Monday, 3 December 2012
Project Completed!
This week marks the end of the project to digitize the Joseph Hardman Archive. All of the scanned glass plate images are now viewable on the Hardman Photo Library accessible through the Museum of Lakeland Life website. I hope that you have found my blog interesting and thank you for taking the time to read it!
Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Online Image Library Live!!
The Hardman Online Library is now Live! Which means you can search through the library and purchase prints. The library can be accessed via the Museum of Lakeland Life website. New images are still being uploaded and will continue to be over the next few weeks.
Saturday, 29 September 2012
'Small Blessings: Amulets at the Pitt Rivers Museum'
This is a project to catalogue and make accessible one of the museum's significant collections of amulets. A special project team created more than 2500 individual records for the amulets, allowing them to be accessible via an online database. The new website created for the project also shows videos of the different stages to the project, from meeting the new project staff to documenting and conserving the amulets.
In my view a wonderful website with beautiful photography- take a look!
http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/amulets/
In my view a wonderful website with beautiful photography- take a look!
http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/amulets/
The Increasing Popularity of Digitisation Projects in Museums
Over the past few years, I have seen a clear increase in the popularity and development of digital media use in museums. Technology now allows the museum walls to be broken down, improving both communication with museum staff and public access to the collections.
Social networking and the Internet allow members of the public to see what goes on behind the scenes in museums, whilst online 'blogs' allow museum staff such as curators and conservators to produce a diary of what they 'get up to' on an average day at the museum. The use of online collections databases by museums is not as new as social networking, but I feel is vitally important to improving access to the collections. These online databases can contain detailed information about objects in the museum's collections and also images of the objects, all of which can be excellent resources for researchers.
Museums are not always able physically to display all of their collections and can sometimes be criticised for not displaying material in stores. Online collection databases allow those objects currently not on display or not able to be displayed, to still be accessible to the public.
It appears that digitising museum and archive collections is becoming increasingly popular at present. Producing online databases or libraries of collection material does take time, but when no physical access to the objects is required, volunteers can provide invaluable assistance in this area.
I have personally volunteered on a very interesting online project run by the Australian Museum called the 'Atlas of Living Australia' in which volunteers all over the world are able to transcribe specimen collection labels online. When working on this project I felt like I was contributing not only to the work of the museum, but in producing a database of information that would be a brilliant tool for further scientific research. See below for access:
Scanning archival material and photographing museum collections also serves as a historical record of these objects, so that when they are too fragile to be handled, access and research can still be made using this material. Below are some museum collections currently online and articles on museum digitisation projects:
The Manchester Museum Collection Database
Digital Collections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
Saturday, 8 September 2012
Some of my favourite images...
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| Canoes on the Lake |
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| Joseph Hardman and his Wife |
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| Stepping Stones |
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| Walker looking across Lake |
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| Yachts Racing |
Monday, 3 September 2012
Less than 1000 scans to go!
I am pleased to say that I now have less than 1,000 plate negatives left to scan for the project.
The images captured in the scans this week have been really interesting and very varied. I have seen pictures of William Wordsworth's Dove Cottage in Grasmere, of what appears to be a domesticated fox labelled on the plate sleeve as the 'Borrowdale Fox', photographs of Joseph Hardman and his wife and paintings from John Ruskin's art collection.
A number of the scanned images have now been sent to the media department at the Lakeland Arts Trust so that they can then be loaded onto the online image library.
Some of the images in the 'Joseph Hardman Archive: Series 1' have already been uploaded and can be viewed at the link below:
http://www.lakelandmuseum.org.uk/hardman
More images from Series 2 should be uploaded very soon so keep your eyes peeled!
The images captured in the scans this week have been really interesting and very varied. I have seen pictures of William Wordsworth's Dove Cottage in Grasmere, of what appears to be a domesticated fox labelled on the plate sleeve as the 'Borrowdale Fox', photographs of Joseph Hardman and his wife and paintings from John Ruskin's art collection.
A number of the scanned images have now been sent to the media department at the Lakeland Arts Trust so that they can then be loaded onto the online image library.
Some of the images in the 'Joseph Hardman Archive: Series 1' have already been uploaded and can be viewed at the link below:
http://www.lakelandmuseum.org.uk/hardman
More images from Series 2 should be uploaded very soon so keep your eyes peeled!
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Answer to which army Joseph Hardman photographed
With the help of the Border Regiment Museum I can now identify the army photographed by Joseph Hardman (image previously posted on this blog). The image shows the Annual Camp of what is thought to be the Yorkshire yeomanry unit between the early and mid 1930s. The yeomanry unit were a cavalry arm of the territorial army.
Saturday, 4 August 2012
Ice-Skating, Sheep Farming and an Army!
Between the 2nd October and 22nd December 2012 the Coffee House at Abbot Hall Art Gallery will temporarily display some of the black and white photographs taken by Joseph Hardman of ‘Winter in the Lake District’. Coincidentally, whilst scanning and catalogueing some of his glass plate negatives this week, I came across a range of images capturing some of the heavy snowfalls in the Lake District. Many of the images depict farmers tending to their sheep in the snow, in some cases it appears even having to dig them out! Farming has always been a very precarious occupation and still is today. Having looked at the real nature of sheep farming in the Lake District during the Winter, I have come to really admire these farmers.
Although the snow can bring qaos and disruption to daily life in the Lake District, it also provides new opportunities for enjoyment. This is evident is some of the glass plate negatives capturing people ice-skating on a frozen Derwentwater. These images are remeniscent of Victorian scenes of people ice-skating on the River Thames during some of the very bad Winters that we have had.
Sheep farming, as previously mentioned in this post, is a very important industry for the Lake District and has been for many years. The hills and fells make arable farming somewhat difficult, but are perfect for allowing sheep to graze. Sheep farming is less intensive than other livestock and they provide the farmer with meat, milk and fleeces, all of which can be sold. This week I came across many negatives capturing different aspects involved in sheep farming, including herding, dipping, shearing and sheep trials for a bit of fun! The sheep farming calender included lambing in March/April, Shearing and Dipping in June/July and the remainder of the year the farmer spends tending his flock(s). In many of the negatives, the sheep are captured either on a farm or in their common habitat on the fells grazing. However, there are also images of sheep being herded down roads quite precariously, including some negatives showing a very large flock of sheep being herded along All Hallows Lane in Kendal Town Centre. A similar image can also be seen on the front cover of the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry guide leaflet.
I have also come across a quite puzzling negative, showing what appears to be an army or cavalry camped at Esthwaite. The sleeve of the negative was labelled on the outside ‘Tourists’ but having looked closer at the image, the men on horse back are wearing what appears to be a military uniform. It is possible that the army could be the Border Regiment or soldiers doing National Service, but I hope to carry out further research to try to establish who the army are.
References
Hill Sheep Farming, Lake District, UK- Byrchall High School Revision Wiki (website)
http://www.byrchall.wigan.sch.uk/revision/index.php?title=Hill_Sheep_Farming,_Lake_District,_UK
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| Ice-Skating on Derwentwater (Joseph Hardman Archive-Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry) |
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| Sheep in All Hallows Lane, Kendal (Joseph Hardman Archive-Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry) |
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| Army Camp at Esthwaite (Joseph Hardman Archive-Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry) |
Saturday, 28 July 2012
The Bowder Stone- A Geological Puzzle
The Bowder (or Boulder Stone) is a large, balanced piece of rock that was deposited in Keswick. The 2000 ton stone measures 30ft in height, 50ft across and has a circumference of 90ft. It is not composed of a rock type native to the area and it has been suggested that the stone may be a 'glacial erratic', a rock carried by a glacier, probably originating in Scotland during the last ice age. It's name is thought to derive from the son of the Norse God Odin, 'Balder'. At present, the area surrounding the stone is owned by the National Trust but it was originally purchased by a gentleman called John Pocklington in 1798, and he is responsible for erecting the ladder still present today, allowing visitors to climb on top of the stone. Mr Pocklington also built a 'mock' hermitage for a lady guide at the stone. The area underneath the stone has been dug out slightly to allow visitors to climb under the stone and reach around to hold hands with one another. The stone is currently leased to Northumbria Mountaineering Club for use as a climbing resource.
An alternative theory to the Bowder Stone is that it was deposited as a result of a rock fall from nearby crags. There are no abrasions on the rock which would be expected if it were to have been carried by a glacier and the rock is the same rock type as that found at the Hells Wall area of Bouder Crag nearby. The Bowder Stone is a fine grained, Andesite lava rock which was created during the Ordovician period. This has been concluded from its composition of between 65-50 % silica. It is therefore c. 4 million years old and is probably part of the Borrowdale volcanic rock group.
The Bowder Stone has a very enigmatic appearance within it's landscape and has been painted by a number of landscape artists. John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893) depicted the stone in oil on canvas. in Romanticism style, in his painting produced sometime between 1863 and 1868. The painting is now part of the Tate Collection. The stone has also been painted by E Hodder which can be viewed on the 'Your Paintings' website. Other artwork is also held in collections at Leeds, these pieces are said to depict great realism and the detail of the stone.
I have found many black and white glass plate negatives within the Joseph Hardman archive capturing the stone, including those visitors brave enough to climb on top of it!
References
www.visitcumbria.com/kes/the-bowder.stone.htm
www.wikipaintings.org/en/john-atkinson-grimshaw/bowder_stone_borrowdale
Lava in the Lakes- The Bowder Stone (website)
www.geocaching.com/seek/cache-details.aspx?guid=le479fe4-86f1-4429-bdOb-df3bdcb2c22e
www.suite101.com/article/the-bowderstone-in-the-lake-district-a/57576
The Story of the Bowder Stone by Alan Smith Rigg Side Publications (2003)
An alternative theory to the Bowder Stone is that it was deposited as a result of a rock fall from nearby crags. There are no abrasions on the rock which would be expected if it were to have been carried by a glacier and the rock is the same rock type as that found at the Hells Wall area of Bouder Crag nearby. The Bowder Stone is a fine grained, Andesite lava rock which was created during the Ordovician period. This has been concluded from its composition of between 65-50 % silica. It is therefore c. 4 million years old and is probably part of the Borrowdale volcanic rock group.
The Bowder Stone has a very enigmatic appearance within it's landscape and has been painted by a number of landscape artists. John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893) depicted the stone in oil on canvas. in Romanticism style, in his painting produced sometime between 1863 and 1868. The painting is now part of the Tate Collection. The stone has also been painted by E Hodder which can be viewed on the 'Your Paintings' website. Other artwork is also held in collections at Leeds, these pieces are said to depict great realism and the detail of the stone.
I have found many black and white glass plate negatives within the Joseph Hardman archive capturing the stone, including those visitors brave enough to climb on top of it!
References
www.visitcumbria.com/kes/the-bowder.stone.htm
www.wikipaintings.org/en/john-atkinson-grimshaw/bowder_stone_borrowdale
Lava in the Lakes- The Bowder Stone (website)
www.geocaching.com/seek/cache-details.aspx?guid=le479fe4-86f1-4429-bdOb-df3bdcb2c22e
www.suite101.com/article/the-bowderstone-in-the-lake-district-a/57576
The Story of the Bowder Stone by Alan Smith Rigg Side Publications (2003)
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| The Bowder Stone (with access ladder)- Joseph Hardman Archive, The Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry |
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| Side view of the Bowder Stone and ladder- Joseph Hardman Archive, The Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry |
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| Colour Postcard from 1890 (http://www.visitcumbria.com/kes/the-bowder-stone.htm) |
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| Bowder Stone, Borrowdale by John Atkinson Grimshaw c. 1870 (http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/john-atkinson-grimshaw/bowder-stone-borrowdale) |
Friday, 20 July 2012
The Sinking of the Lady of the Lake...
After two weeks of scanning, I have been introduced to various new places and aspects of the Lake District, many of which I had no prior knowledge of. I have found that many of the glass plate negatives taken by Joseph Hardman, capture boats, people or animals within the setting of lakes including Wastwater, Windermere and Ullswater. Perhaps of particular interest with the current redevelopment of the Windermere Steamboat Museum by The Lakeland Arts Trust, are the many boats that have served on the multiple lakes of the Lake District throughout history. In this post, I will look at one steamboat captured in Joseph Hardman's negatives called the 'Lady of the Lake' who in my opinion, has a very interesting biography.
Launched in 1845 and in service until 1865, the 'Lady of the Lake' was the first steamboat to operate on an English Lake. A launching ceremony on the 26th June 1877 took place at Newby Bridge and it was reported in the Illustrated London News. The vessel was built by Richard Ashburner of Greenodd for Windermere Steam Yacht Company.After completion, Lady of the Lake was 80ft in length, had a beam of 11.5ft, measured a depth of 6.4ft and was installed with a steam engine of 20 hp. The vessel weighed in after completion at 42.7 tonnes.
Her construction was predominantly wood with a short bowsprit and a tall funnel which sat behind the paddle boxes. The funnel was painted black with a single broad white stripe. Her hull was finished in black and gold with a white figurehead. The Lady of the Lake had her maiden voyage to Ambleside, during which the Kendal Cavalry band played for passengers travelling on the voyage. The vessel was originally built as a screw steamer but had to be converted to a paddle steamer due to the water at Newby Bridge being too shallow. In her role as a paddle steamer, the Lady of the Lake aided travel along the River Leven to a terminus at the Swan Hotel.The Lady of the Lake had a maximum capacity of 200 passengers, offering first class travel in a saloon fitted with mirrors and carpets.
Originally the Lady of the Lake was designed by Mr Douglas Hebson of Penrith and was built in Glasgow by Joseph Seath & Company. The parts for the Steamer had to be transported in three sections by rail to Penrith, then by horse to the waterside where the vessel was constructed at Elder Beck.
During the last week of the digitisation project, I came across some unusual images of what appeared to be a half sunken vessel at moorings. After carrying out some research, I have established that the vessel captured in the negatives may have been the Lady of the Lake, who it is recorded, sank twice. She first sank at her moorings in 1881 and then again during a severe storm in 1958. Fortunately, although damaged by these events, the vessel was still salavgable and was kindly restored by Lord Wakefield and was relaunched on the 19th May 1979.
Some images of the Lady of the Lake can be seen in this blog, both captured through Joseph Hardman's glass plate negatives and also some more recent colour photographs of her in action.
References:
Windermere Lake Cruises-Company History (Website)
www.windermere-lakecruises.co.uk/aboutus-details.php?id=6
Windermere Historic Boat Collection-Steamboat Museum (Website)
www.steamboats.org.uk/windermere-historic-boat-collection
Colour Photograph of Lady of the Lake by Steve T
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/34759699
Launched in 1845 and in service until 1865, the 'Lady of the Lake' was the first steamboat to operate on an English Lake. A launching ceremony on the 26th June 1877 took place at Newby Bridge and it was reported in the Illustrated London News. The vessel was built by Richard Ashburner of Greenodd for Windermere Steam Yacht Company.After completion, Lady of the Lake was 80ft in length, had a beam of 11.5ft, measured a depth of 6.4ft and was installed with a steam engine of 20 hp. The vessel weighed in after completion at 42.7 tonnes.
Her construction was predominantly wood with a short bowsprit and a tall funnel which sat behind the paddle boxes. The funnel was painted black with a single broad white stripe. Her hull was finished in black and gold with a white figurehead. The Lady of the Lake had her maiden voyage to Ambleside, during which the Kendal Cavalry band played for passengers travelling on the voyage. The vessel was originally built as a screw steamer but had to be converted to a paddle steamer due to the water at Newby Bridge being too shallow. In her role as a paddle steamer, the Lady of the Lake aided travel along the River Leven to a terminus at the Swan Hotel.The Lady of the Lake had a maximum capacity of 200 passengers, offering first class travel in a saloon fitted with mirrors and carpets.
Originally the Lady of the Lake was designed by Mr Douglas Hebson of Penrith and was built in Glasgow by Joseph Seath & Company. The parts for the Steamer had to be transported in three sections by rail to Penrith, then by horse to the waterside where the vessel was constructed at Elder Beck.
During the last week of the digitisation project, I came across some unusual images of what appeared to be a half sunken vessel at moorings. After carrying out some research, I have established that the vessel captured in the negatives may have been the Lady of the Lake, who it is recorded, sank twice. She first sank at her moorings in 1881 and then again during a severe storm in 1958. Fortunately, although damaged by these events, the vessel was still salavgable and was kindly restored by Lord Wakefield and was relaunched on the 19th May 1979.
Some images of the Lady of the Lake can be seen in this blog, both captured through Joseph Hardman's glass plate negatives and also some more recent colour photographs of her in action.
References:
Windermere Lake Cruises-Company History (Website)
www.windermere-lakecruises.co.uk/aboutus-details.php?id=6
Windermere Historic Boat Collection-Steamboat Museum (Website)
www.steamboats.org.uk/windermere-historic-boat-collection
Colour Photograph of Lady of the Lake by Steve T
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/34759699
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| Half sunken Lady of the Lake (Joseph Hardman Archive- Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry) |
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| Half sunken Lady of the Lake |
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| More recent colour photograph of Lady of the Lake |
Friday, 13 July 2012
Welcome!
This week I have taken up my new post of Project Assistant with the Lakeland Arts Trust, at the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry. Within this role, I will be working with a collection of photographic negatives produced by the photographer Joseph Hardman. Originally from Radcliffe in Manchester, Joseph moved to Kendal in 1911 where he joined a local photographic society allowing his interest in photography to grow. For the last 30 years of his life, Joseph travelled to every part of the Lake District by taxi working as a freelance photographer and allowing him to create an invaluable record of a rapdily disappearing Lakeland life during the mid-twentieth century. Joseph also spent time working for the Westmorland Gazette and had many of his photographs published.
The photographic equipment used by Joseph Hardman would have been very different to the type commonly used today. It would have comprised of a view camera, inside which glass plates coated in light sensitive emulsion were placed. When exposed to the light, an image would have been captured as a permanent record within the photographic emulsion onto the plate. These are known as glass plate negatives and from them, it is possible to produce black and white photographic prints. It is possible to purchase some of Joseph Hardman's black and white prints of the Lake District from the shop at the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry.
At the start of this week, I was introduced to the task that lies ahead of me by James Arnold, the Assistant Curator of Social History at the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry. James has already scanned and catalogued 1500 of the glass plate negatives leaving 3000 remaining for myself to complete. To scan the negatives I will be using a standard flatbed scanner to capture raw images, which will then be edited using Adobe Photoshop Elements 9. At the same time I will catalogue information about each negative recording details such as their accession number, a brief description, condition and tag words. The second part of the project will then be to upload the images onto a specially commissioned online library which will allow members of the public to search through the scanned images. Not only is this a method of safeguarding the images, but it is also hoped that the online library will provide an excellent resource from which further research or enquiries regarding the Joseph Hardman archive can be made.
The post of Project Assistant has been kindly funded by the Gannett Foundation and the deadline for completion of the digitisation project is the end of 2012.
Within this blog, I hope to bring you a brief insight into some of the very interesting and fascinating landscapes, locations and aspects of mid-twentieth century Lakeland Life that have been captured in these images, including any unusual or funny stories that I may also uncover!
I hope you will find the blog interesting!
The photographic equipment used by Joseph Hardman would have been very different to the type commonly used today. It would have comprised of a view camera, inside which glass plates coated in light sensitive emulsion were placed. When exposed to the light, an image would have been captured as a permanent record within the photographic emulsion onto the plate. These are known as glass plate negatives and from them, it is possible to produce black and white photographic prints. It is possible to purchase some of Joseph Hardman's black and white prints of the Lake District from the shop at the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry.
At the start of this week, I was introduced to the task that lies ahead of me by James Arnold, the Assistant Curator of Social History at the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry. James has already scanned and catalogued 1500 of the glass plate negatives leaving 3000 remaining for myself to complete. To scan the negatives I will be using a standard flatbed scanner to capture raw images, which will then be edited using Adobe Photoshop Elements 9. At the same time I will catalogue information about each negative recording details such as their accession number, a brief description, condition and tag words. The second part of the project will then be to upload the images onto a specially commissioned online library which will allow members of the public to search through the scanned images. Not only is this a method of safeguarding the images, but it is also hoped that the online library will provide an excellent resource from which further research or enquiries regarding the Joseph Hardman archive can be made.
The post of Project Assistant has been kindly funded by the Gannett Foundation and the deadline for completion of the digitisation project is the end of 2012.
Within this blog, I hope to bring you a brief insight into some of the very interesting and fascinating landscapes, locations and aspects of mid-twentieth century Lakeland Life that have been captured in these images, including any unusual or funny stories that I may also uncover!
I hope you will find the blog interesting!
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