While in London this month, I had an opportunity to visit the newer, second location for the London Film Museum, in Covent Garden. I was fortunate enough to receive a personal tour from Jonathan Sands, Chief Executive and founder of the museums. The current exhibit hosted at the new branch is entitled, Magnum On Set.
The Magnum On Set exhibit is described as follows:
The opening exhibition ‘Magnum on Set’, is a celebration of cinema hosting some of the greatest photographers of the Twentieth Century from the legendary agency, Magnum Photos. It is the London Film Museum’s first ever exhibition using their own Apple iPad technology which enables the displays to be viewed in infinitely more detail, multiple languages and intelligent education packages (IEP) – the first attraction with this level of interactivity in the United Kingdom. Magnum On Set will be on display at the London Film Museum between 21 April and 1 September 2012.
I had visited the County Hall location in my visit to London in 2010, wherein Jonathan was kind enough to give me a personal, after hours tour of it at the time.
With this visit, Jonathan spent about an hour showing me around and talking about his amazing accomplishments in making this such a successful and self sustaining endeavor. This new location opened in March of this year, and is free to the public.
The facility itself is simply first class – fully renovated and customized for the special needs of the material on display – with state of the art climate control and ability to quickly and safely reconfigure and move displays to allow flexibility for changes and hosting events. The latter, offering space to hold special events and the like, generate revenue that allows the space to also serve as an incredible museum, with exhibits such as the current Magnum on Set one, which is fantastic.
Jonathan’s talents in the area of photography and his passion for the history of the moving image is all quite evident in navigating the space. I was also treated to his own tour of the exhibit, and his enthusiasm for the real artwork and associated artifacts on display.
While the County Hall space was, at the time of my visit, more movie and television prop and costume oriented, the current exhibit at Covent Garden is really more focused exclusively on still imagery and the history and evolution of film itself, while some props, costumes, and other artifacts serve to supplement this theme, rather than act as the focal point.
All in all, I was extremely impressed with the accomplishments, goals, and future of the London Film Museum, and I cannot imagine a more perfect individual to develop and serve his vision for these museums.
Below are some photos I took while given the tour of the facility:
Jason DeBord