Exhibiting photographs

Spreadbury Ann Ann <a.spreadbury [at] wellcome__ac__uk> writes

>We are trying to update our policy for the loan and exhibition of
>photographs. We have always recommended that originals are not
>exhibited, but copies used instead.

We too rarely use original photographs in our own exhibits or for
loans. Our feeling is that unless there is some specific reason for
using the original, a copy is both acceptable and indeed even
preferable. Since photographs are most often used for the
information they contain, a carefully produced reproduction, often
an enlargement (most of our historic prints are in the 3x5 size
range), is both more flexible and more useful. Of course when the
exhibit is concerned with the history of photography, or when the
photographer manipulated prints in the darkroom, using the originals
becomes a more important consideration.

Genevieve LeMoine
Curator/Registrar
The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum
Bowdoin College
9500 College Station
Brunswick, Maine 04011-8495
207-725-3304
Fax: 207-725-3499


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:12
                  Distributed: Friday, August 11, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-14-12-002
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