense this through the individual images before discovering what the relation of the images are. The herbarium and fungarium, even in their names but also in aesthetics, are intriguing and infinitely interesting buildings, even within KEW botanical gardens they are not popular and often disregarded yet contain some of the most important specimens in the world. To the general public, this is boring, or looks so. Through this book I want to tell a story of the significance and beauty of these buildings.

For this idea i think a large book would look best, similarly to Struth’s ‘New images from paradise’. When first considering the use of my images in a book I was thinking about a book about 8x10′’, however after looking at some photo books and thinking about this labyrinth concept I have decided that bigger would be more effective. I think the files are of good enough quality for this too, and allows for a much more effective use of text.

80 For printing I will have to leave around 10 days turn around time for book printing, for which I am considering using Blurb or Exwhyzed. http://www.blurb.co.uk/ http://www.exwhyzed.co.uk/products/self-published-book-printing/

Herbarium & Fungarium further research I’ve found some more useful information and illustrations which may help to inform my text. Most of it is concerning the building’s history but I think this could tie in nicely with my empire idea.

After the queen victoria handed the king of Hanover’s house (formally king george III’s before his death, which later became the Herbarium, over to Kew Gardens, Sir William Hooker’s (who was the first official director of kew after Bank’s death) collections went into the king of Hanover’s house thus beginning the herbarium. The Herbarium began as a Georgian house in 1734, and later consisted of both Hunter and Hanover House and post 1820 was turned into the king’s lodge, but was sold to the commissioners of the woods and forests in 1823. The first assistant to the Herbarium, and when it was given it’s official title ‘Herbarium’, was 1878. Whilst the buildings and the oldest wings of the herbarium date back to the 1700’s, it was not used as the Herbarium until the later 1800’s, and was continuously expanded on, now consisting of wings build in the 1600’s through to 2000’s. The architectural and historical information of the buildings may be relevant in context to the images taken in different wings, and can relate to more serious and demonstrated issues of the time period such as the british empire, which can be reflected in the images, such as the idea of imperialism.

The Herbarium houses the world’s biggest collection of around 6,000,000 specimens and over 700,000 fungi specimens (including 270,000 type specimens representing a quarter of the world’s named plants). Kew Gardens is home to the world’s biggest collection of living plants, but it is often not acknowledged that their archives of herbaria are also the worlds largest. The archives are only open to the public by appointment, and are primarily used by researchers, in direct contrast to the gardens, which is open to the public. (information and illustrations from ‘The Story of Kew’ David Blomfield and ‘The History of the Royal Botanic Gardens’ Ray Desmond.)

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82 Simon Norfolk http://www.simonnorfolk.com/pop.html

Norfolk's series Bosnia Bleed, and book Bleed, focuses on secondary mass graves in Bosnia as a result of the war in the early 1990's, these were created once the Serbian's responsible for the death's of captives from villages and prisoners realised later during the war that they may be punished for the deaths of so many people, they secretly excavated the primary graves, where the remains had first been buried, and moved them to secret secondary graves in order to hide the evidence.

Secondary mass graves are unique to the war in Bosnia. Norfolk focuses on the largest secondary mass grave Crni Vrh, a Serbian controlled part of Bosnia. Here remains and clothing along with other evidence from the mass grave can be found. (information from Norfolk's 'Bleed')

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84 What's interesting is that Norfolk has primarily photographed the potholed road covered in icy water in the first section, and leaves any form of description out until the end of the first section, where a page of text is then inserted explain the secondary mass graves. The first page of text which appears before al of the images is a simple dictionary entry for the words 'Solution', 'Dissolve', and 'Absolution', thus leaving the first section of images open for interpretation. I think the use of text like this could work into my labyrinth concept for a book, as it hints at the meaning behind the images without announcing it. However, here it is extremely effective to put a full description after the first set of images to give context to the rest of the book. For my series I am considering including a chunk of explanatory text at the back of the book, as I am only doing a 25 image edit and the sections would be too short.

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After the second section, Norfolk's image take an aesthetic change and go from the intriguing icy patterns to snowy rivers and stream, then intersected is some text regarding a rumour of the director of the dam had to request no more corpses thrown into the river as they were blocking the intake pipes to the dam. after this text the snowy images continue, and the narrative of the book is now regarding the actions of the men who went to extraordinary lengths to hide their crimes, and goes on to explain how the grave was found. to reflect this the images progress to wider shots of the hills and valleys on which the mass graves were found, Norfolk presents this information in an investigative way, and concludes his writing as if pondering over a puzzle.

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The images in this book begin as very puzzling but with the addition of text after the first section, and more contextual text throughout the book the series begins to make

87 sense. This utilization of text creates an intriguing and immersive book, the addition of large chunks of text is important to understanding the images yet the elusive nature of the first section also works very well. Finally, there is an image index, each picture being accompanied by factual text about the contents of the images, including the first section. This is then followed by 5 images which directly feature evidence from the graves, yet are also included in the index. The choice to feature these images after the index is interesting and separated them further from the other images.

The text for the digital version of the series however appears below each image rather than and index, and definitely takes away all feeling of a labyrinth or puzzle type narrative. The photographs in the book are presented with a large white border, yet are printed in a very large book. This makes me think the book would also work well as prints with an image index and text at each section break, however for the quantity of images Norfolk presents this idea would still makes more sense in the form of a book.

88 Bridget Smith http://www.frithstreetgallery.com/artists/bio/bridget_smith Smith’s work is illusive and relies strongly on narrative and text. This is a good example in how constructing a strong narrative or theme can add an extra level to the series. Her images are relatively strong individually, but as part of a series they become more interesting and subjectively interpretative. When her images are used together in the format of a book, it creates the illusion of a narrative and makes the viewer search for connections and meaning in the images. http://www.frithstreetgallery.com/artists/publications/bridget_smith ‘Bridget Smith works within the documentary genre but she photographs places of fantasy and escapism. Smith is interested in the places where people go to seek refuge from the outside world: to escape boredom, to be diverted, transported, absorbed – places to lose oneself, where pretence and reality are often confused.

Smith’s photographs have documented the construction of fantasy and the architecture of entertainment, the function of which is to disconnect people from their everyday lives and concerns. Since 2005 her practice has expanded to include both still and moving images which address our struggle to feel connected: within society, the landscape and the wider universe. The photographs and videos often point to the gap between one’s imagination and reality and the interplay between the two. The work flits between objectivity and subjectivity, the real and the fake.’

‘Smith’s use of slow exposure, combined with the available lighting – which could be spotlights, fluorescent strips or chandeliers – brings a richness of colour to her images. Whether she’s highlighting the oak-panelled opulence of the Vintners’ Hall in Blackfriars or the Southall Working Men’s Club with its scuffed, checkerboard linoleum and cork-effect ceiling tiles, there’s a similar feeling of warmth: ‘That’s important because it shows both the vibrancy and inclusive nature of these clubs. In some ways they’re exclusive because you have to be a member, but that’s also what’s connecting people.’ http://www.timeout.com/london/art/bridget-smith-interview

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Shoot 2 – Fungarium Shooting in the Fungarium was more challenging than the Herbarium as there was no natural light and for shooting things on the desk I often had to go hand held as there was no space for the tripod. A lot of the images aren’t how I wanted them to be due to the light and lack of space. There were also only two rooms to shoot in opposed to the herbarium where I was constantly moving through different wings.

Through looking at the contact sheet i’ve selected some to edit and retouch, i’m not as happy with this shoot as the last but I think I still have managed to get enough images for a 20 images edit due to the amour I shot. This should allow for a more concise and critical final edit.

NOTE: fungarium edit posted late but was completed before the previous posts regarding the 68 image edit from both herbarium and fungarium shoots.

90 Contact sheets 1-6/12 Fungarium

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96 Contact sheets 7-12/12 Fungarium

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Fungarium Edit To narrow these down I selected on the contact sheets one image from each set of similar looking images and opened each set’s raw files in photoshop. From that I picked the strongest image of the set or disregarded the set, and opened the

102 remaining files to retouch. To retouch I adjusted levels and crop, however these mages were harder to retouch because a lot of them were too shaky or dark, or not sharp enough. I picked from the remaining pictures a 30 images edit which still includes some similar looking images and some which I feel are not as strong, however I’ve decided to keep them in for the paper edit so that I can compare them and select them against each other and the previous shoot rather than just on screen. I am very pleased with the 30 image edit as I was not expecting to get many images from this shoot and although I feel the previous shoot was stronger there are definitely some important images in here that will work well with the edit from the previous shoot. I am trying to schedule a reshoot at KEW in the next couple of weeks before the deadline in the hopes of getting some more varied images and better quality Fungarium images, however I have been told I will not be contacted for the next week as the staff are out of office. I am concerned this will mean I am not able to reshoot in time, however I am still looking into other plant archives I can shoot in. If I am not able to shoot again I am still certain I can make a critical edit from the 68 images I have so far, and for print outcome I will not need as many images which means I am able to be more selective with my images.

NOTE: fungarium edit posted late but was completed before the previous posts regarding the 68 image edit from both herbarium and fungarium shoots.

Fungarium 30 image edit

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120 Row B - Congo Red

Congo Red “CONTEXT: Congo red is the essential histologic stain for demonstrating the presence of amyloidosis in fixed tissues. To the best of my knowledge, nothing has been written about why the stain is named “Congo.”

RESULTS: To Europeans in 1885, the word Congo evoked exotic images of far-off central Africa known as The Dark Continent. The African Congo was also a political flashpoint during the Age of Colonialism. “Congo” red was introduced in Berlin in 1885 as the first of the economically lucrative direct textile dyes. A patent on Congo red was filed by the AGFA Corporation of Berlin 3 weeks after the conclusion of the well-publicized Berlin West Africa Conference. During these important diplomatic talks, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck presided over a discussion of free trade issues in the Congo River basin. A challenge to AGFA’s Congo red patent led to a precedentsetting decision in intellectual property law.

CONCLUSIONS: The Congo red stain was named “Congo” for marketing purposes by a German textile dyestuff company in 1885, reflecting geopolitical current events of that time.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11175644 “1884-85 - European powers at the Conference of Berlin recognise Leopold’s claim to the Congo basin” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13286306 “THE BERLIN WEST AFRICA CONFERENCE

121 A key question is why the dye was called Congo red in the first place. Unfortunately, because few internal corporate documents survive from the 19th century (for reasons that will be detailed), a definitive answer to this question is not possible. However, strong circumstantial evidence points to a connection with the geopolitical event later known as the Berlin West Africa Conference. A major diplomatic conference was held in Berlin from November 15, 1884, until February 26, 1885, ostensibly to mediate a trade dispute between several European colonial powers concerning the Congo River basin in Central Africa.15 The conference was one of the most significant political events of the decade, and European newspapers were full of news and opinion pieces concerning the conference and related colonial issues.

Attending the conference at the invitation of the German ‘‘Iron Chancellor’’ Otto von Bismarck were high-ranking representatives of all the major European powers and the United States. Germany was not a significant colonial power in 1884, having just established its first African colony that year; Bismarck may have called the conference in order to give legitimacy to Germany’s new imperialist leanings. In fact, although the official report of the conference called for free trade in the Congo basin,16 this never occurred; what may really have been decided was how the colonial powers would divide the continent of Africa among themselves.17 Since the West Africa Conference was held in Berlin, and the central issue was the Congo—an exotic locale to Europeans in 1885 and a name that was on the tip of every tongue— it is not surprising that a Berlin dye company (AGFA) gave the name Congo to a sensational new dye debuting at the very same time. The name was an effective marketing tool. AGFA filed a patent for a modification of the Congo red dye on March 17, 1885, less than a month after the conference ended; this patent application mentions that Congo red was already ‘‘well known.’’18 It might be imagined that production of Congo red required raw materials from Africa, or that the dyestuff was named in honor of colorful native African textiles. The available evidence does not support these arguments. The chemicals used in making Congo red and the other aniline dyes were primarily derived from the coal-tar waste products of the coal gas and steel industries in Germany’s Ruhr Valley. Traditional native textiles from the Congo River basin are typically black and rarely red (M. Taylor, Information Officer of The Textile Museum, Washington, DC, oral communication, June 1999). The marketing hypothesis is further supported by the debut of other textile dyes with African names during the same era, such as Sudan black and Somalia yellow.” ‘‘king of dyes.’’ http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/sillymolecules/congo-red.pdf “The General Act fixed the following points:  To gain public acceptance, the conference resolved to end slavery by African and Islamic powers. Thus, an international prohibition of the slave trade throughout their respected spheres was signed by the European members.

Because of this point the writer Joseph Conrad sarcastically referred to the conference as “the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs” in his novella Heart of Darkness.[4]  The Congo Free State was confirmed as the private property of the Congo Society, which supported Leopold’s promises to keep the country open to all European investment. The territory of today’s Democratic Republic of the Congo, some two million square kilometers, was confirmed by the European

122 powers as essentially the property of Léopold II (but later it was organized as a Belgian colony under state administration).  The 14 signatory powers would have free trade throughout the Congo Basin as well as Lake Malawi, and east of this in an area south of 5° N.  The Niger and Congo rivers were made free for ship traffic.  A Principle of Effectivity (based on “effective occupation”, see below) was introduced to stop powers setting up colonies in name only.  Any fresh act of taking possession of any portion of the African coast would have to be notified by the power taking possession, or assuming aprotectorate, to the other signatory powers.  Definition of regions in which each European power had an exclusive right to “pursue” the legal ownership of land (legal in the eyes of the other European powers).[5]:44 The first reference in an international act to the obligations attaching to “spheres of influence” is contained in the Berlin Act.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Conference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_of_influence Idea for text: The berlin conference was 1884, a similar year to the beginning of the herbarium, in which the dye is used. A german company marketed the dye a ‘Congo Red’ to evoke imagery of ‘The Dark Continent’, Africa, as was the fad at that time to market colours as african geographical names, because of the occurrence of the berlin conference, also known and the congo conference. ‘Congo Red’ refers to a marketing tactic intended to mislead people of the contents of the product, often people though it contained mud from the congo rivers when in fact all of it’s ingredients were made in Germany. The fact that it was a German product but interpreted as African was supposed to sell, indicating that images of Africa for dye products are more appealing than chemicals from Germany.

Given this information I think in order to make a subtle hint at the geopolital context to this name I need text that will have to refer to the berlin conference, and reveal that ‘Congo Red’ is in fact German. In order to relate this text and image to another image I think I will have to use the year 1884 as a linking aspect, meaning the image should be reflective of another event in the same year.

I could also make reference to ‘Congo Red’ being the ‘King of Dyes’, and apply its illegitimacy another king, or the idea of empire and matriarchy. A simpler and subtler use of this would be to write ‘King of the Jungle’, referring to the king of dyes supposedly being out of africa, however it’s quite vague and would need prior knowledge to Congo Red’s common title and it’s relations, or non relations, to africa.

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Fungi

Mycology- The study of fungi.

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Fungi specimens from various countries of origin, all now belonging to the Fungarium. Every year over 6,000 specimens from around the world are sent to the Fungarium to be identified. ‘ glory of the king, profit of the empire, species of extinction’ This refers now to how when collecting first began it was to please the king and slightly later profit the empire, but in modern day herb and fungi collection it serves the purpose of preserving species and preventing extinction. Some are still researched but the majority of specimen they receive today are already known, it is less about cataloging and more about preservation. I’ve worded the text this way to make each statement comparable to the previous.

125 Writing on far left reads ‘plantes d'afrique occidentale’, meaning West African Plants, in french. I find this to be an interesting link to between this set of images, which in my narrative will also include ‘Congo Red’, which is a German dye named after the Congo for marketing reasons following the berlin conference. The text for this series should hint at a correlation between the use of different languages on foreign products. The specimen is dated 1996, a significant amount of time after the 1884 conference.

The middle fungi is called Fly Agaric commonly, and is poisonous. It used to be used to kill flies, hence it’s common name. It’s proper name is Amanita Muscaria. This is the mushroom which is most common in fairy tales due to it’s appearance. I’m not yet sure if this information will be relevant to the text for this section.

The far right fungi is called Geastrum Quadrifidum, or Rayed Earth Star. It’s rare and inedible but not poisonous.

Since this set should work as a whole, and create a narrative about the relation of the fungarium to geopolitics, I’ve come up withe the following text to accompany the images. A longer version will follow in the image index but for now this is the text I am considering. The images numbers follow the order presented previously in ‘initial book ideas’. The first image of each set will be the title of the set, since the images will be dispersed among the other images it will be more practical to write the title of the set as the first images caption since they will not be appearing together. image 1 - Geopolitical.

This refers to the theme of the set, band will appear under the first image of the set.

Although not directly related to the image, I think this is a strong start and will begin the labyrinth type narrative. image 2 - Poisons and medicines alike, the dark continent carries no weight.

This refers to the organizational system of the fungi and plant specimens, mocking the geopolitical affairs involved in the procuring of collections. The last comments refer to Africa, or the Congo, being called the dark continent and this being extorted in the dye ‘Congo Red’ for marketing purposes, and is meaning that in the use of the archives marketing has no place. image 3 - glory of the king, profit of the empire, species of extinction This refers now to how when collecting first began it was to please the king and slightly later profit the empire, but in modern day herb and fungi collection it serves the purpose of preserving species and preventing extinction. Some are still researched but the majority of specimen they receive today are already known, it is less about cataloging and more about preservation. I’ve worded the text this way to make each statement comparable to the previous. image 4 - Plantes d'Afrique occidentale. 1996.

This refers to the plant in the image, meaning Plants from West Africa. The specimens has been sent from france, hence the language. The significance of pointing this out and highlighting it in the text is to draw attention to the international relations, and make a subtle correlation between the use of Africa in other languages and countries, which will be followed up in the next image. I’ve included the date which was on the plant specimen because when more information is given at the image index or in other segments of text it will become apparent the use of geopolitics in the fungarium a decade after the berlin conference. image 5 - King of the Dyes. King of the Jungle. Circa 1884, Germany.

126 This refers to a paper in which Congo Red is named king of dyes commonly.

Referring to Africa as the jungle, i’ve altered the phrase as ironic, since the product was made entirely in Germany and only used the title Congo Red for marketing purposes, hence the next part of the text.

Information from: Common and Important Mushrooms - Roger Phillips

Collins Guide to Mushrooms and Toadstools - Morten Lange & F. Bayard Hora

127 Mushrooms and Toadstools at Kew & Wakehurms Place - British Mycological Society

128 Row E - Empire text consideration: (image 5) this is the final image in both it’s set and in the narrative, it’s text should reflect themes brought up throughout, and the set of images it belongs to. This image acts as an accumulation of previous images and this the texts should reflect this in being an accumulation of ideas. I thought empire was fitting for this, it is also worth noting that this archive room is in one of the earlier build wings, dating back to the late 1700′s. in the mid 1880′s, at the same some as the Berlin conference, the network of botanic stations was established in West Africa, the origin continent of the fungi from set B and yet again makes ties with Congo Red. This would have allowed communication between Kew Botanic Gardens of which the Fungarium and Herbarium belong to and Africa. In the pre-victorian period this more of a concept than a reality, specimens were only traded minimally and ‘as a compliment to the king’. Yet, this remains a crucial step in the development of an empire.

Here I could make reference to Sir Joseph Banks, who was in effect honorary director of Kew from the late 17th century. His successors in the 18th century william hooker and joseph hooker reprimanded, but Banks had connections to the East India Trading Company, and the London Establishment. Banks built Kew as a scientific institution, but was more significantly influential in holding correspondence with botanists in continental europe the british empire. He was extremely pivotal at the centre of the empire and thought of as ‘the staunchest imperialist of the day’.

Although not all of his efforts to make international connections within the botanical network succeeded, it is clear that the Kew that stands today with it’s grand collection of specimens held within the Herbarium and Fungarium, is one of Bank’s efforts.

Although Kew may not have spearheaded the development of the empire’s resources, bank’s efforts were the first to attempt this, and create the Kew that exists today. I feel my text should reflect the efforts of Banks, ironically the collections as they are today are due to the (much later) successful building of an empire, of which he had failed to pioneer.

It is also to be said that Banks “inculcated in the British a sense of botanical nationalism which was to grow stronger with the decades and which largely accounts for the survival of any colonial botanic gardens” which is infinitely interesting as the british sense of botanical nationalism is easily and obviously observed to this day, and most evident through Kew. Some ideas: Information from ‘Gardens of Empire’ Donal P. McCracken

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‘Empire’ The first caption should be the title of the set, since there is no place for it as the images will be presented separately.

‘Botanical nationalism belongs to the British’ This is a reference to the sense of British botanical nationalism of which Bank’s inspired even decades after his death, by his note claiming Kew to be the ever-

130 superior botanic garden which was found after his death. Bank’s strong belief in kew impacted among the nation, and eventually led to the British having this sense of nationalism regarding botany, especially evident in bank’s time from his efforts to ‘beat’ kew’s competition. This applies to the image and this set of images, which follows the green archival boxes, as they illustrate the outcome of bank’s efforts to build a network of botanists to share collections between institutes.

‘The staunchest imperialist of the day could not dream of this.’

Referring to Banks as described by Robert Hay, the permanent under-secretary at the colonial office as ‘ The staunchest imperialist of the day’. This text implies that bank’s vision of kew’s archive collections has since his death far succeed his failed ambitions of the time.

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’The day is 1772, colonial Britain’ This refers back to the previous image, which in the series of images will be 5 images away from this one, naming the time period. I felt it relevant to sepate this from the previous image as it will add more context gradually and introduces a time period.

132 ‘A compliment to the king, yet Victoria’s bounty.’

This refers to implies that Queen Victoria’s bounty is the many collections of kew, as a result of the effort Bank’s made.Originally Bank’s intended on setting up the network of botanists as a compliment to the king, his plan originally failed and the botanical gardens did not make any huge developments in trade until the mid victorian era, when bank’s plans were finally paying off. The amount of Botanical gardens rose vastly throughout the Victorian era but not as a result of the queens efforts, and more of long due result of banks’. This also refers to the ship Bank’s organized to go on a 10 month voyage, carrying breadfruit to feed the slaves after a wheat shortage. The ship was named ‘Bounty’, and due to all of the breadfruit needing to be accommodated in the captains quarters because of the conditions, the captain had to share quarters with the crew. After arriving at the paradisaical location many of the crew wished not to return, which led to a mutiny on the bounty leaving the captain in the middle of the pacific. This reflected badly on Banks and acts and another example of his failed attempts to grow the empire. Again, the ship Bounty is not directly related to Queen Victoria but it does have ties with Banks, and with kew.

A year after this expedition captain Bligh repeated the expedition with a new ship, again suggested by banks as an attempt to reprimand for his failure. This time, the expedition was a huge success, and further more the ship returned to present Banks with the biggest collection of new species Kew had ever received, later to be catalouged and stored in the Herbarium. Never the less the Bounty would not be forgotten, and in the other sense of the word banks’ tireless efforts paid off only to serve Victoria in later years.

William hooker, the first official director of Kew and the director following Banks after both his and the King’s death, launched the building of the Herbarium. It was a realization of Banks plans for the garden, and of his intentions to collect all of the plants across the world as a comliment to the king who had hired him, yet the actualisation of such became Hooker’s success, and Queen Victoria’s ‘bounty’ as such. (information from various sources: ‘Cruickshank on Kew: The garden that changed the wold’, ‘Gardens of Empire’ Donal P. McCracken, and ‘An Empire of Plants’ Toby and Will Mustgrave) ‘A compliment to the king, yet Victoria’s bounty.’

This refers to implies that Queen Victoria’s bounty is the many collections of kew, as a result of the effort Bank’s made.Originally Bank’s intended on setting up the network of botanists as a compliment to the king, his plan originally failed and the botanical gardens did not make any huge developments in trade until the mid victorian era, when bank’s plans were finally paying off. The amount of Botanical gardens rose vastly throughout the Victorian era but not as a result of the queens efforts, and more of long due result of banks’. This also refers to the ship Bank’s organized to go on a 10 month voyage, carrying breadfruit to feed the slaves after a wheat shortage. The ship was named ‘Bounty’, and due to all of the breadfruit needing to be accommodated in the captains quarters because of the conditions, the

133 captain had to share quarters with the crew. After arriving at the paradisaical location many of the crew wished not to return, which led to a mutiny on the bounty leaving the captain in the middle of the pacific. This reflected badly on Banks and acts and another example of his failed attempts to grow the empire. Again, the ship Bounty is not directly related to Queen Victoria but it does have ties with Banks, and with kew.

A year after this expedition captain Bligh repeated the expedition with a new ship, again suggested by banks as an attempt to reprimand for his failure. This time, the expedition was a huge success, and further more the ship returned to present Banks with the biggest collection of new species Kew had ever received, later to be catalouged and stored in the Herbarium. Never the less the Bounty would not be forgotten, and in the other sense of the word banks’ tireless efforts paid off only to serve Victoria in later years.

William hooker, the first official director of Kew and the director following Banks after both his and the King’s death, launched the building of the Herbarium. It was a realization of Banks plans for the garden, and of his intentions to collect all of the plants across the world as a comliment to the king who had hired him, yet the actualisation of such became Hooker’s success, and Queen Victoria’s ‘bounty’ as such. (information from various sources: ‘Cruickshank on Kew: The garden that changed the wold’, ‘Gardens of Empire’ Donal P. McCracken, and ‘An Empire of Plants’ Toby and Will Mustgrave)

Row D - Mapping and Taxonomy

http://vm136.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/vegmaps.html https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF8#q=the%20use%20of%20maps%20in%20herbarium

134 The use of maps within the herbarium and fungarium is for the purpose of identifying geographic regions which the specimens are from and organizing the files systematically. I found whilst photographing that seeing maps were quite a common occurrence, and some more obviously than not. I don’t want this text to be over complex as some of the other text is more so, so I just want to write about the use of maps and their importance in the herbarium, I do however still want each image to have more context than the last, and each to have different text. the use of maps are different in each photographs so the text should reflect this.

When zoomed in, the text on the maps is visible. I purposely want to present the whole image though, so a simple idea would be to copy the text. For example, the zoomed in image above shows use how the maps are used. This will not be obvious in the photograph unless printed very big, so I could use this text as the caption. It reads ‘ geogrpahical regions used in the herbarium’ and the index card on the locker to the left reads ‘ 89. zingiberaceae, 22. alpinia, Area 6E, Area 6E’ this refers to the plant specimen, not the geographic location. On the map in sections then are the reference numbers to the areas, so in this example 6E. Interestingly the rest of the lockers are also labeled ‘ 89. zingiberaceae, 22. alpinia’ but their geographic regions change, suggesting that there are a multitude of specimens, all the same, harvested from different regions.

However, the labels do not make reference to in which countries these regions lie, and the only markings on the maps show the area number. I find this organization of specimens interesting, they not only assign each specimen to a number but refer to it only as its numerical value. for example, this specimens refers to the most taxonomically complex genus in the Zingiberaceae, the ginger family of plants. Yet here all that is relevant is it’s geographic region, and number. The mere fact that this system of organization is necessary shows the grand scale of the herbarium’s collection and the importance of the specimens here is undervalued.

For text for this image I want to keep it relatively simple and will in the extended text explain the organizational system, as i feel it is important to the success of the herbarium. for the text which will accompany the image i am considering ‘ the largest, most widespread, and most taxonomically complex genus in the Zingiberaceae, ginger family of plants. Also known as 89. 22. ‘ I may simplify this further to ‘89. 22.’ and leave the rest for the extended text in the citation.

For another caption I am considering simply the definition of the word taxonomy ‘Taxonomy: the science or technique of classification.’ this fits perfectly within the set, or could even be used as the title and would be presented as just ‘taxonomy’, with a citation to extended text. I’ve also used the word taxonomically in another caption, which will be at least 5 images away from this image, so will either go on to explain it or act as a foreshadow, as i’ve done in other sets.

The 2nd image is obvious the set is about map’s, but i simply want to caption it ‘Red’ drawing attention to the labeling system (as there is one card in the image which is red, containing the details of the specimens) and drawing attention to the red lines used on the map to segregate the areas. This will be explained in the extended text.

The 4th image in the set isn’t directly related to mapping but since this set is about categorization as well, and contain a lot of numbers, it fits right in. For this image I want to draw attention again to the organization system, for the fungarium is a bit different. The box is labeled ‘2.1.13.9.7 Leucoagaricus s-z’. which refers to a type of

135 mushroom. To the left of this box on a work station is a large bag filled with many, unorganized, specimens in envelopes. These are yet to be sorted and are currently organized with titles like ‘p1047′ and ‘p1118′ and each have a small label attached.

The large bags are also marked as if they have been posted. I want to caption this image ‘a mycologists mail’ as it is seemingly their work load in a bag. I’m not sure if this is in keeping with the theme of numerical organization but i feel it fitting the image never less.

The final image in this set features many archive boxed prepped to be sent to otehr botanical institutes, along with a map and a records sheet reading ‘ targeted species collection guide. For the Millennium Seed bank project and Herbarium, Kew.’ For this image I simply want to transcribe what;s on the boxes ‘ SEND TO: Africa & Madagascar Team.’ and leave the rest fro the extended text. This also links back to a lot of other images referring to Africa and the Herbarium and Kew’s ties to the continent.

‘Taxonomy’

136

‘Red’

‘A mycologist’s mail’

137

’89.22’

‘SEND TO: Africa & Madagascar Team.’

138 Title Ideas I’ve been trying to think of a title for my series, although there are many more sections of text throuhgout my project which would make suitable titles, these are the ones i’m favouring. congo red (metaphorical) deriving from the use of the title ‘Congo red’ for dye for marketing purposes to provoke images of the dark content / to fit in with a fad… e.g the use of the live plant collection at kew to entice the general public / to support herbarium/fungarium research and archiving I like this one because it repeating it’s message within the series, howeve ri’m not sure if this is an advantage. The meaning behind it is strong although the truth is slightly stretched, and I think it may be better to go with a title that is more relative to the entire series of images.

Compendium noun, plural compendiums, compendia [kuh m-pen-dee-uh] (Show IPA) 1. a brief treatment or account of a subject, especially an extensive subject; concise treatise This is the title I think I am going to go with because it encompasses all of the attributes of the herbarium and fungarium without directly mentioning either, it’s a good summery of both the project and the herbarium system for recording information.

Book specifications/ change of design ideas For making a book edit I first re-looked at all of the selected 25 images, then retouched any relevant. I checked that they were all the same size and resolution too. This retouch included flipping images if they were too similar to another in the set, adjusting crop and colour, and straightening images. Once the images were adjusted I began by getting the specifications of page sizes from Blurb. I have already decided that if this project is to be in book format it will have to be through blurb or hand bound, as other companies are far too expensive.

For this i was only left with one option, since I think this book will look best as a softcover and it will need to be landscape I selected the biggest option available, which wasn’t very big. Nevertheless, I used the specification in in design the make a mock book. Firstly I created a document which fit the specifications of blurb, I put an image full bleed in the printable area and one behind it in the non-printable area, i repeat the same on a double page spread with margins and gutter, but put the image on separate pages. I tried using the blurb uploaded on which it shows clearly which areas will be printed, to check that any images or text I put in those guidelines will not be stretched and will be printed. This was useful as the first time I tried I have to re size the document, a task which would be very tedious if i had already created the book to size. Once i had gotten a template which was perfectly sized and i had the guidelines on in design of the printable areas, I then began to try out different ways of designing my book. Immediately, I saw an issue. The only landscape option on Blurb has page sizes which are almost square. My images were shot on a cropped sensor

139 and very landscape. I was not willing to crop my images in order to get them to fit full bleed on the page, so i tried putting on a border. This didn’t look very good, so i began to think of different book presentations I could still do through blurb. I could do the images in an actual square book, in which the images would have to be with a border but there will be plenty of room at the bottom fro text. Or, I could do the book in portrait and present each page similarly to a window mounted page or herbaria sheet, with the image bordered at the top and text at the bottom. Both of these however seemed like a compromised version of my series.

The next option would to be hand make the book, order a set of prints and bind them myself. So, for this I began to mock up designs for prints. This looked much better and I even considered the use of text on these pages as pictures above. This would work exactly the same as my previous idea for the book except the pages would be custom sizes. My options now have broadened, I could present the book to open horizontally rather than vertically, and i can consider different binding options. Or, I could present a box of prints.

140

141

Initial Book Edit

142

For my book edit before incorporating the text I wanted to establish an order of pictures which involved a pattern, however given the labyrinth aspect of the book I decided to include a systemic method of creating a sequence, this can also related to the themes archiving.

I began with my 30 image edit and tried to develop a small narrative of image which looked good together, initially this was image 1, 2 and 8, which was later substituted for 3. Once I had those initial images I was able to find similar images and create a linear pattern of similar looking images, in a similar way to how i did my first paper edit. At first i began with row A, B and C, and tried to find images similar in one aspect. For row A I began with an establishing image, then followed with another which within it contained a stool, the next image was a very different image of that stool, and the next another image with a similar looking stool, and finally an image which is aesthetically very similar to the previous two (and contained an object which would introduce column 5). Since I was aware these images, even as part of a set, would be distributed through the book and not directly next to each other it was easier to pick linking pictures. For row B I picked all detail shots of key information, for example the fungi contained within the fungarium and the dye used for preservation. These images are all similar looking due to their close up nature and

143 provide interesting breaks in the book (every 5 images as with the rest of the pattern after distribution of rows and columns). Row C is of chairs and work spaces, these images are not particularly close up nor detail shots and are all of work spaces within the herbarium, primarily invoking chairs. You can notice a lot of similarity in this set and it works well with the labyrinth idea, and similarly to row A, as often it may feel like images are repeating themselves when they are not. Row D involves maps and lamps, alternating and one images crossing themes, again this works well because of their similarities. Even within the set the images are alternating, meaning only 1 every 10 images, so although here we see them together they will be distributed in the book. Row E is the most interesting one, the set comprises of green boxes and are primarily full room shots, each a different scene leading up to the final image featuring the most archival boxes. This theme is present throughout all the sets but most so in this one. I find it interesting as it has a narrative within the ultimate narrative, although all of the rows hint at a different narrative and all combine to create a puzzle-like series of images.

After explaining the rows it is important to know that the images will be presented in numerical order, as can be seen through the columns. I’ve done this to distribute the images and create a pattern in images, each will have a different narrative and a different set of text that you can follow through the index of the book using reference numbers. to do this I’ve had to reorder the rows a lot until I finally came up with this sequence to make sure that whilst each row makes sense each column also looks good together and the images follow on from each other well, including the last and first images from each column. I did all of this first in physical form using a paper edit which really helped me visualize the images together and the sequencing. https://issuu.com/snappography/docs/draft_1 The initial book edit does not yet include text as i’m still deciding whether to present my series in a book or in a set of prints, regardless for the layout of the text i’ve decided rather than putting the text on the page or on an opposite page, I am going to present each image with a small white border and a reference number, similarly to the style of citations, and have the text listed in the back. This will serve multiple purposes: cleaner design, a more archival style, and it will allow the viewer to figure out the ‘puzzle’ of the book or think of their own ideas before finding out to context, and flipping back through. Alternatively, the viewer could read the text first and imagine the content of the images in relation to the text. Each text will be between a couple of words and a couple of sentences long, not overly descriptive but will establish a link between the photographs to each other and to political, social or historical information.

Similarly presented books which have inspired me are Walker Evan’s American photographs and Robert Frank’s The Americans, however I’ve developed their defencing system not just to indicate the title of the photograph with minimal description but create a more intriguing narrative. Whereas Evans segmented his book and put the reference text between segments, and numbered the pages on the opposite page, I will ply be making a 25-30 image edit so will have all of the text at the back. I also think it looks better for the reference number to be very small, similar to citations and footnotes, and on the same page of the image. This would work well for both a book presentation or prints, given that each image has a border.

144

(From ‘American Photographs’ Walker Evans)

145 Row C The expansion of Kew’s herbarium. This set focuses on the expansions and additions of signs there have been since 1852, of which there have been 6. The need for more space grows as does the collections, or as Professor Stephen Hopper, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, says, “Kew’s preserved plant and fungal collection is still growing by tens of thousands of specimens each year, which means that every 40 years or so we need more space. There have been six extensions since 1852 and this latest extension is sorely needed because our storage space is under extreme pressure. The extension of the Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives building is vital for Kew to retain its internationally pre-eminent position as the world’s leading centre for the study of plant diversity and to support hands-on-conservation.

Conservation programmes around the world depend fundamentally on the systematics and taxonomy expertise of Kew’s Herbarium staff and its world-leading collections. In a time of increasing loss of biodiversity and climate change, having the tools and knowledge to manage these issues is now more important than ever and it is vital that these areas of botanical science continue to be adequately funded and supported.” http://www.kew.org/about/press-media/press-releases/kew’s-historic-herbariumopens-new-wing-international-year This is also an important part of the herbarium as well as the research spaces and work spaces, which are often to be found overcrowded by herbarium sheets. More so, the purpose of the herbarium in recent years has shifted from the the days of the british empire, now to the protection of plant species, which was an issue touched in in the last set. This set will further examine this.

To highlight the herbariums role in the climate change and the loss of biodiversity I want to incorporate this into the text, presenting images of the work spaces in the herbarium’s newest wing as examples of these much needed work spaces.

‘The oldest part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s existing Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives was established in 1852 by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s first director, Sir William Hooker, as a safe home for preserved plant specimens from all over world. For the next 150 years, right up to the present day, string-tied parcels have arrived from remote and exotic parts of the world. These are sent by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s own scientists and by global partners who are still exploring for undiscovered, as well as threatened plants.’

I find this interesting and I think i can reword it to connect to some of the images in this set.

‘The new wing extends the capacity of the Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives by about 40 years, providing climate-controlled storage and adjacent study areas.’

‘Taxonomy and systematics (sometimes referred to collectively as systematic biology) are essential for the wellbeing of people and the planet. They underpin conservation by providing an inventory of biodiversity and therefore the fundamental knowledge base from which effective action plans can be developed. For example, to restore habitats and repair associated ecosystems, you first have to plant appropriate species’ ‘Despite the fundamental importance of taxonomy and systematics, resources to support these disciplines are insufficient, and greater funding and increased training

146 is needed in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Baseline knowledge is still required to prioritise the most threatened species and those most relevant to human livelihoods and well being’ http://www.bdonline.co.uk/new-wing-to-kews-herbarium-opens/5006385.article

‘Economic Botany and Mycology’ This mean the interaction between people and plant and the study of fungi. rather self explanatory, however i’ve included it as an introduction to the set and to make people think about another aspect to the herbarium: economics.

147 ‘Systematic biology has little power’ this refers to the efforts of Kew researchers to mitigate climate change and help with the biodiversity issue, however there is an urgent need for more funding. This wing of the herbarium was build to help combat that problem and give researchers more space and be able to organise the specimens better, however the money is insufficient. This leads onto the next image i the set, which in the final set of images will appear 5 images away from this one.

‘Money is power’ This leads on from the last image in the set, and explains and adds more context to it. i feel the impotence of involving the word power here is crucial as without funding perfectly able researchers will not be able to do wt they are capable of to help combat climate change issues, thus the lack of funds is restricting our power to understand the economic issues of our time. I chose to use this text with this image as i feel the covered up microscope symbolises the disuse of the available resources.

148

‘15°C: Herbarium beetle’ a somewhat odd yet important reference to the new wing being kept at a constant temperature of 15 degrees to avoid one of the herbariums biggest threats, the herbarium beetle. I felt this should be in this set as the set also addressed other current threats and i found this one slightly comical, however it also exemplifies the amount of attention to detail needed in order to keep records and the herbarium’s grand importance.

‘String-tied parcels’

149 This refers to the vast amount of specimens which are still sent in from all corners of the world and were originally, and occasional to this day, sent in the form of string tied parcels. Now more than ever there is an influx of specimens, which are very important to our economy, however the funding for the herbarium is not as it used to be due to ‘discoveries of the new world’ not being of priority, regardless of all the other research conducted at the Herbarium.

Row A This set is also about Empire, as I found there to be a lot of information regarding the Empire of Britain and Kew. Whereas set D focuses on Bank’s role, this one will focus more broadly. The title of the set will differ however, as in this set I also want to touch on the research done at Kew and the importance of the Herbarium, not just in empire. Set D will remain the Empire set, however I want the text for this set to also have a lot of connections to Empire, just not strictly. I’ve chosen this set as the other set regarding empire becuase it starts off the series, and will start off each set of 5 images, and the photographs offer more of a general view of the herbarium. It also connects well to set D as that one also offers similar images, and the style of images is often alternating between this set and set D. Set D follows the green archive boxes, and this follows the common stool in multiple work stations.

Cruickshank on Kew: the Garden that Changed the World “It’s a story of passion, politics, and bloody battles that made this garden central to a struggle for world domination” Cruichshank “We at Kew feel the weight of empire more than they do in downing street” - William Thistleton Dyer (former director of the gardens) Towards the end of the 19th century (1801 – 1900) Kew was in correspondence with around 30 gardens, acting as a hub supporting the british empire by growing plants that could be of economic value. “kew a place of picnics and days trips turns out to have been a world of big money and high politics” Banks had been transporting plants on voyages know that they needed to be kept away from light and salt water, whilst not being damaged and watered regularly.

Unfortunately, it was this which lead to the breadfruit being kept in the captains quarters on the Bounty, which lead to a mutiny. After Bank’s death the new director of Kew received a letter, from a man who had discovered that if plant were kept in a glass bottle they did better and needed water less than those who didn’t. He was a man simply trying to save his plants from the polluted London air, however Hooker used this information to build glass airtight cases for transporting plants, thus drastically increasing the amount of plants that could be collected from around the world and arrive safely at Kew. This discovery made Hooker as famous as he is for improving Kew, although mainly through the trial and error of banks. The cases then became wardian cases, used for transporting plants, which would become infinitely useful for exporting the rubber trees once the seeds had been collected and brought to Kew to be grown. The Seed Bank at kew was a large part of this operation but what is often overlooked is the researchers and scientists at the Herbarium, who made it possible to categorize and utilize rubber.

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‘A story of passion, politics, and bloody battles’ A quote from Cruickshank, describing the complex hidden nature of the herbarium. I felt this relevant as it is a good opening and title to the set, and i can expand upon it in the extended text.

‘Science, innovation, rubber and malaria’ This refers to the significance of the researchers and importers of Kew, the 19th century utilization of rubber fell into Kew’s hands when they were asked to find a better way to extract rubber, and thus it was used as commonly as we use plastic

151 today. Another one of their great discoveries was a plant in which they imported, which played a crucial part in curing the malaria outbreak in the Victorian era.

Although Kew is hugely to thank for many many scientific and medical advances, these are among the most useful to the common people. I’ve worded it in this way to hint at the use of categorization of plants in the herbarium as the ‘under dog’ type savoir, for if it hadn’t been for the excessive collections none of these advances could have happened. Kew’s priority in regards to funding was often questions and on occasion threatened, but it’s great scientific value always managed to save it from becoming a public park or closed down. Many today may not realize the significance of the herbarium and fungarium and simply see the living plant collection as a public exhibition, but the science behind the institute speaks for itself.

“We at Kew feel the weight of empire more than they do in downing street” - William Thistleton Dyer This is a qoute from the former director of kew and merely acts as a contextual hint at what this set is about, the extended text will simply explain Dyer’s position and relevance. I’ve chosen this qoute for this image because i think the bird sticker on the window can signify the expansion of am empire, it gives a sense of travel and overseas.

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‘The empire is weighed in plants and glass’ This refers to something Cruickshank mention in his BBC documentary ‘Cruickshank on Kew’ about the British empire at the end of the 19th century relying of the discoveries of kew and growing plants of economic value. The glass refers to the first glass psalm house which was built, offering the victorians of the time what would be for many their only experience of a jungle. The relevance to the image is that it’s supposed to signify that plants are more than just plants: they are science and they are of grand importance. The equipment featured in the photographs is supposed to act as a symbol for research and scientific discovery.

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‘Seeds of steam and wardian cases’ This refers so the many, many rubber seeds which were imported and brought to Kew, at first a lot of them perished during the journey and so in a second attempt to mass grow rubber tree thousands of seeds were brought by Steam boats and then

by Steam engines to Kew, in a successful effort to get them there as fast as possible.

The wardian cases refers to the cases use for transportation of the grown rubber trees, which was made possible when hooker first understood the conditions needed to transport live plants would be more than the captain quarters. This also hints at Hooker’s superiority over Banks, although it is controversial as the idea was not his own.

154 Presentation ideas Since attempting a book edit i’ve decided that my project would be best presented another way. The only way i can currently see the book looking best is if it were a hand bound set of prints, which is still an option. Although, upon consideration a book would be more limiting as the prints would be bound in order, when this project has the potential to have multiple narratives.

Above are some of my rough ideas that I drew out, some I had to rule out becuase they would take to long or would be too expensive, other ideas i decided just owuldnt work as well with this project. For presetning my images as prints i’m still unsure about putting a border on the imaes. They individually look better full blled however I want a way to display the text with the images. Another option is to have no border but on the bottom of the image have a bar of white with the text on. I could also have the text separate, or mount the image and the text onto a piece of card, or window mount. Here is a list of other ideas i’ve considered: 1. wooden/material box with prints, white border/no border just a line of text, reference number and index with accompanying text/ integrated printed cards with text … same text idea/labryinth concept 2. window mounted image and text, similar to how herbaria sheets are presented 3. hand made book (set of prints perfect bound) 4. index cards/postcard style with text on back or under bordered image 5. Concertina book 6. Combination of box of prints and small book (of intrsuctions?)

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Taryn Simon – An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar

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Taryn Simon – An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar http://tarynsimon.com/works/aihu/#1 http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/hasselblad-foundation/pressreleases/taryn-simonpaa-hasselblad-center-i-januari-821570 ‘In An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar (2007), Simon compiles an inventory of what lies hidden and out-of-view within the borders of the United States.

She examines a culture through the documentation of subjects from domains including: science, government, medicine, entertainment, nature, security, and religion.

Confronting the divide between those with and without the privilege of access, Simon’s collection reflects and reveals that which is integral to America’s foundation, mythology, and daily functioning’ ‘ Hasselblad Foundation presents An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar (2007), the first exhibition in Sweden with the American artist Taryn Simon. In An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar Taryn Simon make an inventory of what is hidden and invisible within US borders. The series portrays objects, places and rooms that are central to America’s foundation, mythology and daily life but still are inaccessible or unknown to the public. It is unseen motives which consists of such radioactive capsules at a facility for the storage of nuclear waste or the CIA’s art collection. Simon explores America’s culture by documenting designs from areas such as research, government, medicine, entertainment, nature, security and religion. She illustrates the gap between those who have access to these sites and those who have not. Taryn Simon’s oeuvre consists of three equal parts: photography, text and graphic design. Her work explores the absolute impossibility of knowledge and illuminates the space between text and image, which occurs ambivalence and ambiguity reigns. Among Taryn Simon’s other works include A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters I-XVIII (2008-11), which was created over a four year period when the artist traveled around the world to investigate and document the family tree and the stories associated with them. Contraband (2010), is

161 an archive of global desires and imagined threats, with 1075 photographs of items seized from international travelers and mail from abroad to the United States. The Innocents (2003), is a record of wrongful convictions in the United States and questioning photography’s reliability as a witness and skipare of justice. Taryn Simon was born in New York in 1975. Her work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2012); Tate Modern, London (2011); Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2011); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2007); Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2008); Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2004); and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York (2003). Simon’s works are included in the permanent collections of, among other things, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tate Modern, the Whitney Museum, the Pompidou Centre and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2011 she participated in the 54th Venice Biennale.’ http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/hasselblad-foundation/pressreleases/taryn-simonpaa-hasselblad-center-i-januari-821570 Simon’s use of text and bordered images presented in this book create a form of archive which is incredibly effective in stringing the images together and creating an interesting link between all of them, whilst presenting the pages in a simplistic manner. Simon’s book also features an image index which will be similar to how i want to present mine, however i’m considering other ways to present it without a book such as a pamflet, or similarly to a menu, or a map fold.

Masahisa Fukase’s Karasu

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ewc15QkKzs http://www.photobookstore.co.uk/photobook-a-solitude-of-ravens-_karasu%5E.html Masahisa Fukase “In The Solitude of Ravens Masahisa Fukase’s work can be deemed to have reached its supreme height; it can also be said to have fallen to its greatest depth”. So begins Akira Hasegawa’s afterword to Fukase’s The Solitude of Ravens, which was originally titled Karasu (Ravens) when it was published in Japan. There can be few photobooks sadder, lonelier, or more tragic than this sequence. Fukase had been famous for the joyous photographs he took of his wife but the marriage dissolved in 1976 and the emotions depicted in Fukase’s portfolio began to reverse direction. A despondent Fukase became infatuated with the raven of his native Hokkaido, ten years worth of photographs of these birds make up The Solitude of Ravens. Published in Japan in 1986, it was republished in the United States in 1991. Soon after, Fukase fell down a staircase after returning drunk from a night out. He has been in a coma for the last 14 years. The photobook he left behind is a triumph of photographic expressionism, a record of a man who turned inward, leaving behind pure images of personal grief. http://www.gallery51.com/index.php?navigatieid=9&fotograafid=89 In Fukase’s book Karusu he interjects seemingly random images, such as a woman and a cat, into a series of raven images. This is an incredibly powerful way to reiterate the theme of the series, which in this case is a reflection of Fukase’s grief regarding his marriage and also a reflection of the post war state of Japan. Whilst the portfolio of ravens sends a powerful message, the interjection of these other images add another level to the work and really makes the viewer question what the project is about. I think this type of sequencing could be strengthened by the use of text, and in my project I could do a similar thing by introducing images from the gardens.

However, my project already is an intriguing labyrinth-type sequence of images so adding another element to it may make it too confusing.

164 Paul Graham’s American night In a similar way to the previous two photographers, in this book Graham make use of the sequencing and the book layout to enhance the narrative. American Night begins with one set of images which is interjected by another set of images which aesthetically are very different, this pattern repeats itself a few times and then is followed by another set of images which appear to be of a different set. All of these sets work together in one narrative to make a powerful documentary, in in this case they tell the story of a division in classes, however it’s not what the message is in this case which sets the book apart from the rest, it’s the way it’s presented. http://www.paulgrahamarchive.com/americannight.html#a

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166 Box Ideas

I’ve decided to present my images in a box but have found that it will be very difficult to buy one with the correct measurements, so I will be making one. Here are a few

167 rough sketches of boxes i could make myself, including a couple of collapsible ones.

I think i’m going to make a few prototypes and decide which will be best, whether to have the lid attached or separate, and what materials i will need. As well as specific measurements, as these are subject to change depending on how i print my images.

Final Presentation ideas I’ve decided to present my project in a collapsible box with the lid detached. This will fold as displayed in the prototype, and I’ve arranged a meeting with Andrew Morrison (Illustration department) to discuss ideal materials to use. Since I will be printing the photographs myself I will have to do further research into paper types and mock up my prints in a printable document, so the box size will depend on how the printing and trimming goes. However for now i’m working with and 8″x12″ size. I’ve decided that instead of an index card of images I will print this bigger, and fold it like a map. I think this will be a good way to present the large print and tie it in with themes of the project. I will hold this ‘map’ together with a slipcase. To make the map I decided to print it with text of various lengths to see which would look best. I will now figure out the exact dimensions for print and finalize the text.

For presenting the box of prints i will layer each print with tissue paper so they don’t get scratched and look more archival (and better than print sleeves which may not fit). For each set of 5 images I will put a divider made of card, which i will hand make to fit the box.

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174 Fungarium further research Notesleaflet saying that mycologists work with the poison unit to provide identifications for hospitals treating toadstool poisonings and expert consultants in forensic cases …. timber rotting fungi e.g.. Mary Rose Kew’s Fungarium contains specimens from every part of the globe, and reflects the importance of fungi as providers of food, medicines, enzymes and essential ecosystem services.

An estimated 1.25 million specimens of dried fungi, including approximately 50,000 original types, are housed in the Fungarium at Kew - one of the oldest, largest, and most important mycological reference collections in the world.

Kew has specimens of fungi from all seven continents, spanning the fungal tree of life. Our major holdings belong to the Ascomycota (about 725,000 specimens) and Basidiomycota (about 487,500 specimens), with the remaining groups in the minority (about 37,500 specimens). These include specimens representing over half of the known fungal diversity. Our oldest collections predate Linnaean nomenclature and we have a rich collection of historically significant material, including specimens collected by Charles Darwin, Richard Spruce and Alexander von Humboldt.

The Fungarium was founded in 1879 with the donation of Rev. Miles J. Berkeley’s personal collection of around 10,000 specimens (including 6,000 types). Today, the Fungarium consists of the British National Collections (about 350,000 specimens) and the overseas collections (about 900,000), including the recently acquired IMI collections (about 380,000 specimens). The collection continues to grow at an average rate of 4,000-5,000 specimens every year.

The collections are backed by an extensive mycological library containing classical works, modern texts and specialist journals. It is one of the most complete reference collections of literature on fungi to be found anywhere and is augmented with a rich collection of original illustrations (about 40,000).-beyond the gardens videos -ON KEW dvd,

Back up idea Kew Botanical Gardens This was originally a back up idea which I never had to use, but now I am thinking I could incorperate a few of the images into my series since the text would support it, similarly to how it is done in Masahisa Fukase’s book Karasu, Paul Graham’s American night, Taryn Simon’s An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar to name a few. For example, my images would follow the same sequence as the do now but after the index of images at the end of the set a few more images would appear, these of Kew’s live plants. Alternatively I could incorporate them in the series, or present them as a separate section, or just one image.

175 Kew Botanical Gardens - contact sheets 1-6/11

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181 Kew Botanical Gardens - contact sheets 7-11/11

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186 Final draft text - short version (for images) Set A Image 1

“A story of passion, politics, and bloody battles�

Image 2

187 “Science, innovation, rubber and malaria” Image 3

“We at Kew feel the weight of empire more than they do in downing street” Image 4

“The empire is weighed in plants and glass”

188 Image 5

“Seeds of steam and wardian cases”

Set B Image 1

“Geopolitical”

189 Image 2

“ Poisons and medicines alike, the dark continent carries no weight.”

Image 3

‘Glory of the king, profit of the empire, species of extinction’

190 Image 4

“Plantes d'Afrique occidentale. 1996.”

Image 5

“King of the dyes. King of the Jungle. Circa 1884, Germany.”

191 Set C Image 1

“Economic Botany and Mycology.”

Image 2

“Systematic biology has little power.”

192 Image 3

“Money is power.”

Image 4

“15°C: Herbarium beetle.”

193 Image 5

“String-tied parcels.”

Set D Image 1

“Taxonomy”

194 Image 2

“Red” Image 3

“A mycologist’s mail”

195 Image 4

“89. 22″ Image 5

“SEND TO: Africa & Madagascar Team.”

196 Set E Image 1

“Empire” Image 2

“Botanical nationalism belongs to the British.”

197 Image 3

“The staunchest imperialist of the day could not dream of this.”

Image 4

“The day is 1772, colonial Britain.”

198 Image 5

“A compliment to the king, yet Victoria’s bounty.”

199 Images Sequence 1-25

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212 Compendium noun, plural compendiums, compendia [kuh m-pen-dee-uh] (Show IPA) 1. a brief treatment or account of a subject, especially an extensive subject; concise treatise: https://www.dropbox.com/home/Compendium

Materials for the box

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http://www.vandoros.com.au/index.cfm/page/ribbon-products/type/4/cat/287 http://www.letpack.com/2014/BOX_FD_0605/348.html I’ve found some examples online of the type of box I want to make, and the prototype i’ve made of it. In these diagrams you can see how the box folds to become collapsible, which I want so that the prints can be viewed without taking them out of the box fully. I’ve decided that I will make the lid separately.

To make the box I will need some kind of thick card, greyboard or foamboard. I’ve been looking at ratchford.co.uk at their products and have decided to go with greyboard as it can be scored and bent and will not need to be made in sections.

Because this will not look great I will need a covering material, which is perfect because it allows the box to look more similar to the green archival boxes. After looking at samples, i’ve decided to go with an Atlantic cotton bookcloth as it is rigid enough to do the folded corners and stay in place yet not too hard that it won’t bend well.

I’ve also got some ingres paper which will cover the inside of the box so that it won’t look rough and will cover the scored marks.

215 Samples

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Atlantic Book Cloth

http://ratchford.co.uk/product/atlantic-cotton-bookcloth-haze/

Buying paper/printing When deciding on whether to print the images myself or go with a printers I first looked at The Print Space. They quoted £15.47 per print, of which I would need 25 minimum, as well as the grid map which would be larger than one print. I’m sure I could do this cheaper but to the same quality so I kept looking.

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I then after searching some other printers which were far more expensive found Spectrum, which was the cheapest I could find. Yet, it would still be around ÂŁ180 minimum.

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After finding this out i wanted to know if there would be a way to get discounts or print on a specific size paper, and since i’d be able to pick up from store i decided to email The Darkroom. They were able to help me but the cost owuld still work out far more expensive.

I then decided to email Matt Frederick, the technician at Hardwick campus. Although the cost was better, I was worried about the quality of the prints as the printer wasn’t as equipped for the paper I wanted.

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Then finally I contacted John Lovett, who is the technician at Park campus and has access to a much better printer. He was incredibly helpful and would only cost ÂŁ5 per print, of which I can fit 7 (final sizes) and the grid map on the page, meaning i only need 4. This along with the cost of paper (ÂŁ110) still works out the cheapest option, I also like the idea of printing them myself.

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Through talking to John I finally decided to go with this paper.

Ultra Smooth Fine Art Paper (Cotton Rag) Artists and professional photographers require true archival print media in a variety of weights and surface textures for their digital fine art and photography. Now Epson brings you an acid free, 100% cotton hot press paper that is coated on both sides for extra versatility. This cylinder mould-made product, features an ultra smooth finish on two sides (sheets) that is optimised for our photographic dye, Epson UltraChrome and Archival Inks. Offered in a variety of sizes and formats, this fine art paper is not only acid, lignin and chlorine free, it is also buffered with calcium carbonate for a true archival sheet. Like all Epson’s innovative media, this paper is engineered to give you the highest resolution and colour saturation possible.

Media Weight 250 g/m2 Thickness 15.0 mil (0.38 mm) ISO Brightness 90% Opacity 98% Material 100% cotton rag Finish Ultra-smooth hot press Core Size 3.0" (7.62 cm) Spindle 3.0" (7.62 cm) high-tension Dimensions 17.0" x 50.0’ (43.18 cm x 15.24 m)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/306489REG/Epson_S041856_Ultra_Smooth_Fine_Art_Paper.html https://www.epson.co.uk/gb/en/viewcon/corporatesite/products/consumables/overvie w/paper/gfap/ufapr After ordering the paper I then had to prep my images for print. I was able to create 4 documents at 16″x72″, which on each fit 7 images sized 14″x10″, and on the last the grid map too. I used these measurements so that there would be trim. To check the text size I was able to view the image in actual size. i also lightened and sharpened each image slightly for print. I purposely didn’t put crop marks on the print as they intruded on my borders, but I marked with a pencil in the trim area where to cut after printing. I then just had to trim the images after they had printed.

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226 The Whale’s Eyelash

“The great technological leap forward that took place in the 19th century in optical lens systems such as the microscope meant that by the latter half of the century the exploration of the microcosm was a common pursuit amongst the scientifically minded. Individuals often became interested in a particular area or theme and were able to add significantly to the existing body of knowledge in their subject. More than this, another universe and another dimension were opened up in which to dream and travel.

In The Whale’s Eyelash, Timothy Prus has edited together some of these historical explorations and recast them as a play – a play that unfolds through a series of 19th century microscope slides. Each slide contains a specific dramatic moment, and together they tell a story about what happens between the appearance of humankind and its passing away.” http://www.amcbooks.com/the-whales-eyelash “A mediation on nineteenth century science and anthropology, presented in a Shakespearean drama.It’s not particularly easy to locate the Archive of Modern Conflict. It lies behind a side-door, down an unmarked path, tucked back from one of the more modest streets of Kensington. Holland Park lies just to the north, with its open-air opera nights, Japanese gardens and lining of grand mansions. To the east is High Street Kensington and then Sloane Square, the most affluent of playgrounds.

It’s likely many of Timothy Prus’ neighbours won’t know him from Adam, or have a clue that one of the most eclectic photography collections in the world nestles in their midst.You can understand the aura of hushed discretion and hearsay when you stand inside the archive. But for the standard issue Apple computers, the building and its decor could be from any year after World War II. Photographs are crammed into every available space of this homely office; performing, posing or caught unawares, the stories of countless people, the world over, lie in rest here.I’m here to

227 discuss the archive’s latest creation; perhaps its most strange and compelling yet. The Whale’s Eyelash is a ‘five-part play’ Prus has constructed from 19th century microscopic images found in slide cabinets, sourced from art dealerships and, on a couple of occasions, eBay. While I wait for Prus to appear, his daughter Milli shows me some of slides. They sit in beautiful hardwood cabinets on the windowsill of a carpeted, ornately furnished room, evidently her adopted office space.On each slide sits a separate sample from a very different era of scientific discovery; monkey’s testicles, the fibers of a man’s eye, the tongue of a tortoiseshell butterfly, an ovary of a kitten, the magnified hair of an albino girl. “I took one out and was holding it in my hands before realising it was anthrax,” Milli laughs. “I’m hoping there won’t be an outbreak in West London.”

This certainly has had a long genesis,” he (Prus) says when we’re finally seated at the dinner table, The Whale’s Eyelash laid out in front of us, showing the detailed intimacies of a snake’s small intestine. “I’ve been thinking about the microcosm as a way of exploring narrative for about 20 years,” he says. “It’s taken me a long time to work out how to use morphologies in natural history as a form of storytelling.”

His answer is to publish the slides to the very best standards of modern book publishing, but in a sequence, indeed a classical Shakespearean five-act structure, with which he aims to say something about our modern condition – namely the paradoxical, and often overlapping struggle between the forces of science and faith, reason and heritage. Prus asks us to observe tiny fragments of the natural world, their shape and colour and texture presented dispassionately. But these fragments are also significant to us; in folklore, mythology and symbolism.

They inhabit both worlds.

The opening act to Prus’ play includes the horn of a rhinoceros, the diatoms from the stomach of a Japanese oyster, the leg of a Spanish fly and a monkey’s testicle. They all have scientific value, but what is their anthropological significance? Each is an historic aphrodisiac. Rhinoceros horn is still worth more than diamonds on the black market, as large tracts of the world continue to believe it magically enhances virility, machismo and libido. An oyster shell features in The Birth of Venus, as depicted by Botticelli, while Casanova was reputed to eat five dozen a day. The Spanish fly was Marquis de Sade’s chosen sexual aid, while a monkey’s testicle formed the basis of Serge Voronoff’s fortune; the French-Russian surgeon became a household name in 1920s France for his ability to graft a monkey’s testicular tissue on to the testicles of men in need of therapy.

The three witches, from the opening of Shakespeare’s MacBeth, acted as inspiration for the book, he says. “How does it go Milli?” he calls. “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble,” she shouts back, as she’s stirring the risotto. This is the way in to The Whale’s Eyelash. It follows the format of MacBeth’s tragic demise, a story of hubris and ambition for all of mankind, made up of all the things our eye is incapable of seeing: “The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.”” http://www.bjp-online.com/2015/05/timothy-prus-the-whales-eyelash/ The Whale’s Eyelash is an extremely intriguing and carefully constructed narrative, this style of book making was hugely influential to the way i’ve designed and sequenced my prints. The simple titles of the microscopic images which come across as purely informational such as ‘Onion Skin’, paired with the artistic and well thought

228 out sequence which bears resemble to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, makes for a very interesting and elegant piece of art, presented with a scientific context. Even It’s titles provokes intrigue, as Prus describes it : “A cautionary warning, perhaps, of our inability to be at peace, or find a balance, with the world around around us: “It is about what happens between the appearance of humankind and its passing away,” he says.

Of course, a whale does not have an eyelash. It’s an old folk tale, a scientific misnomer. “It’s that idea of the jarring of the macrocosm and the microcosm, little and large,” he says. The book’s prologue features the titular eyelash, along with a skin of an onion, which needs to be peeled back, a human tongue, on which we are so reliant, an achilles heel, and an image of a Chinese theatre taken during the first opium war. It’s not difficult to read a sense of human vulnerability” Prus’ ability to use text to amplify the significance of the images is inspirational and I have used this idea a lot when considering my text.

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All images The Whale’s Eyelash © Timothy Prus, courtesy of Archive of Modern Conflict 2014.

232 Extended Text The following is the extended text which will appear in the information booklet/map grid index at the back of the box of prints. Coming up with this text was fairly simple, as most of it is just a reference, a definition, or a quick explanation. All of it refers to the short text which is on the print, which corresponding reference number.

Intro: Compendium noun, plural compendiums, compendia [kuh m-pen-dee-uh] 1.

A brief treatment or account of a subject, especially an extensive subject; concise treatise.

Latin: that which is weighed together.

‘Compendium’ is designed to be a labyrinth of brief information concerning the instrumental involvement of Kew’s Herbarium and Fungarium in building the British empire, the lasting influence of geopolitics, and significance of taxonomy.

‘Compendium’ can be read as a photo-narrative series in three directions. Firstly, as presented to you in numerical or vertical order [1]-[25]. Secondly, in horizontal order.

For example; [1], [6], [11], [16] & [21].

The series comprises of five interchangeable sets of five images, which in turn can be read individually or as part of the sequence. Thus meaning the grid of images can be read in either rows, columns, or as sets of five images. Of course, each images with it’s accompanying captions may stand alone.

Image 1 - A story of passion, politics, and bloody battles.

Cruickshank, D. Cruickshank on Kew: The Garden That Changed the World. 2009.

Image 2 - Geopolitical.

1. the study or the application of the influence of political and economic geography on the politics, national power, foreign policy, etc., of a state.

2. the combination of geographic and political factors influencing or delineating a country or region.

3. a national policy based on the interrelation of politics and geography.

4. a Nazi doctrine that a combination of political, geographic, historical,racial, and economic factors substantiated Germany’s right to expand its borders and control various strategic land masses and natural resources.

Country of origin: Germany Image 3 - Economic Botany and Mycology.

The interaction of people with plants & the study of fungi; a division of botany that deals with the utilization of plants.

Image 4 - Taxonomy noun [Biology] The branch of science concerned with classification, especially of organisms; systematics.

Image 5 - Empire noun

233 An extensive group of states or countries ruled over by a single monarch, an oligarchy, or a sovereign state.

Image 6 - Science, innovation, rubber and malaria.

Kew’s Herbarium was once saved from an extreme cut in funding having gained merit for importing and researching the plant which was to aid in curing Malaria. It was once again saved from a budget cut when the rubber tree was discovered and after great effort imported, thus spearheading the Victorian era mass production and utilization of rubber. Ironically, researchers at the Herbarium play a vital role in controlling the effects of global warming, yet again face budget cuts.

Image 7 - Poisons and medicines alike, the dark continent carries no weight.

The organizational system of storing plants and fungi specimens is not deterred nor influenced by marketing.

Image 8 - Systematic biology has little power.

‘There is strong evidence that malaria was once indigenous to the UK, that global warming is occurring, and that human activity is contributing to global warming.

Global warming will have a variety of effects, one of which will probably be the return of indigenous malaria.’

Welsby, P. Malaria in the UK: past, present, and future. 2004.

Image 9 - Red Red demands attention, red is used fro classification, red is used for marketing.

Image 10 - Botanical nationalism belongs to the British.

Sir Joseph Banks, the unofficial director of Kew appointed by King George III, was said to have been responsible for the British sense of botanical nationalism after leaving a note post death proclaiming his pride regarding Kew gardens.

Image 11 - We at Kew feel the weight of empire more than they do in downing street.

William Thistleton Dyer, former director of Kew. Image 12 - Glory of the king, profit of the empire, species of extinction.

The Herbaria collections first began to please King George III, and after his death the collections proved instrumental in serving the financial needs of the empire, however since the urgency of collecting has lessened the focus of the Herbarium at present day is on watching vegetation and preventing the extinction of species.

Image 13 - Money is power.

The Victorian age in regards to the botanic empire existed primarily to give power to the empire. How so? Through their wealth of live specimen collections.

Such wealth in the 21′st century means very little.

Image 14 - A mycologist’s mail ‘Kew’s preserved plant and fungal collection is still growing by tens of thousands of specimens each year, which means that every 40 years or so we need more space’ -Hopper, S. Current director of Kew.

234 Image 15 - The staunchest imperialist of the day could not dream of this.

Joseph Banks as described by Robert Hay, the permanent under-secretary at the colonial office. As the Herbarium stands today it depicts a reality beyond the ambitions of Banks.

Image 16 - The empire is weighed in plants and glass.

The British empire nearing the end of the 19th century was reliant on Kew’s discoveries and the importation and cultivation of plants of economic value. Having not yet invented the wardian case, the transportation of such plants was of equal value to the plants themselves. As was the strategical building of Kew’s famous glasshouses, which ranked them above other botanical gardens of a the time and gave them the benefit of the housing the largest collections.

Image 17 - Plantes d'Afrique occidentale. 1996.

Plants of West Africa, 1996. Of French origin.

These specimens are dated over a century after Bank’s day, and the Berlin-Congo Conference, yet speak truths about the unforeseen realization of his futile efforts at creating a botanical network.

Image 18 - 15°C: Herbarium beetle.

The newest wing of the Herbarium is kept at a constant temperature of 15°C to keep away the Herbarium’s current biggest threat, the Herbarium beetle. Not quite the enemy’s of the 1800′s.

Image 19 - 89. 22 The largest, most widespread, and most taxonomically complex genus in the Zingiberaceae, ginger family of plants. Also known as 89. 22.

Image 20 - The day is 1772, colonial Britain.

Imperialism noun a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means.

Image 21 - Seeds of steam and wardian cases.

Rubber - the seeds of steam. Prior to the invention of the wardian case rubber seeds were to be transported in mass as the were to be a pinnacle of the empire, however the methods of transportation of the time were inferior and thus creating the need for the speed over quality. Unbelievable quantities of rubber seeds were rushed to Kew using steam boats, steam engines and horse and carriage.

Wardian case - a glass-sided airtight case used for growing ferns or other plants indoors or for transporting living plants over long distances.

Image 22 - King of the dyes. King of the Jungle. Circa 1884, Germany.

Congo Red, often referred to as king of the dyes. A quick domination was in part due to it’s marketing which was to promote images of the ‘Dark Continent’, Africa. It’s ingredients however are found to be 100% or German origin, as well as the company who produces it. This marketing decision was to follow the Berlin-Congo conference in 1884.

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image 23 - String-tied parcels.

Now more than ever there is an influx of specimens, which are vital to the economy and well being of the planet, however the funding for the Herbarium is not as it used to be due to ‘discoveries of the new world’ not being of priority, regardless of all the other research conducted at the Herbarium.

Image 24 - SEND TO: Africa & Madagascar Team.

The realization of Bank’s vision some 200 years later. Not quite the network of dreams.

Image 25 - A compliment to the king, yet Victoria’s bounty.

The network of botanists, which never amounted to much in Bank’s day, was intended as a compliment to King George III to procure vast and rare collections in his honor, however the network did not launch. Yet, during the Victorian era due to Bank’s prior efforts correspondence between botanical gardens globalized and such formed a version of his visions, only it was to Queen Victoria’s benefit. ‘The Bounty’ is also the name of the ship Bank’s first sent with Captain Bligh on a voyage to deliver breadfruit to feed slaves after a wheat shortage, however the ship was taken as a result of mutiny, due to Bank’s inability to transport the breadfruit properly.

Designing the information booklet Here are some prototypes i made and ideas i came up with before settling on the ‘map’ presentation idea, since I am now making the final product these have been really helpful in figuring out how to make and fold it, and figuring out the exact measurements. My first idea didn’t include the section of text on the left, but i’m really glad I decided to fit it in as it looks so much better than just a grid of images and gives my project more context. Before this I also considered making a concertina book as the instruction book which i made a prototype for but decided quickly it wasn’t right for the project.

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This is a small prototype of what the ‘map’ style booklet would look like with a small slipcase.

This was my first idea for the booklet, just a simple grid each with the space for a small copy of the image and text.

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I then decided it may look better if i added a section for text and divided it with a line, this also then means more folds in the map but I think it will still be effective.

I first used this prototype to figure out the measurements I would need, which later became the actual final measurements of the booklet.

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This is a larger prototype of what the folded version would look like, i’m slightly worried that with thicker paper it will not sold as well but hopefully it will still look good.

I first mocked up the design on in-design by simply adding 6 columns and dividing the length of the paper by 5 and putting guidelines to mark the rows.

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I then added in the actual pictures once i had the template, and added in the text boxes using more guidelines.

240 I then just added in placeholder text to see if the size and placement is right. I made a small prototype to check, and pit different amounts of text in 3 of the grid spaces to see which looked best printed.

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I then made a document and printed it using placeholder text with the size and placement i chose.

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I then inserted the actual text and reference numbers, chose a font and added a copyright notice.

Dividers, tissue paper & slipcase To make all the extra things that will go in the presentation box with the prints and the information booklet I had to consider the materials I would use. I first thought I should use green for either the dividers or tissue paper, but since I am now using green for the material of the box I have decided to go with an ivory color. I think this stops green being overwhelming, and the ivory is a nice alternative to white. I found some acid free tissue paper online which can protect my prints, and some simple ivory card for the dividers. I will have to cut both to size. For the tissue paper, this will be 10″x14″ which is simple to cut using a guillotine, but the card will have to be slightly larger so that I can have tabs on them. This will have to be hand cut an measured. I will also have to make the box to to fit these dividers, rather than the prints. The dividers shouldn’t be more than a cm larger than the prints. For making the slipcase for the map style folded booklet, I will use a strip of the green covering

243 paper and make a simple band. I was considering embossing the title on this, however I don’t think I have time to given the deadline of this project and may have to use different material in order to do so.

Final Prints

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To present my final prints I first tried cutting the images to the size of the box, however the dimensions weren’t quite right. I decided to cut a smaller border on them which didn’t look right, so I decided not to hae the border. This looked a lot better but it meant that some of the text is very close to the edge of the print, which I should have considered. I did attempt to reprint the images before presenting them as i thought I could try again with the border but i wasn’t able to in time. However, i’m still very happy with the outcome of the prints, it’s just the text which is a little annoying. I layered the prints in tissue paper and inserted the dividers every 5 images, so that they are in their sets. I then pressed the images to reduce the curve, there is still a slight curve when stacked but I prefer this to completely flat images. I stacked them all and trimmed the tissue paper ready for the presentation box. I’ve intentionally made the tissue paper and the dividers slightly larger than the prints to allow for when i get the image reprinted in the future, but I also think now that the images have no border the large tissue paper makes a good substitute. This also makes it look more like an archive box.

247 Making the box

After speaking to Andrew Morrison from illustration I ordered the materials for my box and began to make it. First, i measured my prints and drew out on greyboard the measurements for the box, leaving room for the dividers and 1mm each side.

Anybody who’s ever hand made a box before will know how relentlessly annoying getting precise measurements to add up and getting perfect 90 degree angles whilst trying not to waste any materials can be. After checking the size against my stack of prints I cut out the box using a craft knife and scored the folds.

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Since the box is going to be collapsible, there was not need to make tabs. For the lid I repeated the process but added an extra 2mm to each side and taped the sides, ready for covering.

I checked that the box fit together with enough room for the coverving materials,

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I then cut out the covering material after readjusting the measurements, making sure there was enough to fold under. This had to include the corners as these would be vital to the box being collapsible.

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To stick the covering material onto the box i first glued down the base, then folded the longest side into place. I then glued only the folded over bits as to not crease the material when it collapses. I held these folds down with clips whilst the glue dried and repeated on the other side.

Once I had all 4 sided glued I folded in the corners which will help the box collapse.

These sides have not been glued but were held in place by the clips to strengthen the folds/

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For covering the inside of the lid I had to make flaps which would glue behind each other, and used a bone folder to crease the lining paper. To apply the lining paper to the base of the box I cut out a sheet of the paper which would leave a 1cm gap around all of the edges and glues to to each side whilst the base lay flat, I then folded the bottom using the bone folder and glues the creases in the corners together.

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This is the finished box after the covering paper and lining paper has been applied and the glue has dried. As you can see the box collapses slightly when the lid is off, and can be pushed down or pushed in.

The lid is a very tight fit and I should have left more room for the covering paper, I one corner of the lid I actually had to bow the corner a little to make it fit. Despite having already considered the fit, apparently I didn’t leave enough room and will be careful of this next time.

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To make the dividers I got 5 sheets of card and cut them to the size of the tissue paper, then marked every 7.1cm which would make 5 equal sections. I then cut from each the amount of sections needed and erases the pencil marks. These then line up to make 5 descending dividers of equal lengths.

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I decided the information booklet would look better if it were covered in the same material as the box, since this would be too thick I decided just to cover the front and back. I think this was very effective and looks good, I just cut a piece of material the size of the cover and glued it, and left it to dry. I then decided to make a small slipcase to hold it together out of the reverse of the material.

257 Final product

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260 Evaluation I began this project by looking at seed banks which led me to Kew’s Herbarium and Fungarium. At first I struggled with getting access as they were very hesitant to let me come but once I had shot I felt much more comfortable, unfortunately I wasn’t able to shoot again but I was extremely happy with the images I produced from visiting the two buildings. If I were to continue this project however I would try to shoot more, although in this case I this more shoot only would have made a larger edit as i felt all of the images in my current edit are strong. After doing a lot of research and visiting the facilities I decided to make the project very text based, focusing on the idea of empire behind kew and the importance of the Herbarium and Fungarium, This was pretty similar to what I wanted to show with the seed banks, just much more structured and better informed. I spend a lot fo time trying to create a puzzle type sequence since the subject itself is elusive, and I’m really proud of the final edit of images. Being able to be read in a grid pattern but also a linear sequence, and sets of 5 images was challenging to make work as i wanted all of the edits to remain strong and the text to make sense, however i’m really pleased with the outcome. I put a lot of effort into coming up with the right text and was researching every small detail i found out that could be relevant, I think it really worked and the idea to only put a small, intriguing piece of text on each image and have an extended version in the booklet worked really well for this project. Figuring out what kind of presentation I wanted for this project was tough as I had originally thought of it as a book, and then was flooded with new ideas but i’m really happy about the one I went with, I think presenting it like an archive box was really effective and well suited. I struggled a lot with finding a printers as i was adamant that I would print on cotton rag to best showcase the prints and text together, and I ended up buying my own roll of cotton rag paper and printing myself at the park campus. This in itself required a lot of planning as i wanted to make sure nothing would go wrong with the paper, printer, transportation the prints, and with the digital files. As well as this I also had to plan how I would make the presentation box as I’ve never made on before and did not know the best way to approach it, however I was able to use my skills i learn in a project last year where i hand made a book. After buying the materials and figuring out a plan for how I wanted to make the box I began in the print studio. The process of making the box, dividers, tissue paper, information booklet, and trimming the prints took me 4 days. The trimming of the prints could have gone better as I had to end up cutting the borders off and some of the text is very close to the edge of the prints, however when in the presentation box it still looks good and the quality of the prints is very good. Making the box was a long process and I had to pay very close attention to detail, however it went more or less off without a hitch, the only thing I would change is leaving a bit more space for the lid so that it’s not such a tight fit. I am extremely happy with this final presentation and this project turned out far better than i had expected, I’m so glad I decided to hand make everything because I feel like putting the extra effort in rather than using store bought boxes or sending to the printers or binder really makes this project look how I wanted it to.

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Statement Compendium noun, plural compendiums, compendia [kuh m-pen-dee-uh] 1.

A brief treatment or account of a subject, especially an extensive subject; concise treatise.

Latin: that which is weighed together.

‘Compendium’ is designed to be a labyrinth of brief information concerning the instrumental involvement of Kew’s Herbarium and Fungarium in building the British empire, the lasting influence of geopolitics, and significance of taxonomy.

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