On Sat, 20 Jan 2001 23:17:53 EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> In a message dated 1/20/01 5:14:25 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
> <<Nearly any photograph you take today, esp. if it has the date and
> subject matter pencilled on the back, will be valuable (in some
> sense) in 150 years, for the simple reason that so few will actually
> survive. >>
>
> Are you saying that the series of images I'm doing: "Up Agnes's
> Creek," documenting the main active creek that still flows through
> our city, the city parks and Nature Center it traverses, its
> tributaries, the fact it come to an inglorious end when it dumps
> into a concrete lined sewer channel might have some value?
I won't be around in 150 years (unless I'm a pickled corpse in an
anatomy lab or museum) but if I expected to be, I'd take the bet.
Just stop and think: how much interest would there be today if
someone found a similarly comprehensive series of photos of Agnes's
Creek dated 1850? It might not be front page news, but you can easily
see the interest in such a thing.
I'll further bet, bar pickling, that a documented series as you are
compiling are especially valuable. A friend of mine drew a poster for
the Vancouver Expo'86 world's fair. In preparation for it, he drew a
small sketch of the front of every building in downtown Vancouver.
His sketchbooks for this will someday be an invaluable resource if
it survives. Who takes pictures of crummy old buildings on the verge
of being torn down or refurbished all out of recognition.
> The series will be part of the Nature Center's Wildlife exhibit
> next spring. I had thought to gift the images to the City but
> now...
I'm not sure if you mean you are now detemrined to make this gift,
or are reconsidering doing so.
Your city probably has an archive and an archivist. Ask if they'd
like copies or even the negatives. Be aware that their concern is not
necessarily with artistic merit.
The fly in this particular pot of ointment is that everyday photos
don't have a lot of value *today*. That's why so few will survive to
the point of being of historical interest.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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