AIC’s Photographic Materials Group is excited to host the 2025 PMG Winter Meeting. The program is below and will be updated with pre-session events, like tours and other options. Browse therates and make sure you register before they go up!
"Over the past decades, the quality of cultural heritage preservation in Slovakia have seen significant improvements. We can confirm this process by looking at the increased number of professional employees in museums, galleries and archives, new investments in storage and exhibition areas, not only in the capital, but also in other regions. However, due to the long neglected conditions, there are many examples of strikingly damaged photographic heritage in both the public and private sectors. Despite numerous efforts to improve the condition, it is not possible to make the changes immediately and the long-term absence of photograph conservators in Slovakia has resulted in several deficits in the care of photographic material. Photographs on a paper support, especially gelatine silver prints, form a significant part of those collections and funds. In the case of framed gelatin silver prints, we often face a complex conservation issues, such as the problem of emulsion layer swelling and glass adhesion or other tricky challenges, that lead us to find the most appropriate conservation treatment.
Under the incorrect storage or display conditions, these photographs have tendency to adhere to glass of a frame or other nearby material, resulting in deterioration of their fragile image layer. The main cause of these undesirable changes is the presence of water and increased humidity, but the damage is also caused by their inherent structure. The two primary layers – the paper support and the gelatin emulsion – expand and contract relatively in response to changes in storage conditions. This can lead to swelling of the emulsion layer and increased adhesion to the adjacent surface – such as the glass in the frame. Removing these photographs from the glass causing further damage to the image layer present a major challenge for conservators and requires a degree of creativity needed in the decision-making process. How does the object condition influence the choice of treatment methods? And is it even possible to treat these photographs without causing any image loss?
The purpose of this presentation is to describe the challenges and strategies used in the conservation treatments of two objects adhered to a glass frame – a large format photographic board of photographic portraits from a museum collection and an abstract glossy silver gelatin print, Ecce Homo, from a private collection. We will present and discuss the most effective, thought somewhat risky, methods of removing of photographs stuck to glass – the use of direct humidification and mechanical separation, and when to use them or when not to use them. By sharing our insights and experiences from these case studies, we aim to answer many questions appearing. This issue is related to a PhD research project at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava focused on the cleaning, stabilisation and conservation of photographs on a paper support."
