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Posted by: Lara Szypszak
Whether you observe the end of a year or the coming of a new one, you probably have a way you like to celebrate. I spend my New Year’s Eve cozy at home with a good cup of cocoa, but others may choose sequins and bubbly. A glimpse into our collections shows a whole panoply …
Posted in: Photographs
Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson
I find the relationship between words and pictures endlessly intriguing. Sometimes I type a single word into the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog simply to see what variety it turns up. It’s a little like the best parts of opening a gift: full of surprises and meaning. The other day, I was meditating on the …
Posted in: Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Jeff Bridgers
Hurrah! Hurrah for the Christmas Ship As it starts across the sea With its load of gifts and its greater load Of loving sympathy. –“Hurrah! Hurrah for the Christmas Ship,” song written and composed by Henry S. Sawyer Even prior to America’s entry into the First World War, U.S. Navy vessels were pressed into special holiday service …
Posted in: Photographs
Posted by: Lara Szypszak
Whether you like your brew light, dark, milky or sweet, this chilly weather leaves many reaching for a hot cup of coffee to warm up and wake up. As I sipped my own morning cup, I wondered what images our collections would hold of my coffee drinking comrades. I searched our holdings for relatable and …
Posted in: Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
In the latest installment in our occasional series, Double Take, we take a first – and second look – at the photo below. View the image and remember your very first impression before scrolling down to read further. Despite all evidence to the contrary, the first thought in my mind about this photo was: Girl …
Posted in: Photographs, Series: Double Take, Visual literacy
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
On Veterans Day, Americans recognize and thank those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Initially known as Armistice Day and marking the cessation of major hostilities in World War I, the holiday grew to include all veterans, and was renamed Veterans Day in 1954. Crowds turn out in droves to watch parades of …
Posted in: Photographs
Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson
The semester is well underway in many U.S. schools and, by now, one would expect their classrooms to have acquired what my family referred to as the “lived-in look.” One of my favorite photo detail explorations is to peer closely at classrooms—particularly what appears at students’ seats, on the chalkboards and adorning the walls—and to …
Posted in: Photographs, Visual literacy
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
A visit to the Library of Congress is, I hope, on the bucket list of many Americans, either to tour the galleries and ornately decorated spaces of the Thomas Jefferson Building or to do research in any of our multiple reading rooms and research centers. However, if you can’t come to us, we will come …
Posted in: Photographs, Prints, Visual literacy
Posted by: Jeff Bridgers
But I am glad for the luck of light. Surely it is godly, that it makes all things begin, and appear, and become actual to each other. — from “October” by May Swenson There is a distinct quality to October sunlight. A softer radiance than the harshness in summertime, scenes glow with an amber or …
Posted in: Photographs