Iain Logie Baird has been researching the first time that TV was officially received outside London. What a coincidence that it was right here in Bradford.
Victorian song sheets provide a fascinating glimpse into contemporary attitudes to photography, such as this response to the new instantaneous hidden cameras.
In the penultimate post in our series showing you how to date your old family photographs using physical clues, Colin Harding offers some tips on how to identify cabinet cards.
Louis Le Prince was the first person to create moving pictures—but he mysteriously disappeared in 1890, and his fate is still unknown.
Our research centre isn’t just for visitors interested in photography, cinema, TV and the internet—we recently welcomed a researcher whose enquiries were of an entirely architectural nature…
In our latest post about dating your old family photographs, Colin Harding shows you how to identify cartes de visite—an ubiquitous collectable in the 19th century.
Kieron Casey learns about one of the pioneers of early cinema, George Albert Smith, and has a humbling experience in our archives.
As Tate Britain prepares to open a new exhibition of L.S. Lowry’s industrial landscapes, we look at scenes of northern urban life in our collection.
Colin Harding takes a look at the life of one of the legendary figures of Fleet Street, who always came back with the picture his editor wanted.
Colin Harding looks at the rise of commercial beach photography, and the shift from stiff, formal portraits, to the unposed holidaymaker by the sea.
Iain Logie Baird is certain that the Model B Televisor in our collection was tuned in to the very first television broadcast. That’s a lot of history in one object.
Dick Vaughan arrived in 1983 to organise the installation of the first permanent IMAX cinema in Europe. 30 years later he’s still here, and still fascinated by the technology.