ARLIS/NA 46th Annual Conference

Photography, malleable in its technical processes and methods of dissemination, has been in a state of evolution since its invention in the mid-19th century. It found a natural home in books almost immediately, and by the early 1840s, photographers, publishers, and distributors were grappling with these new books; self-publishing, mixing media, incorporating new technology into publications, creating materials that could appeal to scientists, politicians, and artists in a single volume, were all experimented with during this period and ever since. As publishing costs increased, photographers tried and failed to have their work published. In parallel with photography itself, photo-based books – both the actual photographically illustrated books from the 1840s and the creative practices that shape the production of photobooks and zines in 2018 – have changed and found success while embracing new technologies and resources on hand. Photography books have traveled across institutional boundaries as they increasingly became a medium for documentation, as well as fine art forms, and even self-reflexive objects.

This panel will address how art librarians are working with these objects today through case studies, a moderated discussion, and questions from the audience. How are art librarians to handle these complex materials? What tools can we use to provide access and promote them? Can the use of digital humanities tools be leveraged to compensate for the loss of the haptic experience when interacting with these objects? What are the implications for access, research, and dissemination of these resources for the history of photography and interdisciplinary studies? What can we learn from the histories of photography and photography in books that can help us to be good stewards of publications ranging from the incunabula of the medium to the publications still to come in formats that haven’t yet been invented?

Presentations:
Isotta Poggi, “The Incunabula of Photography and the Internet Archive”
Emily Weirich, “Publishing Edward Weston’s Daybooks Again: Photography, Text, and Objects United Online”
Deirdre Donohue, “Books of Photobooks Rock One Small Library”