PRESENTATIONS & TALKS

Presentations by various members of our team have helped communicate our findings and expertise to a wide audience.

For further information on any past or upcoming talks, or to discuss an event for your group or organisation, contact us.

2024

19th July 2024
History and Archives in Practice: In Conversation with Brigitte Lardinois 
Online Event as part of #HAP24

Brigitte Lardinois is Reader in the Understanding of Public Photography at the London College of Communication at the University of the Arts in London. She was Director of the Photography and the Archive Research Centre (PARC) at the University of the Arts in London from October 2018 – February 2023.

Brigitte lectures and writes about photography with preservation of photographic archives and curation as her specialist areas. Since 2014, a research focus of hers has been the investigation of the Edward Reeves Archive in Lewes, believed to be the oldest still- surviving Victorian photo studio in the world.

Aware of the importance of this archive Brigitte and colleagues have been bringing it into the public space. In 2014 eighty historical pictures of Lewes High Street were displayed as lightboxes situated in the shop windows depicted on the glass plates. Following their success, these exhibitions have become an annual event.

10 years on, Brigitte joins chair, Giorgia Tolfo, Collections Researcher, The National Archives, to reflect on the project, the aim of which remains to engage people with history in an accessible and meaningful way.

Further information & tickets

1st May 2024
An Evening of Photographs from the Archives of Edward Reeves 
Priory School, Lewes

Speaker: Tom Reeves

Join photographer Tom Reeves for an evening exploring the history of Lewes through historic photographs from the archives of Edward Reeves Photography. The talk will include newly uncovered images of Lewes and research material from the archive project.

A bar and refreshments will be provided by the Friends of Priory School.

Fundraising event – all funds go to the Friends of Priory School.

Further information & tickets

2023

12th September 2023
Friends of Lewes Talk: Reeves Lightbox Exhibition – In Their Footsteps
King’s Church, Lewes

Speaker: Tom Reeves & Brigitte Lardinois

This two-part talk begins with Brigitte Lardinois providing an update on the progress of the Reeves Archive project which began in 2013. The work of digitising the Reeves business records will allow the image archive to be searched, while creating an invaluable historical resource. Brigitte’s talk will be followed by a presentation of photographs by Tom Reeves, including previously unseen images.

The talk is timed to coincide with the Lightbox Exhibition ‘In Their Footsteps’ in the streets of Lewes, and with a series of Edward Reeves Studio open days.

Open to all – admission free to Friends of Lewes members, £4 for non-members. Please pay at the door.

7:30pm

Further information

2022

11th May 2022
An Evening of Photographs from the Archives of Edward Reeves 
Priory School, Lewes

Speaker: Tom Reeves

A talk on the history of Lewes, illustrated with images from the Edward Reeves Archive

Fundraising event – all funds go to the Friends of Priory School.

Further information & tickets

2021

24th September 2021
Unveiling the Edward Reeves Archive in Lewes 
Ringmer Village Hall

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois 

Talk to Ringmer History Group

2020

5th January 2020
Lewes in Camera  
Lewes Little Theatre 

“Reeves of Lewes is the world’s oldest continuous photographers. Tom Reeves, descendant of the firm’s founder, Edward Reeves, talks about the early days of photography in Lewes, how the nature of photography has changed over 160 years”

2:30pm

Further Information

2019

12th September 2019
Retail Retold: Life on the Streets of Lewes 
St John the Baptist Church, Southover High St, Lewes

Speaker: Tom Reeves 

Tom Reeves shows images of the town and people of Lewes taken in the High Street from 1860 to 1960.

The images are from the Edward Reeves Archive, a collection of historic images from the world’s oldest surviving photography studio.  This talk is linked to the new lightbox exhibition which runs from the 5th to the 29th September 2019, featuring 80 lightboxes in windows up and down Lewes High Street. The exhibition will focus on the importance which High Streets – now very much under threat – have in the life of a community. Special emphasis will be given to the much more sustainable way in which generations before us did their shopping. 

Open to all – admission free to Friends of Lewes members, £3 for non-members

7.45pm

Further Information

24th July 2019
Edward Reeves of Lewes 
East Dean Village Hall 

Speaker: Tom Reeves

Tom Reeves shows some early photographs by this gifted Victorian photographer, emphasising family links with East Dean in the early 20th century.

13th May 2019
Edward Reeves: development of a business and technology 
Kings Church Hall, Brooks Road, Lewes 

Speaker: Tom Reeves

A talk for the Lewes History Group.

In this talk Tom Reeves will cover the development of his family’s photographic business that goes back to the 1850s.  Plus, using a Victorian glass-plate camera, he will demonstrate how a picture was created in the late 19th century and how it took considerable skill to produce what now appear to be quite mundane images. To finish there will be an update on the Reeves Archive Project.

10th May 2019
The Edward Reeves Archive 
St Mary’s Social Centre, Christie Rd, Lewes 

Speaker: Tom Reeves

A talk for the Lewes WI.

4th January 2019
Linking Nations for the Vote and for peace 1904 – 1940s 
Council Chamber, Lewes Town Hall 

Speaker: Sonya Baksi

A talk about the international Suffragettes, linking nations for the votes for peace.

2018

10th December 2018
From Suffrage to Citizenship: The Lewes Campaign for Women’s Right to Vote 
Kings Church Lewes 

Speaker: Dr Diana Wilkins

A talk for the Lewes History Group about the campaign for voting rights for women in Lewes.

This year is the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act and of the general election in which some women were able to vote for the first time, along with millions more men.

Diana will show photographs from the Reeves Archive and the LSE Women’s Library that tell the story of the peaceful suffragists in Lewes. The talk will include the militant suffragettes who went on hunger-strike in Lewes prison and the local opposition to suffrage.

11th November 2018
Creating Lewes Remembers 
Depot, Lewes 

Speaker: Baroness Kay Andrews of Southover

Introduces the film ‘Creating Lewes Remembers’

(Baroness Andrews also spoke about the event in her speech in the House of Lords on 5th November 2018)

Click here for more information about Lewes Remembers

13th October 2018
The Reeves Archive in Lewes 
Blois, France 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

Conference talk (in French) at the National History Conference ‘les Rencontres d’Histoire’.

1st July 2018
The Glass Plates and Ledgers of the Edward Reeves Archive in Lewes 
London College of Communication, UAL 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

A talk as part of the PARC symposium ‘Reflections on a Glass Plate’

The symposium was a collaboration between The UAL Photography and the Archive Research Centre (PARC), The Past on Glass Project at Sutton Archives, Edward Reeves Archive Project and The Photographic Collections Network.

Accompanied by a screening of the Lewes Remembers short film. Watch the film online here

9th May 2018
An Evening of Photographs of Lewes from the Archives of Edward Reeves 
Priory School, Lewes 

Speaker: Tom Reeves

A talk on the history of Lewes, using pictures from the Edward Reeves Archive.

Fundraising event – all funds go to the Friends of Priory School.

2017

3th November 2017
Remembering the First World War in Lewes 
London College of Communication 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

Learn while you Lunch, UAL staff event.

8th April 2017
Unveiling of the Edward Reeves Archive in Lewes 
Quad Art Centre, Derby 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

Talk at the Under the Dark Cloth Symposium

14th March 2017
History and Heritage: The Edward Reeves Archive 
London College of Communication, UAL 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

Talk at the LCC Spring Research Symposium

2016

2nd December 2016
‘Unveiling the Edward Reeves Archive in Lewes’
Nicosia, Cyprus 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois 

Talk at the International Conference of Photography and Theory

8th – 11th November 2016
The First World War as seen through the lens of Benjamin Reeves 
Chapel of Remembrance, Mountfield Road 

Speakers: Brigitte Lardinois and Steve George

Assemblies for Priory Secondary School, Lewes

30th October 2016
Mourning and Fashion 
All Saints’ Centre, Lewes 

Speaker: Emma O’Connor

Also Hilary Roberts [Curator of Photographs, IWM] introduces 1916 War Office film ‘The Battle of the Somme’.

10th October 2016
Unveiling the Edward Reeves Archive 
King’s Church, Lewes 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

Talk at Lewes History Group meeting

22th June 2016
An Evening of Photographs of Lewes from the Archives of Edward Reeves 
Priory School, Lewes 

Speaker: Tom Reeves

A talk on the history of Lewes, using pictures from the Edward Reeves Archive.

Fundraising event – all funds go to the Friends of Priory School.

17th February 2016
Copyright Implications when digitising an archive 
LCC, UAL 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

A talk to students of the LCC Photojournalism and Documentary Photography MA course.

2015

8th December 2015
The Edward Reeves Project: Past, Present and Future 
The Camera Club, London 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

Illustrated talk with The Camera Club, in association with the London Alternative Photography Collective.

3rd December 2015
The Edward Reeves Archive 
University of Ulster, Londonderry 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

Introducing the Edward Reeves Archive to the Ulster MA & BA Photography course’ students.

12th September 2015
Opening the Shutters 
St. Michael’s Church Hall, Lewes 

Speakers: Tom Reeves and Brigitte Lardinois

Tom Reeves in conversation with Brigitte Lardinois discussing the Edward Reeves Archive and the plans to digitally map its content, with illustrations.

5th September 2015
Walk & Talk: Stories Seen Through A Glass Plate 
Lewes High Street 

Speakers: Brigitte Lardinois and Yaz Norris

A walk and talk tour of the lightbox exhibition ‘Stories Seen Through a Glass Plate 2015’

29th August 2015
Walk & Talk: Stories Seen Through A Glass Plate 
Lewes High Street 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

A walk and talk tour of the lightbox exhibition ‘Stories Seen Through a Glass Plate 2015’

22nd August 2015
Walk & Talk: Stories Seen Through A Glass Plate 
Lewes High Street 

Speaker: Yaz Norris

A walk and talk tour of the lightbox exhibition ‘Stories Seen Through a Glass Plate 2015’

9th March 2015
Unlocking the Reeves Archive 
King’s Church, Lewes 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

Reveals her plans for unlocking the Reeves archive, in association with Lewes History Group.

Above left: Unlocking the Reeves Archive at King’s Church, Lewes
Above right: Tom Reeves presenting Opening the Shutters at St. Michael’s Church Hall, Lewes

15th January 2015
The Story behind the Lightboxes 
Town Hall, Lewes 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

Talk to the Friends of Lewes to create awareness of the Research Project to digitise the Edward Reeves Archive

2014

10th July 2014
The Edward Reeves Archive 
SE Archive of Seaside Photography, Christ Church University, Canterbury 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

Keynote talk conference: ‘New perspectives on Seaside Photography’

2013

29th November 2013
The Reeves Studio in Lewes 
Fotomuseum Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

Talk about the Reeves Archive in Lewes (in Dutch) at ‘Exposed Assets’: Symposium devoted to glass plate photography.

26th September 2013
The Reeves Studio in Lewes 
Paradiso Amsterdam 

Speaker: Brigitte Lardinois

Conference talk (in Dutch) Kijk! Mijn Familie