Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.
I am a keen photographer using modern equipment and software but I absolutely love vintage photographs; the skills of the people behind the low-tech cameras always amazes me. I love black and white but have a strong liking for the vibrant colours of kodachrome shots.