The Library of Congress Conservation Division is pleased to announce a lecture given by Paul Messier, Head, Lens Media Lab, Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Yale University, on “Expressive Dimensions of Photographic Paper” Tuesday, July 12, from 10:30 – 11:30 am, Library of Congress James Madison Memorial Building, Pickford Theater (Third Floor), 101 Independence Ave SE. The lecture is part of the Library’s Topics in Preservation Series.

Expressive Dimensions of Photographic Paper

Texture, gloss, color, and sheet thickness—the defining characteristics of photographic paper—meaningfully contribute to the visual impact of a photograph. Each of these dimensions were routinely communicated in marketing materials and, for the working darkroom photographer, marked directly on paper packages. Experienced photographers gained fluency manipulating these dimensions, encoding in their prints meaning and intention. Measured and contextualized, these features form the basis of a new approach to understand and interpret prints. Past and ongoing projects demonstrate how these data, aggregated and shared across collections, can address vital scholarly questions of attribution, working practices, stylistic development, and spheres of artistic influence.

Speaker: Paul Messier, Head, Lens Media Lab, Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Yale University

For more information, see the Library of Congress Topics in Preservation (TOPS) website.