The Close-Up Cloud introduces an approach towards visualization of collections that is challenging the understanding of overview and detail as something inherently opposed. We introduce a technique that clusters iconographic details of images in order to reveal visual patterns prevalent in a collection.
A collection of around 1700 glass negatives by early photographer and previous draughtsman Wilhelm Weimar (1857-1917) has been preserved at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MKG). On negative plates measuring up to 18x24 cm and over a period of 17 years, Weimar photographed art and craft objects from the rapidly growing collection. The range of motifs in these reproduction photographs stretches from massive chests to elegant porcelain. In addition, the negatives provide information on how the photographer staged objects according to size and material, and which technical aids he used. A selection of 144 negatives from the holdings is accessible in the Close-Up Cloud via keywords that have been assigned to the respective pictures.
The Close-Up Cloud is designed to support the visual exploration of a collection of historical glass negatives. The close-up overview invites to familiarize oneself with the collection and explore its richness in visual details. The sizes of the images represent the quantitative distribution of the respective iconographic details in the collection. The close-ups become visual navigation elements for exploring the collection. The visualization makes it possible to experience the glass negatives in a way that would not be possible with the physical objects. Inspired by a light table revealing the wealth of details of individual glass negatives, the Close-Up Cloud extends the access to an overview of all keywords assigned in the collection and invites viewers to engage in interactive exploration.
Wilhelm Weimar's glass negatives are part of the photography and new media collection at the MKG. They were made accessible within the framework of the interdisciplinary research programme PriMus - Doctorate at the Museum (cooperation between Leuphana University Lüneburg and six museums in the Hamburg region) from 2017 to 2019 and are published in the MKG Collection Online.
Close-Up Cloud was a student research project carried out at Fachhochschule Potsdam in cooperation with the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg funded by the Brandenburg Centre for Media Studies (ZeM).