The document provides information about analyzing and identifying different types of photographs based on their physical characteristics and context. It discusses reading images by considering who, what, where, when and why. It also covers the physical structure and materials of photographs, common formats and processes like tintypes, albumen prints and gelatin silver prints. The document advises on proper handling and storage of photographs in archives, including appropriate housing materials and environmental conditions. An exercise divides readers into groups to analyze example photographs and determine format and date based on visible evidence.
10. I. The Image
Reading an Image
When?
Fashion
Technology
Absence
11. I. The Image
Reading an Image
Why?
Context
Intention
12. I. The Image
Reading an Image
The "Carrying-in Boy," In an
Indiana Glass Works, 1:00 A. M.,
Aug., 1908. Location: Indiana.
Why? National Child Labor Committee
Collection
Context
Intention
13. I. The Image
Reading an Image
Visual Elements
Composition
Depth of field
Point of view
Rhythm
Color balance
Tonal range
26. II. The Object
Tintypes (ca. 1856-1930s)
Collodion on blackened
iron base
Direct positive image
Extremely popular
during Civil War
27. II. The Object
Tintypes (ca. 1856-1930s)
Cheap and ubiquitous
Often worn or
scratched
Identification:
Snip marks
Magnet test (on back)
Reversed image
Mainly portraiture
28. II. The Object
Albumen Prints (1850-1895)
POP from wet collodion
negatives
Always mounted
Tend toward
sepia/yellowish
29. II. The Object
Albumen Prints (1850-1895)
80% of extant 19th-
century prints
Cartes-de-visite
Cabinet cards
Paper fibers visible
Identification:
30x magnification Paper fibers
Cracking
Yellowing
Mount
30. II. The Object
Lantern 際際滷s (1849-1950s)
Glass slide
Positive image
Often used for
educational purposes
31. II. The Object
Silver Gelatin DOPs (1885-present)
Dominant 20th-century
process
Dozens of formats
Identification:
Neutral unless toned
Baryta layer (no paper
fibers visible)
34. II. The Object
Color Prints (1930s-today)
Organic dyes
Many processes
Identification:
Characteristic
deterioration
Unstable
35. II. The Object
Instant Photos (1948-today*)
Photo printed from
packet with negative,
developer, base
Identification:
Adhesion markings or
developing pod
Coating flaws
Unique
Unstable
36. II. The Object
Film Negatives
Cellulose nitrate
(1887-1950)
Cellulose diacetate
(1937-1956)
Cellulose triacetate
(1947-present)
Polyester
(1960-present)
Roll film
37. II. The Object
Film Negatives
Identification:
Notch codes
Other tests
Cellulose bases unstable
Sheet film
43. III. In the Archives
Handling
Wear gloves
Provide support
Use only pencils
Gently remove from housing
Be aware of physical condition
Create and follow handling policy
Consider surrogates
44. III. In the Archives
Levels of Protection
I: Enclosures (contact material)
II: Furniture (proximity material)
III: Environment
45. III. In the Archives
Enclosures
Paper (envelopes, four-flaps)
Cheaper, blocks light, breathable
Viewing requires handling
Plastic (polyester, polystyrene, etc. No PVC!)
Viewing without handling
Expensive, not for unstable items
Must pass Photographic Activity Test (PAT)
46. III. In the Archives
Enclosures
Boxes and folders
PAT test
Proper support for format (long edge down or
flat)
Ideally, separate photographs from other
materials, and then by format (especially
negatives!)
Balance condition/format, use, resources
47. III. In the Archives
Environment
Temperature / relative humidity
Light (sunlight, UV light)
Pollutants (gaseous and particulate)
Biological (mold, fungus, pests)
48. III. In the Archives
Environment
B/W silver gelatin: 65属F, 30-50% RH
B/W acetate negatives: 7属F, 30-50% RH
Chromogenic dye on paper: 36属F, 30-40% RH
Most good for the most items
49. III. In the Archives
Selected Resources
General
Photographs: Archival Care and Management,
Ritzenthaler & Vogt-O'Connor (2006)
Care and Identification of 19th-Century
Photographic Prints, Reilly (1986)
50. III. In the Archives
Selected Resources
General
SAA photo preservation workshop
Photo preservation and photo conservation listservs
51. III. In the Archives
Selected Resources
Cartes de Visite
Cartes de Visite in Nineteenth Century Photography,
Darrah (1981)
Fashion
Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans
and Fashion, 1840-1900, Severa (1995)
52. III. In the Archives
Selected Resources
Gelatin silver
A Guide to Fiber-Base Gelatin Silver Print Condition and D
Negatives
The Acetate Negative Survey, Horvath (1987)
53. IV. Exercise
Divide into three groups
Describe how to identify the photograph
using image and physical evidence (5 min)
Share your conclusions
57. Group 2
Carte-de-visite, early 1870s
Medium card stock, square corners (1869-1871)
Borders, common 1861-1869
Imprint with length-wise large type (common
1870-1875)
Shoes probably 1865-1875
Photographers active in 1870s
59. III. In the Archives
Group 3
Gelatin silver real photo postcard, ca. 1910s
Neutral tonal range, silvering
Cyko postage stamp area (1904-1920s)
Divided back, no border: 1907-1915
Recent grad, now a processing archivist. New archivists point of view. What would processing archivists like to know? [Group portrait of seventeen members of the White House News Photographers' Association, standing and squatting, facing front, with cameras] Digital ID: (b&w film copy neg.) cph 3c31921 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c31921 http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3c31921/
Visual literacy; physical object; archival work; identification exercise. Title: [Carl Mydans, Farm Security Administration photographer, full-length portrait, holding camera, standing with his foot on the running board of a Treasury Department Procurement Division Fuel Yard truck, Washington, D.C.] / photo by Carl Mydans. Creator(s): Mydans, Carl , photographer Date Created/Published: [ca. 1935] Medium: 1 photographic print : gelatin silver. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98507850/
Photos are different from textual documents, and require understanding of their own logic, as well of their physical characteristics. Try to imagine how important and powerful they were 100+ ago. Historical importance Visual literacy Not prints these are photochemical objects, not mechanical. Not every nuance or detail Ill provide resources for additional learning. Just want you to be sensitive to the needs of and unique evidences offered by photos in the archive. http://eris.uky.edu/catalog/xt7q833mwz5w_1_102 (1904 U of Kentucky, first probably first womans dorm)
Images are powerful historical evidence. The ability to read and understand images is called visual literacy. Necessary as an archivist to effectively describe and provide access to photographs. Look at the informational content (5 Ws) and the formal visual content. Wonderful range of grays; sharp contrast; text is prominent. Editor Roy Takeno reading a copy of the Manzanar Free Press in the California Japanese-American internment camp. 1943. Irony of the paper being called Free Press in an internment camp. http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/4483939447/ Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984, photographer. Roy Takeno (editor) reading paper in front of office [1943] 1 photographic print : gelatin silver. 1 negative : safety film. Notes: Photo shows editor Roy Takeno reading a copy of the Manzanar Free Press in front of the newspaper office at the Manzanar War Relocation Center; with mountains in the background. Title transcribed from Ansel Adams' caption on verso of print. Original neg. no.: LC-A35-4-M-4. Gift; Ansel Adams; 1965-1968. Forms part of: Manzanar War Relocation Center photographs.
Visual literacy: Visual literacy [] enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media. Visual literacy skills equip a learner to understand and analyze the contextual, cultural, ethical, aesthetic, intellectual, and technical components involved in the production and use of visual materials. [] ACRL/IRIG Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (draft) http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/6208698/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmediamuseum/3084038297 Who: is the photograper, studio; who is pictured? Captioned information: useful, but not infallible "A cabinet card portrait of John Owen, a sadler from Montgomeryshire, Wales, pictured with his dog, Blueman, taken at the studio of F. Davey, Gloucester, in about 1900. Thanks Jill!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pip_r_lagenta/3137287437/ (On the flatbed are Annalisa Tripp (left) and Pip R. Lagenta. Kneeling behind the truck is Dale Tripp. The other people are passersby. The Marina in San Francisco, California, 1960.) What: in: people, things, cars, language. Not in: absences (no powerlines? Cell phones?) Language? Captioned information: useful, but not infallible Thanks Jill!
Where: location pictured; geographic location Captioned information: useful, but not infallible http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?85260 NYPL Image ID: 85260 The pyramids of Geezeh (1862-1863) Image Title: The pyramids of Geezeh Creator: Frith, Francis -- Photographer Medium: Albumen prints
Particularly important for helping confirm physical identification. Question assumptions, question written information on print 1800s:UVM site, Dressed for the Photographer (by Joan Severa), victorian fashion site Research: Newspapers and magazines; phone books; in-house guide to photographers and photos in collection http://www.flickr.com/photos/92947174@N00/214261992/ Reenactor
Question assumptions, question written information on print Why: Intention; commercial portrait? Message conveyed? Archivists love this context and meaning Lewis Hine http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ncl2004000111/PP/ The "Carrying-in Boy," In an Indiana Glass Works, 1:00 A. M., Aug., 1908. Location: Indiana. 1908 August. Medium: 1 photographic print. National Child Labor Committee Collection
Question assumptions, question written information on print Why: Intention; commercial portrait? Message conveyed? Archivists love this context and meaning Lewis Hine http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ncl2004000111/PP/ The "Carrying-in Boy," In an Indiana Glass Works, 1:00 A. M., Aug., 1908. Location: Indiana. 1908 August. Medium: 1 photographic print. National Child Labor Committee Collection
Formal visual elements. Grid is imposed. Ritzenthaler, p. 64 (visual elements) http://www.flickr.com/photos/cpurrin1/254286406
Who: black man (and a cowboy) What: Movie theater, colored adm 10 cents; juxtaposition of commercialism and segregation Where: American south When: 1939 Why: Farm Security Administration (New Deal program); left-wing sympathies; anti-segregation Formal elements: high contrast; strong rhythm in bricks and in shadow; composition elements: 10 cents is center Movie: Bob Steele, Feud of the Range (1939) Negro going in colored entrance of movie house on Saturday afternoon, Belzoni, Mississippi Delta, Mississippi (LOC) Wolcott, Marion Post, 1910-1990, photographer. Negro going in colored entrance of movie house on Saturday afternoon, Belzoni, Mississippi Delta, Mississippi 1939 Oct.? 1 negative : nitrate ; 35 mm.
The physical object, the photograph
To understand a photograph, it helps to know something of the process by which is created. (This is a large area of human endeavor; could take a lifetime to master).
Describe how light exposure changes object that is light-sensitive. Processes to fix image. Other processes (toning) to change tonal range and help stability. Original/unique vs print http://www.practicalphysics.org/go/print/Guidance_93.html%3Bjsessionid=alZLdQlAHb1?topic_id=2&guidance_id=1
1839 to today dozens of processes. A reminder that there is always a viewpoint and manipulation in the image. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/cph/item/2004681684/resource/ [A photographer appears to be photographing himself in a photographic studio] / Wheeler, Berlin, Wis. Date Created/Published: c1893. Medium: 1 photographic print on cabinet card. Summary: A composite photograph showing a photographic studio interior. One man is seated on a stool near an adjustable clamp to hold his head steady during a long portrait exposure. The second man, standing next to a large view camera, looks like the person being photographed.
Cross-section of photograph Basics: photosensitive layer on backing Describe how light exposure changes sensitized object, then printed or developed. Fixed, toned. Original vs print
Historical context: Lots of experiments in 18 th -century; knew silver changed in reaction to light. Rapid technological change, from 1839 to today, helps contextualize the image and the object. Note: all dates rough. Processes sometimes continued to be used, one could argue about invention of digital photography. Processes for duplication: POP printing-out paper vs. DOP developing-out paper http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/589_chronology.html
No. 3 Brownie (1908) cheap, easy, used roll film. Early 20 th century through the 1950s. Popularized the snapshot. A study of the history of photography is invaluable as an archivist; I would argue it is an important part of modern history of fixed communication, which is after all what we as archivists preserve. History of photography is one of rapid technological change, driven by economics, toward cheaper, more copies, and easier. Understanding where an object falls in this continuum, from 1839 to today, helps contextualize the image and the object. Dags were expensive; CdVs cheaper, and 100s of millions produced, but photo studio needed; then snapshot (but need to develop); instant photos, and finally digital. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wscullin/1400909828/
Dozens of others; just the most common, and just enough info to ID them
Define formats and processes
Step out to graphics atlas: http://www.graphicsatlas.org/compareprocesses/ Also mention: http://www.digitalsamplebook.com/compare.asp Mention Reilly and Weaver charts
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppss.00158/ [Freeman Mason of Company K, 17th Vermont Infantry holding a tintype of his brother, Michael Mason, killed at Savage's Station, Virginia, in 1862] Digital ID: (digital file from original item, mat removed) ppss 00158 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppss.00158 Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-27071 (digital file from original item)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonlewisphotography/3085268486/ Vintage tintype, 2 1/2" x 3 1/2"
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005677238/ (albumen aging and bad processing)
http://www.graphicsatlas.org/identification/?process_id=5 (compare processes) http://www.digitalsamplebook.com Mention Darrah book
So dominant that from the teens onward, this can be your default assumption (unless specific reasons not to be) Mention photo postcards http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohiouniversitylibraries/3476347053/in/set-72157617257431295/ Mention Weaver: http://gawainweaver.com/images/uploads/Weaver_Guide_to_Gelatin_Silver.pdf
So dominant that from the 1920s onward, this can be your default assumption (unless specific reasons not to be) http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohiouniversitylibraries/3476347053/in/set-72157617257431295/ Mention Weaver: http://gawainweaver.com/images/uploads/Weaver_Guide_to_Gelatin_Silver.pdf
Magenta/cyan/yellow in three layers Fading in highlights More red as the cyan dye fades first http://www.flickr.com/photos/kschlot1/4359176787/ Complex, and beyond the scope of an hour-long intro. See Ritzenthaler. http://www.graphicsatlas.org/identification/?process_id=88
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsc.01269/ Brief history replaced glass plate negs in late 1800s. Materials science became more advanced, improved bases. Negs present special challenges. Hard to read and use (access), serious preservation problems. But, potentially rich context around other photos, choices made by photographer, sheer volume.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8c03262/ Notch codes: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Notch_code Tests: http://www.nedcc.org/resources/leaflets/5Photographs/01ShortGuide.php Other tests: polarization, burn test Describe degradation types Mention American Archivist article Heckman, nitrate composition (Winter 2010)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kschlot1/5219203334 Visual cues still apply, but even more easily manipulated (not that earlier forms couldnt be famous Stalin picture with comrades slowly wiped out); hipstamatic prints for iPhone Dig pres and its associated problems. Metadata. Digital forensics. Many common image formats have embedded medata check out Irfanview software. We need to think about this; appraisal? Do we keep every digital image? Why or why not?
Powerful evidentiary value; knowing what the image and object are help contextualize it. Preservation (housing/handling/environment) Access (reference, description) http://www.flickr.com/photos/nys_archives/3874737219/
Powerful evidentiary value; knowing what the image and object are help contextualize it. Photos were REALLY important to people (and images still are) in all my LBI collections, what did people take from Germany? Diplomas, vital records, and photos. Walt Whitman, 1860-1865? http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/brhc/item/brh2003003783/PP/
Common preservation concerns. Whatever happy medium is found, temp/RH should ideally not fluctuate. Minimize light. Awareness of ozone produced by copiers and printers; off-gassing of storage units; other photos (fixer not rinsed, sulphur compounds). Gelatin is an animal product, insects and rodents will eat it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmatsuoka/3435792255/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmatsuoka/3435792255/ (See ISO standards 18920 and 18911)
Darrah Fringed chair also appears to be common in 1870s
http://www.playle.com/realphoto/photoall.php?PHPSESSID=tqmc99gjs9rck706sjg0mb6k91 After 1910, as women's feet and legs began to be exposed, shoes were colored to match the outfit. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=101239079