Photography in archive: identification – preserving – conservation
Anna Seweryn
Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie , PolandAbstract
The article is devoted to the issue of photography as an archival material requiring particular knowledge at the stage of identification, preservation and conservation of collections. Photographs are objects made in various techniques and technologies, on a range of bases and light-sensitive substances. Their complicated structure is responsible for the exceptional sensitivity of these objects in contact with destructive factors and for the often rapid course of the degradation process, even resulting in the complete loss of the medium. The text deals with the identification of techniques and technologies used in the making of objects, describes the factors influencing the degradation of images, and highlights the basic guidelines for the protection and conservation of collections. The text presents the beginnings of the phenomenon of photography, as well as the most common photographic techniques found in Polish collections. The author describes the most important research concerning the identification and preservation of photographs, quoting source materials. The essential part of the study consists of guidelines concerning the process of identification of the technique of taking an object, from which all activities connected with securing or preserving photographs should begin (including the identification of unstable plastic bases). Then the text describes the most common causes of degradation of archival photographic materials and the basic processes thanks to which we can positively influence the longevity of photographic collections (including the storage of objects in reduced temperature and relative humidity parameters). The study ends with a description of preventive conservation measures necessary to maintain the collections in a good state of preservation as well as proper handling of photographs during the process of digitization of the collections.
Keywords:
archive, photography, identification, conservation, negative, print, preservationReferences
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