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Lesley Wood

1 Year Ago

Doing Our Archival Homework

Too often we photograph e.g., old, historic bridges, houses, buildings, mills, factories, etc., but we neglect to do the archival homework that might make or break a sale.

Granted, not every potential buyer will be interested in knowing the history or story behind a photograph. They may appreciate the image itself without any baggage attached...so to speak. Perhaps the mystery of not knowing conjures up even more magic and interest in the photograph. Who knows?? Perhaps more complex analysis is needed for that conclusion.

As a Public Historian and Journalist, I like giving a prospective buyer a descriptive historical "cheat
sheet" if relevant to the photograph itself. Somehow, I feel obligated to share what history I know or can uncover to compliment my image.

Many historic or old architectural structures use Datestones or Cornerstones. A Datestone is usually an embedded slab or stone showing the date when something was constructed. Cornerstones are commonly found on historic houses and buildings. The latter can be a simple brick or stone slab with the date. At times you will see a reference to time such as A.D.. or "circa" plus the year.

So too, my thinking is that the historical reference will be enjoyed by the browser or prospective art buyer!

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Gill Billington

1 Year Ago

I think it’s a good thing to give some historical details about architectural images as long as you write about it in your own words. It will keep a buyer on your page a little longer if they read it.

Just be aware that Google will penalise you if you grab a lot of text from elsewhere on the internet like Wikipedia.

 

Lesley Wood

1 Year Ago

Gill, you make some good points. It's helpful to gather information from a wide variety of sources and, if applicable, even cite your sources. Wikipedia can be helpful for initial research on a topic. Reading materials such as books, magazines, newspaper articles, historic journals, etc. are good to resource as well if you have the time.

A clear, thoughtful and well written description could definitely be a game changer when posting a photograph of historical significance. Finding lesser known facts and highlighting them could also prove intriguing. It could significantly boost traffic on the artist's profile page and website gallery.

 

Lucia Waterson

1 Year Ago

I think this applies also to paintings of historical buildings, and this is what I tried to do, and i enjoyed so much making researches and discovering things i didn't know myself, especially regarding the Colosseum.

 

Mike Savad

1 Year Ago

The more important thing is that people can find the work, so adding some context is a good thing. I don't think people will buy it because they know it. To me its just a filler killer. Fill the box with something that makes sense.

Just as important is the keywords, list more.

Also google likes length of time to increase where you sit in the search. If you have a one liner, they go in, glance and go out. If they go in, and read it for a min or two, they stay longer and google rewards that.

You can ask a chat bot thing to write something. But it does make things up sometimes. Ask for sources. I like looking for fun facts. All my colorized things, if I can find it, has a small essay about the location.


----Mike Savad

 

Mike Savad

1 Year Ago

Be sure to fill out your bio, btw


----Mike Savad

 

Lesley Wood

1 Year Ago

Hi Lucia!

Roman history and culture have always fascinated me. Have you visited the Colosseum?

In the United States, there is so much architecture that has been influenced by the Romans and Greeks. I like to point out important architectural elements in my image descriptions whenever possible. Photographs and paintings can serve to educate the public about other time periods, places and people.

While the internet offers valuable tools for historical research, I have valued my experiences walking and photographing e.g. Civil War battlefields over many decades. Additionally, as a Civil War Living Historian and Medical Historian, I have re-created field hospitals and impersonated a contract army surgeon. Living Historians do extensive research, so I would encourage any artist interested in a particular time period or historical period to get involved in this hobby. It is an excellent way to learn first hand about all aspects of a historical time period.

For any artist or photographer interested in military history, there are numerous You Tube channels that can be utilized from the comfort of your armchair or computer chair. Historical chat groups and organizations are also fun and interesting ways to develop your knowledge base!


Additionally, visiting museums, attending reenactments, living history events, lectures, etc. can all be interesting ways to self-educate.

Ultimately, how much or how little an artist/photographer chooses to research their subject matter could in fact influence the sale of their work.

 

Jessica Jenney

1 Year Ago

Speaking of history; it maybe good to start writing your bio here also? :)

 

Lucia Waterson

1 Year Ago

Hi Lesley, yes, many times! And also the other buildings i painted, the Estense Castle and the Tower of Pisa.

 

Lesley Wood

1 Year Ago

Lucia,

I'm going to add you to my watch list!

What resources have you used that were helpful in preparation for your historical paintings?

Best!

-- Lesley

 

Lesley Wood

1 Year Ago

Hi Jessica!!!

My bio is on the way. Thank you for the nudge. I actually share a lot of my own family history and background in my photo descriptions if applicable.

Best!

-- Lesley

 

Lucia Waterson

1 Year Ago

Thank you Lesley, but I don't have many artworks of hystorical places except for those that I mentioned you plus the Gallery in Milan and a tower in Malta, but nothing else to tell you the truth.

When visiting i try to find informations locally, but also internet helped me to write down a description. I try to look for sites that you can trust more, like for the Colosseum if I remember correctly i checked a Focus magazine in italian.

In general, If i find something that interests me i write it down because i hope maybe also others would find it interesting.
If i have a question i try to find the answer maybe also others ask themselves the same question: for ex, was the Tower of Pisa meant to be leaning? Why is it like that? Is it safe to visit up?

 

Lesley Wood

1 Year Ago

Hi Mike!

Thank you for your contribution to this discussion thread. My primary interest with this discussion is to encourage artists to make use of historical archives and resources (e.g., digital, paper, electronic) in their image descriptions.

The science and technology behind colorized photographs greatly interests me. I am a subscriber with a number of You Tube channels that focus on this work. Both my parents served in WW II, and I have an extensive collection of their black and white photographs from this time period that would be good candidates for colorization.

Your artwork and digital collections are very interesting!

Best!

-- Lesley

 

Lesley Wood

1 Year Ago

Hi Lucia,

That's a great way to approach it. Chances are what you are interested in will be of interest to others as well.

There are so many wonderful places to visit in Italy. I have never traveled to Italy, but, of course, Rome, Tuscanny and Pompei are tops on my list.

I hope you have an opportunity to do more photography/artwork of historic places.

-- Lesley

 

Roger Swezey

1 Year Ago

To me, its not about whether it's a good idea....

. its the ethical thing to do

To give credit to those responsible for creating what is being photographed

 

Lesley Wood

1 Year Ago

Hi Roger!

Yes, you are exactly right! Additionally, it is honoring and respecting that person, place, object, event, etc. in history.

Best!

-- Lesley

 

Lucia Waterson

1 Year Ago

For example, I was so sorry to learn that Giuseppe Mengoni, the architect who designed the Gallery Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, unfortunately died just before the inauguration, falling while checking for the last small details...and I wrote it of course

 

Tatiana Travelways

1 Year Ago

I don't know why, but the pictures I sold, generally didn't have too much history (story) and not a lot of keywords either attached to them...

I personally think that the "novel" would mostly belong to a blog rather than to a image description in a POD site.

Therefore, I write as much as I can (with my poor English) in my travel/photography blogs, and I noticed that my images got higher in the FAA search, also in Google.
* I don't always have that much time to write on my blogs though... :)

 

Lesley Wood

1 Year Ago

Hi Tatiana!!

Welcome to my discussion!!

That's great you are doing travel blogs.
I plan to get started with a history travel blog soon.

What topics do you find most appealing to your fans/readers??

I applaud you for all your efforts with writing a blog. Writing takes a lot of discipline and self-motivation.

Everyone will have a different take on what to write as per an image description. Some artists write more and some artists are more economical with their words.

As I've stated in a previous reply thread:
I enjoy sharing some of the history highlights. This is my cup of tea, but granted it's not everyone's cup of tea... metaphorically speaking.

Are you blogging on FAA? If so, I'll,have to check out your blog.

Best!

-- Lesley

 

Hi Lesley,

As you already know, since we have had many interesting conversations about different locations, I shoot primarily historic architecture and locations, and I do provide the history of the location with almost every image.

The research for those write-ups takes longers than the image edits for the location, so it is the last thing I'd expect other photographers to do. But it is a special interest of mine, so I take the time to do it. I also use that information later on for my blog, which is a history/travel blog. If you haven't stumbled over it yet, it's at susantregoning.com

I don't tend to blog often since I consider myself a photographer first and foremost, but I find it helpful to have my historical research mostly completed when I get started.

Don't worry about what and how other photographers are blogging. Do you, and you'll find your audience. I don't think you'll have any problems considering your interests.







 

Lesley Wood

1 Year Ago

Hi Susan!

Thanks for your feedback! I have looked at your travel blog, and it does look like you've put your heart and soul into that! Congrats on your success!

Historical research does take time. I am well accustomed to it having prepared countless history lectures and PowerPoint presentations for colleges, museums, national parks, civil war roundtables, living history events, etc.

Professionally, I have worked in community newspaper journalism/photojournalism and academia. I have also worked in industry as a technical writer, so I am comfortable writing for different audiences.

Descriptive historical documentation and research will continue to be an important part of my inspiration for any blog themes or topics. Archival research is important and an artist's awareness of giving credit where credit is due is paramount.

As to blogs, I think it's interesting to hear about what other people are doing. As with photography or other artwork, artists on FAA all essentially have an opportunity to inspire or motivate each other. Artists also have an opportunity to educate each other on what works and doesn't work.

Best!

-- Lesley

 

This discussion is closed.