By way of this blog I will introduce some of the crew that will be on the scow expedition and their roles/research interests during the trip. People will come and go during the trip. By posting some of their pictures and stories you, the blog follower, will know a bit about who the crew is and what we are trying to achieve. Lene and Andreas Grinde are from Denmark and have a long association with vertebrate paleontology, being voluteers with the Royal Tyrrell Museum since 2004. Their pictures (above) and story:
Scow 2010
To live and to work as a field photographer in the early 20th Century
First a brief note on who I am. I met Darren Tanke in Dinosaur Provincial Park (DPP) in 2004, during a short dig together with my husband Andreas Grinde. Andreas is a Natural History Conservator and has specialized in the conservation of dinosaur fossils. He was invited by Drs. Eva Koppelhus and Philip J. Currie to the DPP badlands and I went along to see what all the fuss was about. I was impressed, great camp, wonderful people, outstanding landscapes and the amount of bones was unbelievable.
I am a Photograph Conservator by profession and I am studying and practicing historical photograph processes, which is the link to the Scow 2010: I will be the photographer on board, taking photographs as done in 1910 and Andreas will apart from digging/prospecting be my assistant.
Andreas has worked extensively with the conservation and preparation of vertebrate paleontological material and this expedition will also give a priceless look into the history of fieldwork as done in the early 20th Century. The experiences will provide a better understanding of the hardship that was endured during the months of fieldwork, which are aspects not often reflected upon when viewing the finished objects prepared and exhibited in museums.
Our objectives for the work and the research on Scow 2010:
1. The trip will be the culmination of months of preparations and research into the photographic processes used during the 1910 trip on the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) scow Mary Jane: a combination of gelatin black and white glass plate negatives, which I will have pre-made or will be coating during the trip. The develoment and printing will be done in a primitive transportable darkroom (backpack-tent combination), similar to portable darkrooms used around 1900, during various expeditions. The preparations, as well as the work on board the scow, will be carefully documented for future research, publications and lectures.
2. Important historical digging sites will, in collaboration with Darren Tanke, be documented as done in 1910 by the photographer(s) on the AMNH scow Mary Jane, as well as daily activities on board the scow and on shore. The photographic techniques used will be the making of glass plate negatives using the large format field camera, as well as a smaller vintage black and white roll film camera, not specified yet, for snapshots.
The visual understanding gathered from these vintage-styled photographs of the expedition will directly link the present to the past. The photographs will act as communicators of the past, by showing the environmental change of the surrounding landscape compared to the 1910's, as well as tell the story of the expedition, as it would have looked like 100 years ago.
This trip is an outstanding opportunity to explore the making of a historical photographic process in an authentic vintage environment, as well as a unique chance to learn-by-doing and becoming a 1910 photographer.
The experience gathered by the 2010 scow trip will be of great importance to the field of photograph conservation, as well it will give better understanding of the historical photographic process and the materials found in collections. It will also give a unique insight into the complicated logistics, as well as the hard work and skills required during photographic expeditioons.
The story behind and the gathered information in relation to the photographic research will, in collaboration with Darren Tanke, be published in conservation-related magazines, or other relevant periodicals for conservators, curators, collectors, and others interested.
We are very much looking forward to the trip!!!!
Lene and Andreas Grinde, Denmark.
