Current Issues in Photograph Conservation

The nature of photography is evolving. Rapid and transformative innovations in photography are both exciting and challenging for conservators. The profession needs to find ways to effectively share current knowledge and research to reach caretakers of these rapidly changing and growing collections.

The Current Issues in Photograph Conservation workshop series was designed primarily for mid-career conservators who work with photographic materials. Each workshop focused on a topic relating to the contemporary conservation treatment of photographic materials.

Instructors in the series are preeminent experts in the field. Through lectures, discussions, and practical work, they elucidated the various aspects of a given topic throughout each intensive workshop.

This five-day workshop, held July 2016 at the Getty Villa, included lectures, demonstrations, identification exercises, and hands-on treatments designed by the instructors to apply and test the different approaches.

To reinforce the identification exercises, participants had the opportunity to view digital prints from the collection at the Getty Museum by artists such as Tim Hawkinson and Robert Weingarten, among others. Sample prints were provided for identification and treatments. Evaluation of identification techniques, treatment applicability and effectiveness were carried out through group discussions at the end of each day.

The workshop provided participants with the theoretical and practical basis to:

• identify different digital processes
• recognize and understand the needs of these photographic materials
• prioritize the conservation needs within their collections
• communicate with institutional colleagues on collection priorities
• decide on and perform conservation treatments on these materials if necessary;
• better understand the craft behind the fine art digital print and learn more about contemporary display mechanisms

Principal Instructors

Martin Jürgens, Conservator of Photographs, Rijksmuseum

Ryan Boatright, Digital Printmaker, Atelier Boba, Paris

Tram Vo, Project Specialist, Getty Conservation Institute

"Twentieth-Century Color Photographs: Contemporary Practice, Identification, and Preservation" was held August 2017 at the Getty Villa and provided participants with the theoretical and practical basis to:

• identify silver halide-based color photographic processes
• recognize and understand the needs of these photographic materials
• prioritize the conservation needs within their collections
• communicate with institutional colleagues on collection priorities
• decide on and perform conservation treatments on these materials if necessary

It included lectures, demonstrations, identification exercises, and hands-on treatments practicum designed by the instructors to apply and test the different approaches. To reinforce the identification exercises, participants had the opportunity to view color photographs from the Getty Museum’s collection. Sample prints were provided for identification and treatments. Evaluation of identification techniques, treatment applicability and effectiveness were carried out through group discussions at the end of each day.

Principal Instructors

Sylvie Pénichon, Senior Conservator, Department of Photography, The Art Institute of Chicago

Tram Vo, Project Specialist, Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles

Janka Krizanova, Head of Conservation and Restoration Department, Academy of Fine Arts & Design, Bratislava, Slovakia