Happy October, dear friends!
Fall is finally upon us and so begins the time of year when BDC staff and laypeople have the most in common - bundling up in sweaters, sipping hot tea, spending more time indoors and less time in the sun than is probably recommended by health professionals, and feeding into one's interest in history, death, and the macabre! While normal folks are out picking pumpkins and deciding on costumes for Halloween in October, BDC staff and other archives professionals are celebrating American Archives Month (and Halloween - we have personal lives too, you know!). If you are interested in being even more like us this month, this is the blog post for you!As part of this year's celebration of American Archives Month, and in a belated nod to last month being Save Your Photos Month, the BDC wanted to share tips with our readers on how to take care of precious photographs at-home. I've designed both a display and a short guide in the form of this post that answers some of the top questions when it comes to photograph preservation. So, let's get started!
Shelf One: An Introduction
First on the shelf is Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler’s Photographs: Archival Care and Management (2006) - our photograph preservation "bible." It is a detailed guide to handling, assessing, and storing photographs for professionals, but anyone curious about archival standards for photographs can benefit from reading it. I often re-read the chapters on identifying types of photographs and the methods for housing each type. The Graphics Atlas, an online resource, and NEDCC's Preservation Leaflets Types of Photographs, parts 1, 2 and 3 are also incredibly helpful when trying to identify old photo types.
Caring for Your Family Treasures: Heritage Preservation (2000) by Jane S. and Richard W. Long, is a handy primer for long-term care of personal artifacts for non-professionals. With chapters on photographs and scrapbooks, this book outlines best practices for preserving and conserving these heirlooms with helpful tips and tricks. The author also points to additional resources for more in-depth study if you are so inclined.
Shelf Two: How should photographs be stored?
Pinned at the top of this shelf are short summaries of best environmental conditions for the safekeeping of photographs. First, it is best to store materials somewhere safe from huge swings in temperature and humidity levels and away from potential sources of water, pest, or UV damage. Attics, basements, sheds, and garages are not safe storage areas because they are often not temperature or humidity controlled, can be pest "hot spots," and are more likely to flood or experience leaks. Instead, find a spot in your home that is climate controlled, off the floor, and not in direct sunlight (to prevent fading due to UV damage) to store your photograph collections. NEDCC's Care of Photographs Preservation Leaflet goes into greater detail on proper storage.
Next, house your photographs in proper containers. NEDCC also has a Preservation Leaflet on Storage Enclosures for Photographic Materials, but in the display I have a copy of Gaylord Archival's Guide to Collections Care (2016) opened to page 22, showing how materials like photographs can be housed – first in an archival-safe plastic or paper sleeve, then in an acid-free folder within an archival box. That seems fairly straightforward, right? And it is... so long as you have the right paper and plastic sleeves! Sleeves need to be P.A.T. tested and safe for photographs. If they aren't, you risk the surface or emulsion of the photograph adhering to the sleeve or the acid of the sleeve eating away at your photo.
On the shelf are surrogate copies of photos we hold in our collections in a variety of sleeves, showcasing the ideal ways a photo could be archivally stored. Paper sleeves are opaque and help to prevent UV damage, while also being easier to label with pencil. Paper sleeves must be acid- and lignin-free. Plastic sleeves are more transparent, which allows for clear identification and viewing of the photo without having to remove the item from the sleeve itself. However, you must be very careful when choosing plastic sleeves that you are using the right plastics. Gaylord Archival has a helpful infographic, Know Your Archival Plastics, that breaks down the safe and unsafe options. PVC (polyvinyl chloride) sleeves are the most commonly offered sleeves - usually as three-ring sheet protectors or scrapbook sleeves, but PVC sleeves are not safe for long-term storage of photographs (even if the box of sleeves says archival!). PVC degrades and off-gasses chemicals than can damage and degrade the materials housed within it, so PVC is never recommended for storing archival materials.
Instead, polyester, polypropylene, and polyethylene sleeves are the safe choices for plastic sleeves. Polyester, also called Mylar, is considered the best as it is the clearest and most rigid option, but it is more expensive than the less clear and rigid polypropylene. Polyethylene sleeves are also a good option, although they are more opaque and flimsy.
Shelf Three: How should photographs be handled?
This shelf prominently displays two pairs of gloves. Why? Well, archival standards dictate that gloves be worn when handling photos to prevent oils from our hands sticking to the photo's surface and causing damage. Gloves aren't required for use with paper-based materials like books and documents, but photographs are more sensitive to damage from oils and dirt.
The stereotype of an archivist or museum curator is that of someone wearing a cardigan, loafers, and white cotton gloves. However, white cotton gloves are no longer the industry standard, at least where photographs are concerned. Cloth gloves were the standard due to their availability and cost effectiveness; these types of gloves are washable and reuseable. However, they can pick up dirt and dust from surfaces or absorb moisture and oils from our hands and transfer them to materials. Cotton gloves are often loose fitting, which can create issues with grip, and reduce our tactile sensitivity. The fabric of the gloves can also snag on rough, brittle edges, causing breakage.
Nitrile, latex, and vinyl gloves are now the standard for use with archival materials, especially photographs. They create a moisture barrier, are more close-fitting, are less likely to snag, and don't pick up dirt and dust. In the BDC, we use blue nitrile gloves like those you see on the shelf.
Bonus Tip: Labeling photographs
Labeling your photographs is important, as it provides context on who is in the photo along with when and where it was taken for future viewers. However, you should not label your photographs with pen, nor should you write on the front of the image. Instead, label the backs of your photographs preferably along the edges with pencil and light pressure or with acid-free ink so as not to damage the image on the front! We know that this can be hard if there are several or more people in the image. In that case it may be prudent to sleeve the photograph in an acid-free, lignin-free envelope so that you can record the identities of the people and details of the event and/or date of the photograph.
Shelf Four: What if my photograph is damaged?
In our hot and humid, and hurricane-prone climate, water damage is not uncommon for collections. NEDCC has a helpful guide on how you can salvage wet photographs and dry them safely so that they can be preserved. The CCAHA also has a very thorough article on the topic, too.
With photograph collections, we've seen water damage lead to photographs sticking to each other. Included on the shelf in my display is a sheet that discusses how one can try to separate photographs that are stuck together, originally written by University Products for Preservation Week. The process discussed in this handout was highlighted in a previous Connections Blog post that Grace wrote: Preservation Q & A on Smithsonian Institution Archives Blog. That being said, the method is not actually recommended by the Smithsonian or other conservators as re-wetting the photographs risks separating the image from its back, ink running, mold, and other issues. Instead, there is not much that can be done for stuck photographs.
Another not-recommended remedial issue is tape. Using tape to mend torn documents is fairly typical for non-archivists, but in the archives, the use of tape is highly discouraged. The adhesives in tape are acidic and can stain and otherwise damage the material they are stuck to. Eventually, the adhesive gives way, leaving only the residue behind and you're back to having a torn and separated item again. Instead of using tape, house the parts of the photograph together in an archival sleeve in a position as close to the original arrangement as possible.
That being said, it is important to remember that prevention and preservation are much easier (and cheaper) than remediation and restoration!
I hope you all enjoyed this discussion on photographic preservation, and I hope even more that some of you will feel encouraged to don an "archivist costume" for Halloween and try out these tips!
References:
Cathleen A. Baker and Randy Silverman, Misperceptions about White Gloves. In International Preservation News, No. 37 (Dec. 2005).
Shelf Two: How should photographs be stored?
Shelf Four: What if my photograph is damaged?
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