James_AL_Downs

@magiclantern

Writer: 'Anton Walbrook' (2020) 'Joseph Pike' (2018) & 'A Carnal Medium' (2012), photohistorian, archivist of Middle East collections at Exeter University, runs the Digital Archive of the Middle East ( collector & bibliophile

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James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· 17d

To mark the centenary of her death last month I researched & wrote this ten-page article on 'The Photography of Gertrude Bell', based on a couple of talks I've done & including some photos I took in Mosul, Baghdad and Diyarbekir for then-and-now comparison. Print copy arrived last night #photohist

Image of two pages from a magazine article on 'The Photography of Gertrude Bell', illustrated with a portrait of her as a child and a page from a photo album

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· 23d

These two should get together sometime

Photo of tree trunk in woodlands with autumn leaves

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· 23d

Found a shady spot today

Photo of a large pond filled with water lilies and surrounded by trees

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· 24d

Sylvia won't approve of me sharing this for #Caturday but I couldn't resist how she was bathed in light

Photo of a tabby cat sitting in s hallway on a wooden floor

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· 26d

The Archive of Defiance has been revised and updated archiveofdefiance.com

Poster for an 'Archive of Defiance', a digital resource of images, videos and other documents on the Woman, Life, Freedom protests and other solidarity movements

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· 26d

I had a look through this in the hope that some of the exhibits might be relevant but alas it all seems to be entirely within Egypt

Front cover of a catalogue from the Arab Republic of Egypt Railways Museum

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· 26d

I wonder how much weight such certificates of authenticity carry today? This one is signed by Ralph Huntington Blanchard (1875-1936) proprietor of Blanchard’s Egyptian Museum, Sharia Kamel, Cairo #Egyptology

Certificate of authenticity for a bust of Osiris, signed by Ralph Huntington Blanchard, proprietor of Blanchard’s Egyptian Museum in Cairo

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· 27d

While working through a large uncatalogued archive yesterday I came across a 1970s circular letter from a university head of department asking staff to refrain, if possible, from smoking during their lectures. The past, as they say, is another country

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· 27d

Interested to hear Matt Salinger on R4 this evening due to the 75th anniversary of his father's Catcher in the Rye tomorrow. I got into JD Salinger in my teens due to The Cure & Robert Smith's many references to his work. I wrote to Robert while in hospital, including Qs about Salinger, & he replied

Front cover of a 1960s paperback copy of J.D. Salinger's 'Franny and Zooey'

Centre label of the 1984 album 'The Top' by The Cure, the green lettering of which echoes the font used in 1960s editions of J.D. Salingers' work - as do at least two of the songs on the album

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jul 5

It's been a few years since I last visited the studio of artist Rima Staines (back then on Dartmoor) so today's visit was a wonderful opportunity to see artworks both old & new, and have a brief chat about the creative arts and material magic

Photo of a doorway off a cobbled courtyard, decorated with artwork and coloured cloth

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jul 5

It always bemuses me when people talk of Catholicism as a unified monolith, in comparison with Protestantism 'which is different in every country' share.google/ZeI750SGwTlp...

Photo of a figurine of the Infant Jesus, wearing a Mexican football strip, on display in a church in Mexico

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jul 3

This looks like it will be a fascinating read - from Nadine Dakkak, another brilliant Exeter colleague: 'Migration to the Gulf in the Arabic Novel'

Picture of the front and back covers of a book, 'Migration to the Gulf in the Arabic Novel' by Nadeen Dakkak, illustrated with a colourful painting of someone seated next to a lizard, surrounded by fragments of Arabic text

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jul 2

A reminder to drink plenty in this weather

Photo of a dried out husk of a discarded insect nymph skin on a green leaf

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jul 1

Just finished reading this tonight - for a book review, but of considerable personal interest too #Buckfast #Devon

Photo of a hardback book on a wooden shelf, with a white cover and the title 'Echo of a Loved Voice. The Letters of Abbot Anscar Vonier' printed alongside a black and white photo of a young monk in a black habit wearing an abbatial pectoral cross

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 28

I owe my love of Hardy at least in part to my dad, whose teenage set of Macmillan editions I still have. 'Jude the Obscure' was his favourite but - frustratingly, I can't remember his exact words - he once warned me about it. He loved the novel but recoiled from its darkness

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 28

My parents got married there and, although I now live in Devon, a few years ago I found this framed photo in a local antique shop, signed by the minister for 36 years, Charles Warr (who married them) and the Lord Lyon, Thomas Innes of Learney

Framed photograph of Queen Elizabeth II being presented with the ancient Honours of Scotland (the Crown, the Sceptre, and the Sword of State) in a ceremony inside St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, on 24 June 1953

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 28

More of the same - my basement hours have got me wondering how much this tradition is valued within contemporary left movements such as the #DSA

Photograph of four American progressive magazine covers from the early 1970s, featuring the Berrigan brothers and discussing topics on civil resistance and political protest

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 27

Trying to finish off an article to meet a deadline this week, and she was not helping #Caturday

Photo of a tabby cat on a tabletop standing next to some books and a laptop

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 27

Unexpectedly unconfined this evening so muddling through with a blend of whisky, ginger, caramel, orange and bitters

Photo of a glass of an amber liquid with a straw and slice of orange, on a marble table with a bar in the background

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 23

Spent the afternoon in the basement, immersed in another America

Photo of a selection of American magazines and newspapers from the late 1960s and early 1970s, many of them representing alternative or counter-cultural viewpoints

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 17

I've got a copy of this in my old 'Emblemata' scrapbook - from a 19th century English translation of Jacob Cats' 'Moral Emblems'

Image of an engraved page, showing a circular illustration of a couple playing an early form of badminton with the caption 'Love, Like a Ball, Requires to be Thrown Back' and an accompanying verse

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 16

Thinking about how under-sixteens are going to entertain themselves following the social media ban made me think of Tish Murtha's photos from the 70s and early 80s

Black and white photograph by Tish Murtha (1956-2013) showing children jumping off a wall onto a pile of mattresses

Black and white photograph by Tish Murtha (1956-2013) showing children jumping out a fourth floor window onto a pile of mattresses in the yard below

Black and white photograph by Tish Murtha (1956-2013) showing a young girl jumping on the back of an abandoned car on a housing estate with a brick wall and tower block visible behind

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 13

When I met Hosni Kitouni in Algeria a few years ago I gave him a copy of Pierre Schill's 'Réveiller l'archive d'une guerre coloniale. Gaston Chérau, correspondant de guerre, 1911-1912' that I'd just read & thought would interest him, given his work - but yes, these links are rare in English

Photograph of the front cover of a book by Peter Schill, 'Réveiller l'archive d'une guerre coloniale. Gaston Chérau, correspondant de guerre, 1911-1912' showing a sepia image of Italian soldiers in Libya during their 1911-12 invasion

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 13

A couple of weeks ago I saw huge numbers of damselflies on a riverside walk here in Devon - I don't think I've ever seen so many in the air - and I managed to snap a photograph of this beautiful demoiselle when it settled for a few moments

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 13

Maybe slightly on the periphery of your focus, but I suppose the Watkins Bee Meter is a form of volvelle

Photo of a Watkins Bee Meter with instructions for calculating exposure times using revolving circular tables

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 13

While in Algeria a few years ago I went to visit the mausoleum of Quintus Lollius Urbicus and his family. A Numidian Berber, he became Roman governor of Britain (c139-142 AD) and began the building of the Antonine Wall. #Archaeology #RomanSiteSaturday

Photo of a round stone monument in a field of red earth with hills behind

Photograph of a Latin inscription on a worn plaque of earthen-coloured stone

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 13

Out for an early morning walk

Photograph of a churchyard in early morning light with a mossy recumbent gravestone in the foreground and other graves behind, plus trees on the horizon

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· Jun 12

Following a fantastic presentation by Zeina Maasri a couple of months ago, I've been gathering more details on Palestinian & Lebanese book illustrators & poster artists in our collections Check out her Decolonising the Page project here: www.decolonizingthepage.com/en

Photo of the covers of eleven Arabic language books with illustrated covers

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· May 31

Mixed responses to Backrooms, but for real-life experiences I'm reminded of the series of live tweets from 2022 when a guy got lost in a hotel [https://cheezburger.com/16450821/dude-live-tweets-his-foray-into-creepy-liminal-space] & also the liminal hotel spaces in 'Walk with Me Tim' on YT

Photo of a long stairwell with beige walls and a handrail to the right

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern· May 31

"Do you value the Constitution?" Edith Tiger died over 20 years ago but I wonder how the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (NECLC) and the Center for Constitutional Rights would have responded to the conduct of the current US administration... 1/2