Cultural Heritage Imaging

Well, I love NY too.

In late March 2011, Mark Mudge, Carla Schroer, and Marlin Lum traveled to take a bite of the Big Apple and at its core was a 4-day RTI Training Session at the NYU Institute of Fine Arts Conservation Center. There, brilliant students and museum professionals participated in a 4-day hands-on RTI training. Each student learned how to capture, process, and view a Reflectance Transformation Image.

If you don’t know what a “RTI” is, read this, and you’ll have a better idea why it’s important:

“Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) is a technology that has the potential to revolutionize documentation, treatment, and research of museum collections, while also promoting the integration of interactive images into the visitor experience. RTI enables museum professionals to examine an object’s very fine surface details using basic digital camera equipment and a few small additional tools.”

yup, we're capturing UV/IR RTis!

This training at NYU was partially sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. With the assistance of their funding, we are delivering 21st-century computational imaging tools into the hands of professionals who can make a substantial difference.

Brilliant Students(.)

As human beings on this earth for such a short time, we are striving to actually ‘make difference’ in people’s lives and in their careers. We want to make their work more meaningful and concrete. The final product is not just an interactive lighting map, but much more: knowledge, insight, value, and scholarly information, revealed by the artwork itself.

While on location at NYU, one of our students made an important comment. He pointed to the corner of the photo studio and said, “… that space there, that’s where, just last year, the photo enlargers were — we recently had them permanently removed.” (insert … silence, then echo laughter in a marble hallway)

NYU students during an RTI capture

That said, we’re moving right along into 21st-century computational imaging tools … we can now know more about our artwork than ever before.

A special thank you to NYU and *Hannelore Roemich.

Thanks for reading.

Marlin Lum
Imaging Director
Cultural Heritage Imaging.

PS: If you want to learn how to capture, process, and view RTI lighting maps, apply to the free IMLS-sponsored training sessions. Click here to get the details.

Discoveries made at every viewing!