In a message dated 4/12/2005 9:45:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< The best thing I can say without seeing the photos is that further
 preventative measures are in order. The photo should be placed in a
 mylar sleeve (as long as it can be stored in an area of low humidity
 below 80%) and stored flat. If in a mylar sleeve within an acid-free
 album, the curl might work itself out. The curl developed because the
 photo was not stored flat and supported. The backing needs further
 support. >>

I think this advice is applicable only if we're talking about minor curling, 
whereas the humidification advice offered by others is useful for severe 
curling--as in rolled up in a tight cylindrical form, which was often done 
deliberately with panoramic prints as well as other unmounted prints.  However, the 
suggestion that a few hours in a homemade, two-container humidification chamber 
will suffice varies from my experience; I've found that it usually takes a 
couple of days, and you have to be careful to avoid promoting mold growth on the 
prints--inspect periodically and remove to flatten between blotters under 
evenly distributed weights only when they are pliable and "relaxed."  The worst 
thing you can do is to try to unroll photographs when they're too stiff, 
especially if they're on heavy, double-weight paper, as they may literally break or 
crack.  If the curled or rolled photographs are already cracked or torn, you 
may need a conservator's help.

Some photographers have recently suggested a more aggressive approach, 
steaming rolled or curled photographs over hot water, as the humidification will be 
much more rapid.  I haven't tried it and don't know how safe it is.

Incidentally, a few years ago I chanced to read in "Hints from Heloise" a 
reader's suggestion that rolling up family snapshots and placing them in 
cardboard cores from paper towels would be a dandy way to "preserve" your photographs. 
That was so wrong in so many ways I could hardly believe it: first, storing 
photographs that way would take up so much more space than simply storing them 
flat that it would be wildly impractical, but more importantly, the acidic 
cardboard could do damage, extracting them from the tube without tearing them 
would be a devilish proposition, and in a few years--or even months--you'd have a 
set of tightly rolled prints that would need to be flattened.  I couldn't 
resist writing a heated protest against such an absurd idea, but of course it was 
never published. 

David Haberstich

 

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