More than a thousand words

Thoughts, reflections and learnings along the way.

One year later, halfway there

A little over a year ago I embarked on a journey of great personal interest. My goal was to document, archive and publish a book about my grandfather Joe H. Shipp’s photography. Today marks a significant milestone along that long journey: I offer for the first time a preview of photographs from the first half of the archive—hopefully making my interest yours.

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Archive process

Today I'm taking a little break from the archiving to write a little update and to explain to anyone whom is curious, just what I am doing exactly. The archive process is pretty simple, but in this post I'll try to break it down for you. First, let me say that this is not a science and I do not consider myself an Archivist—real archivist are trained professionals and are probably rolling their eyes at my even mention of the word. Second, the following process is the result of much trial and error. When I started this processI had no idea how to go about it. I'm still figuring it out. So, without further adieu… the archive process thus far:

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The mystery lady

You never know what you're going find when you start digging through thousands and thousands of your grandfather's old negatives. When I popped open the oldest box labeled "Negs 1949 1950 1951" and started thumbing through the hundreds of 4x5 inch brown paper envelopes I was certainly very conscious of that feeling of mystery. Just what stories lay waiting to be told in these boxes of paper and acetate? One of these stories is very mysterious indeed, and stars none other than my grandfather, Joe, and an intriguing young lady that I now know as "Cyntra Ann".

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