Paul Messier, Director of the Lens Media Lab at Yale University’s Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, ahas nnounced that the lab will cease operations from 30 June 2025. Founded in 2015 with funding and vision from the John Pritzker Family Fund, the Lens Media Lab led a pioneering research program, integrating physics, data science, art history, and conservation science to study 20th century photographic materials. Through advanced analytical techniques, including large-scale measurement of physical and chemical properties, computer vision, and the creation of reference databases, the lab identified, classified, and contextualized thousands of photographic papers and prints. This interdisciplinary approach provided profound insights into expressive properties of paper, artistic practices, manufacturing histories, and preservation needs of photographic collections.
Reflecting on the lab’s achievements, Messier stated, “When we began our work, the idea of applying empirical measurements to establish a ground truth for interpreting creative practice was untested and novel. Through deep interdisciplinary collaboration, we opened new doors for art history and conservation.” The initial gift enabled Yale to acquire Messier’s reference collection of historic photographic papers—comprising over 7,500 examples identified by maker, brand, and date. Considered the largest of its kind globally, press accounts describe the collection as the 'genome' of black-and-white photography.
The lab also organized two major symposia at Yale. Material Immaterial: Photographs in the 21st Century(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) (2019) and Darkroom to Data(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) (2024) examined, respectively, the pivot from analog to digital photography and future research applications of the lab’s work.
In 2024, the lab launched Paperbase, an innovative online platform that integrates semantic descriptions with precise measurements of visual qualities—including reflectance, texture, and tone—to characterize the material properties of photographic papers from the 20th century. Built on over 95,000 data points and approximately 15,000 images from the LML reference collection, users praise Paperbase for its groundbreaking approach to data visualization.
An early and significant resource developed by the lab is TIPPS(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) (Tipped-In Photographic Prints), an app focused on photographic prints in international photography journals and manuals published between 1855 and 1900. Developed through a collaboration with Library of Congress researcher Adrienne Lungren and LML art historian Kappy Mintie, scholars widely cite TIPPS for its data exposing regional and international trade patterns in 19th century photography. Other notable contributions include an online compendium of manufacturer markings(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) applied to papers, and a site devoted to essays on the history of major manufacturers(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) of photographic materials.
Read more about the Lab here.
BPH has ask whether the online resources will remain available.
With thanks to Helen Trompeteler for flagging this news.
Comments