EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS IN LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE COLLECTIONS (original) (raw)
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A photograph is the result of the exposure of light-sensitive materials and chemical-oxidising agents to light. This is a degradative process where one has to degrade the materials in order for the image to form and then arrest this process in order to keep this image. Ironically, in order to protect/preserve a photograph, one would have to protect it from the same agents that created it (light, chemical oxidising agents). The inherent instability in photographs is what makes photographs so unique.
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The photograph Albums (2) of the House of Speedo® documents the planning, construction and official opening of the new Speedo mill in Sydney in 1955-56. The album was produced by Vistatone (Australia) Pty Ltd. These albums were used as a frequent show and tell during museum collection tours. Recently it was noticed that they were rapidly deteriorating and were sent to the Conservation department for treatment. The conservation work involved stabilizing the photographs, removal of the rubber cement adhesive and rehousing the photographs into an archival album. The House of Speedo® Album cover is composed of an artificial leather cloth fabric such as Rexine® which contains cellulose nitrate. The plastic sleeves with plasticizer were identified by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) with Universal attenuated total reflectance (UATR) accessory as cellulose acetate and the plasticizer as tri butyl phosphate (TBP), the latter of which was pooling on the front surface of the photographs. There were significant signs of deterioration of the plastic components such as warping and discolouration, as well as acidic off gassing from both the cellulose nitrate and cellulose acetate..
Photographs as Archival Material
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جامعة جنوب الوادي، کلية الآثار بقنا, 2022
Photographic materials have complex structures that present special preservation challenges to the librarian and archivist which most commonly found in libraries and archives. Deterioration which takes place in photographs is an ongoing natural process. Deteriorated photographs may require specialized conservation and preservation treatment which the authors here concentrate on displaying and storing procedures. The Dome Library in South Valley University has a lot of photographic materials which suffer from different deterioration aspects. The authors recommend a combined method of displaying and storing of the photographic albums which can be applied later for all the other materials according to each case study with the developing project of the Dome Library digitizing in Faculty of Arts in South Valley University in Qena. Also some analytical techniques were used in the study: using Visual Assessment, Microscopic Examination, Identification of photo by X-Ray fluorescence, X-Ray diffraction analysis for determining the paper crystallinity, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) for determining the binder and Isolation and identification of fungi (collection of samples swabs). Finally, the authors design a method to preserve the album supported with Cradle to combine the process of storing and displaying the album in one step.
Preventing Destruction: Preserving Our Irreplaceable Photographic Heritage
American Art, 2017
The history of photography is brief, yet its impact on mankind is immeasurable. Today, significant photography collections exist worldwide, from Boston to Bogotá and Beirut. These collections-historic and contemporary-are irreplaceable resources that visually document our history, values, achievements, disappointments, creative expression, and ways of life. The international community of photograph conservation strives to protect and preserve this photographic heritage from deterioration, loss, and destruction. Many of the archetypal silver gelatin and color photographic processes of the twentieth century are nearing or have already faced obsolescence. They are being replaced by an astonishing number of electronic images created, viewed, and disseminated on electronic devices. These "born-digital" materials require thoughtful preservation planning to address dramatically different challenges than those posed by their nineteenth-and twentieth-century predecessors. A comprehensive survey of the preservation needs represented by the diversity of photographic processes introduced since 1839 is outside the scope of this brief essay, as is an attempt to address the range of challenges related to context, access demands, and collecting habits in institutions as diverse as archives, historical societies, libraries, and art museums. Instead, we will focus on twentieth-century analog photographic materials, their inherent vices, prevalent forms of deterioration, and preservation. Common dilemmas associated with artist intent, emergency preparedness, and global needs are also addressed.
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Capturing the Past: A Symposium on Photograph Conservation Abstract Book, 2019
Photographs are complex material objects whose layers hold a variety of information on different forms of human activity. In order to understand them, a great deal of attention and knowledge is required, and not merely an interest in the pictorial content. Hence, it is not possible to grasp their full meanings without an understanding of their materiality, the conditions in which they were created and used, as well as of the context within which they transmit their message to the viewer. The elements of form with all their usage traces are the very thing that makes photographs objects within space and time, and understanding their materiality requires a variety of competences. Above all else, the knowledge of photographic techniques, the ways in which these objects are created. Then, inescapably, there has to be the ability to identify the process by which they were made and the numerous possible modifications of the images. Finally, there is knowledge of the various deterioration mechanisms, which is a precondition for proper care and preservation. The conservation of photographs is primarily focused on their material aspect. Identifying the photographic processes and choosing appropriate protective materials and storage conditions are the basic conservation procedures that arise exclusively from the materiality of objects. This is precisely the reason why these procedures are necessary and a basic knowledge of them is obligatory. Familiarity with photographs as material objects will make it easier to understand them as images or documents. Based on personal experience of working with photographs, this presentation will endeavor to highlight the necessity of knowledge of the material side of photographs as objects for complete understanding of photography as a medium. With particular reference to the competences and skills gained during the NEDCC Advanced photograph conservation internship program, and accompanied by the numerous examples from practice, this lecture will show the various benefits deriving from organized professional training in the field of photograph conservation and possibilities of their incorporation in almost every aspect of work with this type of record. It will also confirm the proposition that every newly mastered item of information is but a starting point for the understanding of information still to come.