AIC-PMG Winter Meeting 2025

An untitled platinum print from 1904 signed by Clarence Hudson White (1871-1925), an American photographer of the Photo-Secession movement, was the subject of examination and conservation treatment in the art conservation department at SUNY Buffalo State University. The print depicts three young boys, likely White’s sons, playing near a creek. The rough surface texture and warm image tone, supported by analysis with x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, confirm its identification as a mercury toned platinum print. The process of making a platinum print allows for the photographer’s artistic manipulation of the surface and tonality of the final print and was an ideal medium for photographers of the Photo-Secession movement. This movement promoted photography as a fine art form and moved away from the view of photography as an accurate representation of the world. This Clarence White platinum print is attached to two layers of paper, which will be referred to as the secondary and tertiary supports, with eight modern plastic adhesive photo corners. The historic significance of these two paper supports, the pictorialist mount, and the stylistic intent of the photographer were investigated. Small samples were collected of each paper support layer and analyzed with polarized light microscopy. The literature consulted suggests that the Photo Secessionists used handmade papers to adhere to the values of the arts & crafts movement, which favored the work of the individual over impersonal industrial production. However, this examination found that the secondary and tertiary paper supports may be machine-made due to the presence of wood pulp in the paper furnish. Viewing White’s photographs in several collections helped to ascertain his style of pictorialist mount and the papers he chose, and demonstrated how various institutions have mounted his prints for display and storage. The mount papers were determined to be components of the original mount created by Clarence White for this platinum print.

The photograph and its two mount papers were treated as a group to structurally stabilize and unify all three layers for display and safe return to the client. A treatment approach was chosen to address surface dirt, reduce adhesive residue, mend punctures and tears, and fill losses in all layers. The benefits and risks of washing the secondary and tertiary papers were thoroughly considered. However, ultimately the decision was made not to wash the papers because they were still joined in their original orientation, which was determined to outweigh the potential aesthetic benefits of washing. The photograph was remounted onto the repaired mount papers to preserve its authenticity and inherent meaning.