Photos from the Archives

Hi everyone! I'm happy to be back on Spacehey after a long hiatus. 

I'd like to share some of the coolest pictures I've seen at my job. I am an assistant archivist at a university library. I listen to audiobooks or music and sit at a computer most days, and I'll sometimes do homework. It's pretty lowkey, and a lot of the tasks I'm assigned are easy and repetitive, such as moving boxes, checking folders, etc. I've absorbed a lot from working here for well over a year though. I feel confident in saying that I am one of a handful of people who has extensive knowledge about the local area and the university itself.

My favorite part of the job is looking at pictures. When I see a folder in a collection titled "unidentified" females, males, children, etc. I always look through. It feels almost like I'm violating their memories, knowing that when they took this photograph decades ago that I was never intended to see them. The fact that I am the person seeing them and not their descendants seems wrong somehow, even though we were trusted to care for these materials. I see a lot of photos that are removed entirely from their original context. I find looking through old images somewhat inspiring, especially considering most of them have not seen the light of day since they were put into boxes. We see so many pictures on a daily basis that are made for us, and are meant to be seen by the public, but there is something really unique about holding someone's once private photograph in your hand. Even if they were intended for university marketing, it is weird to see the photo after it has outlived its usefulness and intention, if that makes sense.

Many of these photos have been removed from their original context, and were taken hastily by my phone camera. I also had to exclude quite a few that would dox me. I tried uploading all of my favorites directly into this blog post, but it made Spacehey crash. Instead, I've put a few really good photos here, and linked a Pinterest board where you can see the rest.

See the rest of the photos here: https://www.pinterest.com/zoruasaurus/photos-from-the-archives/