ndf 2016 photographing a collection - from galleries to factories by dave sanderson
TRANSCRIPT
Photographing a CollectionFrom Galleries to Factories
Dave Sanderson – Project Leader Collection Imaging
aucklandmuseum.com/collections
Auckland War Memorial Museum - AWMM
How is it funded?
‘We’ve been saving!’
The museum’s been working towards these projects for years and saving for approx. 10 years
All Collections Readiness projects are Capital Funded – realising
assets at the end of each project
Other capital projects are happening – building work and
galleries
Collections Hub (before – July 2015)
Collections Hub (before – July 2015)
Collections Hub (now – Oct 2016)
Imaging Studio
So you’ve got a space – now what?
WWI Collections
Collection Cataloguing
Pacific Collection Access
Collection Imaging
Collections Readiness
Pacific Collection Access Project Launch
Pacific Images
Pacific Images
Pacific Images
What don’t we do?
We don’t do…
Marketing & events images: External contractors &
marketing staff
Conservation imaging: Conservation staff
BAU collection photos: Collection Managers
Online content: Digital content team & various
Pictorial and Documentary collections: External
contractors and collections staff (scanning)
What do we do?
BK+ Imaging System for Macro and Micro work
5x 10x
20x
50x
Drivers for Collection Imaging
Pacific Collection Access Project
Collection Cataloguing
Project
Documentary Heritage
(Larger Artworks)
Collections Backlog
Logistical Demands Programmed Work
How do we do it?
Drivers for Collection Imaging
The 90% Rule
Staffing for Collection Imaging
3 photographers (increasing soon)
All from outside of the sector (so far)
All with good commercial studio experience (so far)
All come from a ‘time is money’ background
Rights Specialist (very much a museum background!)
The Studio
Studio Research
Smithsonian Rapid Capture Digitisation
Numerous sector studios in New Zealand
Commercial rental studios
My old scanning ‘factory’ at Archives New Zealand
Two large ‘department stores’ in New Zealand
Equipment – good but not the very best (for good reasons!)
Tethered flexible systems
Workflow as designed
Naming, exposure and colour accurate at time of capture performed tethered via laptop
Files arrive straight on processing PC passing straight through laptop which acts only as camera operational tool, not storage
Workflow as in operation
Naming, exposure and colour accurate at time of capture performed tethered via laptop
Files arrive onto laptop, then moving later through to processing PC
Tethered software
EOS Utility – Naming menu too deep within app
DSLR Remote Pro – Chosen app, but image previews not good across network
Capture One - Unstable camera connection within IT environment
Lightroom – Naming menu too deep within app
Working with Collections staff
Assess each job at the beginning – Curators & Collection Managers
Shoot sample images and request review
Once agreed – shoot the whole collection
Working with Collections Care closely
Occasional ‘photographer moment’ – an extra shot slips in
Naming schema
Unique name for each file – ‘uniqueID_001, _002 etc.
Filename cross checked several times through end-to-end process
Named at point of capture
File name directly relates to each object (slightly jealous of the Smithsonian’s barcoding system!)
Processing
No retouching at all (digital preservation)Basic metadata tags added
RAWDNG
JPEG
TIFF
Archive
CMS
Internet
WIZARDRY (DCP)
Disclaimer: Our IT guys are awesome…
ENTER:
DAMS
Pre-DAMS state
RAWDNG
JPEG
TIFF
Archive
CMS
Internet
File servers
WIZARDRY (DCP)
Pre-DAMS state
RAWDNG
JPEG
TIFF
WIZARDRY (DCP)
Archive
CMS
Internet
File servers
EXTRA WIZARDRY! (Several scripts & processes)
Post-DAMS state
RAWDNG
JPEG
TIFF
WIZARDRY (DCP)
Archive
CMS
Internet
RAW
JPEG
Long term digital guardianship has been front of mind since day #1
Digitisation done ‘safely’
New media for the museum created ‘wisely’
Born digital collecting
Digital Preservation
Collections are ‘Open by Default’
Rights Specialist – researching rights holders
Cultural Permissions policies – Māori and Pacific
Open GLAM
All sounds wonderful Dave…
Surely something has gone wrong?
Equipment issues
Land Vertebrate Study Skins
Logistics wins…
Small collections of objects
Logistics losses…
Victims of our own work…
Everyone wants their photos done!(but we can’t do them!)
Wins?
50,000 images +15,000 objects +
Structural colour
Structural colour
Structural colour
Grey areas?
Shooting for galleries
Shooting for galleries
Shooting for galleries
Photographer’s Faves
