The Art of Storage: Take a Peek Inside the Smithsonian Archives

For over 35 years, Chip Clark worked as the chief photographer of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Talk about an enviable position! In this role, he documented everything in the museum’s vast collection, of which only a portion is accessible to the public. He was also sent on expeditions to caves in Guatemala, the Amazon rainforest and many other places where nature’s abundant wonders could be found and photographed. Now, he presents us with unprecedented access to his photographs of the Smithsonian archives.

The ornithology department

Museum-goers of a literary bent may be reminded of the final scene of Julian Barnes’ classic novel Flaubert’s Parrot, when the narrator is confronted by a wall of 50 identical parrots. He knows that one of them was donated by his literary idol, Gustave Flaubert, over a hundred years ago, but because the museum has erased the records, he has no way of knowing which one. Like the elusive parrot in the novel, every object in the Smithsonian has a unique story to tell.

What follows are highlights from the full collection, which can be viewed here. Enjoy!

The entomology department

The rainbow-like display of butterflies attests to the stunning diversity of nature.

The anthropology department

The anthropology department contains artifacts from a staggeringly large array of cultures.

The paleobiology department

Check out those tusks.

The invertebrate zoology department

The invertebrate zoology department will make you long for the beach … or your favorite oyster house.

The botany department and the botany/algae department

Plants may not grow well in basement archives, but they sure can be studied here.

The mineral sciences department

No, this isn’t the secret, VIP gift shop — it’s the mineral sciences department.

Mammals/whale storage facility

This spot proves you don’t need to go to the paleobiology department to see spectacularly large animal bones.

All photos by Chip Clark