Images of England - TrustNews Dec 2004
I was asked by the Chairman if I would take some photos of Listed Buildings for the English Heritage website "Images of England": www.imagesofengland.org.uk
It seemed a simple request and I visited the website to see what to do. I discovered that Images of England is an initiative run by the National Monuments Record, the public archive of English Heritage. The project aims to create a 'point in time' photographic record of every listed building in England. Each of the 370,000 images are being posted alongside existing list descriptions for each building to create what will be one of the largest free to access digital image libraries in the world.
First I had to register on line. Then I was asked for further details by email.I was accepted as a potential "volunteer photographer" and a volunteer pack was promised. This arrived by post and included: a volunteer photographer contract - in duplicate, a copyright agreement in duplicate, an identity card which needs a photo added, a form for my bank details so that my expenses can be paid. Also included was a programme for training days - I need three hours training before 1 can begin, and a plain English version of the copyright agreement. Apparently I would retain copyright of prints of my photographs but not of scanned and digital copies! Why? It also seems that the photographs must be taken on 35mm film despite the fact that the images are for a website. Oh well, I'll have to put away my digital camera and dust off my trusty Minolta 35mm and remember how to use it. Is this progress?
I now realise that the site is more than just a collection of photographs on the web. It is being carefully researched and annotated and will be a valuable resource for school children, students, local historians, family researchers, conservation groups, academics etc and we must make sure all our Winchester Listed Buildings are included.