Elizabeth Edwards Analysis

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Museum Curator and Professor of Visual Anthropology, Elizabeth Edwards argues, “The

experience of the image component alone is not to be confounded with the experience of the

meaningful object, just as experience of the material cannot be confounded with or reduced to

the experience of the image.” A proper analysis of a photograph, from the perspective of

material culture places equal importance on the actual materials and techniques used and the

subject matter depicted. There are circumstances, however, that may make this equality of

importance more difficult to attain.

Edwards asserts, “The experience of looking at an historical image on a computer screen

is profoundly different in the understandings it might generate from
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The photograph, and subsequent photographs in the complete

album was captured by A.A. Dresser, a well-known English photographer. The photograph

featured a title on the album page “At the Wild West Earl’s Court with a Crouch Hand Camera

during July, August and September 1892.” It was captioned “Presented to Nat Salisbury Esq. for

use of the staff with A.R. Dressers Compliments Springfield Bexley Heath. Kent, England Oct.

1892." Since the photograph was submitted with some foundational information, further theories

and hypotheses can be made. The woman in the photograph is said to be Phoebe Anne Moses,

otherwise known as Annie Oakley. Taken at Earl’s Court in England the photo was

a part of a large collection of photographs from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. We can also

discuss the Denver Public Library digital archives themselves. As Susan Sontag so eloquently

states, “to photograph confers importance”. What did the archivists of this collection

consider to be the importance of Wild West Shows, Annie Oakley, and the photograph itself.

What serendipitous events brought this photograph to the attention of the curator of this

collection? According to the Denver Public Library website, the purpose of the collection is