How Far Would You Go?: Physical Conservation and Preservation Efforts for Antique and Archive Photographs

When it comes to the physical aspects of conservation, we have the ability to do just about anything. Using science and knowledge of the processes used to make the object in question, there isn’t a lot that we can’t do. The question, like in any gothic or science fiction text, becomes if and when we should.

Like it or not, conservation and preservation are at their core a numbers game. Let’s say you have a large photographic collection of over 10,000 photographs that you want to preserve. Your expenses would include examination fees, consulting fees, insurance, travel costs and optional step charges (NEDCC, 2014) just to get the collection into good shape. Not to mention that these fees are assessed based on the size and scope of the project, which in our hypothetical case would probably bankrupt our institution.

The way I look at preservation and conservation is that we are essentially on the Titanic: we’re sinking and there are not enough lifeboats for everyone. Every day that goes by is a day that your daguerreotype collection comes closer to being pocket mirrors. This puts us in an awful situation. Many people that become librarians do so because they believe that there is power in every book and life in every photograph. But universal safety was never an option for us. Effectively preserving photographs is about making the right choice for the right object or collection.

So what options do we have and when should they be used? Well, in my study of the different ways to ensure the longevity of photographs, I found that there are two basic types of action: offensive and defensive.

Offensive Actions:

Actions meant to reverse effects accrued over time such as stain reduction or reducing acidity. Some of these actions can be done in-house and some require the trained hand of a conservator. 

Below are the top four most popular or effective methods of ensuring the longevity of a photograph and their relative costs.

Surface Cleaning: Using a soft brush or a controlled stream of air (NOT CANNED AIR it is too forceful) to remove existing particulates, which can cause staining and deterioration. It is always best practice to start in the center and move outwards so as not to simply move the particulates.

Cost: $ out of $$$$ This can be undertaken in-house, but by an experienced member of the team with corresponding experience or training.  If no such person exists, the cost would be that of training your staff or paying a trained conservator. Either way, the cost remains relatively low. This is something that should be undertaken on a scheduled basis, especially if the environment calls for it.

Part Replacement: In many cases, when minor problems plague a photograph such as localized rusting, it’s best to replace the problem area IF THE REPLACEMENT CAN BE DONE SAFELY. The most common replacements include: the image backing board of the ambrotype, casing (except in the case of most tintypes, in which case this should be preserved), glass replacement and re-supporting paper prints.

Cost: $$ out of $$$$ Most repairs would require a trained hand, especially re-casing and glass replacement. Re-supporting and new backing boards can be done in-house under a watchful, experienced eye. Still relatively inexpensive.

Humidifying or Flattening: Many believe that if you are in the possession of a curled photograph, the problem can be solved by exposing it to higher levels of humidity. While this works in the cases of most paper and maps, it’s important to note that photographs are not just the paper they are printed on. Exposing these artifacts to high humidity would help unroll the paper sure, but it might take the image with it, causing cracking and distortion.

Cost: $$$ out of $$$$ All attempts at flattening should be made by a conservator and is therefore only worth your time if you have a somewhat rare, useful or valuable artifact.

Electro-Cleaning: This is a highly scientific method for dealing with heavily damaged photographs. It should only be undertaken by an extremely skilled professional. The process looks something like this: first the photograph is dry cleaned (above), then bathed in filtered water for about 5 minutes. Then, the daguerreotype is placed into a bath of ammonium hydroxide and connected to a current, which increases gradually. Then, a silver wand passes over the photograph, careful not to make direct contact. When the image looks presentable, it is again bathed in water and re-cased. This is quite like all three of our previous processes and is quite involved.

Cost: $$$$ out of $$$$ An independent contractor (PhotoTree) prices electro-cleaning at $110 per image. Choose carefully or get grant funding.  

Defensive Actions:

Actions that are meant to prevent damage from happening or in case of future damage. Again, I will be presenting four popular or effective practices. 

Storage: Everyone that you talk to has different best practice guidelines for storage. It's a matter of company policy, overall environment and specific problems and challenges that the organization might face. However, if you rely on the alpha and the omega of the library world, the LoC recommends humidity be set between 30 and 40 percent (as cited in Flowers, 2009) and 40 degrees or below (LC, 2014) with minimal exposure to light and pollutants. However, the particular, individual storage concerns are going to vary based on type and condition. For example, Ritzenthaler and O'Connor recommend flat storage for larger, more fragile items and vertical storage for smaller, less fragile items (2006). Paper or plastic enclosures may be made to protect the item from light or to prevent excessive handling, but again, your best practice should depend on a thorough knowledge of what materials you are working with, how they were made and how they are to be used. 

Cost: $ of $$$$ (if you're not counting the construction of the building). This is a fairly easy and logical solution. It sounds dumb, but the better your storage practices are, the longer your items will last and the better they will look. 

Microenvironments: A subset of storage, this practice is becoming more and more popular with smaller libraries with mixed media collections and no ability to control their storage environment. Basically this practice consists of creating a separate environment for photographs to live, as their best practice care guidelines differ from those of other formats. Their are several different ways of going about this and they range from the very simple (put all photographs in another, darker room) to the intricate and expensive (create an environment with molecular sieves, allowing only the smallest amount of particles, light etc. to get through). However, according to the 1998 study conducted by Bigourdan, Adelstein and Reilly, "The use of micro-environments is highly recommended when it is not possible to control the macro-environment. However, the benefit obtained by micro-environments do not equal those obtained by temperature and humidity control of the storage area" (p. 10). Basically, this practice should only be used if absolutely necessary. Otherwise basic storage rules should be enough. 

Cost: Varies based on the sophistication of the system. 

Display and Handling Practices: Again, this sounds like common sense, but a good display and handling policy will save you hundreds of dollars in repairs down the road. And also again, it's going to depend greatly on you, your institution, your collection and the state of said collection. However, basic common sense varies little. The Library of Congress recommends the following: 

• "Having clean hands and wearing 100% cotton gloves (although Martha disagrees so I am inclined to disagree)
• Having a clean work area
• Keeping food and drink away
• Not marking photographs, even on the back side
• Not using paper clips or other fasteners to mark or organize prints
• Not using rubber bands, self-adhesive tape, and/or glue on photographic materials"  (2014)

NARA also provides a no-nonsense Display Policy which states that important or valuable photographs "should not be displayed in direct sunlight, or under bright lamps, near heat sources or in damp locations such as basements, kitchens or bathrooms" (2014) and recommends non-excessive display or creating an access copy for display instead. Again, this sounds boring compared to electro and lazer cleaning, but if you have written, specific plans to refer to, it will help employees, the public and the artifacts themselves greatly. 

Cost: Nothing, that's the best part! 

Benign Neglect: This has become somewhat of a dirty word in many circles, but when used correctly, this can be the smartest decision you'll ever make. Let's say you're a young kid just out of library school and you're put in charge picking which photographs go to conservators, which are kept in the collection and which are weeded altogether. Let's also say that you come across a photograph you can't make heads or tails of. If, after asking around, you make the judgement call that this is not a rare or important item and therefore not worth sending to a conservator, but also not worth weeding, it's best to just let it sit. It's part of a collection, it has a place and a purpose but it's also not interesting enough to warrant expensive lazor repair either. It is simply... benign. 

Cost: Nothing!

Photographs bring up very unique and sometimes difficult conservation and preservation concerns in the library world, but with tools and guidelines from places like LoC, NARA and others, it's easy to make the right choice for the right photograph. 

References:

Bigourdan, P., Adelstein, P. & Reilly, J. (1998). "Use of Micro-Environments for the 

Preservation of Cellulose Triacetate Photographic Film". Retrieved from https://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/webfm_send/306.

Flowers, J. (2009). "19th Century Photograph Preservation: A Study of Daguerreotype and Collodion 

Processes." Retrieved from http://www.si.edu/mci/earlyphotography/references/flowers2009.pdf. 

Image Permanence Institute (2014). "Projects and Research". Retrieved from https://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/imaging/research. 

Library of Congress (2014). "Caring for your Photographs." http://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/photo.html.

NARA (2014). "Framing and Displaying Photographs." Retrieved from http://www.archives.gov/preservation/family-archives/displaying-photos.html.

NEDCC (2014). "Working with Conservation for Cultural Institutions". Retrieved from http://www.nedcc.org/photograph-conservation-at-nedcc/working-with-conservation-for-cultural-institutions.

PhotoTree (2014). "Daguerrotype Restoration". Retrieved from http://phototree.com/restore_dags.htm.

Ritzentahler, M. & Vogt-O'Connor, D (2006). Photographs: Archival Care and Management. SAA: Chicago.

University of South Dakota (2012). "Forms of Photograph Degradation." Retrieved from http://archivesandspecialcollections.wordpress.com/category/forms-of-photograph-degradation/.