The Museum Curators are primarily responsible for the National Collections which are presented to the public through temporary exhibitions, gallery displays, Insight: Collections and Research Centre, publications and other activities undertaken by the Curatorial Team.
Get to know our Curators and find out about some of their favourite objects from the Collection.
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Paul Goodman
Head of Collections and Knowledge
Paul is responsible for the management and development of the Museum Collection, and has overseen many significant acquisitions including The Royal Photographic Society Collection in 2002.
Paul has significant expertise in collection stewardship, and specialises in policy and strategic development, having steered a five-year Acquisition and Disposal Policy through Trustees' approval in 2010, and led the Museum to be awarded with a Museums, Libraries and Archives [MLA] Accreditation in 2007.
A regular contributor to seminars and professional publications, Paul is an external advisor to other cultural and heritage organisations. He has been Chair of the National Museum of Science & Industry's Collections Group since 2002 and is currently President of the Yorkshire & Humberside Museums Federation until 2011. He is a Trustee of the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, the Chambre-Hardman Photography Collection in Liverpool, Volunteering Bradford, and a Director of Bradford Bulls Foundation.
Paul is currently working on the acquisition of the Ray Harryhausen animation collection.
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Colin Harding
Curator of Photographic Technology
Colin Harding is responsible for the National Photographic Technology Collection.
As well as permanent galleries on the history of photography, Colin has curated a number of exhibitions including The Dawn of Colour: Celebrating the Centenary of the Autochrome (2007); Sunny Snaps: Beach and Street Photography in Britain (2008); Don McCullin: In England (2009) and Fay Godwin: Land Revisited (2010).
Colin has written books and articles on the history of photography and cinematography and is a regular broadcaster on radio and television. His most recent book, Classic Cameras was published by the Photographers' Institute Press in June 2009. Since 2005 he has written a monthly column for Black & White Photography magazine.
In 2004 Colin received the Royal Photographic Society's prestigious John Dudley Johnston Award for his contributions to photographic history. He is a visiting lecturer at The University of Leeds and De Montfort University, Leicester, and is on the Editorial Board of Early Popular Visual Culture.
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Iain Baird
Curator of Broadcast Culture
Iain is responsible for the national television and radio culture collections. Exhibitions Iain has curated include Another Dimension (2010) concerning 3-D television; Mirrors in the Sky (2009) concerning satellite TV, and Digital Switchover (2007) concerning the analogue shut-down.
Iain began his museum career in 1994 as a researcher at Canada’s MZTV Museum, eventually becoming the collection curator. In this capacity he contributed to Watching TV (1995-1998) a large popular travelling exhibition appearing at major museums across the country. He later worked as assistant curator at the CBC Museum and with other North American communications museums. In 2007, Iain moved to Bradford to take on the role of Curator of Television at the Museum.
Iain has written and presented papers exploring television and radio history, and media ecology, including: Wise after the Event at the 2011 McLuhan100 conference, Infra-red Television for the 2010 IBC conference, and Technology and Cultural Relationships for the 2009 MeCCSA conference. He also has guest lectured for the academic sector, the RTS, and the BVWS, and has acted as a media spokesperson for Digital UK, TV Licensing, and Scottish Innovation. Iain is a member of the RTS Heritage Group and the RTS Yorkshire Centre committees.
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Claire Hampton
Curator of Broadcast Culture
Claire Hampton contributes to the many television-themed events and exhibitions at the Museum, is responsible for TV Heaven, and leads the team of volunteers who are helping to catalogue the Museum's extensive collection of television commercials.
In 2009, Claire curated Here's One We Made Earlier: Blue Peter 50, a temporary exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of this iconic children's programme, and she contributed to Experience TV – a permanent gallery exploring the history, technology and social impact of television.
Claire enjoys a wide range of television programmes and regularly features on the BBC Radio Leeds mid-morning show recommending the best of the week's television.
Before joining the Museum, Claire worked with Special Collections at the British Film Institute. She is a member of the Royal Television Society History and Archives Group.
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Brian Liddy
Collections Access Manager
Brian Liddy has worked at the Museum since 1996. Initially employed to answer all Collection-related enquiries from members of the public, he then became responsible for providing public access to the Museum Collection in Insight: Collections & Research Centre.
Brian has curated several exhibitions, including A Matter of Focus: The Art of Photography 1892 to 1917 (2003), and Extra! Extra! (2007), which was drawn from the Daily Herald archive, held at the Museum.
Brian is a regular contributor to the Museum's magazine, Archive.
External publications include an essay on the development of British pictorial photography for Impressionist Camera: Pictorial Photography in Europe 1888-1918, (edited by Philip Prodger, 2006) and entries for The Encyclopaedia of Nineteenth Century Photography (edited by John Hannavy, 2007).