Museum honours Christina Broom – pioneer of news photography

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/dec/10/museum-honours-christina-broom-press-photography

Version 0 of 1.

An unsung female trailblazer of press photography is to be honoured with an exhibition of her work, more than a century after she began selling postcards from a stall at the gates of the Royal Mews in London.

Christina Broom is regarded as the first British woman to have a successful career as a press photographer, but she has always been something of an unrecognised artist.

The quest to correct this began earlier this year when the Museum of London announced the acquisition of a remarkable collection of more than 2,500 of her photographs. On Thursday it announced details of a the show to be staged in June 2015.

Anna Sparham, curator of photographs at the museum, said: “Christina Broom is a somewhat underappreciated figure in photography, and we hope that this major exhibition will redress this.

“It will not just show off her work, but portray Broom, who was a formidable, determined woman, and commercially astute – taking advantage of a rapidly growing postcard market.

“Broom’s strength of character shines through her competency at orchestrating people, directing their attention and making unflustered compositions despite the crowds and activities often surrounding them. Her impressive photographs can appear remarkably contemporary at times despite their historic relevance.”

The museum released photographs of Grenadier Guards enjoying their Christmas lunch at Chelsea barracks in London to mark the announcement.

Broom started her career quite late in life, she was 40 when in 1903 she started selling her photographs as postcards at the gates of the Royal Mews. After that she successfully sold her pictures to publications that included the Daily Sketch, Illustrated London News, Tatler and Country Life.

Her photographs took in key moments in history, suffragette marches, first world war soldiers, boat races and royal coronations and funerals.

• Soldiers and suffragettes: the photography of Christina Broom will be at the Museum of London Docklands, 19 June – 1 November 2015