Join Leigh Gleason, Head of Reference in the Prints & Photographs Division, on Wednesday, March 19th at 3pm EDT, as she explores color photographs in P&P collections from the 1930s to the 1970s, and addresses how you can see color images at home and on-site at the Library of Congress. This virtual talk will also be recorded and available at a later date on the Library’s website.
Enjoy a sneak peek below of some of the vibrant color images from the collections that will be shared in the talk, starting with an early 1940 color photo taken by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration:
Learn More:
- Register to attend the virtual presentation Finding Pictures: Mid-Century Color Photography which will take place live on Wednesday, March 19 from 3:00-4:00pm EDT.
- Watch recordings of past Finding Pictures talks.
Comments (3)
I have found that hundreds of my Kodachrome slides from the 1940s to the 1960s have taken on a bit of a bluish cast over the years, much like the National Airport image in this blog entry, and that many of my Ektachrome slides from the 1950s to the 1970s have taken on a reddish/pinkish cast over the years, much like the July 4th Tourists image in this entry. These can be easily remedied by de-saturating the blue or the red, as needed, using a decent photo editing software. It’s amazing how much the image quality can be improved.
Kris Cowling is correct!!! All transmitted-light photographs — that’s city talk for negatives and color transparencies, including slides — that are scanned to archive/preservation standards will yield digital images that represent trying-to-get-all-the-image-data and not make-me-beautiful. Archival images should be thought of the equivalent of analog items that, in the old days, would have been taken to a darkroom to print. The assumption among professionals was that — when in the darkroom — there would be management and adjustment of brightness, contrast, and tonality (including color). For these digital equivalents, when you look at the archival scan, you are seeing the “before” and (like Kris) you know that with digital management and adjustment, you could create a much improved “after” to show people.
I have my family’s collection of about slides – including glass slides. They tell a history from the NYC 1960’s to life in Brooklyn and trips abroad. Are you aware of any institution be whom would be interested?