ENGLISH 

(ON)BELICHT. Glasplaten in de collectie van Amsab-ISG  

Glass plates is an umbrella term for various types of photographic media. These include glass negatives for developing photographs, but also slides that were often used for projection in classrooms.   

This exhibition presents a selection of glass plates from various collections held by Amsab-ISG: those of the newspapers Vooruit and Volksgazet (post-World War II period), and those of the private collector Lateur (late 19th to first half of the 20th century). ​ A few years ago, we had the opportunity to have our glass plates digitised, a process that we explore in this exhibition. ​  

Despite the fragility of the physical glass plates, you can still admire some of them in this exhibition. They remain an invaluable source of information. We therefore reflect on the place of the glass plate in the history of photography.  

You will also learn more about the challenges posed by the glass plate collection, both in terms of material and content. Before digitisation, the glass plates were difficult to consult due to their fragility, which often made it unclear what was depicted on them. The digital images open up new perspectives but also raise new questions. The often missing context has implications for metadata annotation and copyright, among other things. But this also offers new opportunities.  

GLASS PLATES IN THE ARCHIVE OF AMSAB-ISG 

How do glass plates end up in an archive institution? Amsab-ISG preserves a wide range of historical objects, most of which were donated to an archive and form part of it. From stickers, badges and posters to flags and all kinds of promotional material, such as key rings, rain caps, lighters, and even chocolates and wine bottles. Glass plates are also part of this collection. Each object differs in material, shape and size, and requires its own approach in terms of preservation.  

Today, the collection of glass plates at Amsab-ISG numbers just over 10,000 items. For a long time, they were stored in the original boxes in which they were received. These boxes now also have heritage value.  

[Did you know that archives, museums and libraries not only preserve collections, but also make them accessible? This means that files, photographs, publications and objects are carefully described in a catalogue, according to certain standards. This makes everything accessible, findable and exchangeable for anyone who wants to browse the collection.]  

One of the challenges with glass plates is that the vast majority of the collection consists of glass negatives. To see the image, you have to place the glass plate in front of a light source. Moreover, they are fragile objects, and their large number makes accessing them a labour-intensive process that requires time and resources.  

The digitisation project led by meemoo [Flemish Institute for the Archive] was therefore music to our ears. It gave us access not only to digital prints of the glass plates themselves, but also to the positive images in a new image database. However, this was preceded by a lengthy process. 

PACKAGING 

 

For digitisation purposes, but also for their continued preservation, the glass plates could no longer be stored in their original boxes. Each glass plate was therefore repackaged: first in a “four flap” [an envelope with four flaps that are folded around the glass plate] and then in an acid-free box according to size.  

[Did you know that archive documents, whether made of paper or other materials, are preferably stored in acid-free boxes? These provide better storage conditions, although even these boxes have an expiration date.] 

REGISTRATION 

In order to be able to quickly retrieve the glass plates from the image database, each one had to be registered individually. Each glass plate was first given a unique barcode, which ensures that the link between the physical glass plate and the digital images is maintained. ​  

In addition, as much information as possible about each glass plate had to be recorded. This included not only the content of the image, but also a technical description of the material. ​  

Glass plates come in various shapes and sizes. Some are negatives, others positives. Slides were often labelled. Furthermore, over time some became damaged, such as emulsion detachment, glass breakage, scratches, discolouration or even mould.  

[Want to know more? All these material characteristics posed real challenges for digitisation. In the video at the end of the exhibition, Axelle from meemoo explains how these challenges were addressed].  

[Did you know that assigning content, material and other data is called “metadata annotation”? Metadata annotation therefore makes it possible to access and consult archives.] 

DIGITISATION      

Digitising glass plates is not an easy task. Each glass plate was photographed separately. Negatives had to be exposed from below, while positives and glass plates with labels were also exposed from above. The glass plate was placed perpendicular to the lens, with the emulsion side facing upwards, at a distance. Only then could the image be captured.  

[Want to know more? The website totindetail.be tells you all about meemoo's various digitisation projects. For those who prefer listening to reading, there is also a podcast!] 

DE GLASPLAAT IN DE COLLECTIE VAN AMSAB-ISG  

But what exactly is depicted on these more than 10,000 glass plates? Thanks to digitisation, we now have the opportunity to view the images up close for the first time.  

The unity of our collection in the image bank is based solely on their material uniformity. In terms of content, it comprises a wide variety of photographs within the broader field of social history. This diversity also stems from the fact that they come from different archive collections. In this exhibition, we focus on the two largest.  

The oldest is the Lateur collection, named after the collector who donated it. Lateur probably bought many of the glass plates from private collections at flea markets. As a result, we know very little to nothing about the photographer or the people in the photographs. The other subcollection is that of the newspapers Vooruit and Volksgazet. These photographs have a completely different approach but have also lost much of the original context in which they were taken. 

Nevertheless, both subcollections bear witness to a specific era, each with its own complexities and challenges. For example, they both raise questions about copyright and, by extension, portrait rights.  

[Did you know that your artistic work is protected by copyright for as long as you live and for 70 years after your death? For example, if you create a painting and someone publishes that painting in a book, they must have your permission and you can also request compensation. After your death, your heirs must be contacted. Portrait rights, on the other hand, stipulate that you must ask a person's permission when you would further distribute an image of that person.]    

LATEUR COLLECTION 

This collection covers the period from the end of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century. At that time, photographs were mainly taken by – and for – the upper echelons of society. Nevertheless, the images provide a snapshot of that period, which undoubtedly makes them historically valuable.  

This subcollection entered our archive as a single entity, but in reality, it is not. It was donated by one person, but encompasses dozens of (unknown) lives. The context has often been completely lost, leaving more questions than answers. Ethical questions also arise: did these people want their photographs to end up in an archive? And did they agree to have their picture taken? Nevertheless, we want to display the images. As a historical source, but also as witnesses to a bygone era. 

A LOOK INSIDE  

First, we look inside as outsiders. We see intimate images of people in their own homes interacting with each other. A glimpse of the houses, interiors, fashion, means of transport and leisure activities of that period.  

THE WORLD OUTSIDE  

Holiday snaps or the street around the corner were also captured on camera. And even the working man could not escape the lens. 

FRANS AND MARIA  

We don't really get much more than their names and a few dates here and there. The photos can be dated between approximately 1922 and 1946. The series shows a glimpse of the lives of Frans and Maria. They pose, separately and together, playfully and sometimes very intimately, with friends and family. This is how we get to know “Uncle Prosper” or “Father”. And with friends such as “Nant” and “Gerarda”. Place names such as “St. Anna[bos]” and “Merxem” appear in the descriptions, as does a restaurant called “Lekkerbek”, which used to be in Waasmunster. It is therefore likely that they came from Antwerp or the surrounding area.  

Frans was probably a member of a photography club. We can deduce this from the many posed photographs. And it may also explain why we have so much information about this series. The glass negatives were carefully stored in envelopes, each with a description. In this way, Frans and Maria created their own photo archive. 

GABY LOGELAIN  

 

A very chance discovery, but one that immediately caught our attention: a picture of a girl posing with a chalk drawing, signed “Gaby Logelain” and dated “1925”. ​​  

After some research, we dare to suggest that Gaby could well be the daughter of painter Henri Logelain.  ​​  

The second daughter of Henri and his wife, born in 1916, was named Gaby. Moreover, a work by Henri Logelain from 1934 is titled “Bietje, mijn dochter” (Bietje, my daughter). If you look closely, you can see clear similarities between Gaby in the photo and the woman in the painting. 

NEWSPAPERS 

In total, we store around half a million photographs from the newspapers Vooruit (published by sm Het Licht) and Volksgazet at Amsab-ISG, and from 1978 onwards also from their successor De Morgen. This also includes the glass plates. These are mainly glass negatives, accounting for around 5,250 photographs.  

These contrast sharply with the photographs of Lateur's private collection. The glass plates from the newspaper collection date from a later period, mainly the 1950s and 1960s. The images were intended for a wide audience and were taken by professional photographers. The collection of glass negatives consists exclusively of national photo reportages by the newspaper's own photographers. Press agencies were called upon to provide images from abroad.   

The photographs were intended to illustrate the news articles. That is why, where possible, we also show them in the context for which they were originally created. By linking the glass plates to the articles in which they appeared, we can uncover the stories behind the images. 

 

 

What did newspapers contain in the 1950s and 1960s? Broadly speaking, newspapers at that time contained the same sections as they do today. There was front page news, national and foreign affairs, and of course sports. But lighter topics were also covered. For example, there was a regular section for horoscopes or cartoons, and readers were given recommendations for cultural outings in the “Where to go today” section. Certain pages were filled with advertisements for powders, food, clothing and the latest technological gadgets.  

Nevertheless, the newspapers of that time cannot be compared to those of today. The products advertised were often available in the Vooruit’s cooperative supermarkets. During elections, only campaigns by the BSP [the socialist party in Flanders at the time] were given visibility, and a large part of the news was about trade unions and socialist associations, such as harmonies and community centres.  

After all, society was still very pillarised at the time. Newspapers were therefore much more politically biased, which was reflected in the reporting and, by extension, the photographs. 

WHAT WE DIDN'T FIND  

In all honesty, we have to admit that it was rather exceptional that we were able to link a photograph to the accompanying newspaper article.  

After a photograph appeared in the newspaper, the negative was stored away in a cupboard. Here and there, we can read a date, a place, or perhaps an event on the original box, but in most cases, we don’t have anything. Based on the information we do have, we sometimes managed to match the two, but for the vast majority, it proved to be an impossible task. The context has disappeared and only exists in the newspapers themselves. 

OLD SOURCES – NEW TECHNOLOGIES   

Today, the heritage sector is actively exploring the possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI) for describing and completing public access of heritage. Amsab-ISG is a regular partner in projects that use these technologies.   

For example, meemoo has launched a number of projects to enrich audiovisual heritage (video and audio) with metadata annotation based on AI. These projects use speech recognition (converting spoken language into searchable text), the recognition of people, organisations and places, and facial recognition in video, among other things. Meanwhile, newer AI applications are also being used, such as voice recognition (who is speaking?), audio classification (what can you hear?) and facial recognition in photographs. 

AI is also particularly suitable for collections of which the context has been (partly) lost, or for completing public access of complex and difficult-to-access collections. A good example is the Glashelder project by our colleagues at the Boekentoren Gent. This project investigates how existing Visual Language Models and other AI techniques can be used to describe their image collection of around 62,000 digitised glass plates. At the same time, the project considers important ethical and legal questions. For example, what role remains for human expertise, and when can AI descriptions be considered reliable?   

With necessary caution, AI could therefore help us in the future to better describe and make publicly accessible large amounts of visual material, such as our 10,500 glass plates. 

Meer weten over Glashelder
Project 'Glashelder' | Boekentoren

 

Meer weten over het Hermesproject van meemoo
Hermes: encouraging media reuse | meemoo