Blog Week 5: Photogrammetry

For this week’s photogrammetry assignment, my group photographed and modeled Berit Olsdatter Egge’s Bible, which is dated to around 1815 and written in a language other than English, likely Norwegian. The book measures 6 x 14.5 x 3 cm, and as such is quite small. The item and the project files can be found on the Omeka page, linked here. 

Berit Olsdatter Egge’s Bible by qlu on Sketchfab

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend class on Tuesday, so I am unable to speak directly to the process of capturing the object through photographs. However, based on my understanding of the process and technique, I imagine that photogrammetry would certainly encourage close looking and attention to detail, as any details that are not noticed, and thus not represented in photographs, are excluded from the resulting model. As the intention of photogrammetry projects is often to create models of objects to become more widely available and accessible to the public, it follows that extreme care would be taken to ensure that those models were as close to the original object as possible. Close examination of the object to find small details and features is thus necessary to capture every element for future use and modeling. For this Bible, for example, my group members remarked that its small size required them to inspect it very closely beforehand, to make sure that they did not miss any details when photographing it. 

I am very interested in photogrammetry, as I would like to work in public history, and digital access to collection items is a growing part of that field. It seems as though work like this, at least using the programs and techniques we used in class, is fairly easily accessible, with a low barrier to entry in terms of technological knowledge and skill. I’d be curious to learn more about how museums and archives are using photogrammetry in their collections, and how this may influence their curation and exhibit design. Some institutions have purely digital experiences and exhibitions, and having more objects available as digital models could greatly benefit the design of such materials. The National Archives also has a substantial volunteer program in which volunteers transcribe digitized documents; though photogrammetry could not be done remotely, I wonder if any institutions have considered establishing volunteer programs focused on the digitization and modeling of physical artifacts. On the whole, though, I am excited about the possibilities that photogrammetry holds for digital and public humanities, and believe it to be a way to promote deeper engagement with objects and sources.