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    Do UK museums take photography seriously?

    This spring, the collection of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) was transferred from the National Media Museum in Bradford to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. When news of the move was announced in 2016, there was a good deal of criticism, including a letter to the Guardian signed by a long list of […] More

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    One photographer’s spiritual struggle in Jerusalem

    In 1853, the archaeologist and photographer Auguste Salzmann travelled to Jerusalem to photograph the city’s religious monuments. The resulting photographs were published in 1856 as the album Jerusalem: A study and photographic Reproduction of the Monuments of the Holy City. Forty-two of them are currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum as part of the […] More

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    ‘If I could describe a photograph entirely in words, why bother making it?’

    For most of her career, Dayanita Singh has placed programmatic disobedience at the core of her approach to photography, challenging the formal qualities of images as well as the way they are exhibited. Amandas Ong speaks to her ahead of her show opening at Frith Street Gallery, London. Installation view, ‘Dayanita Singh: Museum of Shedding’, […] More

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    One of the world’s oldest photography studios is closing down

    The closure of the Bourne & Shepherd studio in Kolkata brings to an end the history of the oldest photographic business in India and perhaps in the world. The firm of Shepherd and Robertson was established in Agra in 1862 and the following year, in Simla, the hill-station which would soon become the British summer […] More

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    Dreams caught on camera in New York

    ‘I believe in the future resolution’, Andre Breton wrote in 1924, of ‘dream and reality…into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality.’ His declaration helped to inspire a century’s worth of artistic expeditions into the subconscious, though we are no closer today to achieving the ‘resolution’ he so confidently foresaw. Photography, which is often regarded […] More

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    Five photography shows to see in New York this week

    There are some very interesting photography exhibitions in New York’s private galleries this month. Here are five you should get to before they close – and don’t forget ‘Dream States’, a wide-ranging display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (reviewed here). ‘Mark Cohen: Closer’Danziger Gallery (until 11 June) A native of Wilkes-Barre, a rural town […] More

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    Baldessari, Burtynsky and a lot of David Bowie at Photo London

    ‘It’s showtime!’ said one exhibitor to his neighbour, as he broke off mid-conversation to attend to his own stand. The preview of the second edition of Photo London suggests that the fair is still defining itself – and the sense of expectation (and a sense of not quite knowing what to expect) on the part […] More