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Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Visual materials, such as photos, not only depict a place, but can also provide a deeper understanding of that place. While a single photo offers a single moment in the timeline of a place’s history, a group of photos of a larger region can suggest a much broader story, influenced by the connections between places …
Posted in: Architecture, Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Summer movie season is upon us! Many of us escape into a cool, dark theater to see the latest blockbuster film during these hot months. And while we wait for the feature to start, we are reminded onscreen to refrain from texting, talking and otherwise disturbing the rest of the audience. Well, in the course …
Posted in: Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
The following is a guest post by Jan Grenci, Reference Specialist for Posters, Prints and Photographs Division. This post is the latest entry in the occasional Double Take series, where we take a closer look at images. As a reference specialist, it should come as no surprise that I enjoy doing research. What may surprise …
Posted in: FSA/OWI, Photographs, Series: Double Take, Visual literacy
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Fancy, Romance, and Tragedy. They sound like the plot points for a romantic tearjerker, but they are in fact the titles of three drawings recently donated to the Prints and Photographs Division by the family of the artist, George Randolph Barse, Jr. Barse was one of nearly 40 artists and sculptors charged with decorating the …
Posted in: Acquisitions, Drawings, Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
One of the most enduring traditions of Memorial Day is the decoration of the graves of fallen service members with such items as flowers and American flags. This annual day of commemoration was at one time referred to as Decoration Day because of this practice. My grandmother grew up in the deep South, where tradition …
Posted in: Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Spring in Washington, D.C., is marked by changing weather, gardens coming back to life and of course, cherry blossoms. The famous cherry blossom trees surrounding the Tidal Basin and Jefferson Memorial, a gift from Japan more than a century ago, are nearing peak bloom which also means peak volume of visitors to view them! To …
Posted in: Drawings, News & Events, Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
The following is a guest post by Jan Grenci, Reference Specialist for Posters, Prints and Photographs Division. When you take a vacation, do you buy souvenirs to remember the sights you see? Over the past few months, several reference staff members and I worked on a project to improve the access and housing of the …
Posted in: Drawings, Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
In the course of searching for a specific photograph of President Woodrow Wilson for a reference question, I came across the image below, and couldn’t resist it! Between the heart-shaped frames, the huge grins on both the President and the First Lady, and the addition of a cupid holding up two hearts perched in the …
Posted in: Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
In the first entry in this occasional series, Profiling Portraits, we examined occupational portraits, a type of portrait designed to tell the viewer a specific fact about the sitter: their occupation. We will now look at another type of portrait, one which is very popular today, thanks to the advent of smartphones with cameras: self-portraits, …
Posted in: Drawings, Photographs, Portraits, Prints, Series: Profiling Portraits