Conservation of Photographic Materials

Designed for curators, conservators, archivists, and others responsible for collections of historical photographs, the courses presented by the Conservation of Photographic Materials project sought to develop participants’ skills in approaches to storage, negative duplication, exhibitions, and disaster planning, as well as the identification of major historical photographic processes.

Beginning in 1987, the Getty Conservation Institute offered a series of courses on the conservation and preventive care of photographic materials, especially historical photographs and negatives. Designed for curators, conservators, archivists, and others responsible for photo collections, the courses included approaches to storage, negative duplication, exhibitions, and disaster planning, as well as practical sessions on the identification of major historical photographic processes. The courses also covered deterioration problems, identification of photographic prints and negatives in need of treatment, and treatment and storage options.

Follow-up courses focused on the structure and composition of photographic materials; identifying specific color photographic processes and their characteristic deterioration problems and preservation alternatives; the environmental and storage issues affecting the stability of photographic materials; the stability of silver images; care of photographic materials; and the survey and establishment of long-term preservation plans for collections, including disaster recovery plans.