Our approach to digitisation and presentation

Our tasks inherit the same photographic traditions which have built our collections. Rather than scanning, we use high-resolution cameras for two reasons:

It’s a fast process: with two cameras running we can capture up to 5,000 images a week.

Photography allows a subtle amount of raking light to reveal the surface texture and composite nature of the mounted images.

Our digitally photographed images retain as much of the character of the original as possible: the slight line of shadow to show that a print has been stuck by human hands onto card, the surface texture of the emulsion, the fingerprints (or lack of) which give us a sense of the people who might have handled the object, folder or box. In adopting this approach we are safeguarding objects as they transition to a (post) digital culture and avoiding the various cleaning processes that often distance digital surrogates from the physical world from which they are drawn.

In representing the materiality of the collection we are making a statement that its publication online is not a year zero. Rather it’s a sympathetic transition which, through the digital celebration of materiality, connects directly with the work of colleagues who have created and curated the physical collections, inspired by Martin Conway and his daughter Agnes.

To ensure the memory of the physicality of the Conway Library is not lost, we have a 3D model of both the Conway Photo Library and the Digitisation Studio, produced by David Fletcher by merging 6057 photos taken in February 2023 with a Sony a7R III and processed in Agisoft Metashape: Conway Photo Library & Digitisation Studio, by artfletch.

This approach is summarised in our manifesto, which we have enacted as far as possible in this project:

• Honour the physical form and integrity of the original work.
• Photograph, never scan.
• Use lighting to reveal texture, structure, and composition.
• Never crop to neaten.
• Always show the edges.
• Never re-touch. A white point calibration is sufficient.
• Show where any transcribed metadata has come from.
• Photograph backs containing information.
• Photograph and catalogue folders, boxes, and shelves to contextualise and reinforce the collection’s parallel existence in the physical world and provide clues to the digital view about its structure and formation.
• Don’t let basic metadata hold back publication.

Our equipment and processes

We use two Phase One cameras: the XF IQ3 80MP and the XF IQ3 100MP, Capture One CH software, Kaiser copy stands and Rosco LitePad LED lights. Image quality is informed by the Metamorfoze guidelines. We calibrate each camera twice a day against an X-Rite ColorChecker SG chart.

Our primary work unit is a Capture One session, each corresponding to five Conway boxes (typically between 300 and 500 images). On a typical day, volunteers can complete a session in the morning or afternoon in each of our two studios. Using the cultural heritage (CH) version of Capture One means that images are cropped and automatically straightened as soon as the shutter is released.

Sessions are processed throughout the day into high-resolution tiff files, converted to jp2 format at various levels of compression depending on the collection, and stored in preservation and presentation format pending publication on our website.

Over the forthcoming weeks, we will publish our complete instructions for volunteers on accessioning, photography, transcription of box spine and folder cover metadata, attributions of named photographers, and copyright research.

To sign up as a volunteer please head to https://timecounts.org/courtauldvolunteers. For information about the photographic collections please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For any copyright queries contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..