Visualizations Provide a Deeper Look Into a Historical MoMA Photo Collection
The Thomas Walther Collection at the Museum of Modern Art is a set of 341 photographs by 150 artists captured from between 1909 and 1949 — a period in which photography “came of age.”
If you’d like to explore this collection of images on a deeper level, the museum has created a fantastic new tool for doing so that’s “unprecedented in its functionality”. It’s called “Object:Photo,” and is a special website loaded with information, images, and interactive visualizations.
There are four powerful visualizations that visitors to the site can use. Mapping Photographs shows the geographic scope of images:
Comparing Photographs allows you to filter the images by their properties (e.g. techniques, materials, subjects, style):
Connecting Artists shows you the relationships and meeting points between the famous photographers (e.g. exhibitions, publications, schools):
Mapping Artists Lives shows you where the photographers lived and worked throughout their lives:
Of course, there’s also a standard gallery section where you can browse through the collection’s photographs:
If you found this website interesting, you may be pleased to know that the images and information have also been published as a hardcover photo book.
(H/T Hyperallergic)
