Courtauld Institute of Art Research Forum, London, and Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz— Max-Planck-Institut

 

In June 2009 a conference held at the Courtauld Institute in collaboration with the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz investigated the role of photographic archives and collections in art historical studies. A second session of the conference will be held in October in Florence in October 2009, where the history, nature, and influence of specific archives will be discussed.

 

A key purpose of the conferences is to look strategically at the management of large photographic collections, using the perspective of their history to face the challenges of the future. At the London meeting representatives of these collections met to discuss strategic planning. The following points were raised:


Research

The archives are valuable both as active research tools and as historical entities. They contain images that are records within the history of art, but are in themselves objects of study as historical photographs (for example as parts of bequests by major art historians, collectors, or photographers) and also as documents of art historical practices over time.

Photographic archives not only support but they generate research. Each archive has its historical and conceptual logic, which often raises as well as resolve research questions.

Additionally the mounts hold information about the photographs and the objects they represent.


Conservation

Conservation of negatives and prints is a main concern. With controlled environments (regarding humidity and temperature) both can be stable over the long term. Variations and developments in photographic techniques present recognised special problems, which are regularly addressed within the archives. Overall it is important to maintain a balance between conservation and consultation of photographs, maintaining access while securing the holdings for the future.

The conservation of digital data is a problem. Though regular migration of data is a (costly) means of conservation, there is not yet a consensus on internationally recognised best practice or the means to secure the long-term future of data.


Digitising

All major archives are involved in digitising projects. The common concern is for the careful conception of these projects so that they select meaningful bodies of material, represent the nature of the archive, respect the different forms and sources of images, and preserve the information on the mounts.

It is necessary to recognise that the material aspect or materiality of the images cannot be completely translated digitally. The digital archive is a complement to not an alternative for the analogue archive.


Cataloguing

Cataloguing is an essential and very expensive component of digitising projects.

Collaboration between institutions in cataloguing projects is desirable. This involves shared standards, agreed terminology and modes of description, and the development of multi-lingual research tools to enable full international exchange.


Access

As research libraries, consultation of the archive is generally controlled, but to facilitate continued and future research open access on line is regarded as an important objective.

Copyright and licensing present significant obstacles to this objective. Insistence on the research purposes of consultation and the public missions of given institutions should be viewed as instrumental in breaking the deadlock created by restrictive (and often costly) policies.


Exchange

One premise of these discussions is the importance of exchanging information about the history, holdings, resources, and management of major collections. To that end photo archives are invited to publish surveys on the websites of the Courtauld Institute and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz.


Pdf iconDownload survey (Courtauld Institute of Art Witt and Conway Photographic Libraries)

Pdf iconDownload survey ( Photothek of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz)

Pdf iconDownload survey ( Frick Art Reference Library)


Pdf iconDownload survey (Getty Research Institute)

Pdf iconDownload survey (Fondazione Zeri)

Pdf icon Download survey (National Gallery of Art, Washington)

Pdf iconDownload survey (RKD – Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie)



To request survey forms please contact either researchforum@courtauld.ac.uk or caraffa@khi.fi.it.