Digital Photography - Research on Photographers

This guide supports Digital Photography students in researching photographers, using primarily electronic resources.

Below you will find four suggested steps for researching your photographer, with links to relevant resources and some directions and tips.

Please don't hesitate to be in touch with me to request assistance with research for this project.  My email address is rkrause3@ewu.edu.

Best of luck with your assignment!

Rose Krause, Librarian for Art

• Search for your photographer's name to see if there is an entry in Grove Art.
  • View the Grove Art video tutorial available on Canvas (sign in with your EWU SSO).
• Use the PDF icon in the upper right area of the window to export a copy of the entry.
• Use the bibliography and publications list at the end of the entry to identify additional sources of information.
• Use the External Resources section at the end of the entry to link to works by the artist in museum and gallery online collection databases and catalogs.  **Note:  When I was using these links, I frequently encountered "Page Not Found" (404) errors.  You may need to search the museum or gallery website to locate the information that was linked.

• Search by photographer name.
• The results you see will be works by the photographer, not a biographical entry about the photographer.
• Each work will include some information in the detailed view.  View the How to Search, View Images and Data in ArtStor video to learn how to search and navigate in ArtStor.
  • Look to see which museum or gallery contributed the image to ArtStor.  There may be additional information about the work or photographer on the museum or gallery's website.  See Step 3 below for tips on searching museum and gallery websites.
• Suggestion:  Create an Image Group for images you want to use for your presentation.  View the Image Groups video to learn how to create an Image Group.  You must have an ArtStor account to use Image Groups.  View the Introduction to ArtStor video to learn how to create an account.

Many museums and galleries include information about artists and artworks on their websites.  Below are links to museums and galleries that provide substantial information about artists on their websites.

Also try searching the websites of museums and galleries that were listed at the end of the Grove Art entry for your photographer (see Step 1) and in the ArtStor artwork records (see Step 2).

Use the EWU Library catalog to locate electronic articles and books on your photographer. You may find an interview with the photographer or a useful overview of the photographer's work.

Search by photographer name and limit to "Available online". This will allow you to see only content available online. You may also want to limit the language to English.  Also use the Format facet to exclude Reviews.  See the "How do I search the catalog?" page for instructions.  Please contact me for help searching the catalog and accessing resources.

Submit a request for a scan of the entry on your photographer from the Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography (2008) and/or the Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography (2006). Both encyclopedias contain extensive entries about photographers, although their entries on current photographers will be limited as both encyclopedias were published before 2010.

To request a scan, click on the title of the publication below to go to the record in the EWU Library Catalog. Navigate to the "Get It" section and click "Request a scan of a chapter or excerpt":

In the next window that opens, click on "ARTICLE/BOOK CHAPTER" in the "Create Request" area:

In the "Title of Article/Title of Chapter" field, enter the name of your photographer:

Be sure to complete all other required (*) fields and then click "Submit".  You should receive an email notification to your EWU email when the scan has been uploaded.