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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
I did more than a double take when I saw the photograph below while searching in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog – I did a triple and maybe even a quadruple take! Once I convinced my brain of what I was seeing, I knew mirror images would be the theme of this installment of …
Posted in: Architecture, Photographs, Series: Double Take
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
After two years, the U.S. Capitol, or more specifically, its dome, is finally emerging from a scaffolding cocoon. The photo at right, taken in March 2016, captures the partially revealed dome of the Library of Congress’ neighbor across the street. The restoration work started in spring 2014 included new paint, and repairing and replacing damaged, …
Posted in: Architecture, Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
The sight of a single car on the road in traffic-heavy Washington, D.C. was enough to catch my eye, but this photo was intriguing for other reasons as well. The car is front and center, but clearly the U.S. Capitol rising prominently behind it is key to the composition. And the photographer seems to be …
Posted in: Architecture, Photographs, Series: Pictures to Go
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Ask any American to identify the Washington Monument or the U.S. Capitol, and it is likely they could. But would they recognize – or be surprised by – those structures as they looked in the first century of the nation’s capital? A newly expanded reference aid provides glimpses of the city as it evolved: Washington, …
Posted in: Architecture, Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division. The Library of Congress and the Heritage Documentation Programs at the National Park Service have named the first winners of a new prize for the best single-sheet drawing prepared to the standards of the Historic American Buildings Survey, Historic American Engineering …
Posted in: Architecture, Drawings, HABS/HAER/HALS, News & Events
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
One of my favorite buildings in Washington, D.C. is the Pension Building, which is now the National Building Museum. Between the grandeur of the hall and the beautiful brick exterior with its carved frieze, it stands out in a city of grand buildings. While still under construction in 1885, it was also the site for …
Posted in: Architecture, News & Events, Photographs, Series: Caught Our Eyes
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
In a career spanning forty-six years, Jack E. Boucher traveled through forty-nine states and two U.S. territories to photograph for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and its sister projects, the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS). Boucher passed away recently, so I asked colleagues here to share stories …
Posted in: Architecture, HABS/HAER/HALS, Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Even those of you who don’t feel as strongly about your morning cup of joe as I do can understand why this photograph would catch my eye! Just imagine the thousands of cups of coffee it could hold! The Bedford Coffee Pot no longer dishes out coffee along the Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania, but it …
Posted in: Architecture, Photographs, Series: Caught Our Eyes