Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Arch Bridge, Keene NH, by Genuine Curteich, Chicago IL, Photographic postcard, Keene Public Library, Resource Identifier: hsykbrg008."][/caption] Wahoo! New folks on the Flickr Commons: The Reykjavik Museum of Photography and the Keene and Cheshire County (NH) Historical Photos. [via Effie Kapsalis, SIA] This year is the
Description: A few days ago, I went to an IMAX 3D showing of Avatar to see for myself if the movie is a “game-changer,” as many have suggested. And, it is, but in a way no one seems to be focusing on—the way it acknowledges and exploits photography’s power to shape both everyday and alternate realities. What struck me, as soon as the movie started, was how sophisticated the film’s
Description: Savage Beauty, the posthumous and retrospective exhibition of women’s fashions designed by Alexander McQueen (1969–2010) at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art closed early in August. The record breaking event—an official attendance count of 661,509 visitors made it the eighth biggest show in the museum’s history—featured approximately one hundred ensembles drawn, primarily,
Description: For the month of March, the Smithsonian Institution Archives will be posting about interesting women from our collections in honor of Women’s History Month. Over the past two years, I have had the privilege of watching the Smithsonian Institution Archives’ Video History Collection interviews while they were digitized. One of my favorites is Black Aviators (RU 9545) because of
Description: Ever heard of The Impossible Project? When Polaroid announced they would stop production of instant film, these folks saved the last Polaroid production plant in the Netherlands, and started to develop new instant film with a small team of former Polaroid employees. Check out some shots of Smithsonian museums taken by Aaron Dunn and created with the fruits of their labor. What
Description: The Winter Wonderland set we uploaded to the Flickr Commons is inspiring digital art, crafts, and now, free word association. It is always a wonderful surprise when someone “riffs” on an image (see this inspired history free image association in the Flickr Commons fan group). A little while ago, I stumbled on a secret message attached to this microscopic image of a snowflake
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="251" caption="Untitled, 1890, by Thomas Smillie, Cyanotype, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Thomas Smillie Collection (Record Unit 95), Image ID: RU95_Box77_0021."][/caption] It’s inevitable. Whenever someone tries to recount or evoke photography’s impact on visual culture when Daguerreotypes were introduced in 1839, a statement
Description: Since The Bigger Picture began in early 2009, I’ve written a number of posts about what might be called camera traps, situations where cameras are installed to collect evidence of one kind of unusual or unwanted behavior or another. Red light cameras are a controversial example; across the country and on an almost daily basis, local municipalities and motorists argue about
Description: [caption id="" align="alignright" width="167" caption="The Mona Lisa, between 1503 and 1505, by Leonardo da Vinci, Oil on poplar, The Louvre Museum."][/caption] Scientists have discovered the secret behind Mona Lisa’s beguiling smile by using x-ray technology [via More Intelligent Life]. And while we're at it, scientists use UV light to reveal how awesomely gaudy the colors of
Description: Barbeque. Doughboy. Free trade. Pumple-nose. Smugglers. Cortan. Crockadore. Chopsticks. William Dampier, the 17th century explorer turned privateer/pirate, is credited with introducing these words, and more than 1,000 others, into the English vernacular. He was the first explorer to circumnavigate the globe three times, and created the first detailed record of Australian Flora
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