Top of page
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
The following is a guest post by Jan Grenci, Reference Specialist for Posters, Prints and Photographs Division. Winter is one of my favorite seasons, what with the snow, and the cookies, and the caroling. There are a number of posters in the collections of the Prints and Photographs Division that illustrate some of the things …
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
I did more than a double take when I saw the photograph below while searching in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog – I did a triple and maybe even a quadruple take! Once I convinced my brain of what I was seeing, I knew mirror images would be the theme of this installment of …
Posted in: Architecture, Photographs, Series: Double Take
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division. You can find libraries at the heart of many different communities, from the center of a town or a college campus to a shared toolbox at a construction site. The new book American Libraries, written by architectural historian Kenneth Breisch, takes …
Posted in: Drawings, News & Events, Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
The basic goal of a portrait is to capture the likeness of the subject. But a portrait can offer a lot more information than simply the shape of a face. As with all visual images, portraits lend themselves to further exploration. Why was the portrait made? What does it tell the viewer about the subject …
Posted in: Photographs, Portraits, Series: Profiling Portraits
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Time to go back to school! The relaxing days of summer are giving way to busy schooldays for millions of children – and teachers – across the country, with many already at their desks and ready to tackle a new school year. Photographers for the Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information traveled all …
Posted in: FSA/OWI, Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
“Thousands of residents stood with necks craned and peered wide-eyed through smudged glass as the moon sped between the sun and earth, gradually shutting off the bright morning light. From President Coolidge to the urchins with bundles of papers under their arms, the city marvelled at the awesome but magnificent sight.” - The Washington Post, …
Posted in: News & Events, Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Today, we turn our eyes to the wide open spaces of Wyoming for two reasons. On July 10, 1890, Wyoming became the 44th state in the United States of America. The second reason is the addition of thousands of modern, color digital photos of Wyoming to the ever-expanding Carol M. Highsmith Archive. Over the last couple of years, …
Posted in: Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
With holdings of close to 16 million images, there are always new discoveries to be made in the Prints and Photographs Division. When collections become easier to search through digitization, staff are the first to go digging through the “new” images like kids in a visual candy store. During my exploration of the over 25,000 …
Posted in: Photographs, Portraits, Series: Anything to Get the Shot
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
“The Greatest Show on Earth” closed up shop this past Sunday, May 21, as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus put on its last show. “The Greatest Show on Earth” moniker is a good example of the type of hyperbole circuses have always used in their advertising to lure visitors. The Prints and …
Posted in: Posters