Fixing a Moment in Time

What can happen to a photograph?

A physical photographic print is a chemically complex item. Its physical makeup dictates how it ages, how it will degrade over time, and how best to store it to avoid damage and decay. We have yet to invent a permanent photograph, so it is important to take steps to ensure that we can slow the deterioration of our photographs to maintain them as long as possible.

Essentially, a photograph is the result of light hitting a photosensitive surface, which is then fixed in place through a chemical process. If housed in poor conditions and left untreated, photographs will fade, become discoloured, and/or experience silver mirroring.

In overly humid environments, photographs can grow mold or be attacked by insects. In low humidity environments they will curl, become brittle, and crack. Photographs can even be damaged by the oil in our fingers or simple carelessness with a cup of coffee.

Conservation Treatment

Each year, the City of Coquitlam Archives reserves a portion of its budget to address any pressing conservation issues of records in the collection. In 2019, we identified three panoramic photographs that were in need of extra care.

Like many historical panoramas, these three photographs had been stored rolled up, which had caused significant damage. When we acquired them, we could not safely view the photographs and we were unable to properly digitize them because of the damage and the curling nature of the paper. Given these concerns, we felt these three panoramas were optimal candidates for conservation treatment.

The photographs showed serious signs of decay that would only get worse over time if left untreated. The photographs were soiled and had tears and cracks of varying severity. The folds that had developed over years of being rolled had caused the gelatin emulsion layer to crack and separate from the rest of the photograph. One of the photographs had also had tape applied to it in the past to repair a crack. The tape had accumulated dirt and debris and was beginning to create a stain on the image.

According to the Northeast Document Conservation Centre (NEDCC), the goal of conservation treatment is “to stabilize the item in the collection so that it survives over the long term and is available for use, while at the same time changing its physical characteristics as little as possible.”

Ideally, repairs will remain visible to some degree so as not to suggest that the item was never damaged. It is important to remember that the damage is part of the story of the record but conservation treatment ensures that the damage does not get any worse.

In order to stabilize the photographs and make them safe to handle, we engaged Sarah Duffy, a paper conservator from Fraser/Spafford Ricci Art & Archival Conservation Inc.

The panoramas were photographed and examined under raking light, which is very bright light that helps to reveal the extent of any damage. The photographs showed severe deformations, cracks and splits, as well as delamination and loss in the emulsion layer.

Treatment began with humidification of the photographs so they could be unrolled and repaired. After they were flattened, pressure sensitive tape was removed very carefully from one of the photographs. A wheat starch consolidant was then applied to press the gelatin layer back down where it had separated from the paper on all three photographs. The conservator found that the local tear repairs were not strong enough to prevent further warping and cracking, so she decided to reinforce the photographs by fully lining them with Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste.

Tips for Preserving Photographs

So what can you do at home to make sure your photographs have a long and healthy life? Photographs do best in cool, dry, and stable environments that experience as little fluctuation as possible. This means that basements and attics do not make good storage environments for photos.

Ideally, photos should be kept in acid-free enclosures. You can use acid-free paper envelopes or plastic sleeves, or acid-free photo albums. These can be a bit pricier than standard photo albums, but they will ensure your photographs are protected over time. Keep in mind that colour photographs will deteriorate faster than black and white so it is especially important to keep them in dark, cool, and dry environments.

Avoid using any inorganic adhesives likes tape, glue, or magnetic photo albums – those ones with the sticky backs and plastic sheets popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Adhesives contain damaging acid that can cause photographs to yellow at a premature rate. The magnetic albums also tend to get stickier over time, which can cause damage or prevent removal of the photographs altogether.

It’s always a good idea to provide some identifying information for photographs because you may not be the one looking at them in the future. Consider putting them in an archival-quality album with accompanying notes, or provide information directly on the back of the photographs. If you do intend to write on the back of a photograph, make sure to use a soft #2 pencil and remember not to press down too hard, as this can cause damage to the emulsion side of the photograph.

With these storage and handling tips, photographs will be protected and will last for many generations to come, fixing precious moments in time.

Fixing a Moment in Time

What can happen to a photograph?

Conservation Treatment

The Results

Tips for Preserving Photographs

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