Spaarnestad: Biography of an Analogue Press Photo Archive

This article presents a biography of the Spaarnestad Collection in the National Archives, the largest analogue press photo archive in the Netherlands, originating from De Spaarnestad, a major publisher of illustrated magazines. In the origins, development and structure of the archive, as well as in the physical aspects and mutual coherence of the photos themselves, Spaarnestad’s role in the history of both photojournalism and the image industry is contained. Through digitisation, many analogue press photo archives, which previously had a utilitarian function as a company archive, have entered the public domain as a historical image bank. As a result, the original photos, which formed the basis of every publication in the twentieth century, are now available to researchers. A biography of, in this case, the Spaarnestad Collection, provides scholars with the relevant context to use these photos as historical sources and underlines the importance of the collection as a resourceful archive.