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Archive: June 2018 (4 Posts)

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Camera and Locomotive: Two Tracks across the Continent: Seeing the Railroad in 3D

Posted by: Lara Szypszak

The following is the fifth in a series of guest posts by Micah Messenheimer, Associate Curator of Photography, Prints and Photographs Division, that discuss the parallel development of two technologies in the 19th century: railroads and photography. Capturing the entirety of the Central Pacific Railroad from 1864–69, photographer Alfred Hart (1816–1908) traveled east from Sacramento, …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

“Not an Ostrich” Exhibit Image Inspires Feathery Detour

Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson

The following is a guest post by Beverly Brannan, Curator of Photography, picking up on a thread from an earlier post about the “Not an Ostrich” exhibition in Los Angeles, California. The title of the exhibition prompts viewers to ask “What are we really looking at?” Beverly demonstrates how that question can trigger an exploration …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

A House Hunt: Which Members of Congress Are Shown in this Panoramic Photo?

Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson

Many pictures come into Prints and Photographs Division collections with little or no identification on them. It’s not entirely surprising, since a portion of our collections were generated or collected by individuals who readily knew the who, what, where and when that depictions can evoke and didn’t feel compelled to write it down. But even …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Behind the Scenes: A Technical Perspective

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

The following is an interview with Shaunette Payne about some of her varied responsibilities as a Technical Services Technician in the Prints and Photographs Division. Here we discuss her work with the Division’s stereograph cards, circus posters, and offsite collections. Melissa: You and other colleagues in the technical services section are working on a project …