Op vrijdag 16 november organiseert Picturae in het Institut Néerlandais een discussie over de vraag hoe je het beste negatievenarchieven kunt bewaren voor de toekomst. Deelnemers zijn Brigitte Lardinois (Philip Jones-Griffths Foundation, adjunct-directeur footgrafie bij University of Arts in Londen) en Peter van den Doel (Picturae).
De discussie vindt plaat van 10 tot 12 uur, op de vierde verdieping van het Institut, 121, Rue de Lille in Parijs. Later die dag vindt hier de speciale Paris Photo-edietie plaats van de Donkere Kamer.
UIt de Engelstalige toelichting:
Preserving analogue archives for the future
what to do with work from the pre-digital age
Brigitte Lardinois, Trustee of the Philip Jones-Griffiths Foundation and Deputy Director of the Photography and Archive Research Centre at the University of the Arts in London will share some of the findings of a group of academics currently working on this topic in Britain.
Peter van den Doel will present a more commercial approach of the topic on behalf of Picturae.
Premise:
We foresee an increasing number of archives in danger of being destroyed or stored in basements. Or at its best stored in a depot of an institute that does not have the necessary resources to digitize large parts of the archives and making them available for the public. The shear number of archives that will be offered to institutions will exceed both their funds and depot space by far.
Photographers, in some cases, believe that institutions will offer money for their archive based on past revenues, the stature of the photographer and the importance of his/her work. This is a misconception. There is simply a lack of funds to take on all important archives, let alone to pay for them. At best they will be able to store and digitize a small part of the archive and hopefully organize an exhibition.
We believe that in order for an archive to survive in the (near) future it is in the photographer’s interests to take the responsibility for digitizing their archive and by doing so creating a digital presence. Not only could such an initiative pay for itself, it would also be a tremendous help for heirs, institutes or other representatives.
Questions will be:
– Do you agree with the premise.
– If not what is your idea about the future of photographic archives
– What has happened with your archive over 20 years?
– Who is responsible for preservation and digitization of your archive?
– Should you select material for digitization and if yes on what basis or arguments?
– Or should you digitize your archive as a whole?
The outcome or short summery of the Roundtable will be send to all participants and published on the site of Picturae.com.
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Meer over de Donkere Kamer in Parijs