Veenhof Lecture 2016: Pioneering photography in Egypt and Mesopotamia in John Alfred Spranger’s 1929-1936 photo reportages (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, 25 November 2016). (original) (raw)

The power of image or how the art of photography changed early archaeology

A. Pieńkowska, D. Szeląg, I. Zych (eds), Stories told around the fountain. Pappers offered to Piotr Bieliński on the occasion of his 70th birthday, Warsaw 2019, 601-620., 2019

The article presents different applications of early photography in archaeological practice of the 19th and early 20th century. Soon after its invention in 1839 was photography's potential application for research recognized, however its application in the studio and the field was gradual and differentiated due to technical difficulties taking photographs was fraught with. Moreover, the limited possibilities of copying and printing put off full appreciation of the significance of photographing monuments and artifacts for research. Finally, adapting photography to the needs of archaeology did not follow exactly the same lines in all countries owing to different research traditions and varied nature of the explored sites and artifacts found there.

The Dean of Archaeological Photographers: Harry Burton

Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 2013

(1879-1940) was the most famous photographer in Egyptian archaeology, but he has previously received only a short entry in one specialised biographical dictionary, and been the subject of two essays. This study provides a basic biography, to document his photographic contribution to the history of Egyptian archaeology, and to indicate where published collections of his photographs, often uncredited, can be found. Two names remain indissolubly connected in the public mind with the tomb of Tutankhamun: Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter. Alongside them, however, was the photographer Henry (Harry) Burton, whom Charles Nims described in the words of the title of this article. 1 Burton is not listed in standard biographical sources, e.g. the Dictionary of National Biography or the new Oxford edition, or in Who was Who in America (perhaps because although he spent most of his life in American employ, he was English by birth), though there is an entry in the specialist Who was Who in Egyptology. 2 Histories of Egyptian archaeology ignore him, except for the fact that he was 'lent' to Carnarvon and Carter by the Metropolitan expedition to document the tomb of Tutankhamun. 3 Memoirs of contemporary Egyptologists hardly mention Burton, nor do the books about them. 4 This neglect is surprising, given that the entire reception of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb has been formed by the photographs of Burton, and yet books about Tutankhamun say nothing about the man. 5 In 1976, the Metropolitan Museum, in association with the exhibition The Treasures of Tutankhamun, published a selection of almost one hundred of Burton's photographs with a short, but general, biographical paragraph. 6 There are two more recent important contributions: a

Review: Then and now: Photographing antiquity

History of Photography, 2006

Throughout these major commissions, Van Kinsbergen continued to make portraits, topographical views and photographs of colonial development and infrastructure. These images, which were often circulated in various formats and reproduced as wood engravings in newspapers and journals, are perhaps better known than the government sponsored archaeological work, which had a more limited circulation. It is easy for the casual viewer to dismiss some such images as 'ethnographic types'. Certainly some will have entered those discourses, but they should also be seen as narratives of culture in which van Kinsbergen's theatrical sense of posing and composition coming through strongly. Their intentions and social relations are complex, reflecting van Kinsbergen's position in Batavian society and the cultural exchanges that characterised all levels of colonial society from elites, colonial and indigenous, to prisoners. His interest in theatre is apparent in the composition of his images and in the subject matter; in his wonderful photographs of dancers van Kinsbergen tried to suggest movement with which he was so familiar. This is not a book of analytical or theoretical pretension. No attempt, for example, is made to explore analytically the imaginative rhetorics of van Kinsbergen's intersecting worlds of photography, theatre, and opera, although with their heightened realism and emotional intensity there are interesting theoretical connections which could be made. Nor do the authors address the complex political and cultural discourses of colonial archaeology and colonial knowledge systems. The volume is honest and straightforward about its ambitions. It is a work of serious description and contextualisation with detailed chronologies, glossaries lists of collections and theatre productions. Its greatest value is in making this magnificeilt corpus available within a framework of exhaustive research in both primary and secondary sources. With the catalogue reproduction of whole series of photographs beautifully printed, this will surely be the definitive study of this photographer for many years.

Photographs and Archaeological Knowledge

Ancient Asia, 2013

This article explores some of the ways in which photographs and their archives establish archaeological knowledge. It draws upon histories of photography and archaeology within South Asia to create focus upon archaeology's evidentiary regimes. The aims are to: a) demonstrate the importance of engaging with photographs and their archives as objects for reckoning archaeology's evidentiary terrains, b) draw attention to multiple social biographies a photograph or photographic archive acquires, c) highlight the visual as a force of archaeology's historiography, and d) impress upon the necessity of attending to historiographical issues. The aims allow us in seeing some of the ways in which field sciences create their evidentiary frames, and have a special resonance within the context of South Asian archaeology where professional and amateur archaeologists continue to promote the belief that archaeological facts exist out there, and that archaeological research produces better and more robust sources for the past than scholarship based on texts. Visual histories also highlight the mutation of the so-called 'colonialist' historiography within the post-colonial histories of archaeology's developments, and encourage us to go beyond the hackneyed formulations of colonial legacies and the hagiographic literature of individual practitioners.

2020_"The Archaeology of Images: from Excavations to Archives"

S. Alaura (ed.), Digging in the Archives (Documenta Asiana XI), Rome, 2020

In the continuous process of storing, managing, processing and interpreting the data from the field, the production of images seems to be an enduring activity, which mirrors and reveals the continuity of research more than the written production does. In light of this potential quantity of images produced in the course of archaeological research, digging and drawing seem to be bound together by reciprocal necessity. In accordance with the contemporary focus on the history of archaeology, new attention has recently been paid to archaeological drawings. In particular, approximately two centuries of archaeological research in the Near East and their graphic/visual documentation constitute a prominent case study. In fact, the circulation of images of ancient Mesopotamian monuments in both the scientific and public domains contributed more in a way to the consolidation of the historical importance of the first discoveries in contemporary Western culture and politics of the 19th century than narrative reports did. Most important, the echo of that visual documentation is reflected in the current interpretation of ancient architecture as it has been reflected in the primary record of the archaeological remains through the past decades of field research, independently of the application of traditional or informative instruments of drawing. Thus, in accordance with the numerical and qualitative relevance of the drawings in the archaeological set of data, it seems important to pursue specific lines of research regarding archaeological drawings, not only to valorize the archives and their contents, but also to trace and develop a helpful method for reading a drawing as an alternative narrative accompanying both discovery and interpretation.

Photography and archaeology. From field to archive

Abstract: This short article is intended to introduce the reader to the photographic archive of the "Vasile Pârvan" Institute of Archaeology in Bucharest. The parallel histories of early archaeology and early photography in Romania are described, with the emphasis on the link between them. The structure and content of the archive, along with some of its oldest items, are discussed, as are conservation problems and ongoing work on digitization of some of the most important images. The social meanings of the archive, and of some of the photographs within it, are also considered. Rezumat: Institutul de Arheologie “Vasile Pârvan” din București deține una dintre cele mai importante arhive fotografice de arheologie din sud-estul Europei. Articolul de față își propune să prezinte structura acestei arhive precum și câteva dintre fotografi ile cele mai vechi studiate până în prezent. Istoria dezvoltării arheologiei românești, precum și a fotografiei sunt prezentate pe scurt, urmărindu-se și accentuându-se traseul lor sincron. Articolul deschide de asemenea discuția privind rolul arhivei, modul ei de utilizare, rolul ei în ierarhizarea breslei, modul în care este controlată și diseminată informația.

The Importance of Photography in Archaeological Research: An Indian Perspective

Journal of Heritage, Archaeology & Management (JHAM) , 2024

Photography has altered research on archaeology by enhancing the recording, assessment, and distribution of findings. The present paper addresses every possible purpose of photography in archaeological research, emphasizing Indian scenarios. Traditionally, photography has enabled precise and comprehensive recordings of locations and objects, promoting preservation and experimentation. Aerial photography, infrared imaging, and photogrammetry have revealed undiscovered aspects and permitted more extensive investigations. Photographic technologies have had an important impact on understanding and conserving cultural heritages in India, as demonstrated by photography of the cultural remnants of past humans. In addition, photography contributes to increase public involvement through exhibits, instructional resources, and virtual reenactments, rendering discoveries in archaeology obtainable to a larger population. The ethical issues are also taken into account such as proficiency, management, and the preservation of digital information. Seeking in advance, integrating technological advances such as robotic aircraft and cognitive computing using photography provides the capacity to increase archaeological study and public involvement. Considering these modifications, photography will continue to have a key role in discovering and presenting the multifaceted history associated with India's historical landmarks.