Silvering and other problems galore!

[cyrus]

I'm consulting for a certain cultural organization in NYC that is trying to restore their historical photographs, thought you folks would be interested in seeing what sort of damage can result from poor storage and handling. I nearly had a stroke when they started trying to separate the photos from their backing using a carving knife, and had stored them in a humid basement pressed up against the plexiglass of poster frames etc.

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[Ron McElroy]

How do you plan to restore the heavily silvered print 1?

[Mark Sampson]

Cyrus,
If these images have any value at all, don't fool around. Find a professional photograph conservator. They are rare birds (I am married to one) but there are at least several good conservators in New York. Contact me off-list and we'll get you some names.

[cyrus]

Alas the "fooling around" has already happened before I arrived -- more than few were unrolled while dry and so cracked apart, for example. Others were hacked out of their albums. As a longtime collector I have a tiny bit of conservation knowledge, enough to know what sort of problems there are, however there's absolutely no budget. The best we can do right now is digitally scan them -- on the premises since they won't allow the prints to leave the building. I'm trying to convince them to at least properly matt the most important ones.

The heavily silvered prints can't really be restored. The best option is to scan it and then store it away properly. Some people suggest a coating of vaseline to reduce the sheen but I don't do that.

It is an amazing collection though - albumin, pop, a few photogravures. The ones that survived thus far are gorgeous.

[Peter Gomena]

I found that scanning without the blue channel helps greatly with silvered images. The silvered parts really reflect blue light. Try scanning with only the red channel or scan in RGB and throw out the blue channel. It makes a big difference.

[cyrus]

I found that scanning without the blue channel helps greatly with silvered images. The silvered parts really reflect blue light. Try scanning with only the red channel or scan in RGB and throw out the blue channel. It makes a big difference.

Thank you, indeed I've read this in other places on the web.