Society is built on archives. From religious texts, to the iconic art we praise across multiple generations, the survival is based on old systems envisioned from the top down. The patrons of the arts “storing” creations, shining a spotlight on the pieces they were supporting, but always with genuine intentions? Without the hands of the creators…what would we would be able to see? If we were able to lift a creator’s voice from the entirety of their archive, through the pit falls and the holes and the days when the light shined on their goals, would their path look differently, would they showcase their work differently? We would certainly experience their light in more than an algorithm “pretty” vision. A freedom in creative freedom, not limited by the money hands who attempt to “shape them,” as we’re currently seeing them. Would we have then built around solution based designs instead of entertainment visions? A world where our creators and our archivists were praised for society’s benefit and not solely based on the potentials for capital benefit.

While my experiences working as a Digital Archivist were only two years, my mind was a sponge, and many days after work I came home to study more. Surrounded daily by a team of passionate minds, working in unison to revive a photographer’s voice from the boxes stored for decades in an Internationally recognized archive, it was inspiring. Many of us photographers ourselves, we could only hope that someday, someone would put that much love, care and diligence into the preservation of our archives 100 years later. Many of us spent weekends researching the voice behind the lens, the voices in front of the lens and the voice being left behind as we literally erased the hand work of manual retouching from 100 year old negatives. None of the “diligence” would have been able to scale so large had there not been capital to create the team based digitizing system. Yet often, many on these archivist teams are underpaid or worked for free as interns attempting to climb their way into the fine art systems. When I held the voice of a photographer who never got their shine, I started to look at my own archive as a whole and not the smaller pieces. The longevity, the intention, the distribution. Preservation within my perseverance, inspired by the system, but with a vision on how to integrate the systems for all creators.

The importance of owning the rights to my works, the importance of having a system for creating a database that is searchable and accessible, and the importance of safely storing works, with flexibility to change with technology…all of these bits helped set in stone how I would also respect my archive. It is not only my life story I have captured since 2008. It holds details of our collective society, from my perspective yes, as I can only follow the path that my birth path has paved, but the changes and moments captured along that journey, that is all of us. Those moments in the midwest of struggle and decay, factories and job loss, and the stories of LA, the City of literal angels where many were moved to create for the movement of justice. While we can (and should) praise 100 year old archives, should we idolize top down systems of fame? There are some mechanics to be contemplated on as we move quicker and quicker into digital worlds that are often temporary, but also quickly accessible globally. Are we collectively seeing the potentials or are we going to recreate a new generation of top down systems as we migrate more and more archives to digital?

Finding my voice amongst the chaos of top down, fame seeking systems, that unwrapped my light in new ways. Before that archiving job, I saw the World like many…seeing visions of museums and Hollywood Walk of Fame stars, but working within those top down systems, I witnessed the restriction of my voice and the energies suffocating my hope for change. The potentials of our generation dwindling away to the men who had established these global institutions— men who would then profit for generations to come off of these lost potentials. When I was 23 and left real estate, and my friends and family all questioned my leaving six figures to “do art?” Many only saw the path of a “struggling artist” as the only dream I would see. Yet, I continued against the grain. I’d always say, “…I’d rather be 10 years later than everyone else my age, than take a rickety ladder to the top for a 5 minute view.” When we’re young we expect the fame, as that seems as though it is the “only way.” This life journey sharpened my tools and birthed a forever passion which pushes me to provide the future generations a foundation upon which they can express without only top down systems…when we’re creating for something bigger than yourself, your archive and your passion is all we have, how do we connect with our true purposes through creations and community?

There isn’t a golden key solution to archiving important pieces of humanity or every creator’s expressions, but there are minds working on solutions outside of large institutions now. The more we “create” solutions based on the old top down systems, the less we will be able to visualize the potentials we have to pave a new way for the next generations. We have to build the new. Patience and diligence, friends. The pressure to “show” everything has never felt heavier, but sit in the stillness of knowing, your archive is a work that will continue growing. As we build on decentralized and permanent web solutions, our eyes must be on the ultimate prize: building foundations, not fame. Praise the photographers and creators of the past, but remember today there are many developing their voice through light and dark, with no concept of how the systems of institutions work. A society looking to the top, versus looking around us to build from the ground up. Let’s archive our stories and utilize technology systems to preserve the culture of creations that society praises. Let’s paint a real picture of humanity beyond top down thinkings.

Protect your light, protect your heART. Your voice develops and grows, your words and your progresses are pieces of your archive’s light too. Continue to grow, continue to nurture your seeds of light in still thought. As the creators of the past left us their thoughts and their doodles, let’s leave seeds of inspiration for the future generations to see. We may plant the seeds we will not see grow, but the path away from broken top down systems, is up to us in this generation to tidy. It may be a sacrifice as we see those “institutions” continue to win, but as we build the infrastructure to build better, we can create what we wish to see in the world. Your captures are your database, pull from what you’ve witnessed, let it’s unique light glow…you don’t always have to share it for society’s validation, build a bigger intention.

Think of your life’s work, how will you leave it for the future? Across 10 hard drives and scattered across folders? Will a team of passionate minds spend the time and money to do that for your future generations? If you start now, you get a new perspective of your creative voice. The ability to search through keywords, store context for the capture, include notes from the adventure. Get to know your own voice behind the lens, dig in your archive…continue building your archive. History needs all of our stories.