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Preserving Memories | |
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October 2005 Issue | |
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Preserving Memories
Creative ways to save and share your family history.
A. Do-it-yourself remedies, such as holding the photo over a simmering pot or prying it off with dental floss, don't work—and usually lead to even more damage. "Photos stuck to glass are almost always a lost cause because removing the photo usually tears the emulsion away from the photographic paper," says Heather Tudhope, a Denver-based photographic conservator. A professional conservator might be able to reattach the emulsion—the coating that contains the image—but your photo won't look the same. (See homepage.mac.com/tikimac/tudhope for more of Tudhope's photo-preservation advice.)
The best course of action is to make a good copy of your stuck photo. Scan it glass-side-down on a flatbed scanner, then print it onto photographic paper using a photo printer. If you don't have a scanner, use a do-it-yourself kiosk, available at large retailers. Or if you let a professional photo lab can do the scanning for you, you can request photo editing to correct scratches, balance the color and fix other damage. Technicians also can use the resulting image to create a new negative. Ask for a referral at a camera store or look in the phone book under Photo Copying or Photo Restoration.
If you want to try to save the original, you can hire a photographic conservator for about $60 to $150 per hour. He or she should evaluate the photo, prepare a condition report and develop a treatment proposal. Contact the American Institute for Conservation aic.stanford.edu at (202) 452-9545 for a referral.
Naturally, prevention is the best cure. Avoid framing a photograph so it touches the glass, especially in humid climates. Instead, mount it behind an acid-free, lignin-free mat to create a small space between the photo and the glass.
For more ways to save and share your family history, see the August 2005 Family Tree Magazine.
By Anne Wilbur
Sticky Situation
Q. How do you salvage a photo that's stuck to the glass of a picture frame?
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