About the Collection
What began in 2004 as a passion project for Gary Gardiner - a photo a day - has become an unexpected snapshot in time and historic record of city life in Westerville, Ohio.
Gardiner, a retired photojournalist for The Associated Press, will be gifting his My Final Photo collection of an estimated 2 million digital photographs taken in Westerville between 2004 to present to the Westerville History Museum. His gift will also include physical items like handwritten daily journals, Gardner's first digital camera, and copies of The Westerville News articles he has written.
The size and breadth of this collection and the fact that it was born digital creates a unique challenge for the Westerville History Museum. The museum will need to invest in a storage system that can ensure proper handling and preservation of these images. “We are still working through what that will look like,” says Jackie B, Museum Manager. Gardiner will be working closely with the museum to begin transferring files via hard drives and cloud storage while ensuring that he provides as much context as possible regarding dates, locations, and subjects captured.
We are not sure yet how long this process will take, or when the collection will be made available for the public to access. Learn more.
Themes include:
- Agriculture
- Americana
- Community events
- Construction
- Food
- Industry
- Parks
Photojournalist Gardiner gifts 2 million digital images
About Gary Gardiner
Gary Gardiner began his career working at a photo studio in Gainesville, Florida. There, he assisted with portrait photography, darkroom processing, and selling camera equipment. Following that, he managed now closed Click Camera, a photo equipment store in the Gainesville Mall, also now closed.
He then moved into his first professional photojournalist work at the University of Florida’s Division of Publications where he took photos for the university’s news and sports bureaus. (You should ask him sometime about the United Press International photo transmitter that he inherited during this time that was used to transmit his photos to newspapers using a telephone line!)
From there, he worked for the Orlando Sentinel where he made regular trips to Disney World, Cape Canaveral; once to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and often to Gainesville to cover the Gators. And he photographed a part of the 1972 Miami Dolphins' perfect season. Moving from there to the Ft. Lauderdale News, he continued photographing the Miami Dolphins and Major League Baseball’s spring training along with assignments in the Everglades, more Gators, and most of Florida adding to his resume.
After a brief time in Jackson, Mississippi as a photo editor at The Clarion-Ledger, he moved in 1977 to Atlanta, Georgia to work as an editor and photographer for The Associated Press.
He transferred to Columbus, Ohio in 1982 where he continued to work as an editor and photographer with The AP until his retirement in 2004. His My Final Photo project began on November 15, 2004 and he has made a photo a day ever since.
