Old Time Photographs
One of our interns, Ryan Diego, worked extensively with a photo collection that was marked “Old Time Photographs”. It was wonderful to have someone dedicated to capturing these images digitally. In addition, he continued the work of scanning and metadata-ing Bostwick prints to create a more complete portfolio of Bostwick’s work on our website. Both types of images can be seen here.
Here is what Ryan had to say about his semester project. Enjoy!
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My name is Ryan Diego and during fall of 2018, I was fortunate to be an intern at The Durham Museum. During my internship, I had the opportunity to work with two photograph collections in the Durham Museum’s Photo Archive. The first collection I spent significant time scanning, analyzing, and applying metadata to were prints from the Bostwick-Frohardt Collection. The dates of these prints ranged from about 1850 to 1964. I found these prints especially valuable and unique because they allow viewers to gain a genuine impression and perspective of what Omaha was like during an era gone by. The second collection I had the opportunity to work with was entitled, “Old Time Photographs.” The Old Time Photographs Collection consisted of cabinet cards and glass negatives ranging in various sizes, that when dated, were from the 19th century. Cabinet cards are photographs mounted on pieces of cardboard. Glass negatives are another form of photography in which the image is displayed within a frame of glass. Many of the Old Time Photographs, especially the cabinet cards, were portrait photographs. These portrait photographs displayed people during various stages of their life. Portrait photographs of wedding participants, families, children, and even infants were found in this collection. I very much enjoyed digitizing and applying metadata to the Old Time Collection because I felt they were familial keepsakes that have lasted for generation after generation! Having the opportunity this past fall to preserve them in a digital format was very satisfying. Both the Bostwick-Frohardt Photographs and the Old Time Photographs were special collections to work with because they revealed life and culture during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As an intern at The Durham Museum, I was able to conduct procedures in the Durham Photo Archive which allowed for the preservation of photographs for the future. This is an accomplishment I am very proud of!
Thank you for reading and see you next time,
Becky
