Historical record only
Historical Group of the Royal Photographic Society
150th Anniversary of the founding of the Society
Conference and Dinner
19th Century Women Photographers
20/21 September 2003
Birr Castle
County Offaly
Ireland
Report on the Seminar and Dinner to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Royal Photographic Society.
The event was held at Ireland’s Historic Science Centre at Birr Castle in County Offaly and organised by the Historical Group of the Royal Photographic Society, Davison Associates of Dublin and the Historic Science Centre at Birr Castle.
Colin Ford said that this was the best event associated with the history of photography that he had attended in thirty-two years.
Copies of the special edition of PhotoHistorian magazine covering his event will be available from John Warr at ajwarr@aol.com.
The idea of holding the 150th anniversary event at Birr arose from the discovery of the original collodion darkroom of the third Countess of Rosse at Birr Castle. The Countess was an accomplished photographer at the time the Photographic Society of London, later to become the Royal Photographic Society, was founded..
The original 1850s collodion darkroom of the third Countess of Rosse provided the theme for the Conference
Group in the tube of the 'Leviathan of Parsonstown' by the 4th
Earl of Rosse printed by Edwin Davison from the original plate as a POP image
The Hon. Miss Parsons - by the 4thEarl of Rosse
albumin print by Edwin Davison from the original plate
Speakers at the conference included:
Our host, the current Earl of Rosse on the Parsons family and its social and scientific work.
Colin Ford talked on further areas that need to be researched to understand the world of Julia Margaret Cameron.
Virginia Dodier gave an enlightening talk on the way in which Counteess Hawarden reflected contemporary society in her photography.
Carolyn Bloore on the women photographers of the time including those in the first Royal Photographic Society exhibition 150 years ago.
Richard Morris on the women photographers associated with the Talbot and Llewelyn families.
David Davison talked not only on the work of the third Countess of Rosse but also about Ireland’s photographic heritage.
Pictures of a number of those attending the seminar in Victorian dress (the negatives have been prepared for platinum printing)
Our hosts, the Earl and Countess of Rosse gave us dinner on the Saturday night in the Castle’s neo-Gothic dining room followed by a concert in the candle lit salon. With the ladies in their crinolines and the gentlemen in appropriate dress the effect was stunning. The food, the wines and the music were of a quality that will be remembered with pleasure for years.
The proceedings of the conference will be published as an edition of the PhotoHistorian magazine with a CD version containing colour illustrations. These will be on sale at the Historic Science Centre shop at Birr Castle.
The event was so successful and stimulating that a further programme of events and workshops is being planned.
From left to right: Lord Rosse, David Davison, Melody Bostick and Terry King
From left to right: Lord Rosse, David Davison, Carolyn Bloore, Edwin Davison and Terry King
Birr Castle
Richard Morris exposing a Calotype group photo
Terry King FRPS
Chairman, The Historical Group of the Royal Photographic Society