ABSTRACT
This chapter frames Fortepan as a catalyst of new photographic heritage that engenders affective engagements that, in turn, play a crucial role in defining what this new heritage consists of. Digital archives of analogue photography collections constitute a substantial group of digital documentary heritage. The democratic potential of digital documentary heritage, however, exceeds the function of disseminating analogue material in digital form. In 2003 UNESCO adopted the Charter for the Preservation of Digital Heritage, which safeguards resources that are either 'born digital' or are digital surrogates of material heritage. In architectural discourse atmosphere is approximated as an affective entity that allows us to emotionally relate to space. If the archive, in Appadurai's view, is 'an instrument for the refinement of desire', meaning is more an effective than a semiotic quality. Ben Anderson concludes that atmospheres: are impersonal in that they belong to collective situations and yet can be felt as intensely personal.
