Voices of the Bodleian

Nick Cistone, Imaging Services Manager

It’s been 33 years since I started at the Bodleian. Before I started here, I worked for a microfilming studio called Oyez, capturing images for Thames Valley Police, Courts, City Councils and Formula One, such as Williams and Benetton. However, I wanted to be more involved in other aspects of photography, rather than just microfilming. I applied for the role of Assistant Photographer at the Bodleian Library and was fortunate to be able to attend college for two years - on a day release basis - to gain my photography qualification.

I spent many years in the dark room like a mole! It’s been a pleasure photographing so many of the Bodleian’s treasures and interesting collections over the years. For someone like me, the digital revolution was a bit of a shock to the system. I honestly didn’t think it would take off…. How wrong I was! I don’t mind admitting I’m pretty old-school. I still shoot a lot of film for myself. The technology these days is totally different. I think the turning point was around 2000 when we had our first high-end digital camera in the studio. It was clear it was going to be the new way forward of capturing images. Digital photography has come a long way and it’s improving all the time, but the reason I still love taking pictures with film, is that you become disciplined and have to think about what you’re doing in terms of exposure, focusing, lighting and composition.

At the Imaging studio, we do a lot of project work such as the Tolkien Trust funded project, digitising interesting and beautiful illuminated manuscripts and the Hebraica project, digitising selected volumes of Hebrew texts. We also fulfill external orders for readers, scholars and publishers from all over the world- anything from one page/folio in a book to many hundreds. Our job is to achieve and supply the highest quality captures using our high end digital cameras for reproduction and private research purposes. We also undertake 3D, UV and infra-red photography and our subjects also include paintings, scrolls and interesting artefacts.?

There are too many subjects I’ve worked on over the years to name a favourite. There are so many beautiful manuscripts. It was great to photograph works of Mary Shelley and Tolkien drawings, to name just a few. It’s such a varied job - the objects I photograph are often a mixture of beauty and human interest. It’s lovely to talk to curators and learn about the history behind these wonderful books. I was also fortunate to photograph Franz Kafka’s notebooks and the Fox Talbot prints - fascinating! I’ve also been lucky enough to photograph a few famous faces over the years - those who have given talks here for example, such as Alan Bennett, Vanessa Redgrave and Stephen Fry.

I thought I was only going to be here for six months - and here I am three decades later. It’s a great institution to work for. I’ve always had opportunities to progress and further my career. The collections in this library are second to none. When I have the time, I also love photographing interiors and exteriors of interesting buildings using my trusted Rolleiflex film cameras. I enjoy my work, and when I eventually retire, I would like to do more film photography workshops and pursue my collection of interesting cameras. I’m lucky that my profession is also my passion. When I’m abroad, I love photographing wonderful sites, in Egypt, Turkey, Croatia and Italy for example. l relish the opportunity to enjoy photography and have lots of my images printed, mounted and displayed at home, it’s so much more impactful than seeing something on a screen?

?