Learn the basics of how to care for glass negatives, colour transparencies, lantern slides and photographic prints.
From the very first photographic images to the work of contemporary photographers, photography is one of our major areas of expertise and is represented throughout our collection.
The biggest threat to the wellbeing of photographs is you! Most damage—especially to more fragile supports such as glass and paper—has occurred through human negligence or ignorance.
The New Chrysotype Process is so named in honour of Sir John Herschel who, in his classic paper of 1842 (1), first coined the term chrysotype to describe the photochemical production of an image in colloidal gold metal.
Terry King gives an overview of the gum bichromate process, with a step-by-step guide to printing.
One of the most effective ways to date a photograph is also one of the simplest: look at what the subjects are wearing. These contacts and resources may also be helpful.
As we prepare to open our new exhibition The Lives of Great Photographers, we have asked museum staff and visitors the question: who do you think is a great photographer—and why?
Use our photographic expertise to learn how to care for your own collections with these basic conservation guidelines.
Invented by Sir John Herschel in 1841, this simple process produces a continuous tone image of Prussian Blue using a sensitizing solution of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide.
Bromoil and Transfer was used by many photographers during the first half of the 20th century and gained great popularity.
One of the most exciting sources of information for family historians are collections of family photographs—lovingly preserved in leather-bound albums or stashed in biscuit tins or shoeboxes.
What is a camera obscura and where can you see one? Read on for a potted history, list of UK camera obscuras and helpful contacts.
Cartes de visite were introduced to the UK in 1857 and became a Victorian collecting craze.