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RR 2013/111
PhotoSeed
David Spencer
Springfield, IL
2011
URL: http://photoseed.com
Last visited November 2012Gratis
Keywords Arts, Electronic media, Photographs
Review DOI 10.1108/09504121311308787
PhotoSeed is an online archive documenting the early history of fine-art photography, primarily from 1880 to the First World War. Launched in 2011 with over 1,400 works from over 600 artists, the site will eventually top 5,000 images, all from the private collection of photojournalist David Spencer. Eighty-six Ateliers, or workshops, are currently represented. Some images derive directly from journals, calendars, exhibition catalogues, postcards, and advertising matter. Metadata categories include: photographer; country; medium; year; journal issue; subject, event, or publication; and Atelier.
Some records include extensive contextual notes, occasionally providing contemporary commentary related to the artifact in question, as in the 1897 defence of an innovative composition by English photographer Eustace Calland. The site also provides blog entries and a series of Highlights, pages with information and a slide show of relevant images. Blog entries are informal narratives, and Highlights are selected via a gallery of cover images and provide a more formal discourse. It appears that Spencer himself authors these texts. Although not a scholar by profession, he is a highly knowledgeable, careful researcher and all sources are fully referenced. The site is intended for scholarly researchers as well as "the curious", although there is an implicit assumption of familiarity with key terminology and figures. For instance, in the Calland note, Spencer names the Linked Ring, without providing information about the photographic society that bears that name. Nonetheless, the collection, and Spencer's informed commentary,...