[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: scrapbook photographs



Title: RE: scrapbook photographs

I would urge you not to attempt removing the photographs.  In all probability both the prints and the album will be irreversibly damaged.

In my 14 years of working with photograph archives, I don't think I have ever seen a case where prints were successfully removed from such albums without a great deal of damage.  Worse, here this often beautiful item has existed for 70+ years and then comes into contact with an archive and gets destroyed.  I think it's our professional duty to inform the potential donor that either surrogates can be made or that we'd rather not accept an album if accepting it means tearing it apart.  Let's be honest, who has the time and budget to locate and hire a professional conservator who may or may not accept the task, or have a reliable method of removing the prints?

On a more general note regarding albums, I'm often puzzled by many archivists' zeal to somehow undo them even when there is little or no evidence that the album is causing harm.  Many times the photographs contained in the notorious black-paper albums from the teen and twenties are very stable images that are doing just fine where they are.

Of course this is not true of *all* albums, and I think that where real damage is occuring to the photographs that is specifically attributable to the album itself, efforts can and should be made to reformat the images.

Peter F. Schmid, CA
Visual Resources Archivist
Sisters of Providence Archives
Mother Joseph Province
4800 37th Avenue SW
Seattle, WA 98126-2793
Tel:  206-937-4600 ext. 1225
Fax:  206-923-4001
mailto:pschmid@providence.org

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Arena, Brett [mailto:BArena@CHW.EDU]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2001 10:53 AM
> To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
> Subject: scrapbook photographs
>
>
> Good day,
>
> I have a question regarding removing old photographs from the
> common type of
> black paper that was used in scrapbooks for decades. I know this is
> something that flies in the face of current thinking, but we
> have a donor
> who wants us to have the originals that pertain to our
> institution but wants
> to retain the others in the scrapbook. There are no
> notations, etc.  I have
> heard that ethyl alcohol, benzene and acetone can be used
> around the edges
> of the back of the photograph to dissolve the adhesive,
> depending on what
> kind it is. It seems to me that although they all evaporate
> quickly, they
> may do damage to the backing of the photographs.  I have also heard of
> humidification chambers loosening the adhesive to the point where the
> photograph can be lifted off with a spatula or fishing line.
> I have heard
> results using this technique are spotty at best. I realize
> I'm running the
> risk of going down a path that has been trampled by the
> group, but a quick
> look at the archives didn't turn up anything that has been
> recently posted.
> My inclination is that the best policy is to photograph the
> ones we want and
> to leave them all in the scrapbook, but my co-worker feels
> differently, so I
> wanted to hear your opinions. All responses will be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Brett Arena, Archivist
> St. Vincent Medical Center
> Historical Conservancy
> Seton Hall
> (213) 484-7940
> fax (213) 207-5837
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to
> listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
>       In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
>                     *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
> To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu
>
> Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
>      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
>
> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>