From 2018-2021, I am working on an AHRC-funded collaborative PhD with Hastings Museum & the University of Sussex, ‘Mapping the Photographs and Collections of Annie, Lady Brassey’.
Brassey (1839-1887) was a traveller, writer & collector, famed for her voyages in her family’s steam-powered yacht Sunbeam. Building upon research undertaken during my MA in Art History, this project looks to uncover more about Annie Brassey’s participation with the photographic medium, and to use existing photographic material to better catalogue her incredible collection of objects at Hastings Museum, which she collected from all over the world. The project will explore Brassey’s life and legacy in relation to gender & post-colonialism.
I will be keeping a blog with updates of this project: doingsofthesunbeam.wordpress.com
Sarah French 