Holy Diorama!
The American Museum of Natural History has long had a history of teaching through visual means-- their famous dioramas were preceded by slide lectures given by museum founder Albert Bickmore to New York City schoolteachers.
Now, as a part of the new online exhibit, Picturing the Museum: Education and Exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History, an unbelievable archive is available for viewing and download. The images are broken up into four categories: Dioramas, Education, Exhibition, and Exhibition Preparation.
This is a deep, deep archive. I've spent hours looking through already.
The Exhibition Preparation Images are my favorite. Here are some highlights:
Mr. Christensen applies the skin of a roan antelope to the manikin, 1939
Museum staff cleaning elephant skin, 1933
African Lion Group in Preparation, 1935
Mounting Timber Wolf-Burlap, saturated in liquid
plaster of paris is used to cover skeleton to form a base or armature
on which to model in clay, 1947
Installation of Bald Eagle Group, Bird Hall, 1962
Woman planning exhibit for Biology of Man Hall, 1961
Mr. Barnum Brown at work on fossil land tortoise (Colossochelys atlas), 1930
Grizzly Bear Attack posed during construction of Grizzly Bear Group, 1941
Installation of Bald Eagle Group, Bird Hall, 1962
Woman planning exhibit for Biology of Man Hall, 1961
Mr. Barnum Brown at work on fossil land tortoise (Colossochelys atlas), 1930
Grizzly Bear Attack posed during construction of Grizzly Bear Group, 1941
Some of them even have a sense of humor, which I appreciate. There's something so strange about taxidermy. I'm simultaneously revolted and fascinated by it.
In any case, see more of the archive here.
In any case, see more of the archive here.
Stumble Upon
Taxidermy Porn: Richard Barnes "Animal Logic"
http://www.richardbarnes.net/
So good.