300 posts

Spider web on barbed wire fence.   Scanned and cropped from a negative by Hugh Morton.
Spider web on barbed wire fence. Scanned and cropped from a 4×5-inch negative by Hugh Morton.

Today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the World Wide Web (not the Internet—that’s twenty years older!)  The Web has grown from static webpages to the interactive “Web 2.0,” without which it would have been impossible to create A View to Hugh.  Now talk abounds about what “Web 3.0” might become and yet I can still remember buying (I may even still have it!) my first guide to using Mosaic!  “Huh?” you may be asking.  Well, NSCA Mosaic was the Web browser that was the precursor to Netscape that was the precursor to Firefox.  (If you want to learn more about Mosaic, click on the hyperlink—that once magic and now routine function of the Web for Wikipedia’s version of that browser’s history.)
What better day than today, then, to publish the 300th blog post here at A View to Hugh.  Since beginning on November 1st, 2007, we have tried over the past six-plus years to create our own magic on the World Wide Web through the photographs of Hugh Morton—from the raw first days of processing the sizable and unruly collection; through the evolving finding aid for the 250,000-item collection of motion picture films and photographic prints, negatives, and slides; to the development of the digital collection of 8,000 online images; and, most recently, to the polished first retrospective exhibit of Hugh Morton’s work that debuted at Appalachian State’s Turchin Center for the Visual Arts.
This scene comes from a group of negatives labeled "Road (Linville-Boone)."  The road sign on the left reads "PINE RUN RD" however, and the only road name matching that description (when searching Google Earth) runs between US 421 and Ridge Road  east of Boone.  Can anyone identify the location?
This scene comes from a group of negatives labeled “Road (Linville-Boone).” The road sign for the road on the left before the barn reads “PINE RUN RD”  and the only road name matching that description (when searching Google Earth) runs between US 421 and Ridge Road east of Boone. Can anyone identify the location?

So what lies ahead?
Two weeks from tomorrow, Photographs by Hugh Morton: An Uncommon Retrospective will open for its second showing, this time at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina.  There will be an opening reception at 7:00 P.M.—you can “join” or “like” the event at the Mountain Heritage Center’s Facebook page for the event.  That evening I will be giving a presentation titled, “Hugh Morton’s Rise to His Photographic Peak.”  Earlier in the day I will be meeting with a class to talk about curating the exhibit.
And after that?
There’s a third venue set for the exhibit: this time in the eastern part of the state later this year.  Beyond that we are looking for other venues for 2015.
Anything else?
That’s a question I would like to pose to you.  Are there any subjects we haven’t touched on that you would like us to explore?  Any topics that you would like to address?  If so, please leave a comment.  Now that the World Wide Web is several years into its interactive phase I’d love to have a conversation about it.  Or, if you prefer, feel free to contact me using the CONTACT link above.

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