The Herbert Collection

Graham V Herbert spent his whole working life running the family photographic business in Weymouth, building up a considerable reputation as a commercial photographer. At one time Mr Herbert was the president of the Wessex Centre of the Institute of British Photographers and was the first photographer to be used by the Dorset Echo before the newspaper set up its own photographic department.

Following his death in 1983 his widow presented Weymouth Library with over 7,000 packets of photographic negatives chronicling the last thirty years of Mr Herbert’s career in Weymouth and South Dorset.

Unfortunately the negatives are suffering from ‘vinegar syndrome’; this happens is when the negatives begin to decay and give off an acidic vapour that smells much like vinegar. There is no treatment as yet that can reverse or stop this condition, but if the negatives can be stored in dry and cool conditions, ideally frozen, the rate of decay can be much reduced. To try and slow the pace of the decay the negatives are now being stored in the specially climate controlled strong rooms at the Dorset History Centre.

Crowdfunding campaign

We have been working to digitise and index the negatives in order to preserve the images and enhance access to them. In July 2017 Dorset History Centre was selected as the winner of a £5,000 grant awarded by digitisation company  TownsWeb Archiving. In late 2017, in partnership with Dorset Archives Trust, we raised £8,000 via a crowdfunding campaign to digitise many more of Herbert’s negatives. We are grateful to all those who have helped to preserve much more of the fantastic Herbert collection for future generations to enjoy.

Digitisation projects

Previous projects were supported by a grant of £3,100 from the Dorset County Council Fund which is administered by the Dorset Community Foundation. The application was submitted by Dorset Archives Trust, an independent charitable body which supports the work of Dorset History Centre.  This funding paid for the purchase of a scanner able to copy the decaying negatives to an archive standard.

The Herbert collection covers many aspects of local life, including events, industry, business and the landscape.

Please contact us for details on how to access the collection.