George Melly Portrait (aged 18) Photographed by ECH in 1944

Supervisory Meeting - 05/11/2014 @ MMU

Present at the meeting: Simon Faulkner, David Brittain, Gavin Parry

The meeting was again used to discuss practice based creative outputs currently being conducted. This work consisted of the following:

• The appropriation of selected Hardman negatives, resulting in the manipulation of composite elements of the works, in order to create new works.  The photographic process has then been reversed in order to work back towards the creation of a new negative.
• The reframing of Hardman's work, presenting some of the portraits in a manner never intended, through tighter cropping and increased tonal range / contrast.  This was intended as more of a technical test, in terms of the possible ways of presenting the Hi-Res scans taken from the archive.
• The linking of a separate database created, which details the data held within the Pilot's Flying Log of Douglas W Roberts, which documents flying activity in the RAF during WW2.  The data has been used to link key dates between the two different activities.
• The meeting between KWR and the National Trust on 15/10/14 - which discussed the use of the materials and the potential output of the project, via exhibition and publication.

In response to this discussion it was suggested that Keith should:

1. Continue to work with the Hardman database, moving into the analysis phase of the project.  The interrogation of the data should be used to drive ongoing visits to the archive.
2. The development of a series of titled 'pamphlets' which should be used to display the different lines of creative and archival enquiry. (E.G. Chronotype / Typology / Key Dates)
3. A written component (abstract) in relation to these different pamphlets, which should attempt to address both the process and the connection to the database.
4. Continued reading around the specific area of 'Database Aesthetics' and 'The Database as Symbolic Form'.  Focusing on practitioners who incorporate or interrogate databases as part of their creative practice and methodology.

Hardman's Servicemen

Dr Sykes' Garden - Ashurst, Formby

The first two images below have both been taken in the same place, roughly from the same position .... the first shows Dr Sykes' and his family in 1936 when the space was the back garden at Ashurst on Duke Street, Formby.  The second shot (78 years later) shows the same space as it now is at the back of the public library on Duke Street, Formby. (Note the same coping stones on top of the wall)

The last shot shows one of the surviving pear trees from Dr Sykes orchard.

Dr Sykes' purchased the land opposite his house (Ashurst) on Duke Street in the late 1930's when it was being used as a farm.  The plan was to develop the area into a new housing estate.  After the successful purchase of the land, he gifted it to the local council with the sole instruction that it should never be built upon.  It is still a public park to this day.

                                           Dr Sykes' and family - 1936

                                          Back of Formby Public Library - 2014

                                                     Dr Sykes' Pear Tree - 2014

Supervisory Meeting - 07/05/2014 @ MMU

Present at Meeting: Simon Faulkner / David Brittain / Gavin Parry

The meeting was predominantly used to discuss practice based work currently being conducted.  This work consisted of the following:

• Hi-Res scans of portraits dealing with the 'Chronotype' (The same sitter with a 22 year gap between each portrait) The presentation of which was discussed, with the negative rebate being considered important to the viewer In terms of identifying a shift in Hardman's practice and equipment.

• A series of 'Re-photography' images of Vale Royal in response to Hardman's location based portraits of Lady Delamere originally taken in 1937.

• A series of 'Re-photography' images of Dr Sykes garden originally taken in 1936.

The importance of methodology was also discussed, in terms of ensuring the database is at the centre of all archival intervention, and clearly driving the selection process and creative output.

In response to this discussion it was suggested that Keith should:

1. To spend a limited timeframe just dealing with one specific aspect of the creative output, which was suggested to be the 'Re-photography' element of the location based portraits.
2. To begin to write a brief abstract (short paragraph) specifically about the individual creative outputs starting with the 'Re-photography' of location based portraits.
3. To consider other creative strategies, such as using the paragraphs within Hardman's written 'Lecture on Portraiture' in linking his actual portraits to his words.  Lastly to consider the use of key events in Liverpool to link to the timeframe of the portraits. 

Reverend Eric Treacy - Photographed by ECH in 1936

 

Born: 1907 Died: 1978

 

Reverend Treacy M.B.E. was an Anglican Bishop and English Railway Photographer. He left a collection of 12,000 photographs which now forms part of the National Railway Museum's archive of over 1.4 million images.

Supervisory Meeting - 26/03/2014 @MMU

Present at Meeting: Simon Faulkner / David Brittain

The meeting informally discussed progression of the practice based component of the project, whilst the RD2 re-submission feedback from the scrutineers was still being progressed.

Arrangements have been made to access the Hardman Archive during the Easter break on Thursday 10th & 17th April 2014.  Discussions were therefore centred upon the creative developments of the project and the best uses of this time spent in the archive.  Progression of the following creative strategies were discussed:

1.       Typology – The classification of different types, as defined by the database will provide a source of narrative through which to view the existing portraits.

2.       Chronotype – The database provides a method through which to extract the portraits of an individual taken over an extended timeframe.

3.       Re-Photography – The existing location based portraits offer a physical environment within which to explore photographically.

4.       Coding – The specific codes used within the registers (such as ‘DNL’ or ‘Gratis’) offer a means through which to view and use the archive in ways never intended.

5.       Replacement – The chronological gaps within the archive (presented through prior extraction or image decomposition) present an opportunity for creative engagement, using surnames from the registers.

RD2 Resubmission - 7th March 2014

The RD2 transfer from MPhil to PhD document has now been resubmitted for scrutiny by Professor Stephen Dixon and Dr Alice Kettle, the findings of which are scheduled to be fedback on Monday 31st March 2014.

The re-submission was required to respond to a number of recommendations and amendments as specified by the scrutineers, which in summary requested greater clarity in terms of the practical output of the project and further work on the Literature Review component of the report.

A full copy of the report can be obtained by request.  The Abstract for the report was as follows:

Edward Chambré-Hardman (1898-1988) was a Liverpool based commercial portrait photographer, practicing between 1923 to 1966.  He left behind a vast collection of photographic work including portraiture, landscape and topographical cityscape works, all of which are now archived within the Central Liverpool Library.  The focus of this project specifically concerns the commercial portraiture component of Hardman’s archive, which consists of approximately 140,000 individual sheet negatives. This report explains what steps have been made to develop this project from MPhil to PhD, including an evaluation of the existing aims, as compared with the revised aims now being proposed.

 The first section of the report details the original project aims as specified in the RD1 report, it then goes on to list the revised aims as driven by the research and creative practice conducted to date.  The initial aims are then elaborated upon, with a rationale being proposed in relation to the new aims.  The second section details all the research and creative practice conducted to date, including the difficulties experienced with accessing Hardman’s archive and the subsequent development of a database designed to drive the process of archival intervention.  The second section addresses the research and practical output of the project to date in terms of both technical testing and case study development.  The third section elaborates upon the research and creative response to the archive that will be conducted in order to complete the doctorate.  This will include how the created database will help drive the archival intervention and the various forms this intervention will take, it will also propose a future work-plan and timeline for the forthcoming two years until completion.  The final part of this section will detail the provisional layout of the written component of the project and also explain what format the practice based component of the project will take, including details of the proposed final exhibition. 

 The fourth and final section of the report is the literature review, which intends to assess current knowledge regarding the use of archival intervention within the visual arts and in particular, photographic practice. This review consists of five interrelated parts linked together through the proposed creative practice element of the project.  It begins with mapping the field of practice in relation to archival intervention, examining the work of key contemporary practitioners using archives within their work (specifically photographic), drawing a distinction between the different types of archives being used.  The following part of the review examines key theoretical texts with the intention of framing the project in relation to both historic and contemporary discourse surrounding the archive.  It then goes on to address the use of typology within the visual arts, offering a specific definition in relation to the ways in which this project will use typology for the creation of practical output.  Lastly it will briefly discuss commercial photographic portraiture within a historical context, touching on issues of photographic conservation in relation to cellulose nitrate materials.

 The report will demonstrate how the project will represent a significant contribution to knowledge, firstly through the generation of creative practical output which can be both displayed through exhibition and reflected upon within the written component of the project.  Then secondly, through the methodology and models employed using site specific archival materials and the precedents this practice might offer to others working within a similar field. 

Supervisory Meeting - 19/02/2014 @MMU

Present - Simon Faulkner / Gavin Parry

The meeting was predominantly used to discuss the resubmission of the RD2 Transfer Report which is due on 7th March 2014.  Two main aspects of the RD2 have been identified as being problematic at this stage of the project, including the literature review and the lack of clarity surrounding the creative practical output the project intends to generate.  Areas of discussion were as follows:

 

• The development of the Literature Review in line with comments offered by the scrutineers reports, requesting a clearer link between literature and practice.


• The creation of the database in relation to what can be digitised within the given timeframe and how this must be made central to the methodology for practice.

 

In response to this discussion the following was suggested:

1. Think more about the different innovative creative strategies for using the database within the creation of typologies from the Hardman Archive.
2. Further develop the Literature Review and submit this to the team for feedback prior to the re-submission deadline of the 7th March 2014.
3. Develop a practice based submission (PDF) to submit with the RD2 in order to clarify both what has already been achieved and what is being now being proposed in line with transfer to PhD.  To be submitted to team prior to resubmission of RD2.

The next meeting was scheduled for 26/03/2014