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Fundamentals of the Conservation of Photographs
This course, entitled Fundamentals of the Conservation of Photographs, is designed to advance the field of photograph conservation in central, southern, and eastern Europe and to create a regional network of photograph conservation professionals.
The course is divided into three modules, which in combination will provide participants with the theoretical and practical knowledge necessary to care for the range of photographic materials found in collections of museums, libraries, archives, and other repositories. Each module combines traditional classroom instruction, in the form of an annual summer school, with distance learning activities, which take place during the months following the summer school. This model is designed to extend the learning process, develop professional capacity over time, and encourage the formation of a network of professionals.
Module 1
Summer School: July 21–August 8, 2008
Distance Mentoring: September 1, 2008–April 30, 2009
The Module 1 summer school was held at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (AFAD) in Bratislava, Slovakia, July 21—August 8, 2008, with seventeen conservation professionals from countries in the region of central, southern, and eastern Europe participating. The participants are now engaging in distance-learning activities at their own institutions, with the support of course mentors. Participants and instructors will reconvene in Slovakia for the Module 2 summer school in summer 2009.
The three-week summer school portion of Module 1 combined lectures on photograph conservation with guided, practical, hands-on experience. Subjects included the identification and exploration of photographic materials and processes and their deterioration characteristics, preventive conservation activities (such as survey, handling and rehousing, documentation, and digitization), prioritizing preservation, and an exploration of surface cleaning for photographs. Instructors for Module 1 are:
- Monique Fischer, Northeast Document Conservation Center, North Andover, Massachusetts
- Klaus Pollmeier, Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design, Stuttgart
- Jürgen Seidel, representative, Linhof-Anagramm
- Dusan Stulik, Art Kaplan, Tram Vo, Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, California
- Janka Krizanova, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia
In the module's second part, known as the distance-mentoring phase, participants are carrying out a detailed survey of a small collection of photographs (a personal or family collection), and will complete three assignments, in the form of reports, which are due periodically over the course of the distance-mentoring period. Each assigned report relates to the survey the participant is conducting and incorporates concepts from the first summer school. The reports are submitted to a course Web site where mentors review them and provide shared comments for the benefit of the group. Assignments are spread out to allow participants the flexibility to work according to their own schedule, and the activities are not meant to take more than an average of ten hours per month of participants time.
There are also ongoing projects that participants pursue according to their own schedules, with the support of course instructors and their peers. These include developing photographic study collections and engaging in dissemination activities. In addition, the course Web site has a discussion forum and during the distance-mentoring phase of the course, participants are encouraged to pose questions and initiate group discussions of issues important to them.
Module 2
Summer School: Summer 2009
Distance Mentoring: September 2009–May 2010
Module 2 of the course will begin in summer 2009 with a three-week summer school, which will take place at the AFAD in Bratislava and at the Slovak National Library (SNL) in Martin, Slovakia. Module 2 will combine lectures with guided, hands-on experience, and participants will have the opportunity to work closely with the photograph collections at the SNL. Primary subjects for Module 2 include the survey and identification of photographic materials and processes, study of negatives in collections, preventive conservation and collection management strategies, and conservation funding.
As with Module 1, the Module 2 summer school will be followed by an eight-month period of distance-mentoring, during which time participants will carry out a series of practical distance-learning activities at their own institutions, guided by course instructors and mentors through the course Web site.
Module 3
Summer School: Summer 2010
Distance Mentoring: September 2010–May 2011
Module 3 of the Fundamentals of the Conservation of Photographs course will begin in the summer of 2010 with a three-week summer school, which will take place at the AFAD in Bratislava and at the SNL in Martin, Slovakia.
Balázs Zoltán Tóth, Archivist
Hungarian Museum of Photography
Kecskemét, Hungary
Blanka Hnulikova, Conservator
National Archives
Prague, Czech Republic
Bogdan Filip Zerek, Conservator
National Library
Warsaw, Poland
Gergana Antonova, Conservator
The Operational Archive Service of the Bulgarian Armed Forces
Sofia, Bulgaria
Hrvoje Grzina, Archivist
Croatian State Archives
Zagreb, Croatia
Izabela Zajac, Assistant Professor; Conservator
Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw
Warsaw, Poland
Lukasz Skowron, Archivist
National Digital Archives
Warsaw, Poland
Lidija Pajevik, Project Manager
Macedonian Center for Photography
Skopje, Macedonia
Lucija Planinc, Conservator
The Archives of the Republic of Slovenia
Ljubljana, Slovenja
Martina Kelava, Conservator
Croatian State Archives
Zagreb, Croatia
Milica Djordjevic, Photographer
Serbia
Petra Vávrová, Chemist
Institute of Chemical Technology
Prague, Czech Republic
Rodica Antonescu, Conservator
Municipal Museum of Bucharest
Bucharest, Romania
Stepanka Boryskova, Conservator
National Archives
Film and TV School of the Academy of the Performing Arts
Prague, Czech Republic
Tina Buh, Conservator
National Gallery of Slovenia
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Veronika Lettrichova, Conservator and Restorer
Slovak National Library
Slovakia
Zita Sor, Conservator
Hungarian National Museum
Budapest, Hungary
Last updated: November 2008
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