Photography

They are drawn from the combined photographic collections on long-term loan by the Plymouth Barbican Trust South West Image Bank (SWIB), and formerly held by the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office (PWDRO) and Plymouth City Museum (PCMAG) as well as more recent acquisitions through The Box. These photographs show how Plymouth and the surrounding area have changed from the 1830s to today, covering many different subjects.

The collections are valuable not just for what they show, but also because they demonstrate how photography has developed over time as both a practice and experiment. They cover the many technical and format changes that continue today. They include representative daguerreotype, calotype and ambrotype portraits and examples of Cartes De Visite and cabinet card portraits, taken in the Three Town photographic studios in the period 1839-1900. There are stereographic images from the 1860s and 1870s, many of wider scenic South West interest and mounted and un-mounted paper prints from the period 1860-1890. Collections from the 1890s through to the present day comprise mainly of glass plates, lantern slides, transparency negatives, photographic prints and born digital collections.

Today, the photographic media collections are preserved and maintained alongside other media archive holdings in specialist environmentally-controlled stores. We continue to improve accessibility to the collections, for everyone to see and learn from them through programming, engagement, learning, ongoing cataloguing and research.

Collection highlights include:

• A very old and rare daguerreotype from around 1839/1840, thought to be taken by Robert Beard, one of Plymouth's first commercial studio photographic pioneers.

• Nine original wax calotype negatives from the 1840s/1850s, perfected by renowned photographer Linnaeus Tripe of Devonport. These are the oldest known photographs of Plymouth in the collection. Tripe was friends with William Fox Talbot, a famous early photographer.

• Early examples of 'field photography' from the 1890s and early 1900s by Richard Rugg Monk, who started the Plymouth Photography Club. His photos are important because they show Plymouth during this time, including the building of Burrator Reservoir.

• Pictures of important local events from the 1890s to 1940s, such as: the first electric tram, the opening of the Palace Theatre, Nancy Astor's election campaigns (she was Plymouth's first woman Member of Parliament) and over 1,000 photos from the Edwardian period, including navy events and suffragette activities (John Palmer, Ron Andrews, Doris Goodridge and Fred Crisp Collections)

• Early and post-war examples of photojournalism capturing important regional moments including the unveiling of the naval war memorial, Jack Leslie playing at Argyle, the opening of Roborough Airport and the Beatles in Plymouth (Western Morning News and Dermot Fitzgerald Collections).

• Photographs showing life during and after World War II, such as: Winston Churchill's visit to Plymouth, the impact and aftermath of bombing raids, rebuilding efforts, building the Tamar Bridge and civic events (City Architects, City Engineers, Plymouth Libraries and the Roy Westlake Collections).

• Photographic records from three famous Plymouth businesses: Tecalemit, Dingles, and the Cooperative Society.