The Care of Photographic Prints & Negatives in Collections

Course Description

Among other topics, the course will cover safe handling of photographic materials, determining appropriate housing and storage conditions, and developing exhibition guidelines. The instructors will share examples from the Center for Creative Photography’s collection and collection management policies. Acknowledging that institutions have different resources available to care for their collections, the instructors will present students with a range of options for managing the photographic works under their care.  

While the instructors will review some aspects of photographic print and negative identification (e.g., distinguishing between nitrate and acetate negatives), this will not be a focus of the course. It would be helpful for students to come to the class with some knowledge of the differences between photographic processes. For those interested in developing skills in the identification of photographic prints, the instructors recommend taking RBS Course I-35. 

Course Meeting Times

This course will meet online 1:00 p.m.–3:15 p.m. ET on Monday through Friday, 6–10 July. Each course day will follow the schedule below:

• 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET — Class 
• 2:00–2:15 p.m. ET — Break 
• 2:15–3:15 p.m. ET — Class 

Advance Reading List

Day 1:

Bertrand Lavédrine, A Guide to Preventive Conservation of Photograph Collections (Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2003), 3-29 (“The Vulnerability of Photographs”). 

Spend time on Graphic Atlas to review different photographic print formats.

Day 2:

Bertrand Lavédrine with Jean-Paul Gandolfo, John McElhone, and Sibylle Monod, Photographs of the Past: Process and Preservation (Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2009), 24-39, 50-63, and 238-269.

Day 3:

James M. Reilly, Care and Identification of 19^th-Century Photographic Prints (Rochester: Eastman Kodak Company, 1986), 82-97.

Day 4:

Sylvie Pénichon, Twentieth-Century Color Photographs: Identification and Care (Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2013), 290-294.

Day 5:

Martin C. Jürgens, The Digital Print: Identification and Preservation (Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2013), 241-255.

Bertrand Lavédrine, A Guide to Preventive Conservation of Photograph Collections (Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2003), 128-133 and 141 (mold chart)-145 (“Disaster Response,” “Molds”, and “Pests”).

Additional Recommended Readings and Resources

American Institute for Conservation Preventive Conservation Wiki.

Digital Print Preservation Portal from the Image Permanence Institute (IPI).

IPI’s Methodology for Implementing Sustainable Energy-Saving Strategies for Collection Environments: Hollinger Metal Edge for Archival Housing Supplies.

Course History