Seminar on photographic preservation

Huesca Imagen 98
Photographic Preservation and Archival Practice

"Preservation of the First Direct Positives: Daguerreotypes,
Ambrotypes and Ferrotypes"

This seminar is intended for archivists, librarians, researchers,
gallerists, collectors and all those who take care, handle or study
photographic collections. A considerable part of this patrimony,
containing one of the most beautiful forms of our collective memory,
depends on their knowledge and their zeal.

Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and ferrotypes, which hold the memory of
the first years of the history of photography, are the first direct
1positives. As such, they are, in most cases, unique, and posses,
always,  a highly  aesthetic and historic value. Time, fate and our
own apathy have jeopardized the number, scarce per se, of these
artifacts which, nevertheless, were born with an effective and
complex protection system. In 1889, to mark the fiftieth anniversary
of the birth of photography, it was decided to make them again, but
no operators existed.

New daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and ferrotypes will be produced during
the practical sessions  so that the seminarians get to know and
evaluate the beauty and complexity of these techniques. The next
editions will deal with the following:

    *   Color Photographic Materials.
    *   Environment and Storage.
    *   Advanced Conservation Documentation.
    *   Digital Imaging for Archives.

The pedagogic structure, common to all these seminars, has been
developed to combine  theoretical knowledge with its practice.
Mornings will be devoted to lectures, the contents of which will be
put into practice during afternoon workshops imparted to the
attendants in small groups.

Key Topics
Day 1   Lectures: History of the Processes: Daguerreotypes,
        Ambrotypes and Ferrotypes
        Workshop: Morphology of Processes and Deterioration
        Manifestations

Day 2   Lectures: Daguerreotypy: Fundamentals. Tools and Preparation
        Workshop: Daguerreotypy : The Taking of Photographs and their
        Development

Day 3   Lectures: Wet Collodion: Ambrotypy and Ferrotypy.
        Fundamentals
        Workshop: Ambrotypy and Ferrotypy. The Taking of Photographs
        and their Development.

Day 4   Lectures: Copying: Methods and Choices. Copying Techniques
        Workshop: Facilities and Equipment. Practice

Day 5   Lectures:  Preservation Issues and Problems: Storage, Usage,
        Treatment: Possibilities and Limits
        Workshop: Handling. Stabilization. Protection Systems

Faculty:

    Angel Maria Fuentes. (Seminar Director). Photographic
    Conservator-Restorer in Private Practice. Specialized in Direct
    Positives. Zaragoza, Spain.

    Michael Hager. Museum Photographics. Ex-archivist of the
    Negative Collection of the  International Museum of Photography
    at George Eastman House. I.M.P./G.E.H.. Rochester, N.Y.. U.S.A.

    France Scully Osterman. Ambrotypist. Professional Photographer
    and Artist. Specialized in Wet Collodion Processes. Co-editor of
    the Quarterly Magazine The Collodion Journal.

    Mark Osterman. Ambrotypist. Member of the Faculty at the George
    School in Newtown. Artist. Specialized in Wet Collodion
    Processes. Co-editor of the Quarterly Magazine The Collodion
    Journal.

    Grant B. Romer. Daguerreotypist. Conservator and Curator of
    University Education at the International Museum of Photography
    at George Eastman House. I.M.P./G.E.H. Rochester, N.Y. U.S.A.

The seminar will be held at the conference room of the Diputacion
Provincial de Huesca. (DIRECCION), May 18-22, 1998. The seminar will
commence with a reception on May 17th, at 19:00 hours. There, the
participants will receive their credentials and instructional
materials (CONFIRMAR RECEPCION). Daily sessions will take place from
10:00 a.m. to 13:30 p.m. and from 17:00 p.m. to 20:30 p.m.

The seminar will be developed in Spanish and English. Simultaneous
translation for the lectures and consecutive translation during the
workshops will be provided in all the sessions.

Registration: The program fees of the seminar, including tuition,
attendance to the sessions, instructional materials and program
certificate, are 60.000pta. Full tuition will be refunded if
cancellations are made a week or more before the program begins.
Fifty per cent will be charged for cancellations made three days
before. Refunds will not be given for cancellations made two days
before or for non-attendance.

The participants in the seminar " The Preservation of the First
Direct Positives: Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes and Ferrotypes" will
receive a diploma to confirm their attendance. Those who attend the
whole cycle of seminars will receive  a special certificate that
states their training.

Contact:

    Diputacion Provincial de Huesca. Departamento de Cultura.
    Avda. del Parque, 10
    22061 Huesca, Spain
    +34 74 22 69 40
    Fax: +34 74 24 31 12 for

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:73
                 Distributed: Friday, February 27, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-11-73-012
                                  ***