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Category: Photographs

Want to Build a Snowman?

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

Longtime readers of Picture This will know that I love snow, and I love sharing images from the collections related to snowy weather. I’m especially inspired to do so when the white stuff is falling outside my window and creating a winter wonderland. We recently had a good amount of snow around the nation’s capital …

President Jimmy Carter in Photos

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

Former President Jimmy Carter passed away earlier this week at the age of 100. Today, I’ll highlight a few collections in the Prints & Photographs Division which include images related to the life of Carter, the longest-living President in American history. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection: Carter’s active years fall squarely in …

Shall We Learn to Dance?

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

In the course of locating images depicting a variety of dance styles in the collections for my most recent Flickr album, Shall We Dance?, my attention was drawn to photos of people in dance classes. Looking closely at each photo, I can see the telltale signs of someone learning – slightly stiff or self-conscious stances, …

Diving Deep with Early Photography in the Richard Morris Hunt Collection

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

The following is a guest post by Mari Nakahara, Curator of Architecture, Design & Engineering and Micah Messenheimer and Michelle Smiley, Curators of Photography, Prints & Photographs Division, drawn from a conversation with Professor David R. Hanlon. We appreciate his willingness to share his research findings and identify the photographers in the Hunt Collection to …

Watercolor and ink drawing shows large, white institutional building. People in early 18th-century clothing and two large trees are visible in the foreground.

The Gilded Life of Richard Morris Hunt: A New Book

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division, with excerpts from the Richard Morris Hunt Research Guide. How do you breathe life into a valuable but under-appreciated and complicated collection from the 1800s?  The Prints & Photographs Division was fortunate to earn the attention of Sam Watters—an exceptional historian of …

Black-and-white photo of car from 1910s driving on mountain dirt road with view of snow-capped mountain in the backgroudn.

Finding Pictures: Automobiles

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

Let Prints & Photographs Division Reference Librarian Gillian Mahoney take you for a four-wheeled tour of car-related images from the collections this Wednesday, November 20 at 3:00pm EST. Explaining her interest in P&P’s extensive pictorial representation of cars, Gillian notes that, “images of cars in our catalog offer a fascinating glimpse into automotive and industrial …

Postcard Views From Above

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

Included in my most recent Flickr album on aerial views was the postcard below. This particular card is a photomechanical color print of Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. This was the site of the annual Sugar Bowl college football game for its first few decades, until it moved to the Superdome. Finding it sent …

Black-and-white photograph shows close-up view of black kitten with arched back.

Purr-fectly Charming Black Cats

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

Whether you think black cats are spooky, good luck, or simply adorable companions, the many images featuring these striking felines in the collections are evidence that photographers and other artists have found them compelling since at least the 19th century. This photograph by Arthur Rothstein highlights the tonal contrast between the cat’s dark fur and …

View of miners in rectangular box angled downward, with wooden infrastructure surrounding them.

Copper Mining and Its Monumental Structures

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

The following is a guest post by Ryan Brubacher, Reference Specialist, Prints & Photographs Division. I recently returned from an information-soaked conference in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where I toured and learned about structures related to the fascinating history of the copper mining industry in the Keweenaw area. When I came home, the experience …