Protecting and preserving old photographs.

-Photographs will fade in direct sunlight.

-Never laminate photographs. (This cannot be reversed).

-Do not put sticky tape on photographs.

-Never attempt to clean old photos by wiping with water. This will soften the emulsion and tear it.

-Use silica packets in boxes of photos to protect from moisture.

-Don’t put photos face to face as they may stick together.

-Generally, with photographs, the colder the storage, the longer the life.

-N.B.

Before attempting any “repairs” on an original photograph consider potential damage.

If in doubt, consult a conservator.

 

Old Photograph Albums

Although we take more photos than ever before, the family

photo album has become a thing of the past for many

families. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of images of

family and friends are often only stored on mobile phone

memory. Even if they are stored to the cloud backup, it is

never the same as holding original photos in your hands. I

often see old photo albums, sometimes with hand written notes and names, which are a permanent record for the

future. The most a digital file offers is the date and sometimes not that. It is a sad reality of modern life that

images have become so ephemeral, especially the candid, fun photos, such as Christmas and holidays.

It is always a good idea to have hard copies made of the more important photos and a traditional photo album is one way

of doing this. Another option some people consider, is to have entire pages of an existing photo album

scanned. These high resolution scans can be preserved on Discs, hard drives or printed to be kept as a

permanent record . Multiple copies can be made for various family members at a lower cost than scanning

individual photographs.Perhaps the best solution is to have a reproduction album made with copies of all the

pages (including notes), made into a new photo book. Original photo albums can be reproduced as a

modern photo book, including pages with notes. Even the front and rear cover can be reproduced for the

cover of the new album.

Talk -“Researching, preserving and restoring photographs”.

I give regular talks on this interesting subject.

Dates for talk;

1st October 2019 at the Kingston Library,

9th October 2019 at the Stonnington History Centre,

24th October 2019 at the Mornington Library.

 

 

Book -“Family History Photographs”.

Illustrated with examples, this is a handy guide to anyone wanting to understand their own family photographs.

-The historical background of photography.

-How to date photographs.

-Preservation of photographs.

-Scanning/ copying.

-Printing.

-Organising photographs.

-Photo restoration.

Cost $30.00 including postage.

Email https://www.pkphotorestoration.com.au/contact/ or call 03 9885 9586

 

 

 

Historical Images

The State Library of Victoria has a large collection of historical images that can be downloaded from its website,

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/explore-our-digital-image-pool   These are important as we are rapidly losing much of our architechtural heritage to modern development. Also they provide an important reference for how previous generations lived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To discuss your photo restoration project, and for a free quote, call-

03 9885 9586 – 0409 175 604