Florence Declaration
Encyclopedia
The Florence Declaration – Recommendations for the Preservation of Analogue Photo Archives is an initiative of the Photo Library of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz
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and social sciences
. The Florence Declaration was presented on 31 October 2009 in the framework of the International Conference “Photo Archives and the Photographic Memory of Art History – Part II” (Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, 29–31 October 2009). Since then the Declaration has received the backing and been subscribed by numerous international scholars.
searchable forms, the Florence Declaration supports the view that, while the digitization of photographic collections is undoubtedly an aim worth pursuing, digital photos can only in part replace the original photographic print. Digital archives cannot therefore entirely take over the task of analogue archives. For technologies not only condition the methods of transmission, conservation and use of documents, but also shape their content. An analogue photo and its digital reproduction should therefore be considered two distinct objects. They each have different features. They cannot be interchanged. Since fields of research and topics of investigation in the human and social sciences
have greatly changed in recent years, and analogue photography itself has increasingly become a focus of scholarly research, it is essential, according to the Florence Declaration, to overcome the traditional equivalence between analogue photographs and their digital reproduction
.
and its system. Particular emphasis is placed on the tactile features of analogue photos, which are indispensable for their use in research and which are inevitably lost during the process of digital reproduction
. The digital format is unable to reconstruct the “biography” of each photo in all its aspects and can only have a partial character. The combination of visual and material qualities with which an analogue photo is distinguished would, in the digitization process itself, be lost and its complexity inevitably reduced. Consequently, the idea of total accessibility connected to the digital format through database
s would be illusory. While internet
access is ideally independent of place and time, it also limits access to a single component of the photographic object: the digitalized image. Since digitization projects are necessarily bound up with a selection of particular aspects of the material, a wholly digitalized “capture” of the object with all its qualities would be impossible. The Florence Declaration further points out the inherent obsolescence and instability of the digital format itself: so far little reliable information is available on whether the long-term archiving of digital information is viable and how far online databases and internet structures can be maintained in the long run.
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz
The Kunsthistorische Institut in Florenz is one of the oldest research institutions dedicated to the History of Art and Architecture in Italy, where facets of European, Mediterranean and global history are subject to close scrutiny....
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Background
With this Declaration, published in German, English, Italian, French and Polish, the aim of the Kunsthistorisches Institut is to foster understanding of the fundamental importance of analogue photos and photo archives for the future of the arts, humanitiesHumanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
and social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
. The Florence Declaration was presented on 31 October 2009 in the framework of the International Conference “Photo Archives and the Photographic Memory of Art History – Part II” (Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, 29–31 October 2009). Since then the Declaration has received the backing and been subscribed by numerous international scholars.
Content of the Declaration
Against the background of the ongoing debate on the complete digitization of photo archives and the frequent demands thus being made for the gradual winding up of photo archives and their conversion into digital and internetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
searchable forms, the Florence Declaration supports the view that, while the digitization of photographic collections is undoubtedly an aim worth pursuing, digital photos can only in part replace the original photographic print. Digital archives cannot therefore entirely take over the task of analogue archives. For technologies not only condition the methods of transmission, conservation and use of documents, but also shape their content. An analogue photo and its digital reproduction should therefore be considered two distinct objects. They each have different features. They cannot be interchanged. Since fields of research and topics of investigation in the human and social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
have greatly changed in recent years, and analogue photography itself has increasingly become a focus of scholarly research, it is essential, according to the Florence Declaration, to overcome the traditional equivalence between analogue photographs and their digital reproduction
Reproducibility
Reproducibility is the ability of an experiment or study to be accurately reproduced, or replicated, by someone else working independently...
.
Importance of analogue photos
In this context, a particular significance is attributed in the Florence Declaration to the character of analogue photos as material objects. Each analogue photo is thus said to possess a “biography” of its own that is expressed in various aspects such as the moment of its production, the technology used, the aim of its production, and its incorporation in the context of a particular archiveArchive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
and its system. Particular emphasis is placed on the tactile features of analogue photos, which are indispensable for their use in research and which are inevitably lost during the process of digital reproduction
Reproducibility
Reproducibility is the ability of an experiment or study to be accurately reproduced, or replicated, by someone else working independently...
. The digital format is unable to reconstruct the “biography” of each photo in all its aspects and can only have a partial character. The combination of visual and material qualities with which an analogue photo is distinguished would, in the digitization process itself, be lost and its complexity inevitably reduced. Consequently, the idea of total accessibility connected to the digital format through database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
s would be illusory. While internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
access is ideally independent of place and time, it also limits access to a single component of the photographic object: the digitalized image. Since digitization projects are necessarily bound up with a selection of particular aspects of the material, a wholly digitalized “capture” of the object with all its qualities would be impossible. The Florence Declaration further points out the inherent obsolescence and instability of the digital format itself: so far little reliable information is available on whether the long-term archiving of digital information is viable and how far online databases and internet structures can be maintained in the long run.