behind the scenes – PAFA’s Collections Blog

Creative Setups for Photographing

July 9, 2024admin

Contribute by Zoe Smith, IMLS Collections Photographer

Photographing sculptures that have ornate details or a unique shape can cause some logistical issues. For each one, we need to assess how to photograph it individually in the safest way. Occasionally we mount paintings or sculptures to a wall or an easel, use foam blocks to protect the corners, and other times we can place an artwork directly on a table to photograph. For the piece Thomas P. Anshutz by Adam Pietz (accession #1938.6) there were tiny legs underneath the rectangular portion of the work. Because of this, it wouldn’t fit on our easel right side up, so we had to place it on its side. I wanted the lighting of each relief sculpture to be consistent throughout our collection, so I had to get creative with the lighting. I had to place a large soft box above the sculpture facing the hair of Thomas P. Anshutz. Another smaller softbox was below the camera also pointed at the face. I needed a little more highlights on the top and bottom of the piece, so I added a reflector and an umbrella attached to a light set to a low power. The result had a mix of lighting to show the shape and dimension of the relief, and it matched the other relief photographs.

Another setup included hanging a fragile plaster piece by Beatrice Fenton, Life Cast of Emily Clayton Bishop’s Left Hand (accession #1984.43). We screwed into a piece of wood and used white gaff tape to cover the hardware to minimize any unwanted color cast onto the sculpture. Every piece requires a new and challenging setup to get the best results.

Digital Treasure Trove: Preventing unwanted reflections part 2, DIY V Flats

April 15, 2024April 16, 2024admin

Contributed by Zoe Smith, IMLS Museum Collections Assistant and Photographer

A challenge when photographing glazed works of art is the reflective nature of the plexiglass. To minimize reflections, we need to make everything around the camera black. In a previous post, we mentioned the process of using a large black velvet cloth set up on a backdrop. While that setup worked for many of our glazed works, the cloth was too small for our very large works.

Since PAFA does not have a dedicated photography studio, we also wanted to create a more portable solution that would also help us address the reflection issues of oversized works. I did some research and found some DIY ways to make a V Flat. A V Flat is a black piece of foam core that folds in half creating a V shape. Sharon Yoon (Museum Collections Assistant) and I made some mini prototypes to test out a couple ways to make this with materials we had in the museum before we scaled up to create the larger v flats.

Sharon and Zoe

V Flat prototypes

Instead of the foam folding only one way, we wanted to have it be in quarters to make it even more portable and easy to store. To do this we had to find a non-reflective and strong way to fasten two sides together that was removable. We tried Velcro strips, but they weren’t as strong as we wanted. The next method used framing materials we had, this allowed us to pull the pieces together tightly and the entire structure was much more solid. We used black gaff tape to combine all 4 panels and seal off any potential light leaks at the seam. We made three different V Flats that we can now line up and photograph large reflective pieces like this one by Barbara Krueger (accession 1984.19). Here are before and after images to see the differences when using the V flats.

Photograph without V Flats

Photograph with V Flats

Making these DIY V Flats is a versatile solution to many issues we encounter while photographing and allows us to capture each artwork without distractions.

Testing a new method to digitize archival collections

April 3, 2024April 3, 2024admin

Since much of our archival collections are digitized by work study students or interns, the archives has always relied on flatbed scanners to perform the work. The most obvious benefits for the department include reducing user-errors as well as reducing technical training—digitizers would input the correct settings and basically scan the item. The major downside for scanning archival collections is the time required to scan at preservation level standards. Depending on the size of the record/object, the scan could take anywhere from one to three minutes per item. The minutes surely add up for very large collections.

PAFA is very familiar with using digital cameras to digitize collections—the museum has used cameras to digitize/document its permanent art collection and exhibitions since 2007!

Since we had a spare DSLR camera and copy stand, we thought it would be interesting to test out this new method. We selected a small collection to pilot this digitizing method. The work was completed by Annie Thompson (MFA), the archives’ long-term work-study student.

The pilot project allowed us to get a better sense of the speed and image quality to formulate a baseline to compare to the scanning workflow. While cultural institutions typically focus on creating high-quality reproductions, we kept our expectations low since the technical skills required to use a DSLR with all its settings properly was a huge learning curve.

The obvious benefit of using a camera to digitize collections is the sheer speed—it takes literally a few seconds to create a digital capture. One major hurdle we faced with this new approach was the post-processing time. All digital captures required straightening, cropping, and color adjustments. Some workstations in the archives were too slow to use some software, which made post-processing time consuming.

The pilot project selected the Miscellaneous Photographs collection of cartes-de-visite to photograph. Browse the collection here: https://pafaarchives.org/s/digital/item-set/121443

Digital Treasure Trove: Shaping 3d Work with Light

March 29, 2024March 29, 2024admin

Contributed by Zoe Smith, IMLS Project Museum Collections Assistant

In our studio we find immense joy in getting to creatively light sculptures. While works on paper are very evenly lit, there is more room to play around with 3d works. Sculpture busts for example we light as individual portraits, each has distinct features and nuances.

For this plaster bust of Mrs. Allan Clyde Hale by George H. Borst (accession 2013.31.5), we wanted to light it in a dynamic way but keep the lighting balanced enough to match the rest of the collection.

Key Light: The key light is the main light used to light a subject. We decided to use a Rembrandt style lighting technique. This is a commonly used method of lighting in photography that comes from the distinct style of the 17^th century Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn.

Fill Light: The fill light’s purpose is to even out shadows and provide a gentle illumination that complements the key light. This was achieved by bouncing the light into the ceiling in front of the subject. This method makes the light incredibly soft and even.

Kicker Light: The kicker light, the final piece of the puzzle, subtly outlines the profile of the subject. The kicker is the most subtle of the lights, but really lets the object stand apart from the background.

As we were planning the lighting, we captured individual exposures with each of the three lights independently. This allowed us to see the subtle differences each light makes.

While the differences may seem minuscule, their cumulative effect makes a dramatic difference when it comes to the final image. Working out these intricate details is some of the most rewarding work when it comes to photographing our extensive collection.

Here are some examples of the lighting techniques that we implemented.

Key Light:

Fill Light:

Kicker Light:

Combined:

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Digital Treasure Trove: Photographing Naima (2001) by Elizabeth Catlett

November 16, 2023March 29, 2024admin

Contribute by Zoe Smith, Project Museum Collections Assistant

This week at PAFA we continued photographing sculptures as a part of the IMLS grant. While some 3D objects are straight forward, the beautiful sculpture Naima by Elizabeth Catlett was quite the challenge to photograph. I had so much fun creating the set up for this piece. We started using the light box that we have been using for smaller pieces, but because this sculpture is so reflective, we could see everything surrounding the object. We had to get creative and use the structure of the lightbox but switch the reflective sides to diffusion material. Our light source needed to be bigger than the object we were photographing and needed to seamlessly surround it. We had to combine multiple pieces of fabric to surround the work, and then we were able to use two soft boxes to get a beautiful quality of light. This piece has been one of my favorites to photograph so far, and I had a great time working with the photographer Adrian Cubillas to figure it out.

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services

Digital Treasure Trove: Macro Photography

November 2, 2023November 16, 2023admin

Contribute by Zoe Smith, Project Museum Collections Assistant

PAFA’s collection primarily consists of paintings, works on paper, and sculpture. There are some more unique objects in the collection such as medals! PAFA has a discrete collection of medals that were sculpted for the many prizes it awarded artists during its Annual Exhibitions. These objects are much smaller in comparison to the typical objects that we have photographed for the past year. Because of their size, the photography workflow needed to change to obtain a preservation quality image. The project team added a lightbox and new Helicon Focus software. Together, these dramatically improved our capabilities and efficiency.

One of the benefits of using this workflow with the medium format camera is once the photograph is completed, you can zoom in on miniscule details, showcasing the precision and skills of the artist.

The miniatures in the collection are even smaller than the medals–smaller than a quarter! The focus stacking technique allows us to capture stunning details throughout each piece. Using this technology to photograph these objects brings a new life to each piece. This detail from a Temple Trust Fund Medal is less than 2 inches and shows an amazing rendering of PAFA.

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Digital Treasure Trove: Parallel projects-John Rhoden sculptures

October 13, 2023March 29, 2024admin

Contributed by Adrian Cubillas, Photographer and Digital Collection Coordinator & Zoe Smith, IMLS Project Museum Collections Assistant

PAFA’s Digital Treasure Trove project and the exhibition Determined to be: The Sculpture of John Rhoden both embody the institution’s mission by expanding the stories of American art. The grant project preserves and makes artworks more accessible to the public, while the exhibition showcases the work of an artist whose contributions challenge conventions and broaden the understanding of American art. Together, these projects reinforce our commitment to inspiring and educating through its world-class museum and school. For the Rhoden exhibition, Dr. Brittany Webb, Evelyn and Will Kaplan Curator of Twentieth Century Art.

John W. Rhoden (1916-2001). Three Headed Lion, 1954. Bronze, The John Walter Rhoden and Richanda Phillips Rhoden Collection, 2019.27.3

Zoe and I had the pleasure of attending the opening of Determined to be: The Sculpture of John Rhoden. We were lucky enough to walk through the exhibit as it was being installed with the curator Dr. Brittany Webb. Getting to see the behind-the-scenes as well as the final exhibit was a great experience that opened my eyes to how much goes into creating such a big show. We also had the amazing opportunity to make some gifs of the sculptures to promote the show! (see below). We loved being able to contribute to such a wonderful project.

Digital Treasure Trove: Unwanted Reflections

June 27, 2023July 25, 2023admin

Contributed by PAFA Museum Collections

One of the many challenges we face when photographing works from the collection is avoiding different kinds of unwanted reflections. Even small adjustments to our lights can result in everything from an overpowering glare to a flattening of any surface texture in the final image. Even trickier is dealing with works that are behind glass/plexiglass, which often reflect the environment back like a mirror.

Addressing this requires making sure that anything within the frame of the shot is cloaked in dark fabric, which won’t reflect enough light to interfere with the image. In addition to cloaking the equipment, we also must ensure that we personally are kept behind the fabric when operating the camera. At times it can look a little odd, but it goes a long way in improving the quality of the museum’s documentation of work.

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Digital Treasure Trove: The Watercolors of William Trost Richards

May 15, 2023May 8, 2023admin

Digital Treasure Trove: The Watercolors of William Trost Richards

Contributed by PAFA Museum Collections

For the last several photography sessions, the collections team has been working to photograph a unique set of small watercolor paintings by the artist William Trost Richards (1833-1905). With some slight variations, the dozens of paintings are each only a little larger than 3×5” and depict a range of beautiful wide-angle landscape scenes. The images are executed in striking detail for their scale and medium. Together, the works demonstrate a superior command of light and texture. It has been a pleasure to spend time photographing these works, and once the project is finished, they can each be viewed and enjoyed in significantly greater resolution.

William Trost Richards – Boats at Pier for Joseph Wharton’s Workmen, Conanicut Island (1883), Watercolor on paper, 3 3/16 x 5 1/8 in. (8.09625 x 13.0175 cm.). Gift of Dorrance H. Hamilton in memory of Samuel M. V. Hamilton, 2008.5.87

View more works by Richards on PAFA’s online database: https://www.pafa.org/museum/collection-artist/william-trost-richards

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Setting up for the 122nd Annual Student Exhibition

May 8, 2023admin

Opening this month is PAFA’s Annual Student Exhibition (ASE), now celebrating its 122nd year. Our archives have a long practice and record of documenting the ASE, and its connection to student life here at the school and museum, like in the image here from 1910.