Photographs - Visual Material
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- Enrique Diaz
Photographs/Visual Material
Overview
Photographs (and other visual material such as slides, negatives, prints, etc.) are found in many states in manuscript collections. Sometimes photographs are grouped together in a collection whereas in other collections, photographs are found enclosed with a letter or another related document.
Sometimes little information is known about images within a collection. Sorting depends on the information available and the level of description desired. [For example, if there are very few dates on the photographs, it would be useless to try to sort by date.] The cataloger should take into consideration how much time is available or is reasonable to spend on the cataloging. After it is determined how the photographs will be arranged and described, the cataloger may begin the sorting process.
Sorting
Photographs in a personal papers collection are typically sorted into the following sub-series: I. Individuals II. Groups III. Places and/or Events (such as a performance etc)
Individuals are usually sorted alphabetically by name of the individual, occasionally with last name first in the description, but sometimes more full cataloging is needed and a real title should be supplied (example: Smith, Henry : photograph, 1918 OR Henry Smith as a baby : photograph, 1918). It should be noted that if you have a huge number of photographs of one person, individual titles will have to be devised for each item in order to distinguish one from another. Use descriptions of peculiarities in the photographs to make the titles clear
Examples of detailed cataloging:
Smith (Chicago, Ill.), photographer. Henry Jones as an older man with left hand placed on hip : photograph, 1896.
Smith (Chicago, Ill.), photographer. Henry Jones as an older man with flower in right hand : photograph, 1896.
Groups are often sorted by family or organization name or by prominent people featured in the image. Places and events are typically sorted according to place name (example: The Evergreens : exterior photographs; Amherst, Mass., 1897.).
Photographer: Depending on the collection it might also be appropriate to sort the photographs by photographer. Since there could have been several photographers working in one company usually only the corporate name of the photography company is known. Record the corporate name of the company in direct order and the location if available. Indicate that you are referring to the photographer with a relator term.
Example: Vandamm (New York), photographer.
Photographs in albums are left inside the album unless there is a preservation-related reason for them to be removed. A photograph album needs to be foliated (page numbers added in pencil) by the cataloger, to be used as a reference in the finding aid. Pages can be numbered on both sides if necessary, or only on one side and then referred to as 1 recto, 1 verso. When more than one photograph appears on a page, they are cataloged sequentially left-to-right, top-to-bottom, and in the finding aid are referred to using a, b, c, d, etc...
Example:
(3) Smith family album : black-and-white photographs; Boston, Mass., 1854-1890. 1 album in 1 box.
Album was already foliated when received in repository.
All photographs taken by Vandam (Boston, Mass.), photographer unless stated otherwise.
Titles are taken from manuscript captions under each image; if no title was available, title was supplied by cataloger.
Includes the following images:
(f.1 recto a) John Smith as a baby on beach : photograph, 1875.
(f.1 recto b) John Smith at age four with his cousins : photograph, 1879.
(f.1 verso a) John Smith at age five with his dog : photograph, 1880.
(f.2 recto a) Abby Smith with John Smith : group portrait photograph, 1885.
(f.2 recto b) Abby Smith seated with rose in hand, #1 : portrait photograph, 1885.
(f.2 recto c) Abby Smith seated with rose in hand, #2 : portrait photograph, 1885.
When photographs are enclosed with a letter, they can be left within the folder unless the Preservation Librarian, Associate Librarian for Technical Services and/or the Senior Manuscript Cataloger indicates that the photographs must be removed for preservation/housing concerns. The photograph is typically mentioned in the note of the item, so it will be retained with the accompanying document.
Sometimes no information is known about a set of photographs; this happens often in large collections. When a cataloger cannot devote time to identifying and describing photographs at an item level, or there is not enough information to do so, photographs may be sorted according to format or subject matter. Additional Sorting and Handling Considerations
- Always wear protective gloves when handling photographs. Public services can provide the proper purple gloves.
• The End-processing section will rehouse photographs in acid-free enclosures if necessary. • When cataloging fragile photograph albums, book cradles and other preservation measures should be used.
Cataloging Examples
Sarandon, Susan, 1946-. Correspondence, 1981-1998 and undated. 1 folder. Includes photographs.
When little information is known photographs can be sorted in various ways, as here by subject:
Travel photography, undated. 1 folder. Unidentified photographs from various trips taken by Gore Vidal, Howard Austen or sent to them by friends or family.
Unidentified photographs sorted according to format or subject:
Card photographs of young children, 1860-1890. 3 folders. Photographs of unidentified individuals, undated. 5 folders. Unidentified African color slides, undated. 1 folder.
This is an example of a volume of slides for which we had very little information. Summary description only was used:
(64) Slides of paintings and watercolors by Anne Eisner Putnam : 189 color slides, 1993-1994. 1volume. Includes series numbers devised and written on slide frame by Christie McDonald. Arranged in two series: W001 - W0128. Lacks slides for: W0051, W0052, and W0065. P0001 - P0065. Lacks slides for: P0050 and P0051. There are two slides for P0011. The following slides are marked "Photo by Carol Kahn": W0047, W0048, W0053, W0055, W0057, W0059, W0060, W0061, W0063, W0066, W0076, P0022, P0023, P0030, P0036, P0046, P0052, P0054, P0055, P0056, P0058, P0060, P0061, P0062, and P0065.