Category: Education

Education, Events, People

Graduation celebrations!

Reading School of Pharmacy Graduation 2017

Congratulations to everyone from the University of Reading who graduated this week. I photographed the Reading School of Pharmacy and Food & Nutritional Sciences graduation receptions. It was good to be back in the familiar surroundings of the MERL gardens offering the perfect setting to celebrate graduation with family, friends and faculty staff. Also great for group photographs – especially if the photographer is leaning out a first floor window shouting instructions!

Education, Objects

Rare prints found at the University of Reading

Bennetto Photography William Caxton print from the 1470s

As reported by the BBC, the University has found incredibly rare printed pages by William Caxton believed to date from the 1470s. The only other pages from this book known to be in existence are eight leaves held by the British Library. I photographed Erika Delbecque, special collections librarian at the University along with the 500 year old printed pages. It’s good to see the images on the BBC!

The pages will go on public display from 10 to 30 May at the Museum of English Rural Life at the University of Reading.

 

BBC article
To read the full BBC article online visit: BBC: Incredibly rare William Caxton prints found

Education

Islay Heritage project

In December, I completed a video editing project together with the University of Reading, Lucy Wallace and Rachel Warner for Islay Heritage, a charity devoted to furthering knowledge about Islay’s past, and the many ways in which it can be explored and enjoyed by everyone: Islay Heritage  This small charity has just received brilliant news: they have received a donation of £310,000 from the Lagavulin 200 Legacy fund to continue their work on the island.

Lagavulin itself is part of Islay’s heritage; 2016 having been the 200th anniversary of the iconic single-malt whisky. Happy Anniversary!

 

 

Education, Nature, Objects

175 years in the making…

Fox Talbot images

175 years in the making… The British inventor of photography, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), produced his first ‘photogenic drawings’ in 1834. Talbot created accurate images of the world, i.e. trees and leaves, through mechanical and chemical means.

Some 175 years later and here are my modern versions of Talbot’s leaf images: the leaf images were supplied by the University of Reading’s Herbarium. With thanks to Alistair Culham. I tried to capture the colour, texture and background found on Talbot’s originals but in electronic form, utilising the natural world in the backgrounds too.

The prints are displayed at the Museum of English Rural Life, Reading.

Education, People

RUSU wall graphic: impressively colourful and engaging

RUSU wall graphic

RUSU wall graphic: impressively colourful and engaging. I have just seen, for the first time, the impressive wall graphic of this year’s Reading University Students’ Union Officers. Yes, it really is an entire wall. It’s been up for a while but I finally popped in to see it and it was well worth the wait! It looks fantastic: I checked out my photography skills and photoshop cutouts. Luckily everything was in order and it looked pretty perfect to me (although my opinion is probably slightly biased).

Education, Objects

Huffington Post quiz: identify bizarre MERL items

The Huffington Post quiz: identify bizarre MERL items : ‘What are these historical contraptions?’ All objects are from the Museum of English Rural Life, in Reading which has just reopened after a major refurbishment.

Ten items to identify in total: my featured image is either 1. a bee inseminator, 2. carrier pigeon tattoo kit, 3. cow ear punch or 4. de-lousing kit. But I cheated and asked when I photographed the items. Of course, I asked – wouldn’t you? See the article and quiz at: Huffington Post Quiz