PHOTOGRAPHY AS ART AND SOCIAL HISTORY

Part 1: The Francis Bedford Topographical Photographs

Part 2: Urban Landscapes and Society: The Warwickshire Photographic Survey from
Birmingham Central Library

TECHNICAL NOTE

This microfiche publication has been prepared and produced in accordance with recommended and established guidelines for the production of microform of superior quality.  These conform to the recommendations of the standard guides to good microforming and micropublishing practice.

Attention should be drawn to the nature of the original material. Fiche 1 and 2 are introductory fiche. Fiche 3-28 are the photographs for which there are existing prints. To include these we have used the original heavy nineteenth-century glass negatives and in most instances, a very good end result has been achieved. To obtain a positive image these original glass negatives were sub-illuminated during filming and then a reversal was made during processing to match the positive prints on fiche 1-28.

There were a few problems with the prints. A few items are faint or damaged in some way this is due to the condition of the original material.

The precarious condition of the heavy, original glass negatives posed more problems. They were badly in need of preservation filming. A good result was achieved with about 95% of these original negatives. The main problems which could not be overcome were blurring or faint definition in the originals occasionally resulting in a virtually completely washed-out frame. Other problems included cracked, broken or damaged negatives, Bedford’s experiments with ink and tissue paper (he occasionally decided to experiment by inking in foregrounds, or the sky, or using tissue paper on the sky) and instances where Bedford clearly took the same photograph at several different light positions, can largely be overcome. In particular, much painstaking work has been done at the Birmingham Reference Library to achieve a very good result with the various cracked and broken negatives. These clearly need a lot of time, care and attention during and before the filming process.

The following examples illustrate some of the problems encountered:

B3139: Bedford has affixed a label on this negative reading “Shade the Sky”.

B2481: This original glass negative is badly damaged.

B2711, 2754, 2757, 2785, 2803 and 2804 are all faint and washed out.

It is also important to note that the Birmingham Central Library collection has quite a few gaps. It is, however, the largest surviving collection of Bedford’s work. About a further 1,000 prints are deposited in the National Library of Wales. Only where photographs are supposed to exist in the Birmingham collection, but have gone astray and are now missing from the Original material (only a handful of items), are missing targets filmed. To identify whether print numbers actually exist please refer to our contents of fiche and detailed listings.

The above mentioned characteristics of the original material present difficulties of image and contrast which stringent tests and camera alterations cannot entirely overcome. Every effort has been made to minimise these difficulties.

Bob Docherty of Micromedia Division, Bell and Howell Ltd at Bicester, has exercised the most responsible care in the filming of this unique collection and this microfiche publication meets the standards established by the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) and The American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

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