Effort aims to save old photographs
Ralph Wiegandt is determined to preserve the earliest of
photographs and has teamed up with the University of Rochester to use the
latest technology to understand what might be ailing these treasures.
As a conservator for the George Eastman House, Wiegandt has
a collection of as many as 5,000 daguerreotype photos — dating back more than
150 years — under his watch.
The problem surfaced in 2005 when a haze was noticed under
the glass of five of the 150 framed daguerreotype photographs on exhibit in New
York City. The Eastman House organized the exhibit, which also came to
Rochester and traveled to Boston, and contributed about half of the photographs
— including several that showed damage.