I am grateful to the 1000 Words Photography blog, for this video of Sally Mann being interviewed by Charlie Rose in 2003. 'Photography is easier than writing,' she says.
A new exhibition of Sally Mann's work opens at the Photographers' Gallery tomorrow.
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
The Stanley Kubrick Archive
I visited the Stanley Kubrick Archive yesterday, which was exciting. The 'Search Room' (above) was designed in the style of the Hilton Space Station in 2001: A Space Odyssey. This gives it a unique ambience.
The archive - which is now about 80-85% catalogued - is extremely interesting, even if you are not a Kubrick fan, and includes loads of photographs. These include colour photographs from the set of Lolita, and Weegee's photographs of the pie fight in Dr Strangelove - the only visual record of the scene, as it was not included in the final film. There are also mountains of material relating to the process of film making - annotated scripts, call sheets, shooting schedules, set design material, costumes, props...etc
The Kubrick Archive is part of the University of the Arts London Archives and Special Collections Centre, which also has other significant collections - the LCC comic collection, and the Eckersley poster collection. There are also smaller collections relating to film directors John Schlesinger and Thorold Dickinson.
According to their information sheet, the centre "seeks to inform, inspire, engage and excite a diverse range of audiences in support of their creativity, learning and research in art, design, fashion, communications and the performing arts," which sounds good to me.
Further information about the collection and about visiting the centre is available on their website.
Further reading
Mahurter, S. (2007). 'The Stanley Kubrick Archive at the University of Arts London.' EVA London Conference,11–13 July 2007.
'The Kubrick Legacy'. University of the Arts London Magazine. Spring/Summer 2006, pp. 8-17
Stanley Kubrick Archive brochure
Related interest
If you are a Kubrick fan, you may be interested to know that St Albans Museum currently has a Kubrick season (he lived in St Albans).
Friday, 11 June 2010
British Film Institute National Library
I visited the British Film Institute National library back in May to learn about using their collections.
The resources available in the Reading Room include: books, periodicals, databases and newspaper cutting files; pressbooks and unpublished scripts; film festival catalogues dating back to the 1930s; and audio material, including interviews with film makers.
It is not free to use (even for BFI members), so take a look at the membership fees before you visit the library, which is just off the Tottenham Court Road. Also, take a look at their catalogue before you visit and look at some of the special collections – there are over 600.
My advice is that to get the most out of the collection, you should make full use of the staff there. They are experienced in helping students, researchers, journalists and cineastes of all descriptions.
There are plenty of other BFI resources available online too, and because they can be a little hard to locate online, I have provided some links here:
BFI National Library
BFI Film and TV Database
BFI Researchers' Guide
BFI Resource Guides (16+ Source Guides)
BFI Live (video channel, with interviews and rare footage)
BFI National Archives
Research Viewing Service
Screen Online
BFI YouTube Channel
BFI InView (British history through the lens)
Sight and Sound Archive
Related posts
Screen online - video clips and full length films
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