Things As Yet Unknown : a Finding Aid for Selected 8 x 10 Negatives from the Roger Mertin Archive

This thesis and project centers on a portion of the 8x10 inch negatives of the Roger Mertin Archive at George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, in Rochester, New York. Roger Mertin, a once‐prominent photographer, came of age artistically during a turning point in photographic history—he widespread “cademization” of the field. Sorely under‐researched, Mertin’ work remains a critical example of an aesthetic attitude exhibited by a number of influential photographers from his generation. Since taking custody of the Archive, GEH has kept it in storage, relatively undisturbed. Throughout most of 2012, an item‐level spreadsheet was compiled and the objects were catalogued and given accession numbers. In satisfaction of the requirements for a Master’ degree in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, this thesis outlines, discusses and defends my methodology. The resulting finding aid also includes appendices thought to be useful to current and future researchers.