Brigitte Lardinois

Biography

Brigitte Lardinois is Reader in the Understanding of Public Photography at the London College of Communication at the University of the Arts in London.

She was Director of the Photography and the Archive Research Centre (PARC) at the University of the Arts in London from ifrom October 2018 - February 2023 .

From 1985-1995 she worked as an Exhibition Organiser and Curator at the Barbican Art Gallery where she specialised in the setting up of their photography exhibitions. In 1995 she joined the staff of Magnum Photos to set up their Cultural Department in London. She was involved in many Magnum group exhibitions, notably Magnum Ireland, as well as solo shows for Henri Cartier-Bresson, Martin Parr, Josef Koudelka, Eve Arnold, Elliott Erwitt and many others.

In 2006 she moved to London College of Communication at University of the Arts to become a Senior Research Fellow. While there, she edited Magnum Magnum, the sixtieth Anniversary book of the agency which was published by Thames & Hudson in eight languages and is currently in its fourth edition. This book sold approximately 200.000 copies in 9 languages which is a record for Thames and Hudson. An updated version wa published in October 2024 and includes the work of the twenty-five Magnum members who joined since the original book was published..

For Thames and Hudson she also edited Eve Arnold’s People and an updated version of Magnum Ireland was published in Spring 2020.

Brigitte lectures and writes about photography with preservation of photographic archives and curation as her specialist areas.

She is active in the Knowledge Exchange community at UAL.

Lardinois is leading a project writing the history of LCP/LCC, with the aim of publishing a book -produced and printed in the College- to coincided with the move to a new building in 2027. This work is an intergral part of the shaping of a new vision of the College.

Since 2014 her main focus of research is the investigation of the Edward Reeves Archive in Lewes, believed to be the oldest still surviving Victorian photo studio in the world. Drawing on a team of around forty five local volunteers and working closely with the current owners of the business the archive -of 250.000 glass plates- this unique archive is being made accesible. In the meantime annual exhibitions in the streets share the findings with the community.

She is involved in a research project led by professor Mark Sealy at the Imperial War Museum in. London, investigating the legacy of the Cold War.