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Case Study - Heather Norris Nicholson Academic Projects and Research Work Using The Archives
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Case Study - Heather Norris NicholsonHeather Norris Nicholson is a historical geographer by initial training, who draws upon perspectives and concepts from within geography, social history, anthropology, cultural studies and film history in her interpretation of non-professionally produced cine film imagery spanning the years, c.1925 -1975. Much of her work has so far used archival film footage from regional archives in the UK although current research also makes use of archival material deposited at the British Film Institute. Detailed shot-by-shot analysis of material is related wherever possible to associated paperwork, correspondence and, in some instances, to comments derived from interviews with filmmakers or correspondence with surviving family members and friends of filmmakers. Interpretation thus involves trying to gain a sense of who the filmmaker was, and where, when, why and how films were made in particular ways. Attempts to understand the context within which amateur enthusiasts, at different times in pre- and post-war Britain made and showed their films has also prompted wider surveys of home movie making activity at a regional level. Nicholson’s publications range from thematic approaches to championing regional archival activity and to questioning the notion of the amateur film-maker. She has examined how footage made by adult male film-makers in town and country, for instance, invites us to question how childhood, identity and memory are portrayed within amateur film footage. She has also studied representations of urban renewal in Salford by comparing films made through the eyes of an outsider with those of a local resident in order to understand these contrasting perceptions of slum clearance and neighbourhood vitality. Early cine footage of industrial and workplace situations in different parts of northern industrial Britain has provided Nicholson with the scope to examine attitudes towards technology, science and labour. Through travel-related footage, she has explored aspects of the history of tourism as well as the production and consumption of place imagery. Current research (2002-2004) focuses on non-professionally made film footage produced by amateur enthusiasts travelling from Britain to Mediterranean destinations in the years, c.1925-1960. This project examines the contribution of this kind of archival film footage to the visual history of the twentieth century with reference to the content, contexts and processes of non-professional filmmaking. Further details of the projects are available via links listed below. Selected References
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