Scenes/Cast:
Storylines:
Josef Muench
The Tushar Mountains in southern Utah.
Josef Muench arrived in Arizona for the first time in 1936 and visited frequently. A noted photographer, his images graced the glossy pages of Arizona Highways magazine for much of the 1940s and 1950s. Now they light up Special Collections.
Lake Powell, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona and Utah (color transparency on left, color film negative on right).
Yet many of the photographs suffer from color deterioration. Digitization allows archivists to preserve these and other images at a point in time before further deterioration occurs.
Reflection of Rainbow Bridge, Southern Utah (image digitally manipulated to correct for color deterioration in the original transparency).
Archivists also utilize digitization techniques to improve image quality. Deciding when and how to enhance images or leave them in their current state is often a difficult decision influenced by donor requests and Special Collections resources. Maintaining photographs and negatives in different formats poses just one of many challenges for archivists as they balance the dynamics between improving access and preservation.
Image Formats
The Emery Kolb Collection contains thousands of photographs, many in different formats. One of the images below of the Kolb Brothers first studio tent in the Grand Canyon originated as a black-and-white nitrate film negative. The other derived from a glass plate negative. Although they are not exactly the same, their similar perspectives highlight the different qualities and delicate nature of materials in the archives.
Stay tuned for the next episode of the exhibit to learn about the Emery Kolb Collection and the Kolb Brothers.
Links
Cline Library's Josef Muench Exhibit
Additional Photos
