AUDREY LEBLANC // What are analog photo libraries archives of?

WHAT ARE ANALOG PHOTO LIBRARIES ARCHIVES OF?

Mapping the western visual culture

AUDREY LEBLANC

This talk examines contemporary archival sources of photojournalism and the organization of these photographic archives of press companies in the 1960’s-1990’s – time of analogue photography. The term "photo morgue" is used in newspapers to indicate their archive of photos. It mirrors what is known in photography agencies as the "photo library", at the other end of the press image circulation chain. They are an important working tool for the staff. But what were these photo archives used for and how did they work?  The materiality (prints, slides) and the documents used to organize them helps to answer. Furthermore, those documents (indexes, keywords, inventories...) outcome of the work of lesser-known professions – librarians, researchers, picture editor, archivist…. Mainly women, they have been ignored by an history of photojournalism, hierarchical and largely constructed by men on the photographers and agency managers,…