The Nation's Photo Collection with Curator Shannon Perich

The Photo Detective

Stuck at home during this pandemic looking for something fun to do? Look no further than the National Museum of American History’s Photographic History Collection and the Smithsonian Learning Lab. The Photographic History Collection (PHC) represents the history of the medium of photography from the daguerreotype era to the present. In numbers that adds up to over 2000 identified photographers and studios, about 200,000 photographs, and about 15,000 cameras, pieces of apparatus, studio equipment. You can search, share and save items you find. It’s a research rabbit hole. I spent hours looking for items the first time I went on the site. One of my favorites is an early daguerreotype of a group standing on the banks of Niagara Falls without safety precautions.

My guest has spent the last several months organizing digitized images into virtual collections with the Smithsonian Learning Lab, an online resource. It’s possible to create your own “collection” of images for research. Teachers can create modules their students can use too.

The last time I searched the Smithsonian collection it was overwhelming. Thanks to Shannon, I can find what I need and save it for next time. Here’s one really cool thing. Each image has a unique permanent URL meaning you can use it and locate the image later.

If you’ve seen a photo exhibit at the National Museum of American History then likely Shannon had something to do with it.

Related Episodes:

Episode 48: Finding Photos of Your Ancestors

Links:

• Smithsonian Learning Lab
• Sign up for my newsletter.
• Watch my YouTube Channel.
• Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
• Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About My Guest:

Shannon Thomas Perich is the Curator in the Photographic History Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History where she has worked for over twenty years. Recently published as a co-author of When the Circus Came to Town! An American Tradition in Photographs (Smithsonian Scholarly Press 2020). She has an article about early photographic patents in an upcoming publication on the history of copyright and control of art in the nineteenth century (OpenBooks, 2021). Perich was lead curator for The American Scene, an online web project that explores the history and power of American entertainment through a series of interviews and artifacts. She is the author of Changing Face of Portrait Photography: From Daguerreotype to Digital

I'm thrilled to be offering something new. Photo investigations. These collaborative one-on-one sessions. Look at your family photos then you and I meet to discuss your mystery images. And find out how each clue and hint might contribute to your family history. Find out more by going to maureentaylor.com and clicking on family photo investigations.

Support the show