Photogrammar is a project that aims to use old photographs to get information. They use this project to help show unknown photographs that have never been seen, and are making them public.
The project’s director is Lauren Tilton. Leading the data curation and analysis is Taylor Arnold. The web application is developed and maintained by Rob Nelson. The website was designed by Nathaniel Ayers, with GIS support from Justin Madron. The grant manager was Laura Wexler.
The project began in Fall 2010 as a collaboration between Lauren Tilton, a graduate student in American Studies, and Taylor Arnold, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Statistics. The concept of Photogrammar was developed over conversations about how to use statistics and data science to increase access to large cultural data sets. The prototype, a digital, public humanities site for search and discovery of a photographic archive through a map and search, and NEH grant were a final project for Introduction to Public Humanities, a course taught by Dr. Laura Wexler as a part of the Public Humanities program that she helped found.
The project is maintained by the Digital Scholarship Lab (DSL) and Distant Viewing Lab (DV Lab) at the University of Richmond.
Why “Photogrammar”
The term “Photogrammar” merges “photography” and “grammar,” symbolizing a fresh approach to interpreting and understanding photographs. It draws inspiration from figures like Roland Barthes, who delved into semiotics and photographic theory, and Jacque Bertrand and Leland Wilkinson, who pioneered the grammar of graphics, a framework for understanding how data visualizations convey meaning. Thus, the name reflects the integration of photography theory with data visualization principles.