Appraisal – Provenance and Documentation

Obviously there are many important factors to consider in appraisal, but I want to focus on the importance of provenance and identification. One of the first collections I helped process was a photograph collection, and it was one of the most challenging projects I have undertaken due to limited provenance and identifying information. This collection contained hundreds of photographs of various shapes, sizes, and colors, and coming from different photographers and time periods. The only common bond was geography: they were all local photographs. After a good deal of research and recruiting the help of as many volunteers as possible, we finally identified most of the photographs, although a fair number of the photographs still have unidentified subjects, photographers, and/or dates.

Although these photographs are all in good condition and relevant to the institution’s collection, in their present state they are not as useful as they could be. Without knowing where each of the photographs came from, the context in which they were created, or what they represent, it will be hard for researchers to use them effectively. After reading in P:ACM about the different values of photographs, I realize that the lack of information relating to provenance seriously undermines much of the potential value of the photographs. A box full of miscellaneous photographs with unknown subject matter is of limited use, even if the photographs are old, in good condition, and relevant to the institution’s mission.

I can understand why these photographs were accepted by the institution, as they are undeniably within the scope of their collections policy. The institution’s mission is to collect town history, and the photographs have the potential to be important sources of knowledge about buildings, people, and places in our town. Unfortunately, these photographs had to each be identified in order for them to be truly useful, and we spent too much time on this process. This experience reinforces for me the importance of accepting photographs that have as much documentation as possible, because this will both increase the value of the photograph and increase access to the collection.