The Richard Flint Photography Blog

Chris Killip Interview

2013-05-02T10:16:00.000+01:00

As you may have gathered from my posts a couple of weeks ago, i do adore the photography of Chris Killip enormously. Killip really should be a far bigger figure in UK photography but he isn't and its difficult to work out why. Maybe, as the photographer himself states in the video, the photography from the north east of England during the 1980's has too much baggage when viewed in Britain.

On the other hand Chris Killip has never been the showman that Martin Parr has been. I tend to think of these two photographers, both of whom were in the limelight when i took up photography in the late 1980's as the opposing ends of the documentary photography spectrum. I've always liked Chris Killips's warmth towards his subject matter opposed to Martin Parr's cold and critical eye.

Whatever the outcome of the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize this year, it's just great to see this important work from the north east being shown and discussed. Killip's work had political overtones when it was first shown and its relevance to current UK economic and political events still makes it essential viewing.

The Better Camera

2013-04-20T10:40:00.000+01:00

The Thatcher post from earlier this week provided me with a reason to smile. It wasn't anything to do with the iron lady herself but one of the photographs i had used in the post. A memory came to mind.

Student life had many fun moments but one aspect that isn't often talked about is the boredom. During the week you would have course work and other distractions to entertain you, yet i found filling the time over the weekends could be tricky. You can only read so much. To counter this, I created a circular walking route that I would do most weekends. During my years as a student I had routes in each of the towns I lived in but the Middlesbrough walk always remained my favourite. It was dark, gritty and industrial but beautiful too.

The River Tees runs past Middlesbrough and I had a walk that went through the centre of town, followed the river from the iconic Transporter bridge to the Newport bridge, and then cut through the terraced streets back to my house. I imagine that the walk must have been around three miles in length (note: just measured it using Google Earth - it was five miles so I was well off with my estimate). Often the route was quiet apart from the occasional dog walker or runner, but one hot June day i came across the family seen in the photo above.

The photo was taken just off the rather glamorously titled Depot road that I had to follow between the two bridges. The location hasn't changed very much at all in twenty years, but the once open space now has a security fence that makes access near impossible. The rail track itself ran down to the dockside, although by the look of it, a train hadn't run along those tracks in years. Making their way along this overgrown bit of railway line came a man with his young son and daughter.

"Look Dad, he has a camera" remarked the young girl pointing to the Pentax Program A i was carrying. "Yeah" replied the Dad in a rather confident tone of voice "but my camera is better than his!" I just smiled and carried on walking my route. What camera he had I don't know. Unlike me, he didn't have it with him.

Change of Face

2013-04-19T10:04:00.000+01:00

This is a great video showing how lighting dramatically alters the face. It's a simple enough idea, and certainly not a new one, to have a revolving light going around the subject but the results are quite brilliant nonetheless. The music is pretty darn good too.

Winners and Losers: The Thatcher Years

2013-04-17T17:49:00.000+01:00

Thatcher. One name that conjures up love or loathing. Her recent death has whipped up many of the old emotions about her. Those people outside of the UK have been surprised to find out how hated she was. No other British politician has ever really inspired these emotions as much as Margaret Hilda Thatcher does.

I've always had a fascination with dereliction. It stems from my childhood and the visits to my grandparents in the north east town of Hartlepool during the 1970's and 1980's. For years we used to pass the shipyard at Haverton Hill where huge ships towered above. It seemed biblical in scale to me as a six year old boy. Then one day the yard was quiet. Empty. Barren. The shipyard site was so huge that it didn't really fit any other purpose so it stayed quiet and empty until 2008. It could be said that I was politicised from then on. I saw the consequences to the actions. Thatcher didn't close the yard - it closed in February 1979 - but the damage done through a lack of investment and re-development during her time in office haunts the area to this day. During my early student years I was able to see more of this derelict industrial sites around the north east town of Middlesbrough. I even got a pass from the harbour authority to photograph sites. These places and their workers had powered the empire, supported the country through wars and done exactly what had been asked of them. All it earned them was a quick, but totally painful end. The workers, their families and the communities, like the derelict work places, were left to rot and decay after the industries were finally closed. No help. No investment. No compassion. No hope. No wonder there is still anger.

If you really want to see monuments to Margaret Thatcher's time in office then I would recommend having a wander around certain former industrial areas of the UK. The Midlands, South Wales, Scotland and the North East were just some of the places that found themselves in the firing line. All was definitely not equal in Thatcher's Britain. Far from it. A series of tough monetarist economic polices took an immense toll on many industries and their communities. Some areas like Hartlepool only started to recover after receiving serious investment from the European Union re-development fund starting in the early 1990's. It was true that the industrial decline had been going on for some time and that it was inevitable that many industries would close, but the real bitterness and hatred aimed towards Mrs Thatcher stems from how the closures were done. The fact that some militant unions had caused havoc in Britain shortly before Thatcher's rise didn't help matters. Maybe she saw the closures as dealing with two problems at the same time - killing two birds with one stone as it were. The end certainly came quickly for many industries but the communities ended up facing a damned existence. As a child growing up in Thatcher's Britain during the 1980's, I saw the effects first hand as a wave of decay and disintegration set in. Chris Killip's images, featured the books 'In Flagrante' and 'Seacoal', look very familiar to me and reflect many of my childhood memories.

In the UK, the Conservative party is sometimes referred to as 'the nasty party'. They are often seen as cruel, harsh and lacking compassion. It is a reputation they are still trying, rather unconvincingly I might add, to shake off. Much of this feeling stems from the Thatcher era and the political attitudes many Conservatives had during the 1980's. This radical thinking took its clearest form with the ruthless de-industrialisation of areas around Britain, a process that had been slowly happening for a number of years before the conservative victory of 1979. The new Tory government stopped the subsidies to certain industries and sped up the closure process. The idea was that the free market would fill the void left by ship building, steel works and other industries. To a certain extent this did happen but it took a generation or more for many towns to even start the slow process of recovery. Regeneration of an area is an extremely slow and costly process that can take decades to complete. The town of Consett in County Durham still clearly visibly bears the scars of the closure of the steel plant back in 1980 - even after years of regeneration via Project Genesis. The heart was just ripped out of the town in one knock-out punch. Workers went onto the benefit system and mostly stayed there. Unemployment in Consett during 1981 peaked at 36%. It is still higher than the national average in the town over thirty years later.

The title 'winners and losers' for this post seems apt. There were plenty of winners in Thatcher's Britain. Many of those who venerate her, gained either socially, economically or both. She gave hope to some and snatched hope away from others. Those who lost out through no fault of their own - through having the wrong job or living in wrong part of the country - understandably have a different view of the 'iron lady'. A great leader is someone who unifies a country rather than divides it - especially during a time of national crisis. Mrs Thatcher was certainly no Churchill. The North/South divide widened during her reign and still remains a major problem that modern politicians just don't want to be bothered with. When Mrs Thatcher was entering Downing Street after her 1979 general election win she said 'Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope'. Many would say that she failed on all counts; especially the last one. A friend of mine, at college with me in the mid 1990's, utterly despised Mrs Thatcher because of the experiences he'd had as a young man. His unemployment, and that of many of his generation, were seen as a sacrifice worth paying for the smooth implementation of various monetarist economic policies. Three million unemployed. My friend never forgave her for it. Hope? What hope???

Today the funeral, which is a state one in all but name, took place and there will be plenty of people praising the politics and vision of the late Prime Minster of Britain from 1979-1990. I won't be among them. I will be thinking of certain images created by Chris Killip and the Amber collective in Newcastle upon Tyne documenting the other side of Maggie's Britain. Martin Parr photographed the Britain Maggie wanted to see - Chris Killip did not. With the request to be respectful towards Margaret Hilda Thatcher often mentioned, it would seem that many journalists and politicians have forgotten that the Iron Lady had very little respect for large parts of Britain. Many parts of Britain certainly haven't forgotten her. They still bear the scars.

Images

Top: Wallsend, Tyneside - Chris Killip
Top left: Ship Launch at Haverton Hill 1972
Middle Right: Haverton Hill shipyard 1992
Middle Left: Disused Railhead - Middlebrough 1992
Bottom Right: Political posters - Middlebrough 1992

The Magnificent One

2013-04-10T13:13:00.000+01:00

It's not often that we get an great insight into a photographer but this superb film 'The Magnificent One: Philip Jones Griffiths' does just that detailing the man and photographer that was Philip Jones Griffiths.

This moving documentary features great interviews with photographers like Elliott Erwitt, Eugene Richards and Gilles Peress that reveal Philip Jones Griffiths passionate attitudes to photography and life. The section covering the Vietnam Inc work is especially fascinating.

There are plenty of wonderful moments such as the poem about welsh rugby and i especially liked Philip's rather clever, if not extremely powerful, use of a Boeing 707 landing light. Its definitely recommended viewing. So grab a brew and watch this great film about a truly great photographer.

The Rising of Jessops

2013-03-29T11:37:00.000Z

Zombies. Walkers. Rotters. The dead coming back to life have been rather popular of late with TV shows like 'The Walking Dead' even appealing to those who aren't fans of the zombie genre. Just like those TV shows where a character dies and comes back, the photo retail chain Jessops has returned from the dead; thankfully looking in a leaner and fitter shape than it did before it passed away.

Originally the comeback, only made possible by the efforts of entrepreneur and businessman Peter Jones, was to be an online only operation, but it has now been revealed that 40 stores, possibly rising to 48 at a later date, will be opened around the UK. One store will open every day during April. An order online and collect in store service appears to be one key area that the new Jessops company are keen to promote so the location of the stores will be key to the use of the order and collect service.

The new stores opening is great news but they do need to be relevant to the broad demands of the modern day photographer. Whether it be digital, video or film, the stores should reflect the diverse nature of 21st century photography. One reason for the death of the old Jessops brand was it focused on a very narrow market - a market that quickly moved onto using smart phones for their photography! The retail needs of other photographers tended to be ignored. Hopefully this new Jessops enterprise will be a true photographic retailer where digital, video AND analogue photographers can shop in the same retail space.

So will i use it? Well yes, in fact i will be placing my first order next week using the website, buying photographic chemicals and a few other bits and bobs. What the future has in store for this new enterprise is another matter, but with reduced costs and a better business plan it could have a bright future. Maybe.

The new Jessops website can be found at www.jessops.co.uk

Tumblring Onward

2013-03-26T14:56:00.004Z

Over the past weeks or so, I've been watching with some interest the Tumblr activity connected to the photograph above. The photo was taken last year at Strome Castle in the Highlands of Scotland and posted onto Tumblr later that day - so it has been on my blog for around seven months. Over that time the image has been liked and re-blogged nearly 150 times. The other Strome castle image has managed just 10.

OK, so 149 isn't a very high number, but the interesting factor has been the whom behind the re-blogging of the image. Virtually all of the affection has come from what i respectfully call the 'Tolkien brigade'. These are individuals with an interest or passion for the 'olde' world that ranges from Celtic and viking culture through to Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones fans. Is the general subject matter of the castle, lochs and old stone walls the appeal or is it the actual photograph and an almost timeless view through an old castle wall? It's probably a combination of both. Whatever the appeal, the image seems to capture people's imagination.

The likes and re-blogs also have another interesting trait. They tend to come in waves usually starting with an individual finding the photo, liking or re-blogging it and the cycle starts again as their followers do the same. It's like the photo is caught and blown along by the wind. How long this will continue is anyone's guess but if the photo can still be found seven months on then i see no reason why it can't keep tumblring onward.

Astro Nighttime

2013-03-14T11:53:00.005Z

Have you ever looked up into the clear night sky, stared at the stars and thought how insignificantly small we are as a planet? We are just a fleck of dust in the cosmos compared to the majestic star fields that stretch out across the dark sky. As you watch this great video you get the same sort of feeling.

If your internet connection is up to the task then i'd recommend viewing in HD and full screen. I especially love the movement of the stars as the night progresses. It gives a rather intense visual feeling of the speed of 'our' little planet as it spins and moves its way through space.

Raising the Colours

2013-03-07T13:05:00.000Z

Reenactment at Gettysburg, PA. 2012 | Photo by Michael Falco

There are a few photographers covering the current anniversaries of the American Civil war but the superb colour images by Michael Falco especially stand out by having quite a unique haunting quality.

Michael has been using his own large format pin hole cameras to capture the action at various civil war reenactment events that will be going on until 2015. The resulting images have quite an authentic feel to them but i especially like the blurred movement contained within the images. The flags on the battlefield take on a life of their own, often looking tattered and worn from intense battlefield wear and tear.

We tend to want everything sharp and clear in this digital photography world. Usually that's OK, but modern images can sometimes be seen as rather too clean as other photographers have mentioned. Falco's work has character, feel and most of all atmosphere. You can almost hear the flags fluttering in the wind.

It would be interesting to do some English Civil war reenactment images in a similar style, even if it was historically totally inaccurate. Photography in the England of 1644 would probably be regarded as witchcraft so you'd have to be careful.

Michael Falco's excellent pinhole colour photography can be found on his website HERE

From the Eyes

2013-02-25T13:52:00.000Z

The eyes say all you need to know in this image of the chaining of a young pig-tailed macaque as it is displayed for sale in Padang Pariaman, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Fear, uncertainty and even a sense of 'please help me' can be seen in those eyes. Of course if it were a cobra being chained up the image would lose all of its power. Cobras don't have that awww factor about them.

This image by Rivo Andries of Associated Press was featured in last week's best images on the Time/Lightbox website. It can be tough going through the images each week but strangely this one stood out. Maybe it represents so acutely the darker side of human nature. Looking at this image i thought of Agent Smith's rather accurate appraisal of the human race. Maybe he has a very valid point.

Finding Vivian Maier

2013-02-20T13:09:00.003Z

The photography of Vivian Maier has certainly received a lot of attention recently with books, exhibitions and now a film focusing in on the fascinating story of the quiet nanny whose discovered photographs make up one of the most amazing collections of street photography.

If the trailer is anything to go by then it looks like an interesting watch but i do wish that film makers would relent from using overpowering dramatic music to try and intensify the atmosphere. The film score should blend seamlessly into a movie and not overwhelm. Less is more.

So if you haven't heard the fascianting story behind the Vivian Maier photography, check out the movie trailer.

River Nith Panoramic

2013-01-20T14:55:00.003Z

The River Nith | Photograph by Richard Flint

A wide panoramic view featuring the River Nith with the harbour and trawlers moored at the small village of Glencaple (near Dumfries) on the far left hand side, and in the middle of the image is the 540m high Criffel which is the eighth most prominent hill in southern Scotland.

Click on the image above to get a bigger version. The new Scotland gallery that can be found here contains an even larger version of this panoramic photo.

The demise of Jessops

2013-01-13T10:00:00.000Z

The mighty Jessops is no more. The UK camera retail chain that had been on the high street since 1935 finally closed its door on Friday ending quite suddenly after years of problems. At its peak the company was the main UK retailer for photographic material and equipment. During the late 1990's Jessops went through a rapid expansion taking on various independent camera shops before the photography retail business model changed and digital started to make its mark. At that point the slow decline of the Jessops brand set in, a decline that would build up gradually over a period of just under a decade.

Closure came quickly on Friday when it was announced that the remaining 187 Jessops stores would close, but the build up to that finale took the best part of four years. In 2009 it was announced that Jessops had problems with it suppliers. The company simply could not pay them. To avoid administration Jessops was allowed a debt for equity swap with HSBC who would receive a 49% share of the business. To cut costs shops closed in large numbers and staff were also reduced but the company never seemed to fully recover. Stock was often limited and the staff would advise you towards using the Jessops website. Hardly great customer service and certainly not much good if you needed the product or materials there and then.

A number of posts on my blog have mentioned experiences I've had with Jessops over the years. To be honest it was often the case that some stores were better than others, however, as the years progressed it became obvious that Jessops just mattered less and less in photography retail world. The company seemed to concentrate more on the amateur end of the market, who would later switch from the compact camera to the mobile phone camera, while blatantly ignoring the professional who might require materials regularly. Digital photography also reduced the need to visit the shop as no film materials needed to be replaced. Add to that the rise in competition from retailers on the internet, Jessops seemed to be fighting a losing battle on all fronts as it lost sizable elements of the business like secondhand sales to the likes of eBay.

So is this the writing on the wall for the independent camera stores left on the UK high street? Some may think this is so but i'm more optimistic. Most of the independent camera stores I've been to have always had a great service, a superb range of stock and a clear understanding of what the customer wants. Jessops simply lost their way due to changes in the retail business and the fast momentum of technological change. With mounting large debts, growing losses in sales and no real idea of what it represented anymore, it was just a matter of time to when the company would fold.

Setting the Pace

2013-01-07T13:24:00.000Z

Diving support ships in harbour at Kyle of Lochalsh, Highlands of Scotland

Being ravaged by the flu over Christmas gives you plenty of time to have a think about what changes you want to make for 2013. New Year resolutions always seem very easy to break. Many don't even last through January let alone the whole year. One promise i do aim to keep, however, regards this blog.

I want to write more about photography. Over the last couple of years the blog posts have gradually gone down. Last year i posted just 35 times, almost half the posts i did in 2011. Partially it is to do with distractions and other sites to place work, but fundamentally it is down to me not loving my blog as much as i should. After all it was among the first websites i set up back in 2007 and i'd be gutted if it vanished.

Quality, and not quantity, is important but i can certainly aim to do better than last year when it comes to adding content. I already have some ideas that include more photographer profile posts and other material. So here is to the next year. I wish everyone who reads this little blog a fabulous 2013.

Fighting the Flood

2012-11-30T15:36:00.002Z

Flood equipment stored near the closed bridge in Malton, North Yorkshire, UK | Photo by Richard Flint

Twelve years ago i took a series of images about a flood that occurred in the towns not far from me. Both Malton and Norton lie next to the River Derwent, and in early 2000 the sheer amount of winter rain caused a extensive flood. To keep both towns connected, a ferry was started using a tractor and a trailer which transported people back and forth across the main bridge and the flooded areas.

This year the flood waters returned and severely tested the £10 million flood defence system with the water reaching to within two feet of the top of the flood defense wall. Hopefully the worst of the flooding is over and the waters will start to recede, yet those who live near the river are faced with the huge task of tidying up and getting on with their lives, in the knowledge that a wet winter could easily see it return.

A series of images covering the flood and posted to Instagram can be seen HERE

American Dream

2012-11-26T13:18:00.001Z

Regular readers of this blog may remember Ian Ruhter's Silver and light video about the photographer who used his van as a camera, darkroom and transport all rolled into one. Like Harry Taylor featured in the last post, Ruhter was looking for something different and found it in the Wet Plate Collodian photography .

This second video follows Ian photographing people he has met in Los Angeles and the images, just like the stories he hears, are quite remarkable. The wet plate images do seem to capture the character of the portrait sitter rather well, but the process of taking the actual images is far from easy. Ruhter has it down to a fine art.

Best of all, the Ruhter wet plate van is hitting the roads around the United States to photograph the people and places. I, for one, will be keeping a close eye on what this photographer captures on his travels.

American Tintype

2012-11-24T11:45:00.001Z

After the death of his mother, photographer Harry Taylor decided that he had taken film and digital photography as far as he could and discovered a passion for the 150 year old process of Tintype photography. The equipment and Tintype photo process is fascinating to watch. I'd love to have a go.

This short film is beautifully shot and captures the passion of photography perfectly. We all work in our own way to create images and this film just happens to capture a photographer who needed to change his photography. Especially interesting is Harry's mention of digital photography being perfect. Is this maybe why we use the Instagram retro photo filters? A need to inject some imperfection perhaps?

Two Storms

2012-11-02T15:26:00.000Z

The John B. Caddell, a tanker ship, ran aground on Staten Island during the Sandy storm surge |Photo by Benjamin Lowy—Reportage by Getty Images for TIME

Two storms have raged this week. First came the actual storm in Hurricane Sandy and then came the second storm about how it was covered by photojournalists who chose to use a certain iPhone app.

Much of the argument stems from this post criticizing the use of mobile photography during Hurricane Sandy. During a time when much of the infrastructure was down, people were on the move and people were after information - ANY information - mobile photography seemed not a bad choice of tool to use.

Let's not forget that Instagram is a publishing platform. Earlier today i re-tweeted a comment from @lpvmagazine who correctly stated :-

'The most interesting thing about Instagram IMO is that it's primarily a real time network/platform. Too much focus on aesthetics.'

Getting images out to an audience is what the Instagram network is built for. Forget all the vintage style photo filters. Forget all the photos of cats, food and family photos. Instagram is, at core, a real time publishing platform that can distribute imagery over a variety of communication networks. Then consider the challenging conditions facing people who were probably relying on mobile phones for most , if not all, of their communication.

How long does it take to process a DSLR image from the card to the net? Can you do it direct from the camera? How much gear/technology do you need to accomplish the task? Real time? Heck no.

Are we really that surprised that a device that can take photographs AND upload them in real time ( or damn close to it)to a waiting audience became the tool of choice for some photographers? I'm not.

The Brilliance of W.Eugene Smith

2012-10-20T11:16:00.000+01:00

The LIFE website really did come up with a masterpiece recently when the decided to produce an extended gallery of W. Eugene Smith's landmark photo story 'Nurse, Midwife'.

The story originally ran in the December 1951 issue of the classic magazine and followed the activities of a South Carolina nurse and midwife named Maude Callen who cared for patients in an area covering 400 square miles.When the story ran in LIFE donations flooded in that was used to build a clinic where Maude Cullen worked until she retired in 1971.

The photography is just brilliant. No other word for it. If you're wanting to study and develop the narrative skills for putting together a photo story, W Eugene Smith should be your first port of call. This photo story and the 1948 LIFE photo essay 'Country Doctor' are undoubtedly two of best you'll ever see.

The excellent 'Nurse, Midwife' by W. Eugene Smith can be found HERE

The iDyssey

2012-09-26T11:26:00.000+01:00

Last Spring Stefano De Luigi set out to retrace the Mediterranean voyage of Homer’s Odysseus. The photographer chose to capture the journey via Hipstamatic images and video footage shot using an iPhone. Along the way he also captured the sounds and voices of people he met along the way.

It's an excellent project and a very significant use of the iPhone to retell an epic story. Increasingly we are all trying to tell our stories through the variety of digital tools currently available. I'd like to think that Odysseus would have used an Instagram account to document his adventures had he started on his epic voyage now.

The New Yorker article can be found HERE. Stefano has also uploaded some video footage to YouTube. There is no English translation but it makes interesting viewing nonetheless. The YouTube footage can be found here.

Three Donans

2012-09-05T22:30:00.001+01:00

A portrait of crime

2012-08-27T11:00:00.000+01:00

Police identification file for William Jones | Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums

One of the more amazing qualities of photography is its ability to constantly reinvent itself. A photograph is taken for one purpose but it takes on another role or purpose. That's what a series of photographs found in a junk shop by a member of the public have achieved - a metamorphosis from a working police identity photo to a significant historical document that provides valuable social information.

The collection of photographs feature ID photographs of criminals who worked in the north east of England, around Newcastle Upon Tyne, during the 1930's. Donated to the Tyne & Wear archives and Museums, the images have been added to Flickr in the hope that more information may be received about the individuals seen in the mugshots. The Flickr archive also features some fascinating portraits of women prisoners brought before the North Shields Police Court between 1902 and 1916.

The portraits certainly make fascinating viewing, with the images show a surprisingly diverse set of people, some of whom wouldn't look too far out of place on a film set. Already some of the background to the lives led by the men featured in the 1930's collection is being revealed. William Jones, seen above, was killed after falling off a roof near the Benwell hotel in Newcastle. He was being pursued by police at the time. Jones stands out from the others due to his age and the conviction for shooting a man in America. Of all the men photographed, he appears to have been the most dangerous.

A charge that is often mentioned in the prisoner M.O is larceny, a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person, and one that was abolished in England and Wales back in 2002.

The Flickr archive for the Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums, featuring a broad range of photographic work including some superb images of ship building, can be found HERE

The collection of 31 mug shots from the 1930's can be found HERE

Echoes of Powder

2012-08-19T19:14:00.001+01:00

Flying High by Geraldine Lamanna

I really love these images. Photographing dance is especially tricky to do well , but this image and the others by Geraldine Lamanna work beautifully.

More great Powder Dance images from Geraldine can be found HERE

Further details about the Powder Dance images can be found HERE

The Photographic Processes

2012-08-08T14:55:00.003+01:00

Here's an excellent series of videos looking at the various photographic processes from the Daguerreotype to the Gelatin Silver Print. Certainly recommended viewing.

The series can be found at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4F918844C147182A

The tale of Mr Mieczkowski

2012-07-30T17:56:00.001+01:00

Occasionally, just occasionally, an item will pass through my hands as part of my work that really makes me stop and think how fortunate i am to be a photographer. Sometimes I get to handle history, items that have managed to survive all the slings and arrows of misfortune that history can throw at them.

Very recently a client, who wanted some images copying and repairing, delivered a beautiful old family photograph album that just oozed history. The stories that this photo album could tell as it moved through time and changed hands would probably make a great film or book. When you think of the European history, and especially Polish history during the 20th century, it's just amazing that this photo album made it through - how many Polish family albums did not! Sadly the album will likely keep its story and secrets safe, however the images within the album remain extremely beautiful and in excellent condition considering their age.

The album appears to dated from the 1880's (although some images may be older) and include photographs by a number of Polish photographers. Among the names mentioned on the back of one photograph is Jan Mieczkowski, a photographer whose life story is as amazing as his photographs. Mieczkowski managed to build up a decent sized photography business empire in Warsaw providing photographic portraits to society, after studying daguerreotype and collodion processes of image making. He went on to own several shops and was an established part of the photographic community before bad investments in other businesses led to his second eventual bankruptcy in 1880 ( he'd gone bankrupt before in 1857 due to poor investing, worked around Poland as a photographer and then returned to Warsaw to start again).

This second meltdown of his finances in Poland didn't seem to put Mieczkowski off photography though. In 1880 he decided to make a bold move and transfer his entire family to Paris. They would relocate, he would build up a new photography business and work as a photographer in the French capital. The photographer had attended the Exposition Universaille à Paris in 1862 and also in 1878 when he won a Médaille D'or award for excellence, a fact that is proudly displayed on the back of the photographic prints he produced - he could make it work in Paris. The idea probably sounded good, but things are never that simple.

Sadly, Jan Mieczkowski lasted only a year in Paris before financial problems, caused by fierce competition, a lack of French language skills and an embezzling lawyer, made him to go bankrupt yet again. The photographer then decided to return to to his native Poland in 1881 (remarkably though, the business name of Mieczkowski and Cie remained active in Paris using different photographers) managing to build up a new successful photography business again in Warsaw. Jan Mieczkowski died in Vienna in 1889 at the age of 59. That was just one photographer's story and over the next few weeks I'm going to see what i can find out about the other names mentioned in the album.

Holding such a wonderful album does make me think that the traditional family album has to be one of the biggest losers of late due to the introduction and rapid take-up of digital photography; how many families still put prints together for future generations to enjoy? We place our trust in the belief that websites like Facebook will be around forever, and we upload our images to the web without even thinking about the possibility of our valuable family 'data' suddenly vanishing. Family photography seems to be far less tangible than it was, as we access images through screens and websites, rather than pages and prints. So many extra factors come into play with digital data. My fear is that we will lose a great deal of valuable social history because of a need to digitally distribute and socialise the here-and-now of our family lives.

This Polish photo album has lasted over one hundred years, has been passed from one generation to the next and has survived numerous world events. Hopefully it will last another hundred years, at least. Can we really say the same about our Facebook galleries?