Alternative Processes: The Case for Education for Archivists

While digital technology sweeps through photography, making simulated access to advanced techniques and long-forgotten processes available to the rank amateur (Echevarria et al.), there is much to be said about the photographic process expert’s place in the world of archives, as well as the value of her expertise in alternative photographic processes when assessing historical collections. In fact, a practicing alternative process printer (i.e., one involved in producing platinum-palladium, gum bichromate, and cyanotype prints, or one who is experienced with toning and mordencage processes, for example) is an enormous asset to archives in which such photographs are housed or sought. In an age where traditional methods are falling by the wayside and digital photography and manipulation reign, a visual materials archivist with a background in alternative processes should be aggressively recruited in order to maintain the integrity of the widest range of holdings.

            Although the silver gelatin process is, according to the vast majority of observers, “in its death throes” (“Unfrozen in Time”) and “is in crisis” (Copeland), there is a definite underground movement to revive processes that dominated in photography’s infancy. Indeed, the Harry Ransom Center sponsored a traveling exhibit a few years back that celebrated contemporary use of historical methods, juxtaposing modern images captured in tintype or platinum next to their historical counterparts ("The Image Wrought”).  The Economist hailed the exhibit and its contents, some of which were alternative-digital hybrids, as a “flourishing” undertaking, further sparking hope in die-hard traditionalists that silver gelatin and its kin are not dying, they are evolving—and this evolution and the images it produces requires the care of those well-versed in alternative processes.

            For those archivists not traditionally trained in printing with these methods, a number of advances have been captured and published by leading conservators and scientists, most notably in several forms by The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI). As Stulik and Kaplan note, “[w]ithout knowing the chemical nature and physical structure of a photograph, it is difficult to prescribe conditions for its storage or exhibition that will help ensure its preservation, and it is difficult as well to determine appropriate conservation treatment.” It is this observation that spurred the authors to recruit a number of contemporary alternative process practitioners, as well as gather historical examples of those same methods, and examine them on the microscopic and chemical levels. Their published results are a boon to the budding visual materials archivist and conservator who may have the best intentions to preserve collections, but may not have the experience or the background in chemistry or alternative processes to know the best manner in which to assure the longevity of collections.

            In addition to the practical chemical work being done at GCI, The Getty have released a series of downloadable PDFs available through their website. Each PDF focused on a different method of alternative processes, ranging from albumen to Woddburytye, and details the identification, care, and handling of each. The PDFs have also been published in book form, titled The Atlas of Analytical Signatures of
Photographic Processes. In the Atlas, archivists and conservators can implement the extensive knowledge gleaned from Stulik and Kaplan’s laboratory work and apply it to their holdings (Abraham). The Atlas, although incredibly valuable to those who work with vintage photographs and those produced using alternative methods, cannot, however, replace the knowledge gained by those who are employed in the archival/conservatorial environment and who have also printed using these processes.

            In an increasingly digital world, archives are expected to have more and more digital holdings, and many images being introduced to repositories are born-digital. While one can anticipate the essential needs and requirements of digital files and be nearly universal in that assessment no matter what the subject matter or manner in which it was produced or saved, the story is quite different when considering alternative and historically processed visual materials. A number of important and groundbreaking resources are currently available to archivists and conservators who encounter these materials, but very little can replace the knowledge gained by implementing these processes and making images using nearly lost arts. Although the chemicals and other materials can be difficult to come by, it is by far in the best interest of an archivist’s repository to put her in the best position possible to care for historically processed images by granting her the education and practical knowledge of alternative processes by allowing and funding her education in such matters.

Abraham, Melissa. "Getty Conservation Institute Releases Critical New Resource for Conserving Historic Photographs." The Getty Iris. The J. Paul Getty Trust, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Copeland, Colette. "Photography in Crisis?" Afterimage 38.3 (2010): N. pag. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Echevarria, Jose I., Gregg Wilensky, Aravind Krisnaswamy, Byungmoon Kim, and Diego Gutierrez. "Computational Simulation of Alternative Photographic Processes." Computer Graphics Forum 32.4 (2013): 7-16. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Stulik, Dusan C., and Art Kaplan. "Collaborative Research: Working with the Alternative Photographic Processes Community." The Getty Conservation Institute. The J. Paul Getty Trust, n.d.. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

""The Image Wrought: Historical Photographic Approaches in the Digital Age" Opens Jan. 31." Harry Ransom Center. Harry Ransom Center, n.d.. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

"Unfrozen in time; Alternative photography." The Economist 4 Feb. 2006: 76(US). Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.