The Archive

Stephen Bull, Celebrities in the Street and Studio  During what could be called The Golden Age of Celebrity, from the 1920s to the 1960s, photographs of the famous were usually carefully staged in the studio. Stars were portrayed as godlike: separate from the mere mortals who worshipped them. With the arrival of paparazzi photography, celebrities came to be pictured walking the same streets as you and I and the stars were brought down to earth.

Joy Gregory, Cinderella Tours Europe  Cinderella Tours Europe is a series of photographs which grew out of the numerous interviews Joy conducted during a four month research trip around the Caribbean. From Panama to Jamaica, from Haiti to Surinam, for many Europe was the place of unattainable dreams regarded in the same way as others may imagine Ancient Greece or the Roman Empire.

Bettina Kaufmann, Curator’s Talk  Bettina Kaufmann gives an introduction to the Street & Studio exhibition at Tate Modern. She discusses the curatorial issues that arise from the juxtaposition of street and studio photography: at first glance they appear to be two divided image worlds, but interestingly there are inclusions and interplays of specific elements between the two genres. Street photography stands for spontaneity and immediacy, a place that is continuously changing, opposite to the originally quiet, formal and private studio photography.

Steve Edwards, Documents and Pictures  Steve Edwards explores some of the antimonies or contrasts that have shaped photography from its origin in the nineteenth century to the present. This short survey presentation provides an introduction to ideas and photographic practices relevant for this study day. Suggested Further Reading Steve Edwards, 'Profane illumination': Photography and photomontage in the USSR and Germany, Steve Edwards & Paul Wood eds, Art of the Avant-Gardes, Yale University Press, 2004, pp.395-425

Join Vicente Todolí, Director of London’s Tate Modern and Jon Thomson, artist and Head of MA Fine Art at Middlesex University as they discuss the work of James Lee Byars with Michael Stanley, former Director of Milton Keynes Gallery.

Organised in collaboration with the Open University, this study day explored the role and practice of collaboration in the making of art and design during the Renaissance. The day examined collaborations between centres of production and between individuals, as well as the overlaps and exchange between different media, disciplines and countries. It included talks relating closely to the new Medieval and Renaissance Galleries by curators and conservators from the project team, and art historians from the Open University.