4 May 2005
The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television

One thing I like about London is that it charges no admission to some of the best museums in the world. Although this may seem unfair to non-Londoners, because their collections are so vast, they occasionally transfer a large number of them to a different part of the country and set up a new museum. This means that even those in places like Bradford others can enjoy the exhibits. Why you would want to do this, I don't know. It's the equivalent of moving a museum to Taiping or Butterworth.

The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television is an offshoot of the Science and Technology museum. It has also inherited a substantial collection from the now-defunct Kodak museum. Right here in Bradford. If I sound surprised, so would you, if you've seen the rest of Bradford.

I like this museum. I learn things when I go into the museum. The whole history of photography is there (albeit from a very English point of view) and that's just in the basement alone. There is an interesting section on the news, and in particular how choosing and editing what news to show can change the story. Did you know the picture of Dodi leaning in to "kiss" Diana was doctored? He was initially looking away from her and they flipped his head around.

On the top floor they have a small section on advertising. I spent almost an hour just watching various advertisements, including four specially-made-for-the-web BMW ads (the ones with Clive Owen and a bunch of other people). Good fun.

Probably the best permanent exhibit of the museum is the Television Series library. You can choose from a catalogue of hundreds of UK television shows, particularly those that were ground-breaking and innovative, or simply those that were very good. The librarian puts them on for you and you watch them in a private booth.

And all this for free. Admittedly, so of the exhibits could do with some maintenance, but on the whole, it's a pleasant way of passing the afternoon.

However, the icing on the cake is the cinemas, including an IMAX theatre. I just missed an IMAX version of Spiderman 2 (darn) but am in time to catch the Bradford Film Festival. The only problem is that there are so many films on that I don't know what to watch.