The O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, Virginia exhibits work from its namesake, O. Winston Link. Link was an American commercial photographer most well known for his extensive work shooting steam locomotives in the late 1950’s. He also pioneered night photography, as he was constantly finding new ways to utilize flash photography.
Link’s primary photography project was working along the Norfolk and Western rail line, which snakes through much of Southwest Virginia and into West Virginia. As such, the Roanoke station along the line became one of Link’s favorite spots to do work. The museum is situated in an original passenger rail station that was remodeled to house both the museum and the Roanoke visitor’s center.
My first day at the museum involved a full tour of the museum and run-down on O Winston Link’s work and life, learning some of the basic procedures of museum work in the process. Every exhibition is crafted carefully, and a lot of thought is put into which photos are used and where they are put on display. Each section of the exhibition rooms have to flow visually to create the right experience.
I also realized very quickly how essential volunteers are to the museum’s operation. It’s a rather small museum, with only three staff members, so volunteers are necessary to keep everything running smoothly. One of the many responsibilities of the staff, among many other organizational tasks, is to make sure volunteers are scheduled and productive each week.
My major project for the length of the internship is archival, however. The OWL museum was given a very large collection of O. Winston Link’s personal negative photos (about 2,200 total) that have yet to be digitally cataloged and stored. It’s my job to go through as many of these negatives as possible in the museum’s archive and catalog, condition, and prepare them to go into the museum’s new cold storage facility.
This process involves looking at each photo individually, with the help of some photography tools, and recording a description and condition of the negative. This is because negatives can deteriorate after a certain shelf life in the incorrect humidity. These are running out of time at about 60 years old, which is where my project comes into play.
Prior to moving the negatives into cold storage, they have to be properly packaged which is a rather thorough process that involves a lot of archival equipment. They are stored at very low temperatures with a controlled humidity to ensure that the negatives aren’t damaged.
