2019

How to care for photographic collections

Photographs, as much as we wish they would, were unfortunately not made to last forever. Made of sensitive materials which are fragile and vulnerable, many have lasted far longer than was intended. With a few simple steps you can ensure that they last for many more years.

This article covers the photographic processes that you are most likely to find in your collection. As you read through you'll notice that details of how a photograph deteriorates such as fading and yellowing are included, this is because how a photograph ages and falls apart can be unique to a process, and so provides valuable information to help identify the process.

If you don't know what you have, how can you look after it? Identification of the photographic process will aid your decision on what storage materials to use, how to handle your photographs and what environmental conditions to keep them in.

Read part one here and learn more about how you can start identifying your photographs.

Those who know both materials will know that they are distinctly different, yet both are used for many of the same applications, and in this lies the core of the issue - When you have two materials which are so different, which one should you use?

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