Top of page
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
In this latest installment of Double Take, the series where we take a much closer look at images in our collections, we will talk about how to date a photograph. Do you have any older photographs, tucked away in boxes or albums? How many have a specific date noted on them? If your answer was …
Posted in: Architecture, Photographs, Series: Double Take, Visual literacy
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
In this latest entry in Double Take, the blog series where we take a closer look at images in our collections, we will talk about the photo below and how an assumption led to an interesting research journey. What do you see when you look at this photo? What building is behind this couple? Most …
Posted in: Photographs, Series: Double Take, Visual literacy
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
In this installment of Double Take, the blog series where we take a much closer look at images in our collections, we dig a little deeper into the story behind the photo below, featuring a truck – and a trunk! – of unusual design: The White House is in the background, so I know we …
Posted in: Photographs, Series: Double Take, Visual literacy
Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson
Perhaps it’s the impending arrival of April 1, but my first thought upon looking at this photo, placed on our “Caught Our Eyes” sharing wall by reference librarian Jon Eaker, was that it was an April Fool’s joke. As is sometimes the case with photos in our Harris & Ewing collection, where captions range from …
Posted in: Photographs, Series: Caught Our Eyes, Visual literacy
Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson
The following is a guest post by Ryan Brubacher, Reference Librarian, Prints & Photographs Division Lewis Hine, at a certain point in his career, began to refer to himself as an “interpretive photographer” and not a social photographer as he’d been previously termed. While we might imagine him an investigative photo-journalist by today’s standards, his …
Posted in: Photographs, Portraits, Visual literacy
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
If you are a regular reader of the Double Take series, you’ll know that I often come across photos that pique my curiosity while in the course of looking for something else. Today’s entry started much the same way. Within a search for images of Abraham Lincoln, I hit upon an unexpected photo. The caption …
Posted in: Photographs, Series: Double Take, Visual literacy
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Usually when a photo warrants a double take it’s because of something visible in the photo. In this particular case, it was what was not yet visible that made me stop and think. While searching for a building on 15th Street, N.W. in Washington, D.C., I came upon this photo, with the caption: Site of …
Posted in: Architecture, Photographs, Series: Double Take, Visual literacy
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
I’m always on the lookout for cats in our collections. In March 1924, all of Washington, D.C. was on the lookout for one specific cat – Tige, one of the prized pets of President and Mrs. Coolidge! As promised in a recent Picture This post about dogs in our collections, I now bring you the …
Posted in: Photographs, Visual literacy
Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson
I ran across this photo several months ago while looking for something else, and immediately laughed and put it in my “don’t try this at home” file. But what I definitely recommend you do try at home, or anywhere else you have an opportunity, is to talk about pictures with others. It almost always adds …
Posted in: Photographs, Series: Caught Our Eyes, Visual literacy