Registrar Scott Reeves said the online collection had been very popular amongst people near and far.
"This is the first time we've done a big digitization project like this, especially with photographs of Cantabarians," Reeves said.
The first half of the Standish and Preece collection came to the Museum in the 1990s. The last of it was given to them in 2016. The museum was given Lottery funding, enabling them to digitize the 75,000 negative prints.
Standish and Preece were the longest-running photographers in Christchurch. The collection at Canterbury Museum dates from 1885. The photography studio closed in 2020.
Reeves said this collection marked the first time the museum had turned on comments online, creating a more interactive experience.
"Being able to open the comments up meant that we had a bit more interaction with the public...and get some information back from them as well," he said.
Parts of the collection have been up on the website since the first Covid-19 lockdown. Reeves said in the first week they received an overwhelming amount of comments and discussion, crashing the website multiple times. Since then, they've received 4002 comments and counting.
The Registrar said the museum had received many touching stories from within the community.
Comments have been made on loved ones, prom dresses, industry equipment, and more.
Standish and Preece captured 135 years of Christchurch life.
"[It's] an absolutely fascinating body of photographs...a lot of it is wedding photos, celebrations, and that's the kind of stuff that is hitting the community [most]," Reeves said.
For the museum, it's the documentation of social history that makes an impact.
Photo collections in the future will look very different. Instead of negatives, film, and temperature-controlled rooms, photograph collections will most likely be fully digital and stored in a cloud.
"That comes with its own concerns," Reeves said. "That's when you start to worry about file formats."
The Standish and Preece collection is 99% physical objects, a format Reeve said was what museums traditionally collected.
"[In the future] the storeroom will look different...it's not going to a storeroom of fun drawers with slides and photos, it's going to be on a server somewhere and probably backed up."
But for now, Cantabrians continue to be fascinated with snapshots from the past. Especially when they can find their friends and family.
If you'd like to help, you can view the collection here.
