I work as a digital archivist at the NYU Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, specializing in the digitization of materials for the school’s expansive special collections. The objects we document are uploaded to collection databases for others to access, so many of the artifacts that we are asked to photograph or scan are books. The primary focus of my work, in turn, is using cameras to effectively visualize both the printed content and the physical objectness of a book. This means my own interest in the actual content of the books is clouded by my role as a structural translator. My perspective has led me to believe that it is in the structure where the beauty of books lie. This point of view feels humorously paradoxical when I consider the original purpose of these ancient books as storage spaces for information. Steward of Books is a project in which I further exercise this unique way of interacting with bound material with a witty eye.
