Photographic evanescence

Perusing family photographs...

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To horse! To school!

Charlotte: When was it taken?

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Emily: It’s Andrea on Chestnut with Mum beside her. So it must be about 1920.

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Charlotte: Your mother rode?

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Emily: Oh yes. Sent all us kids to school on horse.

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Charlotte: Do you have any other photos?

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Emily: I think most were thrown out after Dad died.

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Voice-over

Some people like to discard and declutter. Archivists tend by nature to be hoarders. Compiling family histories can be a bit like a lottery.

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Photographs in Tables

Stan is uncomfortable with Jan’s view of data and tables.

Stan: So you visited 30 museums in ten days?

Jan: For the purpose of finding out how technology encourages a more engaging and interactive experience for the visitor.

Stan: And you want to list the technological devices in a table. How many devices?

Jan: Eight or ten. Cameras, projectors, iPads, viewers, simulators, interactive booths, studios…

Stan: So you run technology down Column 1, and add the number of devices down Column 2.

Jan: Need more columns for other data. Like simulators could be flight simulators or code-making simulators. Need a column for photographs too.

Stan: Photographs? In a table?

Jan: Sure. Visuals are data too.

Stan: Huh. Next we’ll be seeing video clips in tables.

___________

Voice-over

Statisticians see data as numerical and linguists take words as data. Their tables are traditionally filled with alphanumeric data. Artists regard visual images as data, so it seems legitimate to include photographs in tables.
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