News Release

05/14/09 A Fragile Memory: turn of the century glass negatives from Providence Public Library’s Special Collections Department

Providence Public Library (PPL) and AS220 Paul Krot Community Darkrooms are pleased to present a collaborative photograph exhibition and lectures program, beginning with an opening reception on Monday, June 1 from 6 – 7:45 pm at Providence Public Library, Central Library, 150 Empire Street, (Special Collections Exhibition Hall- 3rd floor). The exhibition will continue through Saturday, June 27, 2009.

Over 1,000 glass plate negatives have been tucked away in the Special Collections of the Providence Public Library for over a century. Now a select handful of them will be hand printed and on display with the original glass negatives. The project was conceived and curated by Agata Michalowska and was brought to fruition through a close collaboration with local photographers working out of the AS220 Paul Krot Community Darkrooms.

Some two dozen plates will be printed and exhibited along with a selection of glass negatives. The plates represent a wide range of topics including portraits of wealthy Rhode Island families, interiors of textile factories, and landscapes of New England. These glass negatives constitute a cabinet of wonders and a glimpse of a world long past. The centerpiece will be two 20 x 24" prints taken from glass negatives of the same size dating from 1876 of the famous Corliss steam engine, which powered Machinery Hall at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.

Michalowska, PPL Special Collections, and AS220 Darkrooms hope the editions will offer the community a valuable resource and that additionally, sales of the photographs, might help provide financially for the long-term archival storage of these delicate plates. An edition of the prints is also being donated to AS220’s Darkroom Program and a number of these will be part of the biennial Photo Lottery fundraiser returning to AS220 this May 30.

During the opening reception, James DaMico, Rhode Island Historical Society’s Graphics Archivist, and Richard Ring, PPL’s Special Collections Librarian, will lend their expertise to help us further imagine the stories these photographs imply. DaMico will address the technical development of photography with his presentation “Glass plate negatives: A Look at a 19th Century Photographic Innovation” and will also discuss how Rhode Island photographers, both amateur and professional, were making use of the glass plate technology.

Richard Ring will offer an informed historical perspective on the city at the dawn of the 20th century with his presentation “The Beehive of Industry: Providence in the Late Victorian Era, 1890-1910.” The contemporary use of the glass plate technique will be presented by Paul Taylor, a Master Photogravure Plate Maker, Director of Renaissance Press and an instructor at Rhode Island School of Design. Taylor will exhibit glass negatives and prints that he made of New England landscapes. That evening additional artifacts of photography will be shown, including a turn of the century camera and a magic lantern together with glass slides.

AS220’s Paul Krot Community Darkrooms are the only public B&W facilities in Rhode Island. Their mission includes accessibility for all artists, affordable space, and providing low and no-cost educational opportunities. The Special Collections department of the PPL houses over 40,000 books, posters, pamphlets, photographs, broadsides, manuscripts, and other artifacts in an attempt to preserve, augment, and provide public access to these collections.

For more information about this free event, please contact:

Agata Michalowska, curator: “A fragile memory” project
401-527-1240
agata.michalowska@gmail.com

Richard J. Ring
Special Collections Librarian
Providence Public Library
150 Empire Street, Providence
401-455-8021
rring@provlib.org

James DaMico
Graphics Project Archivist, MLIS
Rhode Island Historical Society Library
121 Hope Street, Providence, RI 02906
Phone: (401) 273-8107, ext.16