The Royal Engineers in Halifax:
Photographing the Garrison City, 1870-1885
Digital Conservation and Presentation
The digital world has opened up new and wonderful ways to make archives accessible online. It has also allowed for the 'digital conservation' of material as it is prepared for presentation on the World Wide Web.
Our goal is not to alter the original intent of the photographer, but to repair damage done over time. With this collection of glass-plate negatives created by the Royal Engineers during the years 1870 to 1885, the emulsion or chemical material comprising the image has, in the years since, scratched, flaked or crackled off the glass plate. We have minimized this damage by using appropriate software and digital techniques to 'clean up' the image that appears online. For example:
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| This is what the copy print looks like when the glass plate is used to create a positive. | This is what the Web-ready image looks like when it has been digitally cleaned-up. |
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| This is what the copy print looks like when the glass plate is used to create a positive. | This is what the Web-ready image looks like when it has been digitally cleaned-up. |
We also use Zoomview to present images in greater detail by allowing the image to be magnified.
The viewpoint media player plug-in is required to be downloaded and installed.
 click image to zoom
In the notes which accompany the original image, Harry Piers mentions a lamp post: "Near the barn is an old wooden lamp-post (for oil lamp) with street-sign, as used in the suburbs before 1884." click to zoom He also identifies buildings across the Northwest Arm: "In distance, near the Arm Bridge, St. James (Church of England) and Bethany Presbyterian Churches, and Henderson and Pott's large stone Paints Works (formerly Black's Grist Mill), burnt down about 1887, on stream from Chocolate Lake; also Hosterman's houses." click to zoom
Enjoy the digital work that has brought this wonderful collection to the World Wide Web!
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print version
