Photographic Materials

Treatment of Photographic Prints

A new acquisition of a convolute of over 100 original photographs by the mid- to late-20th century Swiss photographer Leonardo Bezzola required conservation treatment as well as organisation for archival storage. Each print needed to be individually researched, treated and assigned a catalogue number according to the year the image was taken. Treatment largely focused on removing old mountings and tape remnants (gummed tapes and pressure sensitive tapes). An excel database was formulated in order to organise information like the catalogue number, year, title, size, type of original mounting, condition, conservation treatments performed, and any other information, like the type of print (silver gelatine developing paper, RC-paper or inkjet print) as well as markings, inscriptions or labels on the object. The photographs were organised for storage according to year, size, and photographic process. They were stored in pairs in archival paper folders with a silicon release paper between, which were stacked no more than 10 in a box.

Treatment of Glass Plate Negatives

Bethany Procopio volunteered at the Swiss Federal Archive in Bern where she assisted in a project to process an acquisition of 1000s of silver gelatine glass plate negatives from an historic archive of a Swiss postcard printing company. The collection of glass plate negatives need to be documented, cleaned (surface cleaning and occasionally treating mould with ethanol) and rehoused in archival folders that were stacked upright in small boxes.

Workshop in Identification and Storage of Photographic Materials

(Pictured above) Bethany Procopio was responsible for conducting instructive talks on the identification of photographic materials and the degradation phases thereof, as well as the ideal storage conditions and basic care for photography collections at a conference hosted by the Hochschule der Künste, Bern for museums professionals from around Switzerland.