| Leonardo/ISASTwith Arizona State University

Jack Tait

Self employedat Jack Tait
Abergavenny Wales,
United Kingdom
Focus area: Fine Arts 2D

Jack Tait-CV
 
Military service and education
1952-1955 RAF Bomber Command, Photography NCO.
1955-1958 Guildford School of Art, Photography Department (leading school for creative work in the UK). Won prize for year’s best work in both year one and three.
 
Academic career
1958-1960 Photography lecturer in Graphic Design, Manchester Regional College of Art.
1961-1964 Head of Photography, Derby College of Art.
1965-1975 Head of Photography, Manchester Polytechnic.
1980-1989 Head of Graphic Design, Newport Art College.
1974 CNAA M.Phil in Colour Measurement, ‘The Maintenance of Neutral Balance’.
2011 Ph.D in Fine Art Practice,  ‘Programmable Analogue Drawing Machines’.
 
Awards, consultancy and published work
1955-present Books ‘Beyond Photography’ (Focal Press) and ‘Illustrated Dictionary of Photography’ (Fountain Press) - Time Magazine’s ‘Joint Best Buy of the Year 1973’.
1975-present Four self-published books (Bronydd Press) to include ‘Art by Machine’ (short version of Ph.D thesis), exhibitions and papers in a variety of magazines. 
1964 Kodak Colour Photography Scholarship, Rochester USA.
1965-1975 Senior photographic consultant to UK Which magazine.
2022 Paper in Sept. Issue 73 of Interalia Magazine.
 
Commercial work
1975-1980 Free-lance photography practice Singapore and London. 
1989-1993 Architectural Photography.
1989-1997 Camera Making.
 
Analogue Drawing Machines
1960-present, 60 analogue drawing machines made. Early machines explored Lyssajeus figures; others were X:Y plotters, Sign wave and Turntable designs. 
 
Acquisitions of machines
2013 and 2024 machines acquired by the Science Museum in South Kensington London.
2024 Machines acquired by CAS (Computer Arts Society) at De Montfort University Leicester.
2024 CAS awarded £10,000 Heritage Lottery Grant to cover all Taitograph archive and two other initiatives.
 
Jack Tait May 2024
 

Journal Articles:
Special Section: Pioneers and Pathbreakers

Programmable Analogue Drawing Machines, 1952–2023

June 2024