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Your memories sit in the dark Slowly Fading Away

Dying Film and Photographs - Why
Preserve Now?

Flood, Fire, Divorce, Moving, Kids, Misplacement, Disorganization, and Memory loss.... Your film, tapes, slides and photos are subject to all of these things. DO SOMETHING NOW.
Newtons Rings (desert environments), Ferrotyping, nitrate degradation & 'Vinegar' syndrome- Oh my! All of these things are end-results of time and improper storage. Post-1950 films face additional dangers from threats such as color-fading, shrinkage, and soundtrack deterioration.

And: Digital can be easily duplicated and preserves forever; it's easy to share anywhere, Easier to organize and there is little to physically store; Most of all...it's because you havent relived these memories in a long time...

The Chemistry of Photographs

Photographic preservation is even more complex than most document or painting preservation. To understand why this is so, we must look briefly at the chemistry of photography.

The beautiful old black and white print of your grandparents on their wedding day is really a complex blend of tiny silver particles embedded in the gelatin surface of photographic paper. Chemicals left over from developing the print, dyes, ink, mounting papers, and adhesives round out the conglomeration. Each of these items affects the life of the print in some way.

The gelatin is vulnerable to heat, light, cracking, scratching, fingerprints, bug infestation, mold, mildew, humidity, water damage, etc. The same chemicals which made the print possible are usually left in small amounts in the paper. These will often work against the print over time, causing it to fade or spot.

Many mounting boards and even some photographic papers are acidic. The residual acid left in the paper will break down the paper and eventually ruin the photograph. Dyes and inks usually fade with time. Some contain chemicals that will accelerate photographic deterioration. All or nearly all common glues and adhesives cause long term damage to photographs (perhaps without even touching the print itself)--some commonly used ones can visibly damage a photograph within five or ten years!Because they produce better copies and are less chemically complex, photographic negatives and transparencies are often better to store long-term than prints. Negatives too have a silver-impregnated gelatin layer, but the modern ones use a thin, long-life plastic backing that does not easily retain chemical impurities. Partly because of the gelatin, negatives are still subject to heat, light, cracking, scratching, fingerprints, bug infestation, mold, mildew, humidity, water damage, as well as the chemical and physical problems introduced with storage. Even so, this is a shorter list of problems than for prints.

The Aging Process

One way to think of photographic preservation is to think of every picture as an "aging organism" with so many years of life bundled into it. This aging process can be greatly accelerated or reduced depending on what we do about it. Photographic aging is often a very slow process, and even at the "half-life," most pictures still look quite pleasing and show few outward signs of deterioration.

Since photographs are really a blend of many different parts, the life of the whole is only as good as the life of its weakest part. An example of this is found in the photographic dyes used in color negatives. All the other parts of the negative could endure easily for a hundred years, but the dyes often change color noticeably within ten years.
VHS Tapes have a VERY SHORT span of time.... 5-15 years tops assuming they are stored in the perfect conditions.

When was the last time you enjoyed your past? Your History and your own memories are fading [bold in larger font]. How do you want things remembered? How do you want your story told? When your kids/grandkids ask how you met Grandma or want to know how you started that business.... What if you could fix your favorite faded and torn photo then hang an 8x10 on the wall or share it with your sister in Omaha? What if it would cost you less than a magazine subscription? DO IT BEFORE ITS TOO LATE! TAKE ACTION NOW!

Dying Film and Photographs - Why Preserve Now?

Dying Film and Photographs - Why
Preserve Now?