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Home::Family
How to Care for Your Photographs
Author : Andrew J. Morris
Photographs are wonderful, mysterious things. Yet we have become
so accustomed to them that we take them for granted. 1999 marked
the 160th anniversary of the public introduction of photography.
Prior to 1839 you could not see what distant places truly looked
like, or see yourself as you appeared when you were younger.
Most people didn't know what the President of the United States
really looked like, or the King or Queen of England. Oh sure
there were pictures, artists drawings and paintings, but they
were all interpretations -- even the most faithful
representations were influenced by the style, medium and mind of
the artist. Along came the invention of photography, and all
that changed overnight.
With every picture you take, you are freezing a moment in time;
capturing a view that can never be exactly the same again. You
may have a closet full of such frozen moments, or just a few
rolls from your last vacation. If you want to be able to enjoy
those moments far into the future, you need to take some care in
the handling and storage of those images. If you have family
photos handed down from earlier generations, you have a
responsibility to future generations to pass them on in as good
condition as possible.
When taking care of older photographs it helps to know something
of the process by which they were made, but it not essential. If
you would like to learn more about 'Identifying and Dating Old
Photographs' there is considerable information available. In
practice, all photos need to be protected from the same dangers.
Light is enemy number one. Chemical degradation is another
problem, and much less easy to deal with. And of course you must
protect them from physical damage, be it the curiosity of
children or the fury of storm, flood or fire.
LIGHT
Photographs are made by the action of light on a specially
treated chemical surface (at least they were before digital
imagery was invented, but more about that later ...) Little
wonder then that even after they are fixed into a stable image,
photographs can still be affected by light. Bright light will
cause photos to fade. Actually, all photographs are fading at
all times, but light greatly accelerates the process. The degree
of fading depends on the type of process used to create the
image, how well it was processed, and other factors. As a
general rule, color photos fade faster than black and white.
Of course you have to expose photos to light to view them, and
what good are they if they are never seen? But you should be
careful to store them in light-proof boxes. Pictures you hang on
your walls should be thought of as disposable -- don't hang the
original if it is a family heirloom -- make a copy and hang
that. Avoid placing pictures where they will be in direct sun.
CHEMICAL DEGRADATION
When pictures fade from sunlight it is really a form of chemical
degradation, but there are other factors that can contribute to
this process. If the pictures were not properly processed when
they were made, they have more damaging chemicals on them, and
will suffer the effects of chemical degradation much faster than
properly processed images. If you are having copies made, or
prints from new photos that you want to last well into the
future, you can have them archivally processed to ensure the
fewest possible damaging trace chemicals will remain on the
print. Old prints can be re-processed to remove chemicals, but
that process should only be attempted by professional
restoration experts.
Another source of chemical degradation is the paper (or on
mounted pictures, the cardboard the print is mounted on) used in
making prints. If the paper is too acidic, it may fall apart
with time, disintegrating slowly from within. There are sprays
available that can be used on the back of photos to slow this
process.
Photos can also pick up deleterious chemicals from their
environment, the air around them, other pictures, or the
material they are stored in. To ensure long life, store your
pictures in safe materials designed for archival storage. Never
use those so-called magnetic photo album pages that are sticky
-- that sticky surface is made of chemicals that will destroy
your pictures.
Other factors than can affect the chemical degradation of
photographs are temperature and humidity. Like most chemical
processes, those that damage your pictures are accelerated by
heat and humidity. Excessively low heat or humidity can also be
damaging however. All materials expand and contract with
temperature changes, which can lead to cracking of the image
surface. Rapid changes in temperature and humidity can be very
destructive. Very low humidity can also cause curling. Store
your photos in an area where the temperature is steady and avoid
extremes such as would be found in an attic or basement. Again,
proper storage materials will help ameliorate the effects of
fluctuating temperature and humidity.
PHYSICAL PROTECTION
How many times have you seen interviews with survivors of a
disaster such as flooding or fire, where they lament the loss of
their irreplaceable family photos? There is a simple solution to
this problem. Photos have the wonderful property of being
reproducible. You can have copies made in any quantity. Always
have multiple copies made of your favorite photos, and send them
to relatives living in other parts of the country. If you have
pictures of historical significance, contact museums in the
locality where they are from, they may be happy to accept
copies. Distribute your images far and wide, and you will always
be able to find another copy should yours be destroyed.
There are less severe forms of physical destruction that you can
protect against. Bent corners, folds and smudges from greasy
fingers can all damage your pictures. Children will scribble on
the backs if given the chance. Store your pictures securely, in
safe materials. Don't just stuff them in a drawer. There are
chemically inert plastic sleeves available for picture albums
that allow the pictures to be viewed without removing them from
their page.
INFORMATION
The value in common snapshots and portraits lies mostly in the
associations we have with them. Portraits of our ancestors
interest us more than unidentified portraits. Pictures of places
we have been, houses we have lived in, are more interesting than
similar pictures for which we have no associations. Even
indirect associations lend worth to an image -- a snapshot of
the pyramids in Egypt may not approach the many professional
images available of those wonderful monuments; but if we know it
was Aunt Lizzie who took that picture while on her honeymoon,
the picture suddenly has more sentimental value. These
associations require information not contained in the photo
itself. Always label your pictures! The who/what/why/when/where
associated with an image makes a world of difference in how it
is valued by others. Never write on a print with a pen, the ink
may have chemicals that will damage the picture. Write on the
back, using a dark pencil, and don't press so hard as to damage
the front side. At a minimum, put the date and names of persons
shown and/or location of the photo. If you store them in clear
plastic sleeves, don't put two pictures back-to-back in one
sleeve -- leave the back visible so you can see if there are any
notes without having to remove the picture from its sleeve.
DIGITAL IMAGES
With the advent of digital imaging, we have a whole new type of
image to deal with. It does not degrade, and can be copied at
little expense. It is also more easily manipulated. Long-term
storage is technology dependent, and less predictable than the
physical processes affecting chemical photographs. Will CD's or
DVD's made now be intact a hundred years from now? Will there be
machines capable of reading them? Who knows? But the opportunity
to duplicate and distribute your images at minimal cost, with
room to include as much information as you want, rather than
just the little note that will fit on the back of a print, makes
this an attractive way to share your pictures. You can be sure
that when the time comes that the CD or DVD formats are phased
out, there will be a "window of opportunity" during which time
it will be easy to transfer the digital information from those
to whatever format replaces them.
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