Beating the Heat at the Maryland State Archives

Despite the sweltering heat, Lynn Waller, Banneker-Douglass Museum archivist, and I, Michael Janakis, took a trip to the Maryland State Archives (MSA). The purpose of our trip was to examine in person some daguerreotypes and tintypes, which are early photographic mediums. I was able to see some pictures of daguerreotypes and tintypes in some materials I have been reading at the Banneker-Douglass Museum, but reproductions of daguerreotypes do not reproduce the full flavor of the daguerreotype. That is, daguerreotypes were made out of a polished copper plate coated in polished silver, which results in the finished product having a mirrored finish. It looks like someone printed a photograph on a mirror. When one looks at a reproduction of a daguerreotype in a book, the mirrored finish is not visible.

Lynn and I were taken to the conversation lab of the MSA, where the staff had prepared some daguerreotypes and tintypes for us to examine. The staff reviewed some information about these photographic processes with me, and answered some questions I had. Daguerreotypes were the first photographic medium, and pose specific problems for preservationists and conservators. Daguerreotypes were placed in a sealed case with a photo mat after they had been developed (the development process involved evaporating mercury!). Anywhere that this case has not maintained its airtight seal is susceptible to a form of tarnishing known as "silver mirroring", which is devastating to the image. One of the daguerreotypes we were able to examine was suffering from silver mirroring near the edges of its case. Speaking of damage to photographic materials, we were also able to see examples of damage to tintypes and albumen prints, two types of photograph popular during the mid- to late-19th century. Tintypes were similar to daguerreotypes in that the image was "printed", as it were, on metal plates. Tintypes used polished iron instead of copper/silver plates, thus making them susceptible to rust. However, tintypes were much cheaper, allowing them to be purchased cheaply by, say, Civil War troops, and sent home to their families. Albumen prints were paper prints with an emulsion material made from albumen, or egg white. One of the characteristics of albumen prints is that over time, their white highlights take on a characteristic yellow hue. Additionally, albumen prints exhibit minute cracks over time. Despite the organic base, albumen prints are also susceptible to silver mirroring. This is because photographs use photosensitive silver salts. The staff was able to explain this to me in greater detail.

The conservator and staff discussed some aspects of dating photographs with us. One of the best ways to date photographs is by examining the fashions worn by the subjects (especially in the case of portraiture, which represents most of early photography). Often, because of the expense of photography, early photograph subjects would dress in their best clothing in the latest fashion. This is not a hard and fast rule, however, and when dating photographs the archivist must be careful of reenactors or history buffs dressing up in period clothing for a modern tintype. For example, there are photography enthusiasts who still use tintype photography for the novelty. An archivist must be careful not to be deceived. An excellent reference for anyone dating photographs is Dress for the Photographer by Joan Severa.

The staff was also able to answer some of my questions about silver mirroring in more modern photography, as well as show us a website of a modern user of tintype photography, which detailed the entire process of taking a tintype photograph. One of the staff even had a tintype of her and her husband on the website!

Another book highly recommended by the staff was Care and Identification of 19th Century Photographic Prints by James M. Reilley.

This was a very informative trip, and I was glad to be able to see daguerreotypes and tintypes
in person.

Viewing the Photographs of Paul Henderson

Lynn, Banneker-Douglass Museum archivist and I, Michael Janakis, took a trip to Baltimore to the Maryland Historical Society (MdHS), to view their exhibit on Paul Henderson. Paul Henderson was a photographer for the Baltimore Afro-American, for which he captured events in Baltimore in the struggle for civil rights. Henderson also captured everything from celebrities such as Pearl Bailey, to the day-to-day lives of Baltimore African Americans.

We left early in the morning to arrive around 10 AM. This was the first time I had been to Baltimore, so despite feeling under the weather, I was excited. Upon arriving at the MdHS, we were greeted by Jennifer Ferretti, the curator of the exhibit. She walked us through the exhibit, explaining to us some of her experiences in working with the collection, as well as difficulties which she had. Some of the work in curating the exhibit was design-oriented (Jennifer had graduated art school, specializing in photography), while other aspects, such as researching photograph date, location, coping with poor creator titles, etc., were archives-based.

We were then taken to the H. Furlong Baldwin Library, where we were allowed to see some of Henderson's original photo negatives. Henderson worked with a 4"x 5" negative format (the ones we saw were on Kodak safety film, meaning that they were acetate negatives). You could see in the few photographs of Henderson himself that this 4"x 5" format was supported by a rather bulky camera, but as Jennifer explained, formats larger than 35mm produce higher quality prints. She said that 4"x 5" give excellent reprints, and when you get to something as large as 8"x 10" negatives, the quality is unrivaled by anything in the digital medium.

Also available for us were the reference photographs of Henderson's work. Jennifer told us the story of trying to decide the safest and most cost-effective way to allow for patron access to the photograhs, while at the same time preserving the deteriorating photo-negatives. What she did was photograph the negatives on a light board with a digital camera, then she digitally reversed the image to a positive image in PhotoShop, and then she reproduced the images to be put into binders for patron access.

I found Henderson's work to be most interesting when he captured day to day moments of African American life in Baltimore, in the vein of Thomas Baden of Annapolis. I particularly enjoyed his images of youth in a segregated theater in the 1940s. The children looked so happy, and the level of detail in the shot allowed me to really feel like these could be kids which I grew up with. Such was the nature of Henderson's work. It was very easy to see that, for better or for worse, despite whatever struggles they were going through, the events captured by Henderson were parts of life for his subjects (despite some of the photographs being clearly staged).

Jennifer maintains a blog about the Henderson collection at http://hendersonphotos.wordpress.com, which she plans to continue in the future. Also, the Paul Henderson collection finding aid can be viewed online at https://www.mdhs.org/findingaid/paul-henderson-photograph-collection-overview. From there, you can follow the link "Paul Henderson photographs in Collections Online (click and scroll down)" to see some examples of

his work.

Pictured from left to right: Jennifer Ferretti, Maryland Historical Society Curator of Photographs & Digitization Coordinator & Michael Janakis, Hodson Trust Intern

Introducing Michael Janakis

Michael Janakis grew up in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, the suburb immediately to the east of the city of Pittsburgh proper. He has deep roots in the Pittsburgh region, with nearly all of the branches of his family settling in the area following their respective immigrations. Michael has recently graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, where he found a particular interest in poetry and refined his interest in languages. His senior essay was entitled, "Why Are Flowers Beautiful?", based on Goethe's Metamorphosis of Plants. Michael was brought to the Orthodox Christian faith of his anscestors while at the College, choosing to convert from Roman Catholicism to Eastern Orthodoxy.
During his senior year, Michael was awarded a Hodson Trust Internship from St. John's College to work at the Banneker-Douglass Museum (BDM). He also applied for and was accepted to the University of Pittsburgh's Master of Library and Information Science program, which he will begin in the fall. His internship at the Bannker-Douglass Museum will help him discover more about his career field and refine his interests. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Michael developed an appreciation for history and the benefits of feeling rooted in one's past. He hopes that through his internship at the BDM, and with the advice of Dr. Joni Jones and Mr. Waller, he will be able to prepare his career path to work where God intends.
In his spare time, Michael enjoys reading, fishing, gardening, observing nature, cooking, and studying Orthodox Christianity. In the summer, he plans to study New Testament Greek (since he learned Ancient Greek at St. John's College), practice poetry, and get to know Annapolis and Washington, D.C. better. He also intends to become better educated about African American history, which ties nicely into his internship.
Michael is an active member of Holy Archangels Orthodox Mission in Annapolis, where he serves with his priest and Godparents, Father Robert Miclean and Matushka (mama) Krissy Miclean, and their baby Anastasia. Michael is also an Eagle Scout.

Pictured: Michael Janakis, Hodson Trust Intern