[Personal_archives] Additional thoughts

[Jeremy Heil]

First, I must apologize for flitting from point to point in the 
following.  This is an immensely interesting discussion, and the 
topics presented here warrant far more reflection than I am able to 
present at the moment.

Martha, you asked whether there is a gain or a loss in digitizing an 
image and removing it from its original context.  My own view is 
that, for the photograph itself, it is both, and thereby remains 
unchanged.  A photo unseen in archives is also unremembered, and its 
new context in the digital realm (as isolated as it may be) at least 
imbues it with some new purpose.  The gains and losses are seen more 
by those interacting with the photograph: to the researcher wanting 
access to images for their own personal interest (and building their 
own relationship with the image), it is undoubtedly a gain; to those 
of us who appreciate and focus on the interrelationship between 
photographs and their origins, or photographs and their relationships 
with other records, this seems more of a loss.

Catherine's comments and questions also brought a few ideas to 
mind.  With regards to the consideration of the socially-encoded 
aspects of photography and the possibilities for narrative, I think 
we do need to step back and watch how photographs are being 
used.  The photograph is just as important to the genealogist 
searching for a simple image of their great-great uncle as it is to 
the researcher looking for evidence of a sibling rivalry, which may 
break new ground in a biography.  We, as archivists, may be more 
drawn to the latter discovery for complexity of narrative, but it 
ignores the real excitement evident in both researchers.

My thoughts travelled to the idea of narrative lost as a result of 
decisions made by the photographer in composition.  I would like to 
present the example (with pictures, if I may - please e-mail me if 
you cannot view them) of a studio photographer who conducted sittings 
of students and families.  The final product presented to the family 
(Image 1) would have been a print or set of prints, cropped, dodged 
and otherwise altered from the original negative as portraits and 
professional photographs tend to be.  Certainly the photograph would 
possess a different sentiment to the family, as memento of milestones 
in their child's life.  The negative (Image 2), however, reveals more 
than simply a portrait of the child, as the father stands watchfully 
and smiling at his son, holding him on the table to keep him from 
falling.  The notion that there is more truth that lies beyond the 
photograph is indeed apt, and can even be partially revealed in other 
iterations of that one occasion.

Thank you all once again for a fascinating discussion.

Jeremy

Jeremy Heil
Technical Services Archivist

Queen's University Archives
Kathleen Ryan Hall
Queen's University
Kingston, ON  K7L 3N6

Tel:    613-533-6000 ext. 74462
Fax:    613-533-6403
heilj at queensu.ca
http://archives.queensu.ca  
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