The Millennial Collection is a joint documentary project between Texas Tech University’s School of Art and the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. The collection is permanently held at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library and consists of individual portfolios by professional and student photographers. Conceived as an open time capsule that will be added to continually, the Millennial Collection aims to serve as a catalyst for learning and communication within and between communities. Investigating all sides of the photographer-subject-audience triangle, this archive will remain open and interactive in various ways to invite questions about interpretation that engage regional, global, temporal, natural, and cultural aspects with respect to a changing Sense of Place.

       The School of Art’s documentary photography class, and the resulting images that reside in the Millennial Collection, are in part a response to the history collected at the Southwest Collection. In studying the Southwest Collection’s holdings students begin to understand how photographs function as historical documents. It is from the Southwest Collection that students are prompted to begin to question and experiment with the variables of time, place, representation, contextual information (included or excluded), personal experience, changing frames of reference, and the challenges inherent in assigning meaning to photographic images.

       Since its implementation in 2000, the Millennial Collection has grown to include over 1000 documentary works, including photographs, artist books, and digital video documentaries. To view the collection please use the 'Images' link on the left, or for a quick introduction of the collection please click here:  QUICK TOUR