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Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson
This item from the Popular Graphic Arts collection recently caught the eye of Phil Michel, Digital Conversion Coordinator in the Prints & Photographs Division. Phil commented, “Early engineering marvels often catch my eye. Some of the ships, buildings, bridges, tunnels, etc., that were built in the industrial age were just phenomenal in their scale. I …
Posted in: Architecture, Prints, Series: Caught Our Eyes
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
Have you left your holiday shopping to the last minute? Hoping you can find that perfect gift just minutes before the stores close? Well, it turns out shopping on Christmas Eve – and fighting the crowds to do it – is nothing new, if this photograph from December 24, 1920 is any indication: Several things …
Posted in: Photographs, Series: Caught Our Eyes
Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson
A pair of pictures from the Harris & Ewing Collection caught the eye of Prints & Photographs Division reference technician, Jonathan Eaker. He shared them with the comment, “Really tall cowboy!” I looked at the first picture. On the basis of the length of the chaps, alone, not to mention the interested stares of the …
Posted in: Photographs, Series: Caught Our Eyes
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Still trying to decide about your costume for Halloween? Torn between a witch or a princess? An astronaut or a librarian? (Surely someone out there was going to dress as a librarian?) Throw out all those ideas because I have the solution! Amaze your friends and family by arriving at your Halloween festivities (or even …
Posted in: Photographs, Series: Caught Our Eyes
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Earlier this month, New York City’s catwalks were filled with the latest creations from the world of fashion during the biannual ritual of Fashion Week. At the same time, I was searching in the George Grantham Bain Collection while answering a reference question and came across this stylish photograph. How could I resist stopping to …
Posted in: Photographs, Series: Caught Our Eyes
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Reading the caption for a photograph can sometimes change every assumption made at first glance. One word in the title of this photograph shifted my entire view, and definitely caught my eye. Look at the image yourself, and then read the full title as it was written on the back of this stereograph card. The …
Posted in: Photographs, Series: Caught Our Eyes
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
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
When I came across the photograph at right in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, it did not stand out. It is a circa 1858 view of a Philadelphia mental hospital, and while the age is notable, that would not necessarily be enough to arrest my attention. So, why did this image catch my eye? …
Posted in: Photographs, Series: Caught Our Eyes