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By its very nature, the Albumin photo is subject to many preservation problems and many deterioration hazards. On the negative side, many of these are inherent in the very physical and chemical nature of the process used. On the plus side, a few simple steps can be taken which can help to slow down the deterioration process.
First, lets look briefly at the most common forms of deterioration you will encounter. A good starting point is discoloration. Here there are two main causes-the chemical and physical composition of the photo and external sources.
The type of silver found in the Albumin print is of the photolytic type. This form of silver is found as small particles suspended in the Albumin binder and is very reactive-no only to light but to darn near anything which comes in contact with it. Especially sulfur. As the fixer used on these photos was sulfur based, if fresh fixer was not used and washing was not thorough, the retained sulfur reacts with the photolytic silver in the albumin layer and forms silver sulfide--a major cause of yellowing. Impurities in the paper support and the albumin used also react with the silver forming various discolorations. Fading as a result of this is also to be expected and in fact is seen accompanying the discoloration, typically beginning in the hight light areas and spreading from there.
Next are the dark blotches frequently seen on these photos. This is called "foxing" and is seen also on old documents. The causes are many. A few are; Metal particles in the paper or albumin, mold, localized impurities and a host of other poorly understood factors.
The physical problems are simply listed and understood--Poor handling, improper display, poor storage.
So, what can be done to give these old photos a fighting chance? First and foremost, The greatest challenge is that of humidity. From this one factor spring most of the other problems. High Humidity is death to Albumin photos. Period. In the presence of high humidity, chemical decomposition rates increase, mold growth accelerates, and severe problems with cracking and curling occur, only to be further enhanced when the Relative Humidity begins to drop. Short of building a special climate controlled room or storage area, what can be done? First, the photo should be stored in a protective archival type sleeve and kept in an area where the temp. will be around 60 degrees F. Attempts to control humidity in its storage cabinet by use of whatever means is avaliable is a good idea as well. Keeping the RH at around 40% is a good goal.
The photo when displayed must be kept out of intense light--natural or artificial. Intense light no only will cause fading--it causes cracking of the albumin layer as well.
Handling the photo should be done sparingly and with gloved hands. Using two hands is highly recommended as bending or creasing is guaranteed to damage the photo. This is a brief summary folks, entire books and college courses exist on this topic. The goal here is to provide a few of the more importiant and practical tidbits, so feel free to add your own. I am interested to get all input possible-- After reading this, open the attachment and see if you can identify the problems of the photos. Thanks--Tom
First, lets look briefly at the most common forms of deterioration you will encounter. A good starting point is discoloration. Here there are two main causes-the chemical and physical composition of the photo and external sources.
The type of silver found in the Albumin print is of the photolytic type. This form of silver is found as small particles suspended in the Albumin binder and is very reactive-no only to light but to darn near anything which comes in contact with it. Especially sulfur. As the fixer used on these photos was sulfur based, if fresh fixer was not used and washing was not thorough, the retained sulfur reacts with the photolytic silver in the albumin layer and forms silver sulfide--a major cause of yellowing. Impurities in the paper support and the albumin used also react with the silver forming various discolorations. Fading as a result of this is also to be expected and in fact is seen accompanying the discoloration, typically beginning in the hight light areas and spreading from there.
Next are the dark blotches frequently seen on these photos. This is called "foxing" and is seen also on old documents. The causes are many. A few are; Metal particles in the paper or albumin, mold, localized impurities and a host of other poorly understood factors.
The physical problems are simply listed and understood--Poor handling, improper display, poor storage.
So, what can be done to give these old photos a fighting chance? First and foremost, The greatest challenge is that of humidity. From this one factor spring most of the other problems. High Humidity is death to Albumin photos. Period. In the presence of high humidity, chemical decomposition rates increase, mold growth accelerates, and severe problems with cracking and curling occur, only to be further enhanced when the Relative Humidity begins to drop. Short of building a special climate controlled room or storage area, what can be done? First, the photo should be stored in a protective archival type sleeve and kept in an area where the temp. will be around 60 degrees F. Attempts to control humidity in its storage cabinet by use of whatever means is avaliable is a good idea as well. Keeping the RH at around 40% is a good goal.
The photo when displayed must be kept out of intense light--natural or artificial. Intense light no only will cause fading--it causes cracking of the albumin layer as well.
Handling the photo should be done sparingly and with gloved hands. Using two hands is highly recommended as bending or creasing is guaranteed to damage the photo. This is a brief summary folks, entire books and college courses exist on this topic. The goal here is to provide a few of the more importiant and practical tidbits, so feel free to add your own. I am interested to get all input possible-- After reading this, open the attachment and see if you can identify the problems of the photos. Thanks--Tom
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