Visual Materials in the Archive: Determining and Maintaining Value in a Postmodern Climate

This paper engages with the existing body of archival literature that addresses what has been termed “documentary art” in order to address questions regarding the treatment of visual materials in archival practice and theory. It will also borrow and apply theories from the disciplines of material culture studies and art history in order to form a comprehensive understanding of the overall treatment of visual materials in a variety of collections. Through the lens of such theories, a discourse emerges that addresses the larger implications of the bibliographical treatment of visual materials within the archive, leading to the proposal of a solution to the problem of maintaining archival value in both physical and digital form