20th Century Curator - National Museums



NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Head of Photographs Collection

Background

After more than thirty years working at the National Portrait Gallery Terence Pepper, Head of Photographs, will retire at the end of 2013. His highly respected work on both the exhibitions programme and the development of the collection over this period has helped to make the National Portrait Gallery an important international resource for photographic portraiture. We are therefore looking for a talented individual with a proven background in researching and curating a photographic collection and developing exhibitions to lead the next phase of work in this important area.

The National Portrait Gallery houses a unique collection of portraits of the men and women who have helped shape British history and culture. Now numbering nearly 10,000 portraits the primary collection embraces every medium - oil paintings, drawings, miniatures, photographs and sculpture. Besides this the gallery has a photographic archive of 250,000 images and a reference collection of over 85,000 prints and caricatures. The Gallery has had an increasingly high public profile and now attracts over two million visitors each year to its galleries and regional partnerships.

The photographic collections are of central importance to the Gallery’s success and past photographic exhibitions have highlighted the work of single photographers and themed exhibitions, including Man Ray, Ida Kar, Julia Margaret Cameron, Vanity Fair Portraits and The Road to 2012. The Head of the Photographs Collection will be responsible for all of the photographic collections and will lead displays and exhibitions programme for this important area of the Gallery’s work. The post holder will be expected to contribute actively to the temporary displays programme in the 19th, 20th century and contemporary galleries. They will also generate ideas for future exhibitions and curate photographic exhibitions of loaned material for both of our temporary exhibition spaces (the Wolfson and the Porter Galleries).

The Head of Photographs Collection will work as one of a team of curatorial and other staff, and will work closely with the Chief Curator, 19th Century Curator, 20th Century Curator, Contemporary Curator, the exhibition and collections team, the Heinz library and archive staff and many other departments across the Gallery. It is also essential that they nurture good working relationships with photographers, collectors, patrons and others in the art world.

Principal duties:

Research and advise on photographic acquisitions and commissions, presenting photographic acquisitions at a regular curatorial meeting in close discussion with 19th century curator, 20th century curator, contemporary curator, Chief Curator and the Director.

Generate ideas, research and manage regular temporary displays of photographic material from the National Portrait Gallery collection with the support of an Associate curator and Assistant curator in the photographs team.

Curate temporary exhibitions of loaned material including the generation of ideas and concepts, research, and the delivery of exhibition texts and a publication to a fixed timetable.

Work with the exhibitions team on the annual Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition, participating in judging, writing associated text and supervising the hang and taking part in associated promotion.

Support the existing programme of photographic exhibitions including Audrey Hepburn, and Vogue 100.

Undertake academic research on the Gallery’s collections for both scholarly and popular publications and contribute to the Gallery’s publishing programme.

Take an active role in the Gallery’s research programme including the development of funding applications and act as principal investigator for the Gallery’s forthcoming AHRC Network bid on Fashion photography.

Work closely with the Gallery’s collections team to develop further procedures for the acquisition, cataloguing, display and conservation of the Gallery’s photographic collections.

Work closely with the Head of the Heinz Library and Archive to develop effective storage and access management of photographic collections and library materials.

Supervise the programme of photographic cataloguing and digitisation of the collection with the support of two dedicated photographic cataloguers.

Manage a range of budgets for the delivery of Gallery displays and acquisitions.

Attend regular Senior Management meetings as part of the forum that oversees the successful management of the Gallery.

Oversee the successful day-to-day activities and management of the photographic team including the answering of public enquiries about photographic portraiture.

The successful candidate will be expected to be an effective advocate for the Gallery when dealing with the public, sponsors and potential sponsors.

This is not, however, an exhaustive list of duties and the Chief Curator or Director may, at any time, allocate other tasks that are of a similar nature or level.

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NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Head of Photographs Collection

Person Specification

This senior role will involve the leadership of the National Portrait Gallery’s work in the research, acquisition and display of photographic portraits. The post would also manage four staff including an Associate Curator, Assistant Curator and two photographic cataloguers. This post requires a talented and experienced photographic historian with a background in both research and the creation of successful photographic exhibitions. The post-holder will have the opportunity to help shape the future exhibition programme alongside the Director, Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Collections. They will also contribute importantly to the development of the National Portrait Gallery collection. The post holder will have an extensive knowledge of the history of photography, a good understanding of British history and biography as well as excellent research and communication skills. They will also enjoy working collaboratively, be prepared to produce work to tight deadlines, have a good sense of design and strong visual skills.

Qualifications

Candidates will have excellent academic qualifications at postgraduate level with an MA, a doctoral study or equivalent qualification or experience.

Experience

Demonstrable interest and engagement in photographic portraiture.

Experience of working for at least 5 years within a museum or gallery environment in this field.

Experience of previously curating successful photographic exhibitions within a museum.

A strong record of academic research and publication in this field.

Experience of project management, staff management and budgets.

Skills, Knowledge, Abilities

Good knowledge of 19th 20th and 21st Century British history, biography, art and culture.

Excellent knowledge of the field of British and international photography.

Excellent level of written and verbal communication skills.

Good knowledge of the key issues surrounding acquisitions and displays.

A good understanding of conservation issues.

Excellent organisational skills and a good understanding of staff management.

Good relations with photographers, patrons, collectors and others in the arts world.

National Portrait Gallery

Head of Photographs Collection

Details of the post are given below and in the attached job description. You should take care to show in your application how you can fulfil the requirements of the job.

Hours

Your contracted hours of work are 40 gross (5 days) per week, from Monday to Friday, including a lunch break of one hour per day.

Salary

The salary for this post will be £44,000 to £52,000 per annum (depending on experience).

Annual Leave

Your annual leave allowance is 25 days per annum for the first year, rising to 29 days at the start of the annual leave year following completion of five years’ service and up to 33 days after 10 years service.

Place of Work

Most of the work is based in the Gallery at St Martin’s Place, but all staff are required to work at other locations if necessary.

Equality

The Gallery believes in the employment and advancement of people solely on their ability to do the job required. When recruiting people, we will therefore disregard their gender, marital status, race, age, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, religion and sexual orientation. There will be no unfair discrimination on the basis of disability. If you would like to submit your application in a different format we are happy to allow this. Please contact us (telephone: 020 7306 0055 email: personnel@.uk) so that we may discuss suitable alternatives.

Pension

Pension benefits are provided under the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS).

Probation and Trial Period

All appointments are subject to satisfactory employment and character references, security clearance and eligibility to work in the UK. There is a probationary period of 1 year for all permanent posts. The probation period for this appointment is 12 months.

Data Protection Act

Information provided by you as part of your application will be used in the recruitment process. Any data about you will be held securely with access restricted to those involved in dealing with your application in the recruitment process. Once this process is completed the data relating to unsuccessful applicants will be stored for a maximum of 6 months and then destroyed. If you are the successful candidate, your application form will be retained and form the basis of your personnel record. Information provided by you on the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form will be used to monitor the National Portrait Gallery’s equal opportunities policy and practices. By signing and submitting your completed application form you are giving your consent to your data being stored and processed (if you submit your application by e-mail and the application form is un-signed we will assume that consent by you is given) for the purpose of the recruitment process, equal opportunities monitoring and your personnel record if you are the successful candidate.

Season Tickets

Interest free loans are available for the purchase of a season ticket for travel to work.

Please return your completed application form to:

Personnel at: personnel@.uk

Or by post

Mrs Caroline Wynter

Head of Personnel

National Portrait Gallery

2 St Martin’s Place

London

WC2H 0HE

9.00am on Friday 27 September, 2013.

We are expecting to hold interviews on Thursday 31 October, 2013. Please indicate on the form if you will not be available on this date.

If you are delivering your application by hand, please take it to the reception desk at 39-45 Orange Street.

To ensure the best possible use of our limited resources we are unable to respond to every application. If you have not had a response to your application by 31 October 2013, please assume that you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.

We would like to thank you for your time and effort in returning your application.

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