The work of scanning, cataloging, and sharing our collection of images with the world is never ceasing in the Prints & Photographs Division. Digitization work brings to light both recently acquired and long-held items from the collections. I periodically browse our newly digitized images to see what is now available. I was particularly taken by …
In 1906, New York photographer A.B. Phelan created several photomontages of an oversized man looming over parts of New York City. He accomplished this feat by skillfully combining two photos into one wonderful ‘trick’ photo. Lucky for us, he submitted them for copyright registration and the montage photos made their way into the Library’s permanent …
A fun feature on the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog is a link that allows you to view a selection of newly digitized images from the collections. Scanning visual materials from our collections, whether recently acquired or long-held but not yet digitized, is an ongoing task. We strive to bring as much of our collection to …
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 …
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 …
Read about collections that are newly available and ready for research from the Prints & Photographs Division, including color slides by American architect Paul M. Rudolph, color images of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Utah by photographer Carol M. Highsmith and letterpress posters by printmaker Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.
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 …
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 …
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 …