A retrospective photo trip down the Archives’ conservation lab memory lane, featuring folks from past and present.
Nine years ago I wrote Happy Paper Anniversary?—a year’s celebration of the Archives’ conservation lab becoming a manifest presence within our primary location. Since then, we have continued to grow, undertake unusual challenges, take on many interesting projects, and welcomed and said farewell to many staff, volunteers, interns and fellows we’ve supported from around the world. Many of our alumni have gone on to become graduate students, professional conservators and leaders in their own right, while some have carved new paths in related careers, including forensics and material engineering sciences. Some even fell in love…with each other!
Rather than focusing our lens on projects, we thought this should be a celebration honoring some of the many folks who have passed through our portal. (If you don’t find yourself pictured, note that it may just be because we don’t have a non-peering-through-the-microscope picture of you. Feel free to send us a selfie from your time here to add to our alumni album!)
In honor of the tenth anniversary of the lab, here is a glimpse into our own photographic history, in which we rely neither on tintypes nor direct prints on aluminum, but present a slideshow of images brought to you in part by multiple base, precious and rare metals, and as ever, photons.
Related Resources
- I'm Falling for You, by Effie Kapsalis, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives
- Photomosaic Globe of Mars, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Clik here to view.
