In 2009, a group of color slides from which images were selected to be displayed in the Tamiment Library's flickr exhibit of John Penley's images were rehoused into paper sleeves or envelopes and placed in three record cartons. John Penley wrote descriptions of the events or subjects on the majority of the sleeves. Most of the sleeves in this group are un-numbered except for those shoots from which images drawn for the flickr exhibit. Those shoots have numbers written on their sleeves and these same shoot numbers are displayed with the captions for the images from them in the flickr exhibit. Researchers should note that additional images from the same shoots and events found in the flickr exhibit may also be found in shoots with similar captions and dates throughout the rest of the collection.
In 2013, the remaining photographic materials in the collection were removed from their original housing and rehoused in archival quality boxes, folders, and sleeves. John Penley provided description for much of the collection during this rehousing, and his descriptions, which often include subjective and evaluative information, constitute the folder-level titles in Series II of the collection. However, researchers should note that not all of the collection was described during this process.
Photographs and negatives from discrete events or subjects were originally housed together in their own envelopes or other containers in several record cartons. The archivists assigned each envelope or other container a sequential three-digit number, followed by either the suffix "-P" for prints or suffix "-N" for negatives. For example, negatives from an original envelope might be assigned the number "001-N" and any prints from that same envelope would be assigned the number "001-P." Standard-size photographs were rehoused in photograph boxes and were separated by tabs with the identifying number and suffix written on them. Oversize photographs were rehoused in archival folders and placed in record cartons, with the identifying number and suffix written on the folders. Negatives were rehoused in paper sleeves and placed in negative boxes, with the identifying number and suffix written on the sleeves.
When only prints or only negatives were housed within their own envelope or other container, the materials were assigned their own number and suffix, without a corresponding number for the other photographic format. For example, if any envelope contained only negatives and no prints, the negatives might be assigned the number "002-N," but "002-P" would not exist, which explains why there are gaps in the numbering within the record cartons and photograph and negative boxes.
Photographs and negatives which were loose in the original record cartons (not housed in their own envelopes or other containers) were assigned their own number using the same numbering system, but also include the following in brackets: "[Loose from box X]" (with "box X" indicating the original record carton number).
Any descriptive information written on the original envelopes or containers was retained. The archivists either wrote this information on the dividing tabs, folders, or sleeves or photocopied or cut out the information from the original envelope and placed the clipping within the folders or in front of the dividing tab or sleeve.
Slides have been removed from their original containers and rehoused in archival quality slide boxes. Slides have been numbered using the same alphanumeric numbering system as the prints and negatives (001-S, 002-S, etc.) and tabs have been used within each slide box to indicate the original groupings of the slides. The numbering for the slides is separate from the numbering for the other photographic materials; that is, the numbers from the slides' alphanumeric codes do not correlate to the numbering used for the prints and negatives (the slides that comprise 001-S are not from the same shoot as 001-N and 001-P).
John Penley's papers and photographs were initially established as separate collections: the John Penley Photographs (PHOTOS 268) and the John Penley Papers (TAM 501). In 2013, the photograph collection was incorporated into the paper collection, forming the John Penley Photographs and Papers (TAM 501).
In 2014, the archived website was added as Series III.