Archivist Help: Chemical Outgassing of Old Film

WorldRoutes

Are the outgassing chemicals from my Dad's old film going to kill me?

I've dug back to my Dad's WWII and Philippines period after archiving most of his "Mexico" and "Music" periods up to 1982, and I'm finding the older film he has stored is outgassing chemicals badly.

Can you tell me:
Will the chemicals outgassing off the black and white Kodak negative "safety film" kill me before I get them archived? Will proper venting of the chemical outgassing prevent my demise?
What will the outgassing chemicals do to the polypropylene sleeves I'm using for the negatives?

If any of you photographers who have used older film can advise me about this I'd be grateful!

Some data from the archiving process:
- About 50,000 images.
- 35mm; 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 120 film; 3"x5"; and other films.
- Photos taken beginning about 1936 thru 1999.
- 90% black and white; 10% color.
- About 50% of the images have been archived so far.

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

Work hard; have fun; stay safe!

sarasphotos

After you're done would you come to my house and archive all of my family photos???

Seriously, sorry that I can't help you with your problem, but in great admiration of your archiving work!

Cheers, Sara

ziggy53

I would certainly avoid any gasses produced by "early" safety films, and I would store those separately from more modern film. If the poly wrapper is discoloring then I would replace it. Scan this film ASAP because its condition is unstable and deterioration will accelerate.

If you find any nitrate film, store it outside the house and in a safe place. Safe for both it and for the building. Conventional scanning may not be possible.

Please refer to this document for additional information:

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED360998.pdf

You may wish to start exploring around page 101 (the stamped page numbers).

WorldRoutes

Good Info...Thanks!

ziggy53 wrote: »

I would certainly avoid any gasses produced by "early" safety films, and I would store those separately from more modern film. If the poly wrapper is discoloring then I would replace it. Scan this film ASAP because its condition is unstable and deterioration will accelerate.

If you find any nitrate film, store it outside the house and in a safe place. Safe for both it and for the building. Conventional scanning may not be possible.

Please refer to this document for additional information:

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED360998.pdf

You may wish to start exploring around page 101 (the stamped page numbers).

Thank you ziggy53! This information will be of use to me!

This has not been an easy process. While I'm pleased to inherit my father's body of black and white photographs, it is very difficult to manage large collections, especially when there are no detailed records of the cataloging system used or how and when they change over periods of time...my father's started around 15 years old and lasted until his death in 1999.

If you have tips, suggestions, or references for the organization and cataloging of large collections of photographs I'd be grateful! How is Cartier Bresson's collection cataloged? How did they accession and catalog Reva Brooks' body of work? How did John Maloof organize, number and catalog Vivian Maier rolls and rolls of film? I've been stumbling thru it so far and I've gotten the Mexico period almost completely catalogues and archived. Now I have the earliest periods and the latest periods to go, and they're not organized the same way.

I wonder if this wouldn't be a good topic for a pamphlet maybe titled "Large Private Photographic Collections: Organizing, Accessioning and Cataloging."

But....thanks for the reference with the chemical outgassing questions!

WorldRoutes

ziggy53

WorldRoutes wrote: »

... If you have tips, suggestions, or references for the organization and cataloging of large collections of photographs I'd be grateful! ... How did John Maloof organize, number and catalog Vivian Maier rolls and rolls of film? ...

There are two primary holders of Vivian Maier's works:

John Maloof, as you said, who purchased her "locker" and who discovered and promoted her works. From the 100,000 (or so) original prints and negatives he claims to still own around 80-90 percent of the assets.

Jeffrey Goldstein, who has purchased around 20,000 assets.

Since I believe that both men still live in Chicago, you should be able to ask them specifically about the organization of the assets, before and after acquisition.

BTW, Jeffrey Goldstein claims to still make prints directly and optically from the negatives, with final hand retouching to each print.

WorldRoutes wrote: »

... I've been stumbling thru it so far and I've gotten the Mexico period almost completely catalogues and archived. Now I have the earliest periods and the latest periods to go, and they're not organized the same way. ...

The way I would approach this is to largely abandon the original organization of the original physical assets. You should decide on a system which works best to organize the negatives/prints for your current needs. Obviously, you should preserve critical written information relating to the assets themselves.

Scanning and transposing (into a digital format) each written organizational and informational document is just part of the process. The transposed digital format just needs to be flexible for the changing contents of the original document.

Digital assets, and their related information, should go into specialized databases which are part of a DAM (Digital Asset Management) system. The databases' structure should be relational and you may either use a commercial DAM or "roll your own". Either should be suitable for your cause. First identify the qualities you need of the system and then find the systems which best meet you needs. Test a couple of the systems prior to purchase.

Since you are asking all of these questions it would seem that you are in need of a consultant who is knowledgeable of these topics. I highly suggest that you identify and retain such an individual (or group of individuals) with proven competence. Unfortunately I cannot make firsthand recommendations.

WorldRoutes

Best Practices for Cataloging Unrecorded Photographs

ziggy53 wrote: »

There are two primary holders of Vivian Maier's works:

John Maloof, as you said, who purchased her "locker" and who discovered and promoted her works. From the 100,000 (or so) original prints and negatives he claims to still own around 80-90 percent of the assets.

Jeffrey Goldstein, who has purchased around 20,000 assets.

Since I believe that both men still live in Chicago, you should be able to ask them specifically about the organization of the assets, before and after acquisition.

BTW, Jeffrey Goldstein claims to still make prints directly and optically from the negatives, with final hand retouching to each print.



The way I would approach this is to largely abandon the original organization of the original physical assets. You should decide on a system which works best to organize the negatives/prints for your current needs. Obviously, you should preserve critical written information relating to the assets themselves.

Scanning and transposing (into a digital format) each written organizational and informational document is just part of the process. The transposed digital format just needs to be flexible for the changing contents of the original document.

Digital assets, and their related information, should go into specialized databases which are part of a DAM (Digital Asset Management) system. The databases' structure should be relational and you may either use a commercial DAM or "roll your own". Either should be suitable for your cause. First identify the qualities you need of the system and then find the systems which best meet you needs. Test a couple of the systems prior to purchase.

Since you are asking all of these questions it would seem that you are in need of a consultant who is knowledgeable of these topics. I highly suggest that you identify and retain such an individual (or group of individuals) with proven competence. Unfortunately I cannot make firsthand recommendations.

Ziggy53!
Thank you for your suggestions on Peter's photography cataloging, accessioning and archiving. I wouldn't presume that John Maloof or Mr. Goldstein would be willing to advise me, but it's worth a try.

As mentioned, the big snag now? How to organize a catalog numbering system to use in order not to loose Peter's original, but changing, numbering & subject recording system when some of the 5 or 6 different periods of his work lack cataloging numbers and subject info, or they are different from one period to the next. I was not able to organize the negatives, contact sheets and prints sequentially prior to beginning the accessioning/archiving process, and now I'm finding that different periods are more or less well recorded. It it were first all organized in sequence, then it would be much easier to just start with #1 and proceed, but I've been bringing the photos from Mexico a couple of portfolios as a time and it was quite disarrayed in our house in Mexico from the start.

I've noted your good ideas on the cataloging and I'll pursue your suggestions as I can. However, I don't am having to do this on a shoestring budget and I don't have an adequate scanner for the variety of sizes of negatives which he used: 35mm, 2 1/4 squared, 3x5, and a few others. I've uploaded one of Peter's iconic images for your enjoyment, small thanks for your good suggestions.

Regardless of the difficulties in the archiving I will continue with my plans to publish a small introductory photo book about his life and work in 2016.

Thanks for your suggestions and help, and if you have others, please send them my way!

WorldRoutes