How you can help

by | Jan 28, 2026 | Conservation & Preservation, Help we need, Project & Workstreams, Research questions | 0 comments

We need help across a wide variety of tasks, initially to understand and conserve the 5,000 glass side images. As always, when dealing with a large project, we will need to break it down into manageable chunks, which can be managed by individuals or small teams. For a higher level view of the challenge, see the project breakdown here: The project

Conserve & Catalogue

We need help to conserve and catalogue the MacAndrew Photographic Archive. Containing 5,000 fragile glass slides, we need to review each one to determine:

  1. Condition
  2. Subjects in the image
  3. Confirm title
  4. Determine colour development process used
  5. Link to existing low resolution digital image
  6. Enter into Museum archive system (PastPerfect Web Edtion)
  7. Digitise to high resolution using Museum equipment
  8. Rehouse in acid free envelope and Museum grade packaging

Historical verification

Vernon MacAndrew had a wide range of interests from sailing to shell collecting, to Dartmouth and all things maritime. The Archive contains images from at least 9 countries. We need to understand the context for his photography based on likely date when the images were taken. There are many image sets or Capsules that need reviewing to establish dates, locations, and any relevant context:

  1. Dartmouth 1922-40
  2. Yacht racing in different classes: West Solent One Design; J Class; 12 Metre
  3. Passenger liners of the 1930s e.g. Queen Mary, Empress of Briton
  4. Naval warships of the Spithead review, 1937
  5. Valencia and the Costa Brava, 1905-13
  6. Edwardian gardens and flower arranging, 1922-40
  7. The Dart One Design dinghy, racing and the DOD Dartmouth Club 1922-40
  8. The Red Sea ports 1922-25, Aqaba, Jeddah, Suakin
  9. Philipine stilt villages, 1928/29
  10. Campeador IV & V
  11. Reconnaisance trip to the Portuguese Micronesia Islands (Madeira, Azores) 1939
  12. The MacAndrew shipping line, 1880-191
  13. The River Nile and antique sites, 1920-30
  14. The Brixham Trawler 1920-40
  15. Shell collecting in tropical waters, 1920s

Each of these Capsules needs to have a statement explaining the context behind the subject, linked to the time the images were likely taken. It also needs a point of view on the signficance of the images taken by MacAndrew.

If you are interested in helping or would like to understand more, please contact us here: Contact us

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