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Category: Architecture

Double Take: A Tale of Two Oxen

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

One of my favorite ways to explore the vast collections of the Prints & Photographs Division is to look for connections between multiple collections that span different time periods. Quite by accident while searching for another photo in the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, I found this fascinating 1942 photo of a stop …

More Jefferson Building Drawings Digitized

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

The Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building is one of the more ornately decorated buildings in Washington, D.C. When visitors walk into the Great Hall, they usually look up and around, taking in the painted murals, sculpted details, the colorful glass skylight, and the monumental scale of the space. Today, we will instead talk about …

Another Miracle on 34th Street

Posted by: Jan Grenci

My latest Flickr album features a building that was once the tallest in the world, the Empire State Building. I particularly enjoy this photo, taken in 1933 by Theodor Horydczak. It shows the skyscraper on July 4th, from Fifth Avenue and East 41st Street: Ever wonder what was at the site of the Empire State …

P&P Abroad | Eyes on Oslo, Then & Now

Posted by: Kate Fogle

On a recent trip to Norway’s capital, I kept my camera busy. History emanates from Oslo’s many sights, from its nearby stave church to its market squares, and a delight of my visit was considering the life of the city’s built landscape through images in the photographic holdings of the Prints & Photographs (P&P) Division. …

Explore Newly Digitized Images

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

The staff of the Prints & Photographs Division are continuously working to provide easy access to our collections to as many people as possible. One of the ways we do that is by digitizing and adding new images to the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. We have added an exciting new feature that will let …

People in HABS/HAER/HALS

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

The following is a guest post by Ryan Brubacher, Reference Specialist, Prints & Photographs Division. While chatting with a colleague some time ago, we realized our overlapping interest in finding faces in what the Prints & Photographs Division calls the HABS/HAER/HALS (Historic American Buildings Survey, Historic American Engineering Record, Historic American Landscapes Survey). She shared …

Faces in Unexpected Places

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

The following is a guest post by Aliza Leventhal, Head, Technical Services, Prints & Photographs Division. Have you ever walked by a building and seen the resemblance of a face? Once you start, it’s hard to stop! While faces are often easiest to see in a building’s exterior elements, they can also be found in …