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PART A - ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
1. Identity and Location
2. Legal Information
3. Identification
4. Management plan
5. Assessment
against the Selection Criteria
6. Consultation
7. Nominator
PART B - SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
8. Assessment of Risk
9. Preservation Assessment
PART A ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
1.1 Name of documentary heritage
Fondo Fotográfico Casasola (Casasola Photographic Collection)
1.2 Country
Mexico
1.3 State, province or region
Mexico City
1.4 Address
Alvaro Obregón 151 3er piso, Col. Roma, Mexico City, D.F. Postal
Code. 06700
1.5 Name of organization or institution (if appropriate)
Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH)/Coordinación
Nacional de Difusión
2.1 Owner (Name and contact details)
INAH
2.2 Custodian (name and contact details)
INAH
2.3 Legal Status
(a) Category of Ownership
Public
(b) Details of legal and administrative provisions for the preservation
of the documentary heritage
Constitution of the INAH
(c) Accessibility
Open for public consultation
(d) Copyright Status
INAH
2.4 Responsible administration
Coordinación Nacional de Difusión/ Directorate of National
System of Photographic Libraries /Pachuca Photographic Library
3.1 Description and inventory
Collection of photographs comprising approximately 750,000 images,
of which 291,728 have been catalogued and digitized. The thousands of plates
which make up the present collection, in the custody of the Photographic
Library of the INAH at Pachuca, are the result of the reporting work of
Agustín Casasola (1874-1938), one of the first photographers in
Mexico to work in photo-journalism and the founder of the photographic
reporting agency which bears his name. The original stock of photographs
was enlarged by the efforts of his children and grandchildren, who carried
on his work, and by acquisitions of the work of other photographers. The
subject matter is historical and includes artistic war photographs, photographs
of social environments, literary themes and shows during the period 1900-1975.
This collection is particularly well known for its shots of political life
between 1900 and 1935, years of intense change in our country, when armed
insurrection toppled a dictatorial form of government during the world's
first twentieth-century Revolution.
3.2 Bibliographic/Registration details
The Casasola collection is the largest in the National System of Photographic Libraries where the INAH holds the most important collection of historical photography in Mexico. The System has its own resources and installations at Pachuca which are appropriate for storing this type of material, and it is currently engaged in classifying, preserving and digitizing the photographs in its custody. This work is most advanced in relation to the Casasola collection. The Photographic Library has academics, historians and technical personnel specialized in the preservation and restoration of photographic material. The material held by the Library may be consulted by the general public. Material which is regarded as a reserved collection may be consulted only in digital form or through copies. A large proportion of the regular budget of the National System of Photographic Libraries is used to preserve old photographic material, but the amount of material is vast, so that any further resources which might be made available for the tasks of preservation and cataloguing would be most welcome.
5. Assessment Against the Selection Criteria
5.1
The fundamental importance of the Casasola Collection is that it is
a comprehensive photographic study of national life between 1900 and 1975.
The fact that many of the photographs were taken as press reports means
that a wide range of subjects is covered: from politics to sport, and from
war scenarios to shows. The archive contains a wide spectrum of activities.
A large proportion of the photographs are now regarded as old (1900-1940).
They record historical events (the Mexican Revolution, the expropriation
of the oil fields, the Second World War) as well as scenes from daily life.
Important public figures of the twentieth century, both Mexican and foreign,
were captured by the Casasola cameras. This means that the Casasola collection
meets the following criteria: it is of social value, and aesthetic and
cultural merit, and it covers a wide range of distinguished persons. These
characteristics, as well as the completeness of the collection, make it
worthy to be included in the Memory of the World Register.
5.2 Contextual Assessment
Apart from their intrinsic value and their value as a collection, the
images captured in the Casasola Collection are invaluable as a means of
providing visual back-up material for diverse historical research into
modern and contemporary history. This view is supported by the library
mentioned above, as well as by the large numbers of researchers, both national
and foreign, who come to consult the material held in the vaults of the
Pachuca Photographic Library.
5.3 Evaluation of Authenticity
The living heirs who are practising photographers can testify to the
authenticity of the collection. The documents relating to the purchase
of the collection by the Government of Mexico exist.
5.4 Assessment of Rarity
Such a comprehensive and long-lived photographic collection is extraordinary.
6.1 Details of consultation about the nomination with the:
(a) Owner
INAH
(b) Custodian
INAH
(c) Relevant regional or National Memory of the World Committee
(if appropriate)
7.1 Name
Adriana Konzevik
7.2 Relationship to the Documentary Heritage
National Publicity Coordinator of the INAH. The material is deposited
in the Sound and Cinematographic Library of this institution.
7.3 Contact Person
Leticia Medina, Director of the National System of Photographic Libraries
7.4 Contact Details
Alvaro Obregón 151, 3º piso, Col. Roma, Mexico D.F. 06700
Tel: (5) 207 45 92; 207 45 99; 207 45 73
Fax: (5) 207 46 33
PART B SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
The Pachuca Photographic Library is equipped to store photographic material. However, as there is always the fear that the collection could be destroyed by fire, improved safety systems are required.
9.1 Present Physical State
Good