Archival Diagnosis of the Personal Collection of Photographer Sebastião Carvalho Leme

Abstract

 Understanding the challenges involved in the organization of personal archives, this article discussed the importance of archival diagnosis as an initial stage in this process. The study aimed to carry out the diagnosis of the personal archive of photographer Sebastião Carvalho Leme, incorporated into the Municipal Chamber of Marília, a city in the interior of the state of São Paulo, without prior planning or a defined acquisition policy. The research was descriptive and documentary in nature, with a qualitative-quantitative approach, and was conducted as a case study. The archive, composed of 30,101 items, was quantified and categorized based on the original organization attributed by the producer, with a predominance of the iconographic genre, which accounted for 91.23% of the total collection. The results revealed a divergence between the physical structure of the archive and the intensity of the production, with emphasis on the “Institutional Photographs” category, which contained the highest number of negatives. The analysis also indicated the need for strategic planning regarding preservation and document identification, especially considering the diversity of media and the physical condition of the materials. It was concluded that archival diagnosis provides essential input for understanding the structure, organization, and preservation of the archive, contributing to the definition of technical and institutional actions for its management.