Information on my lecturing and writing about Contemporary Astronomy and Victorian Photography, together with a history of astronomical lantern slides.
I recently sailed as the Royal Astronomical Society Speaker for Cunard, traveling on the Queen Mary 2 during November 2009.
I offer a wide range of Contemporary Astronomical and Victorian Photography lectures, suitable for all audiences.
Full details are available.
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I have written articles on a wide range of subjects related to the History of Astronomy and Victorian Photography.
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These important slides from the 18th and 19th centuries were the basis of popular lectures and often feature stunning images.
Research is ongoing.
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I have just become a Royal Society of Edinburgh Mentor to Enterprise Fellows.
I will be presenting "Geared to the Stars - Victorian Astronomy though the Magic Lantern" as part of the ‘'Professor Pepper’s Ghost’ - Six MORE evenings of optical magic at the old Polytechnic' lecture series at the University of Westminster in Regents Street, London. A free lecture, it is scheduled for February 11th 2010 at 7.00pm.
In March 2010 I will be lecturing for Hebridean Island Cruises onboard their ship "The Hebridean Princess", presenting "Down the Clyde to Argyll and the Western Isles". I will also be presenting my Western Isles lantern lecture at a major international 4-day conference on the Historiography of St Kilda on Benbecula, the Outer Hebrides. It is scheduled for August to mark the 80th anniversary of the evacuation of the islands. The lecture will launch the publication of my new book on these historic Western Isles images by George Washington Wilson of Aberdeen. This will be followed by a lecture tour of the Hebrides, as part of the 2010 FACLAN events, with several lectures from Barra to Stornoway.
Recent articles include: 'Imaging a Continent: the George Washington Wilson & Co's Lantern Slides of Australia'. Recently published in Early Popular Visual Culture (Routledge) in November 2009. It was awarded 2nd place in the 2008-2009 Projection Box Essay Awards. Recently published was 'Imaging The Past', Outback Magazine, RM Williams, Australia. You can purchase copies of the published images from www.priscus.co.uk. Details of the magazine can be found at Outback Magazine.
I recently worked with the BBC, providing images for programs in their "Who Do You Think You Are?" and "The Scottish Clans" series. I have supplied a large range of historical images to the The Highland Council's bilingual web site, Am Baile.
I have an ongoing project to develop the web site for The Magic Lantern Society (www.magiclantern.org.uk) and I offer Victorian photographs of Scotland, England and Australia through my web site Priscus (www.priscus.co.uk).