Conservation Treatment of Photographs

In template 4 I incorporated new questions regarding treatment types and types of treated photographs, to complement the first part of the interview. Also, I developed the third treatment topic question -about unmounting/remounting photographs.

Institutions Could you please tell me your name, job title and affiliation? When was this conservation lab established and for how long have you been working here? I. -My next question relates to need for treatment. Considering that in an institutional reality, not all deteriorated photographs or not all photographs that present problems, can be treated or are treated, how do you select and prioritize the photographs that are going to be treated? What factors determine the need for treatment? [Potential answers: Exhibition/loan; established treatment plan/program; specific projects] -If you had more resources would you propose the establishment a regular treatment program for the collection? (based on priorities) -Broadly speaking what types of photographs are treated most frequently? [Paper based photographs (traditional processes: salt prints, albumen prints, silver gelatin, platinum prints, pigment processes, cyanotypes), daguerreotypes, other early cased photographs, modern and con...

Template for interview Today is Day, Date (month, day, year), Time. My name is Alejandra Mendoza and I am with (name of the interviewee) to have a conversation about Treatment Practices in Photograph Conservation. This interview is/forms part of the series of interviews I am conducting to photograph conservators to investigate and describe the current status [state] of treatment practices in our field, the general characteristics and objectives of the interventions performed, and the variables that influence its performance, as well as briefly address the transformation of treatment standards and decision-making through time. I would like to follow a format for the interview in which I will begin asking you questions about the approaches, characteristics and extents of the treatments performed in this institution, followed by questions addressing treatment issues that the field has faced through time.

I continued developing new questions and question structures for the beginning of the interview. With this initial section, I am trying to contextualize what treatments are being performed, where, how often, to what degree. I realized -after feedback with faculty members- that the idea of inquiring about difficult treatment study cases, may sound too rigid or violent for the interviewees. And therefore I decided to structure the questions by treatment topic. Instead of asking, "what would you do if a client brings you an object with this problem?", asking "what is your opinion about this treatment? Do you think it can/should be performed? when, why? This approach gives more space for conversation and can be better understood.

Institutions Could you please tell me your name, job title and affiliation? When was this conservation lab established and for how long have you been working here? I. My next question relates to need for treatment. Considering that in an institutional reality, not all deteriorated photographs or not all photographs that present problems, can be treated or are treated, how do you select and prioritize the photographs that are going to be treated? What factors determine the need for treatment? [Potential answers: Exhibition/loan established treatment plan/program specific projects] If you had more resources would you propose the establishment a regular treatment program for the collection? -In a general sense, what is the aim of the treatments performed, stabilization or restitution of the aesthetical qualities of the object? (Or both?) [Cleaning, consolidation, flattening, structural repair, compensation for loss/inpainting] - Do you consider mounting and rehousing as conserva...

"1. Treatment is the core of our profession. There are other fields; archivists, conservation scientists, collections management, researches, and curators. They each play their important and unique roll in the world of art and history. But it is entrusted to the professional Conservator the privilege to intervene, or not intervene, in the physical well being of the object. 2. In the conservation of artistic and historic works, not every treatment that is wanted is possible, not every treatment that is possible is necessary, and not every treatment that is necessary is advisable. [...] But when it comes to a decision as to what treatment, if any, should be carried out, the the responsibility is strictly in your hands. It is you who must be true to your sense of ethics. Just because and object is brought to a conservator for treatment it is not itself sufficient reason to do treatment." José Orraca, “Developing Treatment Criteria in the Conservation of Photographs”, OJO, Spring...

I realized that the heading "Philosophy and Ethics" was hard to understand, and that the questions could be addressed differently and in a different order. I introduced the idea of presenting specific case studies to talk about complicated treatment procedures. For example, intensification of prints or album dis-assemblage. The shape or content of these questions are not definitive, just a trial.

Today is Day, Date (month, day, year), Time. My name is Alejandra Mendoza and I am with (name of the interviewee), to have a conversation about Treatment Practices in Photograph Conservation as part of my project for the ARP in which I intend to describe the current status of treatment practices: its characteristics and objectives, and the variables that influence its performance; as well as briefly address the transformation of treatment standards and decision-making through time. I would like to follow a pattern for the interview in which I will begin asking questions about the approaches to treatment in this institution, its characteristics and extents, followed by questions about the similarities and differences compared to the treatment practices performed in other types of institutions. After this, I will present to you some [3] hypothetical treatment cases to hear your opinion about them and end up with some questions about education. To start, could you please tell me your name...