Once in a while I should write about some tech stuff… and what other topic than the one that us visual artists care most about: our archives…

Many articles on the web about this, but I’ve always felt that they assume incorrect things. Obviously I don’t want to go as far as being safe for Extinction Events, or being able to administer my archive on my 1987 Nokia phone… let’s say that I stay within certain limits of reason/feasibility, given the fact that I’m a one-man operation. I guess I’m writing this as much for myself as for others :-)

So what do I want to achieve? I want, once and for all, peace in my mind as to the archive of my images, videos, designs and products (magazines, books, posters, etc) (all four of which exist in both analog and/or digital form): that they are secured and controlled accessible.

I want this to be the case for past work, and “live” work that I am doing right now (because of the long term projects I’m involved in). And obviously I want to be able to add future projects.

For that, I have sketched out an archive system, both digital and analog, both online and offline, both home and somewhere else. I believe that this combination offers me the greatest flexibility in working, security for my archived work, and accessibility for others involved. As always, it is a combination of things, tailored precisely to the kind of person I am and the knowledge I possess.

It is that archive system that I’ll be describing here over a series of posts. This first article can serve as an introduction, touching base with different aspects with as much common sense as possible. These are (loosely) the topics that I’ll dive into:

• Description, purpose & terminology
• Archive typology + relationships
• File typology + relationships
• Keywording + IPTC meta data
• File naming + Folder structure

Note the above should work for digital as well as analog: go ahead, read the above topics again, while thinking of film or original prints in a fireproof cabinet of sorts.

I’m not intending to get into debates which technology is best, or which system is better: yes, of course online storage is only 99.99% secure, of course buying all hard disks from the same brand is slightly more risky, of course we don’t really know (yet) if archival quality ink jet prints actually will last 100+ years. And the list goes on. My main point here is: if I make a good combination of all these “ninety-nine percents”, and then relate them to my particular situation, and given the fact I can tweak along the way by adding or changing parts, then i will de facto achieve my optimal “mix”.

Important is that I believe that every archive system should be tailored towards the particular situation of every photographer… Many photographers will have different particulars…. Mine are as follows:

• I travel a lot
• I own a house
• I know technology
• I use a laptop + external disks for at least part of the process
• I create digital (images, video, design, text) and analog (images, video, design, text) content, often mixed
• I work with “stories”, “projects” and “products”
• I have limited time
• I’m not rich :-/

Here is an abstract description of what my archive could be, given the above particulars:

My work is stored across several archives that differ according to type, format, location and accessibility.
Every archive contains a number of files that each have a floating status, format, type, date and a fixed identifier.

What is the reason that I even have an archive in the first place?

The purpose of my archive is to offer security for the original files and master files, workability for the edit files,
and accessibility for the copy files.

OK that was the hardest part…. really. To be able to describe in abstract terms, means you have to have thought this through and tested it all the way to the end: the above description and the purpose were the last things that I distilled after sketching and testing the whole system.
Again, this description or purpose can be very different for others… this is just what I feel is optimal for the way I live, the way I work, and the way I do business.

So now an explanation of the terms used above. Again, I cannot stress enough to think both digital AND analog.

Archive Type:
On one side we have an EDIT and a DEF archive, on the other side we have a LIVE archive, a BACKUP archive, or a VAULT archive. More about this terminology later, but both the EDIT archive and the DEF archive are live, backed up, and vaulted.

Archive Format:
Digital format (HDD, memory card, optical media,…) or Analog format (acid free box with images, filing cabinet, folder,…)

Archive Location:
The physical location of the archive

Archive Accessibility:
How can the archive be accessed: secured physically, digitally, location, connected to power, connected to internet….

File Status:
Original (singular), Edit (work in progress), Master (edition, multiple), Version (connected to job/story/project)

File Type:
Digital, Print, Film or Tape

File Format:
Digital formats (DNG-RAW-PSD-TIF-JPG || MOV-AIFF-MP3 || TXT-INDD-AI-PDF || etc…) and Analog formats (paper type, film type, chemical type, ink type, press type…)

File Date:
Creation date of the Master File (or Original File, if it is the Original File)

File Identifier:
A unique serial number

Security:
Protection against loss/damage/theft

Workability:
Optimal circumstance to be able to work with the archive and its files, depending on the situation

Accessibility:
Levels of accessibility by myself vs. other people (physical and virtual)

Floating:
can change over time until a Master or a Version is reached

Fixed:
Does not change after original creation date

Phew. Enough already… Next time more in detail about archive type, format, location and accessibility.

An interesting footnote: Getting this solution op and running will need an initial investment of max $5,ooo (hardware, software, online storage), and 6 months of work (given the fact that I keep on working my projects as I usually do). It seems like a lot of trouble, but once up and running, this can all be integrated into my standard workflow without extra time needed for future projects, and an annual cost of less than $1,000 (mainly projected estimates of buying hardware and sofware updates and paying for online storage).

The hardest part, as usual, is consistently keywording and captioning works. Don’t we all hate doing that one….

a

I wonder how “wide” a photographer should be playing these days. It seems obvious to me that the time has passed that a photographer is merely required to make a good image.

Input has expanded from photography to video, internet, graphic design, writing,…
Output has grown from just “a book” to a smart mix of different things that make up a whole experience (book, magazine, video, multimedia, website, gallery, exhibition, …)

… and all of it seems to be crucially important. To be able to “widen your output” as a photographer, seems to me to require not only many more “input” skills than you are used to, but more importantly clever thinking what to “output” and how to combine those elements.

After I designed my book, I felt the need to be able to take my images further than just treating them as “photographs” in the traditional way. Not that the book is incomplete in any way, don’t get me wrong… it’s absolutely perfect… but it is also just one of the many parts of the story that is Yakuza.

(FYI the book will be incredibly beautiful and relevant when it hits the presses — for which I’m going to need some very specific help — but more on that next time)

I feel that by adding the stories I tell to my images, in a different way than is possible online, is an incredible enrichment to the story. So I designed a magazine that combines all the above into a package, the way that I actually envision it to be:

I’m not going to lift the veil just yet regarding other things that I’ll be doing while “playing wide”… but 893 Magazine gets the honor of being first in line.

So as of now I’m selling it as a hardcopy. Exciting… I’ll publish an issue twice a year, as long as the project goes.

I’ve worked on it for two months solid, and set the price at what I think it should be… $35 (equals about 25€ or 3000¥), so go ahead… indulge, enjoy… and please spread the word! post it to your blog, twitter it, call up your mom or shout it out in the streets… I depend on your help getting word out there. Seriously.

So grab a copy here… if you dare.

(there’s also a sneak peek option)

Yes I know, it’s a big plunge – this is my first step to carve my way into independently publishing my work.

Obviously this is only the tip of the iceberg, and getting the complete Yakuza project out there will take on many shapes and forms. I’m just secretly hoping that 893 Magazine will gain enough momentum with you buying and spreading the word…….

So there it is. You guys have the scoop. With hopefully many more to come.

Antoine D’Agata with beer and cigarette – back staircase on the 6th floor, Brooklyn, New York, 2009

(image by Kerry Payne)

So proud and humbled by what we achieved in little over 10 months…

Check out the post on BURN Magazine…

B+W magazine, special issue #68, 2009

Thanks to my dear friend Angelo Guarracino and Giovanna Lalatta from SPAZIOFARINI6 gallery in Milan,
6 large high quality prints from “sugar” are featured in the Milan Photofestival VIII.

Needless to say, i am very proud to be part of this event… the opening is March 15th, the festival runs till April 15th…

Go ahead, jump in the car and be there, take a look in person, soak it in, and support me by buying a limited edition print!

oh and… you can view a pdf of the leaflet.

cheers,
anton

hey folks…

proud to tell you that “sugar” is being featured over at burn magazine, an evolving journal for emerging photographers….

burn is curated by magnum photographer and dear friend david alan harvey…

hello.

The story “sugar” will be featured on slideluck potshow DC III this weekend (saturday nov 15th, 7.00pm EST). They teamed up with Fotoweek/DC. i feel greatly honored to be included… so please go and check it out…

Braakland ZheBilding…

ten young actors in a play about
their fears
their hopes
their secrets
their shames
their inability
to do anything about it…

- set in an abandoned hospital wing -

“i’ve got so much to do, so much to achieve, how can i ever have the time to do it all…”