Tennis Courts, Yosemite Valley, 1938

What this means

Vault physically examined this exact print and recorded everything it observed — a complete, permanent account of the real object.

• Imaged in full Photographed from many angles under raking, reflected, and ultraviolet light — so its true surface, sheen, texture, and every mark are on record, not flattened into one photo.
• Fingerprinted Its microscopic surface texture is measured into a signature unique to this one physical print, so the same object can be recognized again — anywhere, later.
• Kept permanently All of it is written into a fixed, dated record of the object’s condition on the day it was imaged.

A faithful record of what was observed — not an authentication or attribution, and no guarantee of authorship, age, condition, or value.