Will Strange


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The John B. Thorp Archive: A photo essay





John B. Thorpe was arguably the world's first professional architectural modelmaker. He maintained a remarkably thorough record of his work, and this collection continued long after his death in 1939 as the company, Thorp Modelmakers, evolved.


Senior lecturer at Arts University Bournemouth, and collegue of mine, Dr David Lund has led a project to preserve Thorp's records as an archive at the university.


Since the archive first arrived at AUB, I have tried to record some of it's story with a 'Low Fi' photographic project. I have tried to record some of the issues the archive faced in the beginning, some of the interesting early findings and David's work in exploring, cataloguing and preserving.

Image are made with iPhones, with available lighting and minimal edfitting...



Photographer's marks on a glass plate negative of Thorp's celebrated Charring Cross model of around 1930. Notice the child in the background watching the photographer at work...



An early job for archivists was the evaluation of many boxes of glass plate negatives to assess their condition and archival needs.



An original glass plate negative shows John B. Thorpe holding one of his models, probably in around 1930.



A wonderfully staged image of a modelmaker completing a scale model in the showroom of Thorp's Grays Inn Road offices. A scene familiar to me from my days as a professional modelmaker many years after this image was taken.



Goves were essential for examining many of the archives items, both to protect the items and those examining them.



After many years of being stored in the modelmaking workshops of thorp Modelmakers, it is surprising that many records have survived.



A wonderful example of how carefully recorded the work of Thorp Modelmakers was. This print of the 'Crystal 61' model includes notes about its construction that can be compared with modern modelmaking techniques.



Dr David Lund examines some of the loose photographic prints that needed to be identified.





Will Strange. Dorset, UK. 2020