Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Photo shoebox upset, by Stephen Cummings, Creative Commons: Attribution 2.0."][/caption] I recently took a position as photograph archivist at the Smithsonian Institution Archives and hope to be able to share through this blog some of the processes we are undertaking to make our photographic collections more useful and
Description: Have a little fun with images from our collections that have been designated as open access. Anyone can now download, transform, share, and reuse millions of images as part of Smithsonian Open Access.
Description: Harvard's pigment collection. [via Collossal]Also with gorgeous colors, a 700+ page Dutch book from 1692 documenting "every color in the spectrum." [via Open Culture] A new online exhibit examining what it's like to work in the U.S. on a H-1B visa from the Smithsonian's Asian Pacific American Center. [via Smithsonian Magazine] Later this year, scientists (including our own
Description: In honor of Veteran's Day we talk a look at how a recently discovered newspaper illustrated how information was spread/kept secret during World War II.
Description: Each week, the Archives features a woman who has been a groundbreaker at the Smithsonian, past or present, in a series titled Wonderful Women Wednesday.
Description: The 2018 public domain graduates, including Aleister Crowley, René Magritte, Alice B. Toklas, Pierre Bonnard, and Winston Churchill! [via Public Domain Review]The history of dealing with lack of light in Scandanavia, and Happy Solstice! [via Mosaic Science]Aww, baby pictures of the internet from 1973! [via Open Culture]Close-ups of Jupiter from NASA look like impressionist
Description: Traditionally, when families gather for end-of-the-year holiday events, reminiscences are shared, new photos and videos get made, and/or old snapshots, home movies, and memories resurface. And while most family narratives are revisited in intimate settings, around kitchen tables or in living rooms, a handful may reach broader audiences, through one set of circumstances or
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="303" caption="Photographer holding large folding camera, by unidentified photographer, c. 1935, National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center, Archives Center."][/caption] Recently photography has said goodbye to two industry icons. Polaroid stopped production of its instant film, and Kodak announced that it is
Description: [caption id="attachment_541" align="alignleft" width="144" caption="Inscription inside Lincoln's watch, by Hugh Talman, 2009, National Museum of American History"][/caption] Does photography always report on the past? Recently, as part of the Lincoln Bicentennial celebration, the Smithsonian took a closer look at a rare Lincoln object that possessed a secret message.