PhD Studentship: The Home Darkroom and the Freedom of Photographic Production in Britain, 1950s-Present

The University of Westminster and the Museum of the Home (MotH) are delighted to announce a call for applicants for a fully funded collaborative doctoral studentship from October 2024, under the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP4) scheme. 

This PhD will be the first to research the relationship between the home darkroom and LGBTQ+ people’s quest for freedom of expression and visual representation in Britain from the 1950s to the present. The project will combine the archival study of LGBTQ+ photographic practices at home with two complementary collecting projects: oral history interviews with LGBTQ+ darkroom users and photographs of and produced in home darkrooms. By working with contemporary practitioners, the student will also rethink how to share such hidden stories with museum audiences.  

The project will be supervised by Dr Sara Dominici (Senior Lecturer in Photographic History and Visual Culture), Professor Pippa Catterrall (Professor of History and Policy) and Dr Alison Hesse (Lecturer in Museum and Gallery Studies) at Westminster; and, at the MotH, by Marina Maniadaki (Exhibitions and Project Manager) and Louis Platman (Curator). The successful applicant will be expected to spend time at both Westminster and at the MotH, as well as becoming part of the wider cohort of AHRC-funded students. 

The core research aims are: 

1. To explore, for the first time, the fundamental role played by the domestic environment in fostering a material and imaginative space within which photographic representation of LGBTQ+ life in Britain could be created; 
2. To research and collect: i) LGBTQ+ people’s memories and lived experiences of the home darkroom in Britan from the 1950s to the present, and ii) photographs of and that were produced in this space, in order to understand how the home darkroom has shaped LGBTQ+ histories and perspectives; 
3. To diversify the understanding of home, and, consequently, the experience of the museum, by developing a new museological approach to sharing LGBTQ+ stories of image-making at home. 

Please include in your application:

• Personal Statement (max. 1,500 words) explaining why you are interested in researching this topic, including what you would bring to the project and how you think you would develop it to reflect your own interests and expertise;
• A sample of writing. This could be a piece of academic writing (e.g., MA dissertation) or a text written in the course of any current or previous professional work;
• Your CV;
• Two references;
• Transcript of university-level grades and qualification certificates.

 NB: On completing the application form:

• Please choose the following programme area when making your application ‘MPhil/PhD Visual Culture’ You must apply for this programme to be eligible for the AHRC CDP studentship. If you apply for a programme in other areas your application will not be eligible.
• Under ‘Additional Course Questions’>> ‘If you are applying for a Westminster Studentship’ please write ‘AHRC Museum of the Home CDP’.

All prospective students are strongly advised to first make informal contact with the lead supervisor. Dr Sara Dominici (s.dominici1@westminster.ac.uk).

Apply for the Full-Time Route 

Apply for the Part-Time Route 

The deadline for applications is 5pm (BST) on Friday 17^th May 2024

Interviews will be held on Wednesday 5^th June 2024 

Further Details are Available Here

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