Restoring Albumen Prints

[SportingPhotos]

Dear all,

I am new to this forum!

I have a small collection of school sporting photos (British) albumen prints, I believe. There are least 100 years old mounted on a cardboard frame.
They all suffer blotches/spots of discolouration on the photo and cardboard mount; some of the cardboard mounts are slightly curved and need flattening.
I would appreciate any tips on trying to tackle these problems myself? I can take them to an expert to get them done but I am quite good with my hands and a quick-learner!

Would love to fix these photos myself!

Example: https://imgur.com/P5pg2VP

[Doug Nelson]

Hopefully someone will chime in with actual repair advice, but we're mostly about digital restoration here. Even if you do find the exact steps necessary to repair, I'd still scan them (or take the best photo possible) of the images, just in case something goes wrong (a genuine risk). Then you can find tips and how-tos here for digital restoration.

[JoReam]

Hi Sporting photos. I would suggest consulting with a photo conservator who could either undertake the work for you or give you some advice and references (I don't know your skill set or what access you have to photographic gear). A lot of photo conservators are attached to institutions such as museums and so may be able to give you advice. As you appear to be in the UK I don't know if you realize it but there is an online directory of conservators that you can use to find a conservator in your area - have a look at the site http://www.conservationregister.com . Conservators undertake a lot of specialist training as you have to have a good knowledge of the original process used, the appropriate techniques to fix the damage and also prevent further damage. Good luck.