Website
Amber Online
Jonathan Knott finds lost heritage captured in this image archive
The Amber Film and Photography Collective, based in Newcastle, has been documenting “working class and marginalised lives and landscapes in North East England” since 1968. Its work remains focused on the region, but since 1977 the collective has also exhibited documentary photography on broader topics in its gallery.
This new website creates an online space for the AmberSide Collection, which consists of tens of thousands of works that the collective has produced, commissioned and collected.
The site offers the facility to filter the collection of films and photographic projects by a number of categories, including location and theme.
Two works are featured on the collections homepage. Taking pride of place at the time of writing was a gallery of photos taken at a dancing school in North Shields by Finnish photographer Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, an Amber founding member whose work has been recognised by Unesco.
The featured film was the 1974 work, Launch, which provides a mesmerising overview of the noisy workings of a shipyard. The documentary, which ends with the launch of an oil tanker at the end of a terraced street, powerfully recalls a lost industrial world, giving a flavour of the collection’s emphasis on place and community. Visitors must pay to watch most films beyond a preview extract, but one can be viewed for free each month.
The “visual culture” menu item leads to an absorbing set of 19th- and 20th-century images, originally gathered for use in higher education. The eclectic mix includes Victorian advertisements, photos of American rural gas stations, and illustrations from a 1902 catalogue titled Wire and Its Uses.
The site also has basic visitor information and details of the history of Amber, whose founder Murray Martin saw documentary as “the act of a collector”. The material here backs up that philosophy. More contextual information would be welcome, but this website will only get better as it grows.
Website
National Paralympic Heritage Trust
The National Paralympic Heritage Trust has received funding to develop a range of projects over the next six years, including an archive and collection, a heritage centre at Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, and touring exhibitions. As part of this, it has launched a pilot website on the British Paralympic movement and is encouraging the public to share material with it.
Some parts of the site feature rich content, such as documents and photographs, about the history of the Paralympics. One of the characters profiled is Sir Ludwig Guttmann, a Jewish doctor who arrived at Stoke Mandeville Hospital from Nazi Germany in 1938. His work on rehabilitation through sport in the spinal injuries unit led to the Paralympics being developed.
In some places there is too much information and visitors could do with a strong guiding hand. Other areas, such as the pages on individual sports, are thin. The site is open about being a work in progress and has the potential to develop into a valuable resource. JK
Website
The Great Fire of London
The Museum of London recently launched a slick new website, working with several partners, to mark the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London.
The main offering is a series of interactive stories covering the key events of the fire, as well as its impact on people’s lives, politics and the capital’s architecture.
The interface allows visitors to proceed swiftly, but for those who want to delve a bit deeper, there is a wealth of additional information, including references to contemporary records.
An interesting, although sometimes confusing, feature of the website allows users to toggle between a modern map and one from the time, with shading and flame symbols providing information on how the blaze spread.
The site also includes digitised objects, a game for children and advice for teachers, enabling a wide range of audiences to engage with this landmark event. JK
Amber Online
Jonathan Knott finds lost heritage captured in this image archive
The Amber Film and Photography Collective, based in Newcastle, has been documenting “working class and marginalised lives and landscapes in North East England” since 1968. Its work remains focused on the region, but since 1977 the collective has also exhibited documentary photography on broader topics in its gallery.
This new website creates an online space for the AmberSide Collection, which consists of tens of thousands of works that the collective has produced, commissioned and collected.
The site offers the facility to filter the collection of films and photographic projects by a number of categories, including location and theme.
Two works are featured on the collections homepage. Taking pride of place at the time of writing was a gallery of photos taken at a dancing school in North Shields by Finnish photographer Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, an Amber founding member whose work has been recognised by Unesco.
The featured film was the 1974 work, Launch, which provides a mesmerising overview of the noisy workings of a shipyard. The documentary, which ends with the launch of an oil tanker at the end of a terraced street, powerfully recalls a lost industrial world, giving a flavour of the collection’s emphasis on place and community. Visitors must pay to watch most films beyond a preview extract, but one can be viewed for free each month.
The “visual culture” menu item leads to an absorbing set of 19th- and 20th-century images, originally gathered for use in higher education. The eclectic mix includes Victorian advertisements, photos of American rural gas stations, and illustrations from a 1902 catalogue titled Wire and Its Uses.
The site also has basic visitor information and details of the history of Amber, whose founder Murray Martin saw documentary as “the act of a collector”. The material here backs up that philosophy. More contextual information would be welcome, but this website will only get better as it grows.
Website
National Paralympic Heritage Trust
The National Paralympic Heritage Trust has received funding to develop a range of projects over the next six years, including an archive and collection, a heritage centre at Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, and touring exhibitions. As part of this, it has launched a pilot website on the British Paralympic movement and is encouraging the public to share material with it.
Some parts of the site feature rich content, such as documents and photographs, about the history of the Paralympics. One of the characters profiled is Sir Ludwig Guttmann, a Jewish doctor who arrived at Stoke Mandeville Hospital from Nazi Germany in 1938. His work on rehabilitation through sport in the spinal injuries unit led to the Paralympics being developed.
In some places there is too much information and visitors could do with a strong guiding hand. Other areas, such as the pages on individual sports, are thin. The site is open about being a work in progress and has the potential to develop into a valuable resource. JK
Website
The Great Fire of London
The Museum of London recently launched a slick new website, working with several partners, to mark the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London.
The main offering is a series of interactive stories covering the key events of the fire, as well as its impact on people’s lives, politics and the capital’s architecture.
The interface allows visitors to proceed swiftly, but for those who want to delve a bit deeper, there is a wealth of additional information, including references to contemporary records.
An interesting, although sometimes confusing, feature of the website allows users to toggle between a modern map and one from the time, with shading and flame symbols providing information on how the blaze spread.
The site also includes digitised objects, a game for children and advice for teachers, enabling a wide range of audiences to engage with this landmark event. JK