The Current Situation of Photographic Conservation at the Art Institute of Chicago

Abstract

Beginning in September 2018, I had the opportunity to research the Art Institute of Chicago's management of its photography collection, and its current techniques of photographic conservation, for a period of six months. During the same period, I also undertook training at the museum's departments of Photography, Conservation and Science, and Registration.

In this paper, by referring to deterioration factors of photographic images, I will introduce some examples of actual conservation treatments at the Art Institute of Chicago. Furthermore, I will report on the environmental conditions and the history of cold storage for photographic collection at the museum, which it introduced in 1982 - the first art museum in the world to do so. I will also describe the typical practices of a photograph conservator at the institute.