Paper short abstract:

As increasing numbers of descendent communities request meaningful access to photographs that represent their cultural identity through digital sharing processes, museums must also increasingly reflect on their positioning and caretaking of photographs as important objects of cultural heritage.

Paper long abstract:

Shifting from a position of the museum being the owner and controller of historical photographs within their collections, the MAA now commits to working collaboratively, to sharing knowledge about the collections in its care and to facilitating direct and indirect access to those collections. The way this is enacted is constantly evolving as new forms of digital sharing develop, but importantly, it has also prompted MAA to consider how it can decolonise and democratise its photographic collections for future imaginings. This paper explores some of the current digital sharing projects the museum is participating in, and how they are influencing the museum's methodologies.