Images of Empire
Thousands of photographs and film clips film representing almost one hundred and fifty years of British colonial life are now available online for the first time. The website www.imagesofempire.com, developed by the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum was launched on the 16th November 2006 and has already enjoyed thousands of hits and many positive responses from the public.
Visitors to the website are able to explore over 6,000 still images and film clips from the collection, which is currently the UK’s largest dedicated resource of photography and film on the British colonial period. The collections provide a range of pictures, both amateur and professional, revealing a wide range of perspectives and experiences. Carol Laslett from Fishponds in Bristol is one of many donors who has given the Museum personal family items, “I thought it was a shame to keep my film hidden away in boxes. I decided to donate copies of my film to Images of Empire so that it could be shared by others and made accessible to researchers around the world”.
Images from the archive can be navigated and viewed using an advanced search facility and photographs from the collection are available to order online. Registration is free, enabling users to build light-boxes, order high-resolution files and access supplementary information. Further images from the Museum’s collection will be made available online at regular intervals as more donations are received and digitised.
By presenting this collection online, Images of Empire creates a valuable commercial resource for both professional picture buyers and academic researchers, and supports the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum in its mission to provide a national forum for preserving, exploring and studying Britain’s cultural heritage associated with the former Empire and today’s Commonwealth.
For further information call 0117 929 3851 or email info@imagesofempire.com
