The history of photography includes almost 200 years of generating objects that have many similar visual characteristics, but that were made using a wide range of different technologies and materials. When examining a photograph, viewers must evaluate the clues that the physical object itself presents to properly identify the photographic process(es) used to create the photograph. This skill—which is described in shorthand as ‘process identification’—is something that each new generation of scholars and collections stewards must develop for itself. This workshop will teach participants the tools and skills necessary for successful photographic process identification using a structured methodology and controlled vocabulary for organizing visual information, hands-on practice examining 19th, 20th, and 21st century processes from IPI’s study collection, and instruction on how to use www.graphicsatlas.org as a reference resource for identification. The workshop will be hosted at the Image Permanence Institute in Rochester, NY on October 24-25, 2023 from 9am-4pm each day. The workshop will be limited to a maximum of 12 attendees. Registration per individual is $475 and participants are responsible for their own travel, meals, and lodging costs. Registration ends October 9, 2023 or when the workshop is full.
The Photographic Activity Test (PAT) is an international standard widely applied within the cultural heritage field to predict possible chemical interactions between photographs and their enclosure materials (e.g. albums, frames, storage materials) after prolonged contact. This workshop will provide an overview of the importance of materials testing with particular regards to the PAT, including the test’s history, development and application, how it is run, and interpretation of results. The PAT’s relation to other ISO standards relevant to the cultural heritage field will also be covered. While not intended to comprehensively teach participants how to run the test, participants will leave this workshop with an in-depth understanding of how the test is performed and knowledge of how the PAT fits into the scope of materials testing within the cultural heritage field. The workshop will be hosted at the Image Permanence Institute in Rochester, NY on July 27, 2023 from 9am-4pm. The workshop will be limited to a maximum of 12 attendees. Registration per individual is $250 and participants are responsible for their own travel, meals, and lodging costs. Registration ends June 30, 2023 or when the workshop is full.
This online workshop is designed to guide participants through the process of facilitating a sustainable environmental management project and will empower participants to implement the methodology and techniques learned at their own institutions. This includes assessing and analyzing data from current collection spaces and mechanical systems, setting appropriate environmental parameters, testing energy-saving operations, and making informed decisions that will improve the preservation quality of collections environments. As part of the workshop, each participating institution will be able to borrow instruments from the IPI Tool Library.
Over the last decade, IPI has studied the stability and preservation of digital print materials. We offer workshops to all professionals responsible for the preservation of digitally-printed materials including conservators, catalogers and registrars, curators, archivists, librarians, exhibition preparators, etc. Topics include a definition of the term digital print, an introduction to the history and technologies of the most common digital printers, likely forms of deterioration for digital prints, general recommendations for care, as well as suggested naming conventions and descriptive terminology for cataloging and other records.
IPI provides a holistic approach to image-based print process identification by examining the intertwined relationships between print technologies, aesthetics, and use. Photographic, photomechanical, and digital prints are made of a wide variety of materials including plastics, papers, glass, metals, pigments, dyes, and organic substances like gelatin, albumen and polymers. IPI offers workshops that teach participants to identify every mainstream image-based print process, from the daguerreotype to the inkjet print, via the study of their component materials, structures, aesthetics, and historical and cultural uses.