Conservation of Photographic Materials

Abstract

Photography is one of the most popular and accessible means of capturing records. Most people own family photographs and albums but through history their format is changing. Digital system became widely available in the Twenty-First Century and photographs are often interpreted as “images” rather than “objects”. Digital photography has become mainstream and often prints are not made from captured images. Given this situation, we are obliged to pay more attention and evaluate cultural and historical values of photographs as objects. However, the value of photographs sometimes lies in their content and although digitization is conducted proactively, how to preserve and manage original photographs can be demanding. Many types and processes exist in photography in spite of its rather short history, as its development was always in consequence with science and technology. Variety of materials are used in different processes which makes conservation of photographs challenging. Here, the author discusses the value of photographs, the importance of process identification, types of deterioration, and introduce some conservation treatment for photographic prints.