2007-11-06

Two more documents posted

I have just posted two more articles in the documents section of the AaI&A website (AaI_2007_1206_TA-01.pdf and AaI_2007_1206_TA-02.pdf).  They were written during my time as the Senior Research Photographic Scientist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.  Both articles pertain to the preservation of traditional photographic film and print materials.  Film and document scanners combined with digital printing technologies have brought fresh life and renewed interest to many historic negatives, color slides, and transparencies.  They have also enabled us to make copies easily and often with enhanced or restored image quality.  Yet, the preservation and care of camera original films and historic prints is more compelling than ever before.  As good as digital technology is today, it will be better tomorrow.  Those individuals and institutions with the foresight to retain and preserve images in their original format will have another chance to extract even better quality from the original information content.

One of the new documents discusses some key concepts related to the impact of the environment.  The other article outlines a practical low temperature storage method for small modular collections of traditional photographic materials.  Moreover, modern digital prints have similar substrate and polymer layer constructions compared to traditional film and print materials, and therefore, both articles are relevant to digital print technology as well.

Even if you have digitized your entire collection of camera originals taken during the film era of photography, continuing to preserve those originals is a very wise strategy.  These two articles can provide insight into higher standards of care for your collection of images on film and paper.