Bard Graduate Center Exchange | Tomas B. N. Brown

Collections photography workshop at the Bard Graduate Center, New York — Collections photography workshop.

Between January and March 2020 I was selected for the V&A / RCA exchange with the Bard Graduate Center in New York. I was joined by fellow student Fleur Elkerton, and had the opportunity to audit a range of teaching and form international research connections.

I audited both Jennifer Mass’ ‘Twelve Critical Topics in Cultural Heritage Science for the Humanities Scholar’ and Meredith Lynn and Caspar Meyer’s ‘Digital Archaeological Heritage’. Both modules have had long-lasting impact on my academic and professional practice. I use the material literacy and technical skills I learned on a daily basis.

Outside of teaching, I was keen to interface with the Center’s ‘Cultures of Conservation’ project, and had some really enriching meetings with conservator and lecturer Soon Kai Poh. I also participated in a number of training sessions covering collections’ photography, GIS systems and giving gallery tours.

The visit was dramatically cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic — Fleur and I booked our flights just before the USNS Comfort sailed up the Hudson river to aid the city’s hospitals. A gallery of my film photographs from the time can be found below.

Gallery installation at the Brooklyn Museum, New York, 2020 — Brooklyn Museum install.

Street scene in New York, 2020 — Street scene.

Tomas Brown on West 86th Street, New York, 2020 — Me on West 86th.

New York Public Library — NY Public Library.

Gallery installation at MoMA, New York, 2020 — MoMA install.

Storage areas in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York — Met stores.

Fleur Elkerton during the V&A / RCA Bard Graduate Center exchange, 2020 — Fleur Elkerton.

Leaving New York during the COVID-19 pandemic, March 2020 — Leaving NY.