Moving Day!

I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to pick up the Holtermann digitisation project where Lauren left off.

The digitisation of the Holtermann collection is now taking place on the brand new light table which was so carefully researched and designed by Lauren and the imaging team.

I am testing it out and have so far found it to be a great improvement. Not least because of the solid construction of the new column and wall mount giving much needed stability and reducing any vibrations when photographing the negatives. In addition to this, the new fans which were one of the last parts to be installed keep the negatives from overheating as they sit on the perspex.

I am currently finishing off the last 14 or so boxes of 8x12 inch (254x305mm) glass plate negatives and thanks to the new set up I will be able to move smoothly onto the next larger sizes in the collection which range from 5x18 inch (381x457mm) up to 18x22 inch (457x559mm) negatives. I am finding them to be a rich and wonderful historical documentation of Sydney and Victorian towns and landscapes. I am looking forward to maintaining the high standards set by Lauren and the team to digitally extract the beauty and detail in this wonderful collection of Holtermann wet-collodion glass plate negatives. The curator Alan Davies and myself will continue to keep you informed on the progress of the Holtermann project as we move into the larger glass plate negatives via this blog and we look forward to your comments and questions.