Bettman Archive: A "Picture Mine"

Buried in a vacated limestone mine are 11 million pictures, negatives, and the information identifying them and their contents. They are under the ground in this repository to protect them from further deterioration.

They were moved from Manhattan to a former limestone mine in Pennsylvania in 2001 on the recommendation of Henry Willhelm, an authority on preserving photographs, not just because the site has iron gates and armed guards but more importantly because there they can be kept at sub-zero temperatures. Willhelm ... believes that the photographs, which had been deteriorating badly, will now last for thousands of years.

Permission can be obtained to look through the archives for various images and the accompanying explanatory information. As media expand and the ability to search and retrieve information grows, content will have greater value -- something to fill the media that are available to distrbute.

Bill Gates' Corbis company owns the archive. Gates is personally responsible for the decision to pack the archive into 19 semi trucks and move it to safety.