Julian Rodriguez
School Head of Department
Contact
- Email: j.rodriguez@kingston.ac.uk
- Location: Kingston School of Art, Knights Park
- Faculty: Kingston School of Art
- School: School of Art and Architecture
- Department: Department of Film and Photography
- Personal website
About
I graduated in Photography, Film and Television from the London College of Printing and hold an MA in History of Design. I have led media schools and media departments at London College of Printing, Falmouth University, University of South Wales and University of the Arts London (UAL) and was previously London Correspondent for PDN Magazine (NY) and a columnist and critic for The British Journal of Photography, writing hundreds of exhibition reviews, cover stories and interviews. In 2004, I co-founded UAL's first-ever research centre Photography and The Archive Research Centre (PARC) and in 2007 I was instrumental in creating the Stanley Kubrick Archive - one thousand boxes of film production materials and Kubrick's personal research library at UAL. I am currently a Company Director at Impressions Gallery (Bradford) and have also been Chair of Photoworks (Brighton), both Arts Council portfolio funded organisations. I currently write for Taschen (New York), nominate for the Prix Pictet global sustainability prize, contribute to the CBI's Creative Industries Round Table and serve on the Advisory Board of the Rory Peck Trust – the only organisation dedicated to the support, welfare and safety of freelance newsgatherers around the world.
Areas of specialism
- Archives
- Photography
- Curating
- Still and moving Image
- Journalism
- External examining in Film and Photography
Qualifications
- MA History of Design
- Fellow of the Higher Education Acadmy
- Clore Leadership Programme
- Post Graduate Certificate in Art & Design Education
- Higher Diploma in Photography, Film & Television (LCP)
- Institute of Incorporated Photographers Professional Qualifying Examination (IIPPQE)
- Foundation in Art & Design
Industry links
Company Director, Photoworks
Company Director, Impressions Gallery
External Examiner, University for the Creative Arts
External Examiner, University of Gloucestershire
Journal Referee: Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education, GSA & Intellect Books.
CBI Creative Industries Round Table
Professional membership
The Rory Peck Trust, Advisory Board.
Prix Pictet, Nominator
National Union of Journalists
The Stationers' Company
Research
Research interests include the growing influence photography has on contemporary art and culture and the capacity for photographic documentation to shed more light on history. This includes considering to what extent photography can be objective, thorough and considered source material and, how can photography's propensity to be biased or mislead be assessed?
I have a specialised interest in photography in the USSR (СССР на стройке 1930-1949) and the ways of engaging with and responding to historic archives, including artists' residencies, to create new work. Current research includes curating an exhibition and book on London's Soho with The Photographers' Gallery London and writing and editing a photo book with publisher Taschen (New York).
In 2003, I co-founded the Photography & The Archive Research Centre (PARC) at London College of Communication. This included conceiving two projects: the on-line Directory of Photographic Collections in the UK and the NAM themed project triangulating the Stanley Kubrick Archive's Full Metal Jacket holdings with the Vietnam photojournalism of Phillip Jones Griffiths and the writings of cold war journalist Phillip Knightley. PARC was the first designated research centre within University of the Arts, London.
I am the Co-Director of The Visible Institute of Film and Photography (VI) established at Kingston School of Art (KSA) in summer 2017.
Selected Outputs
Tales from the City of Gold, Photographs by Jason Larkin, Text: Julian Rodriguez & Mara Kardas-Nelson. Published by Kehrer, Heidelberg, 2013.
Shifting Sands, Photographs by Guy Martin, curated and conceived by Julian Rodriguez, Mal Stone and Suzanne Bull. Exhibited at The Poly Falmouth (2012) and published by Falmouth Press (2012).
Roman Vishniac. Photographs by Roman Vishniac, Text: Julian Rodriguez. Published by Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, 1998.
Successful PhD Completions
Sophie Beard, PhD (2010): We Seem to Know You: The family photograph in the British Newspaper 1986-2005 (Director of Studies).
Sara Davidmann, PhD (2007): The reflected image and the presentation of the self: a Photographic study of transsexual transformation in sex changers (Director of Studies).
John Tran, PhD (2006): Responses to the scopic regimes of Taisho and pre-war Showa photography (Second Supervisor).