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Heritage
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Colour Photography and Film: Analysis, Preservation, and Conservation of Analogue...
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Colour Photography and Film: Analysis, Preservation, and Conservation of Analogue and Digital Materials

A special issue of Heritage (ISSN 2571-9408).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 28945

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Marcello Picollo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Istituto di Fisica Applicata “Nello Carrara” del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFAC-CNR), Via Madonna del piano, 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy
Interests: materials art; materials science; spectroscopy; infrared spectroscopy; heritage; sensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Barbara Cattaneo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Opificio delle Pietre Dure, via F. Strozzi, 1 (Fortezza da Basso), 50129 Firenze, Italy
Interests: cultural heritage; photography restoration; photographic materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Colour photography and film materials fully became part of cultural heritage (CH) just a few decades ago. When considered not only as a tool capable of visually documenting movable and immovable assets, photography and film also become works of art. Thus, historical and artistic values yield to provisions for protection, conservation and enhancement.

This Special Issue will focus on the growing international interest in visual memory, its results and issues related to photo and film material preservation, conservation, investigation, transmission, and use. This Special Issue discusses and covers the history of photographic processes, their technicality and practice, today nearly lost. Furthermore, the history and conservation issues of motion film processes, either designed for professionals or amateurs, are also investigated. Finally, papers dedicated to the necessity of a wider view on film and non-film material, which is a fundamental aspect to achieve a philological restoration, are also welcomed. A further discussion on traditional restoration and digital methods involved in the reconstruction of films is highly encouraged.

Contributors are invited to share their recent research and experiences on analogue and digital colour materials. Highlights on history, preservation, conservation, restoration, and digital migration of colour photographs and film are particularly welcomed, as are interdisciplinary views on how colour photography and film technologies have influenced society and culture.

  • Historical and current technologies, materials, processes
  • Preservation issues and sustainability
  • Conservation treatments, experiences, case studies
  • Digitisation and digital recovery of photographic objects and film materials

Dr. Marcello Picollo
Barbara Cattaneo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • colour photography
  • colour photographic process identification
  • subtractive colour photography
  • additive colour technology
  • three colour photography
  • photography retouching workflow
  • colour grading workflow
  • pigment printing
  • colour separation
  • colour motion picture film
  • amateur motion picture film
  • historical colour processes
  • colour restoration
  • digital restoration
  • film preservation
  • film restoration
  • film reconstruction
  • film philology
  • hand-painted film
  • colour aesthetics

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 3040 KiB  
Article
Digital Unfading of Chromogenic Film Informed by Its Spectral Densities
by Sreya Chatterjee, Giorgio Trumpy and Ulrich Ruedel
Heritage 2023, 6(4), 3418-3428; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6040181 - 28 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3993
Abstract
A material-based approach for the digital restoration of chromogenic photographic and film materials affected by dye fading is proposed. Through a digital reconstruction of the original optical properties, the proposed restoration methodology approximates the original color appearance in a non-subjective manner, thus improving [...] Read more.
A material-based approach for the digital restoration of chromogenic photographic and film materials affected by dye fading is proposed. Through a digital reconstruction of the original optical properties, the proposed restoration methodology approximates the original color appearance in a non-subjective manner, thus improving the results compared to conventional RGB tonal re-adjustment of the film scan both in terms of quality and presumed faithfulness to original appearance. In order to do so, the degree of fading is derived from neutral black parts of the film’s image content, and the knowledge of the film material’s spectral densities is used to digitally reconstruct the colors corresponding to the material’s original dye concentrations and render them in an RGB space. For a comparison, results from conventional re-grading were adjusted to render them most similar—and thus comparable—to the results of the proposed spectrally informed digital unfading. The restored images obtained through spectrally informed unfading were deemed clearly superior in terms of color subtlety, color faithfulness and coherence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colour Photography and Film: Analysis, Preservation, and Conservation of Analogue and Digital Materials)
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21 pages, 1027 KiB  
Article
“The Stuff That Dreams Are Made of”—Restoring Cinema Colors: A Roadmap for Real Research
by Nicola Mazzanti
Heritage 2023, 6(3), 2520-2540; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6030133 - 27 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3422
Abstract
Since 1895, through the analog and the digital eras, color is among the many narrative and aesthetic tools cinema language used in its creative process to shape a unique, multi-sensorial experience for its audience. Over these 120+ years, endless cinema color techniques, technologies, [...] Read more.
Since 1895, through the analog and the digital eras, color is among the many narrative and aesthetic tools cinema language used in its creative process to shape a unique, multi-sensorial experience for its audience. Over these 120+ years, endless cinema color techniques, technologies, aesthetics, and ideologies came and went. One thing that stayed the same is that color in cinema, more than a technology, is a complex system made up by many components: filmmakers’ ideas and intent, negotiations with the audience, technologies (such as film stocks, chemicals, cameras, printers, developing machines, projectors), and laboratory processes and practices. Taken individually, none of these elements tells the whole story of color use and experience in cinematographic works. This complexity adds to the fact that much of film color technology history is not recorded in books, journals and patents and is often forgotten as so much of it relies on individuals’ practices and memories. Consequently, a novel and more comprehensive theoretical and methodological approach is needed in order to make it possible to preserve and restore cinema colors, that is, to faithfully recreate their original chromatic effects in a modern, completely different environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colour Photography and Film: Analysis, Preservation, and Conservation of Analogue and Digital Materials)
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11 pages, 55303 KiB  
Article
The Tartan Ribbon or Further Experiments of Maxwell’s Disappointment/Sutton’s Accident
by Susanne Klein and Paul Elter
Heritage 2023, 6(2), 968-978; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6020054 - 24 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1830
Abstract
On 17 May 1861, James Clerk Maxwell delivered a lecture at the Royal Society where he demonstrated, using a lantern slide projection, his theory for colour perception in the human eye via the additive colour process known today as RGB. Three images from [...] Read more.
On 17 May 1861, James Clerk Maxwell delivered a lecture at the Royal Society where he demonstrated, using a lantern slide projection, his theory for colour perception in the human eye via the additive colour process known today as RGB. Three images from three separate lantern slide projectors were projected onto a surface. The same colour filters with which the object had been photographed where then placed in front of each projection lens, carefully realigned, and what has been called “the first colour photograph” was supposed to have been created. It was a series of happy accidents, during capture and exposure, and a misinterpretation of the results—mostly long after the event itself—that has invented this commonly referred to fictional “First Ever” title. In the following retelling of the historical details in their chronological order and through a series of experiments with historically correct emulsions, we will clearly outline the errors and where they occurred. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colour Photography and Film: Analysis, Preservation, and Conservation of Analogue and Digital Materials)
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22 pages, 20189 KiB  
Article
Pace by Nino Migliori: Examination, Analysis and Treatment of a Contemporary Color Photography Experimental Artwork
by Maria Cristina D’Amico, Melissa Gianferrari and Andrea Del Bianco
Heritage 2023, 6(1), 90-111; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6010005 - 21 Dec 2022
Viewed by 2007
Abstract
The present work intends to focus on the examination, analysis and treatment of Pace, a contemporary color photography experimental artwork created by Nino Migliori in 1973. Given the particular nature of the artifact, in which the photographic materials and the media of [...] Read more.
The present work intends to focus on the examination, analysis and treatment of Pace, a contemporary color photography experimental artwork created by Nino Migliori in 1973. Given the particular nature of the artifact, in which the photographic materials and the media of contemporary art coexist in a complex interaction, an in-depth study of its creation, structure and components was deemed necessary to plan and perform an adequate conservation treatment. The preliminary research was conducted in order to contextualize the artwork within the author’s production, to understand the creation process, to identify the photographic technique of the print and the stratigraphic sequencing, and to characterize the constituent materials of each layer through non-invasive and micro-invasive diagnostic analysis. The severe detachments and lifts of the print from the underlying aluminum panel and the subsequent planarity alterations of the photograph, strongly compromised the legibility of the artwork and put its future conservation at risk. Therefore, the elaboration of a minimally invasive intervention methodology was required. Approaching contemporary works of art, which are at the same time also photographic objects, can present some theoretical and practical challenges, and in the near future lots of professionals in the field of art conservation are probably going to face analogue conservation problems on similar objects. The results obtained through the preliminary study phase and the conservation treatment may offer a good starting point for further research on how to examine, analyze and treat this kind of photographic objects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colour Photography and Film: Analysis, Preservation, and Conservation of Analogue and Digital Materials)
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18 pages, 8155 KiB  
Article
Definite Identifiers of Silver Dye Bleach Prints
by Suk Fong Chun, Rita Hofmann-Sievert and Sanneke Stigter
Heritage 2023, 6(1), 26-43; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6010002 - 20 Dec 2022
Viewed by 3474
Abstract
Among diverse contemporary colour prints, silver dye bleach prints and chromogenic prints are difficult to differentiate. They share similar visual characteristics and can use identical supports and surface finishes. However, their image-forming dyes differ, resulting in disparate conservation and restoration needs. This study [...] Read more.
Among diverse contemporary colour prints, silver dye bleach prints and chromogenic prints are difficult to differentiate. They share similar visual characteristics and can use identical supports and surface finishes. However, their image-forming dyes differ, resulting in disparate conservation and restoration needs. This study aimed to determine practical measures for unambiguously differentiating between these two print types. Identifying characteristics—referred to here as ‘identifiers’—were collected from popular conservation sources and a mixed-method questionnaire survey. The accuracy and feasibility of these identifiers were evaluated against known prints sets. Examinations made use of water droplets, various light sources, digital 3D microscopy, and spectrophotometry. Results dichotomised these identifiers into ‘definite’ or ‘indefinite’ with ‘definite identifiers’ being able to discriminate independently. Only five out of 23 entries were termed definite identifiers. Azo dyes—image dyes of silver dye bleach prints—were established as the only constant definite identifiers of this print type. These findings were integrated into a flowchart to guide differentiation with the main recommendation being to deviate from indefinite identifiers to save time and effort. Parts of this work have been submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Master of Science degree at the University of Amsterdam in 2020. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colour Photography and Film: Analysis, Preservation, and Conservation of Analogue and Digital Materials)
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19 pages, 6610 KiB  
Article
The Colors of the Butterfly Wings: Non-Invasive Microanalytical Studies of Hand-Coloring Materials in 19th-Century Daguerreotypes
by Diego Quintero Balbas, Barbara Cattaneo, Andrea Cagnini, Paolo Belluzzo, Silvia Innocenti, Sandra Rossi, Raffaella Fontana and Jana Striova
Heritage 2022, 5(4), 4306-4324; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage5040221 - 18 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3036
Abstract
The public expected color from the early photographic images, yet, daguerreotypes—the first commercially available photographic process—failed to register the natural colors. Daguerreotypists developed several coloring methods to solve this inconvenience after 1840. Scientific analyses of the hand-colored daguerreotypes are limited, and the primary [...] Read more.
The public expected color from the early photographic images, yet, daguerreotypes—the first commercially available photographic process—failed to register the natural colors. Daguerreotypists developed several coloring methods to solve this inconvenience after 1840. Scientific analyses of the hand-colored daguerreotypes are limited, and the primary information sources available are manuals and patents. This study aims to contribute to the knowledge of hand-coloring techniques, which impacts conservation practices, mainly the cleaning procedures and complements technical art history investigations. We studied nine colored daguerreotypes with a non-invasive methodology based on three spectroscopic techniques: X-ray fluorescence (XRF), micro-Raman spectroscopy (μ-Raman), and micro-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy in reflection mode (μ-rFTIR). The results revealed the different colorants and some of their mixtures employed by the colorist. It also adds information regarding the photographic production of three studios: Désiré François Millet, active in Paris between 1840 and 1868; Antoine Claudet (1797–1867), active in London; and the James E. McClees and Washington Lafayette Germon studio, operative between 1846 and 1855 in Philadelphia, USA. These technical details constitute a helpful comparison to future studies on Daguerreian studios and colored daguerreotypes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colour Photography and Film: Analysis, Preservation, and Conservation of Analogue and Digital Materials)
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21 pages, 69829 KiB  
Article
Toward Practical Spectral Imaging beyond a Laboratory Context
by Olivia R. Kuzio and Susan P. Farnand
Heritage 2022, 5(4), 4140-4160; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage5040214 - 13 Dec 2022
Viewed by 2099
Abstract
A portable, user-friendly multispectral imaging system assembled almost entirely of common photography equipment and open-source software has been developed. The system serves as an outreach and educational tool for demonstrating and promoting scientific imaging as a more routine practice in the contexts of [...] Read more.
A portable, user-friendly multispectral imaging system assembled almost entirely of common photography equipment and open-source software has been developed. The system serves as an outreach and educational tool for demonstrating and promoting scientific imaging as a more routine practice in the contexts of cultural heritage digitization and photography. These efforts are aimed primarily at institutions where advanced imaging technologies are not already found, and where funding and expertise may limit access to commercial, bespoke multispectral imaging solutions that are currently available. The background and theory that were shared in tutorials given during the system’s initial testing campaign are detailed here. Testing was carried out in one-day on-site visits to six cooperating institutions of different sizes and collection types in the northeast USA. During these visits, the imaging system was presented, and the benefit of collecting spectral data using low barrier-to-entry capture and processing methods relative to conventional imaging methods was discussed. Imaging was conducted on site on selected collections objects to showcase the current capabilities of the system and to inform ongoing improvements to the setup and processing. This paper is a written companion piece to the visits, as a source of further detail and context for the two-light imaging system that was described and demonstrated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colour Photography and Film: Analysis, Preservation, and Conservation of Analogue and Digital Materials)
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15 pages, 1905 KiB  
Article
On the Identification of Colour Photographic Processes
by Ambra Cattaneo, Beatrice Sarti, Alice Plutino and Alessandro Rizzi
Heritage 2022, 5(4), 4074-4088; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage5040210 - 9 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1528
Abstract
To determine the best investigations for restoration and storage procedures, a visual inspection can provide a preliminary screen for the colour processes used to print the photographs. The high costs of the instruments required to follow the protocols present in the literature make [...] Read more.
To determine the best investigations for restoration and storage procedures, a visual inspection can provide a preliminary screen for the colour processes used to print the photographs. The high costs of the instruments required to follow the protocols present in the literature make these methodologies challenging to reproduce, especially for institutions with limited resources. Hence, a cheap and advanced investigation protocol is needed. This work proposes a protocol that, besides having this characteristic, observes the degradation of the material as a factor in identifying printing processes. The procedure proposed is composed of four steps: I. print observation: a preliminary examination of the object; II. surface observation: an examination of the surface; III. magnified observation: examination with microscope; and IV. decay and damage: alteration and degradation analysis. A set of photographs from the 1960s to the 2000s were analysed following the proposed protocol. From these prints, it was possible to observe the typical forms of degradation deriving from inappropriate conservation and determine the different materials and formats, proving the protocol’s effectiveness and easy applicability.In addition, the scientific community may access this protocol through the open-access website Colour photographic processes-Preliminary identification by visual exam. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colour Photography and Film: Analysis, Preservation, and Conservation of Analogue and Digital Materials)
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13 pages, 2207 KiB  
Article
Spectral Light Fading of Inkjet Prints
by Manfred Hofmann and Rita Hofmann-Sievert
Heritage 2022, 5(4), 4061-4073; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage5040209 - 9 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1940
Abstract
(1) Background: The use of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting is increasingly replacing traditional light sources in museums. There is a need to anticipate the damage caused by LED lighting to photographic prints. The aim of this study is to quantitatively predict fading on [...] Read more.
(1) Background: The use of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting is increasingly replacing traditional light sources in museums. There is a need to anticipate the damage caused by LED lighting to photographic prints. The aim of this study is to quantitatively predict fading on three inkjet color patches exposed to different white light LED; (2) Method: The novel approach of this work is to measure the wavelength-dependent photochemical efficiency on color patches using a narrow band LED. First, the color patches are exposed to narrow band LED lamps in a proprietary light chamber. Sensitivity curves are obtained by plotting the density changes caused by narrow band exposure as a function of the exposure. In the second step, action spectra are derived from the slopes of the sensitivity curves. The action spectra correspond to the rates of change of a color patch to exposure with different wavelengths of light. In the third step, the narrow band light emissions are fitted to the emission spectra of the white LED of interest. The fitting factors are used to calculate the weighted sum of the density changes; (3) The method predicts the absolute density change of color patches for several white light LED exposures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colour Photography and Film: Analysis, Preservation, and Conservation of Analogue and Digital Materials)
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24 pages, 10112 KiB  
Article
Contributions to the Characterization of Chromogenic Dyes in Color Slides
by Joana Silva, António Jorge Parola, Maria Conceição Oliveira, Bertrand Lavédrine and Ana Maria Ramos
Heritage 2022, 5(4), 3946-3969; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage5040203 - 4 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2507
Abstract
Chromogenic reversal films (or color slides) are first-generation positive transparencies. These were used for various purposes, namely as an artistic medium, especially from the 1960s onwards. However, these materials are intrinsically vulnerable to chemical degradation and have poor long-term stability. Although over time [...] Read more.
Chromogenic reversal films (or color slides) are first-generation positive transparencies. These were used for various purposes, namely as an artistic medium, especially from the 1960s onwards. However, these materials are intrinsically vulnerable to chemical degradation and have poor long-term stability. Although over time significant improvements have been achieved in the stability of chromogenic products, chromogenic dyes are highly susceptible to oxidation and hydrolysis, both induced by light and/or relative humidity and temperature, leading to the fading and shift in the original color balance of the images. During the present investigation, a gap of knowledge regarding chromogenic materials in general, and chromogenic reversal films specifically, was detected. Today, there is still no methodology to identify the dyes present in a specific work and, therefore, to study their chemical mechanism of degradation. From this premise and focused on case studies from the Portuguese artist Ângelo de Sousa (1938–2011), a research study was carried out seeking the characterization of chromogenic dyes. Based on the isolation of the different dyes composing a chromogenic material, several procedures were tested to describe the dyes found in chromogenic reversal films, such as Raman spectroscopy, thin-layer chromatography (TLC), infrared spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) and coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS). Promising results were achieved with this approach, opening new paths for the understanding of these materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colour Photography and Film: Analysis, Preservation, and Conservation of Analogue and Digital Materials)
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