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Photographs

If the old adage that 'a picture is worth a thousand words' is true, then many of the shoe-boxes full of photos in closets around the nation will speak volumes of the experiences of Australians at war.

Photographs tell in ways that words cannot of the people and times of the events that they show. 'Did she really look that young when she enlisted?' 'This was how it looked when ....'

The one drawback with photos, however, is that unless they are captioned it is almost impossible for those not directly connected with the event to tell who or what is in the image. While you may know that the photo is of, say, your father in his World War II uniform, how will others be able to tell who it is? Labelling photos is vitally important if they are still to have meaning for future generations.

Try to give a full name, where possible, rather than 'my father' or 'Bill'. List people's names from left to right. If you don't know who someone is in a group shot, write 'unknown' for the name. Almost as bad as having no names for a photo is having three names for a group of four-and not knowing which name goes with which person.

Your should not write on the back of photographs, especially with inks or ball point pens. However, if necessary, a soft lead pencil of 'HB' or 'B' grade may be used with care. Writing on the back of resin coated photo papers such as are common now is not recommended as the shiny surface does not hold pencil well and the writing easily rubs off.

It is far better to record photo details on a separate piece of paper, preferably of archival quality, and keep it with the photos, but make sure it is possible to tell which details sheet goes with which photo. A good rule is to put one photo only and its accompanying details in each storage bag. Be sure when viewing photos to put the correct photo back into each bag.

By far the best method is to mount photos in an archival-quality photo album and write the caption information underneath each photo. Use archivally safe paper or plastic 'photo corners', available from photo retailers, to mount the photos on the album pages. Do not glue photos directly to pages.

Albums with adhesive pages or clear plastic sheeting that sticks down over photos should be avoided, as these can harm your photographs.

If you want to display photographs, it is best to have copies made and display them, to preserve the precious originals. Many photo dealers now offer a digital copying service that is fast and inexpensive.

Where an original photo must be displayed, mount it with a frame mat made from acid-free cardboard to prevent the photographic emulsion from coming into contact with the glass.

If a photograph should become stuck to the glass in a frame or to the plastic sleeve of an album, don't attempt to peel it off as you may damage the emulsion that forms the image. Seek advice from a photo conservator.

Should photographs become wet, dry them as quickly as possible to prevent mould growth. To do this, place them face up in a cool airy place, preferably with blotting paper under them. Be careful not to touch the image surface or place anything on top of the photographs while they are wet, as it may stick to the emulsion.

If you have the negatives for your photos, treat them with extra special care. Negatives should be stored in specially made archival-quality packs or sleeves. Today most negatives come back from the photo lab in plastic sleeves. This is by far the best way to store them.

Older negatives, especially those of larger film formats such as were common pre-1960, were usually returned in a paper wallet. If possible, these negatives should now be placed in archival negative sleeves which can be obtained from your local photo dealer. Some of the larger format negatives may require sleeves that have to be specially ordered in for you.

It is good sense to store negatives and prints separately from each other, certainly in different parts of one house, or if possible, at different houses. Should one house suffer a calamitous event such as fire or flood, the set of prints or negatives in the other place will permit replacements to be made.