Present images: photographic archives in ethnographic collections By Alison Devine Nordstrom

Nordstrom analyzes the treatment (or mistreatment) of photographs in archives and ethnographic collections. She states that photographs were seen as either two things: relics of a crude and ancient science that is useless in present day, or as racist and embarrassing imperialist evidence that has no role in today’s more politically correct society.
Nordstrom goes on to cite several collections of photographs in museums and galleries. Photographs in even the most renowned museums are poorly cared for. They are often kept in loose folders where air, moisture, or acidity can get in, and are many times casually available to the public. This produces the risk of vandalism or theft. Although Nordstrom states that the costs of photographic conservation are high, the mere ways that these photographs are displayed become condescending. Simplistic geographic headings, and lumping together many different groups of people into one heading “reinforces the same stereotypes in current thought, or encourages a smugly uncritical ‘That was then and this is now’ attitude that exacerbates the denial of present-day racism.”
The ways in which these relics of the past are cared for by famous institutions shows a great deal about our society and what values it favors. The United States National Anthropological Archives at the Smithsonian Institution developed a successful program in which is used and interpreted ethnographic photographs by descendants of their subjects. Many photographs of Native Americans, organized by tribe, were identified and researched by Native American interns. They found relevance to their people, and thus took more interest. I think incorporating the subjects or the descendants of subjects in photography research and display is a great way to show respect for ancient relics. Not only does it help people to understand more about their own roots, but it also prevents the audience from looking at the photograph from an aloof or privileged point of view.