Experts Give Tips for Preserving Photos
By Evelyn Boswell
MSU News Services
BOZEMAN - - "Cool, dry and dark." Those are the keys for storing family photographs if you don't want them to fade or disintegrate before you can pass them along to your children, according to experts at Montana State University-Bozeman.
Steven Jackson, head of Research and Collections at the Museum of the Rockies, specializes as curator of art and photography. John Hooton is photography coordinator in the department of media and theater arts. Kim Scott is Special Collections Librarian/University Archivist.
The three specialists emphasized cool, dry and dark storage, and gave these additional tips for taking, storing and displaying family photos so they will last as long as possible:
Think about using black and white film as well as color film when you take photos. Otherwise, consider turning some of your more important photographs into black and white prints. Black and white is made of silver and not dyes, so it lasts longer than color. No color pictures are permanent.
Before taking your film to be processed, call around to see what kind of paper will be used for the prints. Fuji and Ilford films and papers tended to lasts longer than products made by Kodak or any other company, according to accelerated aging tests reported in The Permance and Care of Color Photos (1993) by Henry Wilhelm, the "guru" on that subject, said Jackson. Kodak's dye-transfer process is very permanent as is Ilford's cibachrome, and photos on better quality papers from any of these companies tended to last longer than the most commonly used papers.
Display copies. Store heirloom originals under the best conditions possible. Display copies of them, not the original.
Store photographs where the humidity and temperature don't vary much. Cooler is better, but room temperature is fine. Avoid heat ducts. Humidity shouldn't run higher than 50 percent. Montana's humidity tends to run around 40 percent which is ideal, but don't store photos in houses or rooms where the humidity gets too high. Avoid damp basements, laundry rooms, bathrooms or any room where something wet will be introduced. Some of the best storage areas tend to be bedroom closets.
Take care of negatives and original transparencies, since those are the only way to make copies if the prints fade.
Avoid gases. Don't store photos in a garage or anywhere they'll be exposed to gases like nitrogen oxide or sulfur dioxide. If you live where the photos are stored, the pictures are probably safe.
Any visible light, not just ultraviolet light, will fade photographs. If you display photographs, don't put them in direct sunlight. If you want to shine lights directly on photos, consult a museum. Museums often display photographs, and curators use formulas to figure out where to set the lights.
Remember that even museums don't display their valuable photographs forever. They rotate them. They are more concerned with caring and preserving artifacts than displaying them.
Watch out for overhead water pipes, sprinkler systems, heating ducts and toilets on the floor above the storage area.
Avoid stagnant air, especially in an area with high humidity. Don't shove boxes against a wall, but leave at least one inch between the box and the wall.
Instead of storing photos in plain cardboard boxes, consider buying envelopes or containers that are advertised as acid-free, lignin-free or have a neutral PH. This will help prevent chemical reactions with the paper on which the photographs are printed. Those supplies are available locally or through mail-order companies like "Light Impressions."
Store prints, as well as negatives, in plastic sleeves that are sold with "archival" printed somewhere on the label.
Don't buy scrapbooks with magnetic pages. To make your own quality, inexpensive scrapbook, buy a good quality three-ring binder with a cloth cover. Purchase high-quality paper with a high rag content, the kind students would use to make a library copy of their thesis. To display photos, use photo corners. Don't glue down the pictures. Don't do anything that can't be undone.
"Encapsulate" your photos between Mylar, a material similar to plastic. The process is comparable to laminating, but doesn't involve heat. Encapsulating takes some practice and probably requires training.
Take your photos out at least once a year. You'll not only enjoy looking through them, but you can check for bugs, mildew and fading.
"Live with these things and love them," Hooton said.
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