This project was funded by the Utah State Board of Higher Education in the form of two grants between 1996 and 1998, as part of the Higher Education Technology Initiative (HETI). The material presented here is part of the Compton Studio Collection at the Special Collections & Archives Division of the Merrill Library, Utah State University, Logan, Utah.
The Compton Studio Collection operated in Brigham City, Utah from 1884 until the studio closed its doors in April of 1994. The collection spans four generations of photographers: Alma Compton; Alma Compton, Jr.; Matthew Compton; and Glen Compton. The collection contains all of the extant negatives taken by the studio (many did not survive), and includes mammoth glass plates (portraits only) as large as 14"x17", many 5"x7" 6"x8", and 8"x10" glass plates; 5"x7" nitrate-based film negatives; 4"x5" and 5"x7" acetate- and polyester-based film negatives; 4"x5" and 120mm color film negatives.
The material presented here was scanned from modern, glossy gelatin prints contact-printed from the original negatives, whether film or glass. The larger format contact prints, from the dry-plate collodion negatives, were printed in the early 1980's. Contact prints were made from the 5"x7" nitrate-based film negatives in 1995 and 1996.
The photographs were captured digitally at a high resolution (600 d.p.i.) using a DeskScan II flatbed scanner, and stored on CD-ROM disks. They are presented here as 72 d.p.i. JPEG files.
