The George Eastman Museum, the world’s oldest museum dedicated to the subject of photography has opened up a new online portal that will provide free access to over 250,000 items from their collections.

Though the museum makes clear that far from everything in their holdings is available through their platform quite yet, they are continuing to add to it on a weekly basis. What is available is extensively catalogued and discoverable by several criteria. Users can now search through the museum’s photography, technology, and legacy collections, with additional materials being continuously updated. Content from the moving image collection for instance will be fully accessible in the next few months.

Bruce Barnes, the Ron and Donna Fielding Director at the museum said: “The launch of our online collection database has been truly transformative for the George Eastman Museum, allowing the world access to explore and discover the myriad wonders of our collection, enhancing the museum’s profile, our contribution to scholarship, and our collaborative capabilities”

Online access to our extensive collections will transform the public’s understanding of our holdings

As one of the the oldest in the world, the photography collection contains more than 400,000 images. Dating back to 1839, some of these originate from the very beginnings of photography as a medium. Content formats span from the earliest daguerreotypes, to digital material. The portfolio of photographers whose work is included in the collection numbers more than eight thousand, and counting. There are also 16,000 physical artifacts from the history of the photographic industry including antique image making equipment.

The prestigious Gabriel Cromer collection will soon be added to the online repository. One of the most important and influential compilations of early French photography in the world, it was donated to the museum by the Eastman Kodak Company. Considering its overwhelming importance to photographic history, the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded a US$148,000 grant to support the cataloging and digitizing of the Gabriel Cromer collection in its entirety. The museum estimates that by 2019 work will be complete and it will be accessible from the site.

Commenting on the importance of the Eastman’s new platform, Barnes said:“Online access to our extensive collections will transform the public’s understanding of our holdings and facilitate new forms of collaboration with creators, curators, scholars, and collectors. Whether you are conducting research on a particular subject or simply interested in seeing what works we have by your favorite photographer, you can now do so much more easily. ”

To see the museum’s online database, visit here.

2016-11-1 03:00