On March 11, 2021, Doc Chatters learned about the New York Public Library's Picture Collection and considered the power and significance of how librarians describe and categorize images.

A weekly series from NYPL's Center for Research in the Humanities, Doc Chat pairs a NYPL curator or specialist and a scholar to discuss evocative digitized items from the Library's collections and brainstorm innovative ways of teaching with them. In Episode Nineteen, NYPL's Jessica Cline and photographer, publisher, and Pratt Institute photography professor Peter Kayafas discussed the history and scope of the Picture Collection, analyzing the concept of subjectivity in the subject headings assigned to images and considering how description shapes representation and creates trust in the work of librarians.

A transcript of this event is available here.

Below are some handy links to materials and sources suggested in the episode.

Episode Nineteen: Primary Sources

Jessica and Peter examined the following images from the Picture Collection.

They also discussed this list of subject requests from October 1926: 

Explore the entire Picture Collection subject heading index here.

Episode Nineteen: Readings and Resources

Change the Subject, documentary film, 2019. 

John Cotton Dana, The Picture Collection (H.W. Wilson, 1929). 

Donna Hill, The Picture File: a Manual and Curriculum-related Subject Heading List (Linnet Books, 1975). 

Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Graphics) (Chicago: 2013).

Library of Congress Subject Heading Authorities: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects.html

Taryn Simon, The Color of a Flea’s Eye: The Picture Collection (Cahiers d’Art, 2020).

Words on Pictures: Romana Javitz and the New York Public Library’s Picture Collection, ed. Anthony T. Troncale (Photo Verso Publications, 2020).  

Institutional records for the Picture Collection are held in the Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library: Picture Collection Records 1896-1999

The Exhibition

Peter and Jessica discussed their collaboration on the 2017 exhibition "The Naming of Things" at Pratt Institute. Here are more details about that project.  

Exhibition listing

"Pratt Students Curate Interactive Exhibition from New York Public Library PIcture Collection,"  Pratt News, October 31, 2017. 

"ART OUT: THE NAMING OF THINGS, NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY COLLECTION," Musée Magazine, October 6, 2017.  

Jessica Cline, "The Naming of Things: Collaboration and Creative Reuse," Visual Resources Association Bulletin,  47: 1(2020).

 

 

Join the Doc Chat Conversation

Doc Chat episodes take place on Zoom every Thursday at 3:30 PM.  Over the next several months, we are covering a range of topics: visual culture in 19th-century Mexico, Zine-making,  the history of New York City tenements, Russian propaganda posters, and much more.

Check out upcoming episodes on NYPL's calendar,  and make sure you don't miss an episode by signing up for NYPL's Research newsletter, which will include links to register. A video of each episode will be posted on the Research Channel of the NYPL blog shortly after the program. There you can also explore videos and resources for past episodes. See you at the next Doc Chat!