For my DGAH project, I chose the Cushman metadata set spanning the years 1966-1967. My aim for this project was to provide a glimpse into the photos Cushman took within one photographic genre, particularly within the architectural landscapes genre. I created an Omeka digital collection focusing on this genre. The data set is sourced from the Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection published by Indiana University Libraries in partnership with the Indiana University Archives. Cushman is an alum of Indiana University known for using Kodachrome color slides to depict naturalistic images of everyday life. My data cleaning process first included moving the data from the original CSV file into a customized Google Sheet. I then browsed through the metadata categories from each picture that Cushman took. I ordered the photos in alphabetical order according to the genre the photo belonged to. I focused on the architectural photographs Cushman took and created an Omeka collection of 20 photographs categorized as architectural photographs. When searching through his images I realized that some photographs were taken at the same time from a slightly different angle. I made sure not to have more than two repeats of the same photo so I could provide variety within my exhibition of Cushman’s work. The 20 images I put into the collection were chosen to provide a quick glimpse into Cushman’s photos within this category. Creating the digital exhibition was a tedious process and often included going back and making sure the metadata was correct in order to ensure an accurate account of the photo being displayed. While my digital exhibition is helpful for providing a quick glimpse into Cushman’s work, it is not recommended for those wanting to dive deeper into the several types of photographs he took. I only displayed one genre of the different photographs and didn’t repeat the same image at a different angle more than twice. I learned that digital exhibitions can be a very useful tool for making an open-source gallery. I never knew or heard of anything like the digital special collection created by Indiana University. The impact Cushman made in the world of photography due to this collection being published shows the powerfulness of digital open-source collections.
