Janine Wiedel

Janine Wiedel (born 1947)[1] is an American documentary photographer and visual anthropologist.[2] She has been based in the UK since 1970 and lives in London. Since the late 1960s she has been working on major projects that have become books and exhibitions. In the early 1970s she spent five years working on a project about Irish Travellers. In the late 1970s she spent two years documenting the industrial heartland of Britain.[3]

Wiedel's books include Irish Tinkers (1976), Looking at Iran (1976), Vulcan's Forge (1979), Dover, a Port in a Storm (1991) and Faces with Voices (1992).

She had solo exhibitions at The Photographers' Gallery in London in 1974 and 1979.[4] Associated Television broadcast a TV documentary about her called A Camera in the Street. She won British Life Photography Awards in 2016 and 2017. Her work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Life and work

Having completed two years of an architecture degree at the University of Colorado, where she was virtually the only female enrolled on the course, Wiedel switched to studying fine art and photography at the San Francisco Art Institute in the late 1960s.[5] She then moved to Britain in 1970 to study photography in Guildford from 1970 to 1973.[1][n 1]

While studying in San Francisco, under the tuition of Ansel Adams,[5] she photographed the 1960s Berkeley protests and the Black Power movement in the late 1960s.[6] Adams had a great influence on Wiedel's approach to photography, as did Thurston Hopkins who she studied under at the Guildford School of Art.[5]

In 1973 Wiedel spent three weeks living with the Inuit people of Pangnirtung on the East coast of Baffin Island in Canada's North-West Territories. She subsequently published her experience and photographs in the New Humanist magazine in 1974 and the Times Educational Supplement in 1978.[7][8]

In the early 1970s she spent five years photographing Irish Travellers,[1] resulting in the book Irish Tinkers, a Portrait of Irish Travellers in the 1970s (1976) and an exhibition at The Photographers' Gallery in London in 1974.[4] She was a photographer on / contributed photography to the film Traveller (1997).[9]

In 1977 Wiedel was the first winner of a major photography bursary by West Midlands Arts to photograph and document the lives of people in the West Midlands.[10] For a period of around two years in the late 1970s, Wiedel lived in her Volkswagen van in the Birmingham area photographing a range of people and industries, including miners, chain-makers, steel workers, jewellers and pottery workers.[11] This resulted in an Arts Council sponsored book Vulcan's Forge (1979) and an exhibition at The Photographers' Gallery in London in 1979.[12] A TV programme linked to the project, called England their England: Camera in the Streets, was shown on ATV at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 9th May 1978[13] and reviewed by Keith Brace in the Birmingham Daily Post.[14]

She photographed the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp from 1983 to 1984.[2]

In 1989 Wiedel won the South Eastern Arts Cross Channel Photographic Award. This was a one year commission to photograph the town of Dover before the completion of the Channel Tunnel.[15] Her book Dover, a Port in a Storm: Twentieth Century Lives in an English Town (1991) and her solo exhibition Dover and its People: Janine Wiedel (1991) at the Dover Museum and the County Hall Gallery in Maidstone was the result of work in Dover.

In 1991 she was awarded a one year commission to document the people of Sudbury in England. Her book on the subject, Faces with Voices, was published in 1992 and the exhibition Faces with Voices: Portraits from an English Community was shown at Gainsborough's House, Sudbury in 1992.[16]

Publications

Books by Wiedel
  • Looking at Iran written and photographed. UK: A & C Black, 1976. ISBN 071361806X. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1976. ISBN 9780397317974.
  • Irish Tinkers. UK: Latimer, 1976. ISBN 9780901539403. New York: St. Martin's, 1976, 1978. ISBN 978-0312436278. With a foreword and transcripts by Martina O'Fearadhaigh. Hardback.
    • London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1979. Softback.
    • Documentary-Photos, 2013. iBook for iPad and iPhone.
  • Vulcan's Forge. Industries of the Midlands. London: Archetype Visual Studies, 1979. OCLC 78400929. With a foreword by Sue Davis. Catalogue of an exhibition at The Photographers' Gallery, London; Associated Television (ATV) Centre, Birmingham; and Potteries Museum & Art Gallery.
  • Dover, a Port in a Storm: Twentieth Century Lives in an English Town. Cross Channel Photographic Mission, 1991. ISBN 9780951742709.
  • Faces with Voices. Plymouth: Images, 1992. ISBN 9780948134333. Text by June Freeman and photographs by Wiedel. With a foreword by Ronald Blythe.

Other books
  • A Guide to Classroom Observation. London: Methuen, 1975. By Rob Walker and Clem Adelman, with photographs by Wiedel. ISBN 9780416812107.
  • British Journal of Photography Annual 1981. Henry Greenwood, 1980. Includes photographs by Wiedel. ISBN 0900414197, 9780900414190.
  • Lichtbildnisse: das Porträt in der Fotografie. Klaus Honnef, Jan Thorn Prikker, and Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn. Cologne: Rheinland-Verlag, 1982. ISBN 379270661X and ISBN 9783792706619. Includes photographs by Wiedel.
  • Field Methods in the Study of Education. Edited by Robert G. Burgess. London: Falmer, 1985. Chapter 10: ‘Using photographs in discipline of words' by Rob Walker with photographs by Wiedel - pp.198-210. ISBN 1850000123 and ISBN 9781850000129.
  • A Woman's Place: The Changing Picture of Women in Britain. Harmondsworth & New York, Penguin Books, 1986. By Diana Souhami with photographs by Wiedel. ISBN 0140086099, 9780140086096.
  • Industrial Image: British Industrial Photography 1843 to 1986. By Sue Davies and Caroline Collier with photographs by Wiedel. London, Photographers' Gallery, 1986. ISBN 9780907879114 and ISBN 090787911X.
  • British Journal of Photography Annual 1992. London: Bouverie, 1991. Includes photographs by Wiedel. ISBN 0900414405, 9780900414404.
  • Black Country Working Women. By Clare Wightman. Wolverhampton, Light House Media Centre, 1991. Photographs by Wiedel. ISBN 0951232827 and ISBN 9780951232828.
  • Research as Social Change, New Opportunities for Qualitative Research. Michael Schratz and Rob Walker. London: Routledge, 1995. Wiedel contributes to the chapter 'Being there: using pictures to see the invisible'. ISBN 0415118697 and ISBN 9780415118699. eBook (2005) ISBN 9780203014004.[17]
  • Picturing Childhood: The Myth of the Child in Popular Imagery. Patricia Holland. London & New York: I.B. Tauris, 2004. Includes contribution from Wiedel. ISBN 1860647758.[18]
  • Great Brixton: A Photobook of Brixton's Greatness. The Champion Agency, 2015. Includes photographs by Wiedel. ISBN 0993451306 and ISBN 9780993451300.
  • The British Life Photography Awards: Portfolio 1: The winning images from the inaugural British Life Photography Awards. The British Life Photography Awards (Contributor). London. Ilex, 2015. Includes photographs by Wiedel. ISBN 178157264X, 9781781572641.
  • British Life Photography Awards: Portfolio 2. Stockport: Dewi Lewis, UK ed, 2016. Includes photographs by Wiedel. ISBN 1907893881, 9781907893889.
  • Photoworks Annual, Issue 25. Brighton. Photoworks and Arts Council England. 2019. Includes a chapter by Wiedel "The London Fancy Box Company, Dover", from the series, Dover: A Port in a Storm, 1989-1990. ISBN 9781903796559

Zines by Wiedel
  • People's Park Berkeley Riots. Southport: Café Royal, 2019.
  • Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp 1983–1984. Southport: Café Royal, 2019. Edition of 250 copies.[2]
  • Chainmaking: The Black Country, West Midlands 1977. Southport: Café Royal, 2018. Edited by Atkinson. Edition of 250 copies.
  • Coal Mining: The West Midlands 1978. Southport: Café Royal, 2018. Edited by Atkinson. Edition of 250 copies.
  • Black Power: Black Panthers: 1969. Southport: Café Royal, 2017.
  • Black Power: Black Panthers: 1970. Southport: Café Royal, 2017. Second edition, 2017. Edition of 200 copies.
  • Smiths' Drop Forge: Birmingham 1976. Southport: Café Royal, 2017. Edited by Craig Atkinson. Edition of 200 copies.
  • Iron and Steel: The West Midlands 1977. Southport: Café Royal, 2017. Edited by Atkinson. Edition of 200 copies.
  • Industry, West Midlands: 1977–1979. Includes seven separate zines in a box: Industries The West Midlands 1977–1979 (exclusive to this box set), Smiths' Drop Forge: Birmingham 1976, Iron and Steel: The West Midlands 1977, Coal Mining: The West Midlands 1978, Coal Mining: The West Midlands 1978, Chainmaking: The Black Country, West Midlands 1977, The Jewellery Quarter: Birmingham: 1977, and The Potteries: Stoke-on-Trent: 1978. Edition of 100 copies.
  • Saintes Maries Gypsy Festival Camargue 1974. Southport: Café Royal, 2020. Edited by Atkinson. Edition of 250 copies.

Publications with contributions by Wiedel
  • Soundings. Maidstone, Kent: Cross Channel Photographic Mission, 1994. Edited by Jane Alison and Brigitte Lardinois. ISBN 9780951742754. With an introduction by Neal Ascherson.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions
  • Janine Wiedel, The Photographers' Gallery, London, May–June 1974.[4] Photographs of an Inuit family on Baffin Island and of Irish travellers.[19]
  • Classrooms: Janine Wiedel, The Half Moon Gallery, London, April–May 1977.[20]
  • Vulcan's Forge: Janine Wiedel, The Photographers' Gallery, London, 13 September – 7 October 1979.[21]
  • Janine Wiedel: Women, Invicta Radio Station, Canterbury, August 1990.[22]
  • Dover and its People: Janine Wiedel, Dover Museum (as part of the White Cliffs Experience), Dover, March–April 1991.[23] This exhibition was also shown at the County Hall Gallery, Maidstone in October 1991.[24]
  • Faces with Voices: Portraits from an English community: Janine Wiedel. Gainsborough's House, Sudbury. April–June 1992.[25] This exhibition was also shown at the Focal Point Gallery, Southend. December 1992 – January 1993.[26]

Two-person exhibitions
  • In Transit: Life in the Refugee Camps of Northern France, Gallery 101, International Headquarters of The Salvation Army, London, June–July 2017. With Jacky Chapman.[27] This exhibition was also shown in the following locations: Dulwich College, London, October - November 2016; South Hampstead High School, London, January - February 2018; The Steeple, Dundee, Scotland, June 2019.[28]
  • Black Country Living at the Blast! Festival of Photography, Talks and Walks, 24 May - 29 June 2019. Sandwell Borough, West Midlands. With John Myers.[29]

Group exhibitions
  • WIAC 1900-1975, Women's International Art Club, Camden Arts Centre, London, 14 January - 5 February 1975.[30]
  • Children Photographed, travelling Arts Council exhibition by the Children's Rights Workshop & IKON. First shown at the Shaw Theatre, Euston Road, London, September 1976.[31]
  • Art for Society, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 10 May – 18 June 1978.[32]
  • Realising Design, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 1 December 1978 – 7 January 1979.[33]
  • A Woman's Place: The Changing Picture of Women in Britain. A British Council exhibition first shown at the Royal Festival Hall, London in 1984. The exhibition subsequently toured overseas in 30 countries.[34]
  • Industrial Image: British Industrial Photography 1834-1986, The Photographers' Gallery, London, December 1986 – January 1987.[35]
  • Black Country Working Women. Arts Council touring exhibition first shown at the Light House Media Centre, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton, 18 November – 13 January 1990.[36]
  • Resistance is Fertile: The Art of Protest. Ovada Gallery, Oxford, 5 June – 28 June 2015.[37]
  • British Life Photography Awards 2016, The Mall Galleries, London, 7 March – 13 March 2016.[38] Prize winner in two categories – 'Life at Work' and 'Historic Britain'.[39]
  • Industrial Might, Black Country Living Museum, Dudley, 19 May 2018 (part of the Reclaim Photography Festival, May 2018). Wiedel showed a selection of images from Chainmaking, The Black Country, 1977.[40]

Commissions
  • 1977: West Midlands Arts Award. One year bursary.[41]
  • 1989: Cross Channel Photographic Award, South Eastern Arts. One year commission to photograph the town of Dover before the completion of the Channel Tunnel.[15]
  • 1991: Gainsborough's House Museum. One year commission documenting the people of Sudbury.[42]

Awards
  • 2016: Winner, Life at Work category, British Life Photography Awards[43]
  • 2016: Winner, Historic Britain category, British Life Photography Awards[43]
  • 2017: Winner, Historic category, British Life Photography Awards, for "Alan and fellow workers on midday break"[44][45]

Television

Collections

Wiedel's work is held in the following public collection:

Notes
  1. The potted CV in the Guardian article specifies the "Guildford School of Photography". This may be an editorial misunderstanding for the Guildford School of Art, which had a notable photography department.

References
  1. "Janine Wiedel's best photograph: an Irish Traveller in 1970s Galway". The Guardian. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  2. "Inside Greenham Common's radical protest". The Independent. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  3. "About the author". Irish Tinkers: a portrait of Irish Travellers in the 1970's. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  4. "Exhibition History, 1971 - Present" (PDF). The Photographers' Gallery. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  5. Lukens, Victoria. "Janine Wiedel". BAPLA Journal. Winter 1990/91: 28–29.
  6. "Janine Wiedel - Biography". SDN - Social Documentary Network. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  7. Wiedel, Janine (26 December 1978). "Keeping up with the past". Times Educational Supplement. p. 10 & 23.
  8. Wiedel, Janine (August 1974). "White World - White Ruin". New Humanist Magazine. 90 (4): 119–121.
  9. Traveller (1997) – via www.imdb.com
  10. Grimley, Terry (10 November 1977). "An American in Aston". Birmingham Daily Post. p. 8. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  11. Lancaster, Clive. "Viewed: Vulcan's Forge". The British Journal of Photography. 126 (6231): 1258–1259.
  12. Lutkens, Victoria (September 1989). "Profile: Janine Wiedel". Photography. 36: 60–67.
  13. "Television". Birmingham Daily Post. 9 May 1978. p. 2. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  14. Brace, Keith (10 May 1978). "Television". Birmingham Daily Post. p. 4. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  15. "From tinkers to tourists...". The British Journal of Photography. 136 (6729): 4. 3 August 1989.
  16. Harrod, Tanya (18 April 1992). "Innocent pleasures". The Spectator. 268 (8545): 34–35.
  17. "Research as Social Change: New Opportunities for Qualitative Research". www.taylorfrancis.com. doi:10.4324/9780203014004-12 (inactive 2020-01-19). Retrieved 2019-09-16.
  18. Holland, Patricia. "Picturing Childhood: The Myth of the Child in Popular Imagery". EPDF. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  19. "Design Journal - VADS: the online resource for visual arts". VADS (organisation). Retrieved 2018-10-30.
  20. Reed, David (6 May 1977). "Janine Wiedel at The Half Moon Gallery". The British Journal of Photography. 124 (6093): 383.
  21. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. "News". The British Journal of Photography. 137 (6782): 24. 16 August 1990.
  23. "Pinboard". The British Journal of Photography. 138 (6810): 9. 7 March 1991.
  24. "On Show". The British Journal of Photography. 138 (6842): 26. 17 October 1991.
  25. "On Show". The British Journal of Photography. 139 (6866): 29. 9 April 1992.
  26. "On Show / Diary". The British Journal of Photography. 139 (6902): 23. 17 December 1992.
  27. "How to celebrate and show support on World Refugee Day in London". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
  28. "Calais Jungle and Grande-Synthe Dunkirk". In Transit - Refugees in Northern France. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  29. "Blast! Festival of Photography, Talks and Walks". Blast Photo Festival. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  30. "Exhibition brochures, events and flyers by the Women's International Art Club (WIAC) Camden 1974-1985" (PDF). Hilda and Rusty Bernstein Papers 1931-2011. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  31. Picton, Tom (November 1976). "Children are beautiful, too..." Camerawork. 4: 6–7.
  32. "Exhibitions 1950-Present". Whitechapel Gallery - History. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  33. "ICA Exhibition Archive 1948-2017" (PDF). Institute of Contemporary Arts. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  34. Souhami, Diana (1986). A Woman's place: The Changing Picture of Women in Britain. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140086096.
  35. Gross, Jozef (23 January 1987). "VIEWED: 'Industrial Image'". The British Journal of Photography. 134 (6598): 101–103.
  36. Bailey, Christopher (Autumn 1990). "Black Country Working Women". Oral History. 18 (2): 75–78. JSTOR 40179175.
  37. "Resistance is Fertile". OVADA. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  38. "British Life Photography Awards 2016". Mall Galleries. March 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  39. "British Life Photography awards". BBC News - In Pictures. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  40. "RPF18 Janine Wiedel 'Industrial Might'". Reclaim Photography Festival. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  41. "News and Notes: WMA award". The British Journal of Photography. 124 (6121): 994–995. 18 November 1977.
  42. "Pinboard". The British Journal of Photography. 139 (6865): 9. 2 April 1992.
  43. "British Life Photography awards". BBC News. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 2018-08-17 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  44. "British Life Photography Awards winners document everyday experiences in the UK". Amateur Photographer. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  45. "Winners, 2017". blpawards.org. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  46. "Camera in the Streets". Media Archive for Central England (MACE). 1978. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  47. "Edward Steichen Archive in The Museum of Modern Art Archives". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
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