AIC's 47th Annual Meeting

The use of textile as a photographic support is relatively rare and best practices for long-term care have yet to be established. Textile-based photographs incorporated into composite objects require a multi-pronged, contextually informed conservation strategy. A recent Smithsonian project brought together experts in photograph and textile conservation, as well as conservation scientists, to examine eleven quilts bearing photographic images in the Anacostia Community Museum’s collections. Efforts focused on (1) identifying and documenting the materials and techniques used to create textile-based photographs and (2) developing best practices for the long-term care and preservation of these quilts. The project combined technical analyses of the photographs with curatorial and archival research to enhance and fully document the artists’ work and intent. The outcome is the development of a historically informed, context-based approach for the treatment and care of textile-based photographic prints. Photographic image materials, binders, and coatings were examined with HIROX microscopy, x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The eleven quilts total 144 photographs-on-textile. Analyses confirmed the presence of gelatin silver photographic image material on several quilts, while other images appeared to be digital inkjet printing on commercially prepared fabric. Photomicrographs served to catalog areas of loss and flaking characteristic of each printing process. The gelatin silver photographic material suffered from flaking of the photographic emulsion layer and planar distortions of the primary support. Conservation concerns include the need to stabilize the flaking photographic emulsion and relax the fabric supports. To test the efficacy of treatment methods, conservators created mock-ups of the different photographic processes on a range of textile supports. This also made it possible to recommend improved storage methods for the quilts for long-term preservation. Archival research and interviews with friends and colleagues of the quilt-artists provided invaluable contextual information about the artists’ motivations and technical approaches. Several images were sourced to specific archives enabling comparison of the original photographic print on paper with the resulting textile-based print and contributing to a fuller understanding of the artists’ technical approaches to reproducing the image on textile. The context-based method of the project ensured that conservation treatment recommendations were developed with full consideration of both the physical and chemical properties of materials, and a sound understanding of the artists’ motivations and sources of inspirations.