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Archive Collections at HHC: Photographic Material

Guide to material held at Hull History Centre arranged by research theme, record creator and document type, with copies of published source guides.

“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still”

Dorothea Lange 

Photographic Material

Research Themes Supported

Hull History Centre holds large numbers of photographic materials. Such records can aid research into:

  • Changing Urban Landscapes
  • Changing Rural Landscapes
  • Local Geography
  • Buildings History and Architecture
  • Impact of WWII on Towns
  • Portraiture
  • History of Photography
  • Protest Imagery
  • Depictions of Leisure
  • Depictions of Working Class Life
  • Depictions of the Landed Classes
  • Modes of Transport
  • Seafaring
  • Dock Development
  • Local People

Typical Record Formats

The following are common photographic image supports: photographic prints on paper; postcards; framed negative slides; glass plate negatives; rolls of negatives; digital images.

The following are common categories of information which feature in this record type:

  • People
  • Buildings
  • Events
  • Vehicles
  • Scenery

List of collections

The following PDF contains a list of key photographic material held at HHC.

Additional supporting material

The following secondary literature provides contextual background and useful further information when trying to understand and use this record type:

  • Beaumont Newhall, The History of Photography: From 1839 to the Present (1984)
  • Ian Jeffrey, Photography – A Concise History (1981)