So much of this discussion, like so much of museum work, is open to interpretation. The recent news of removing text from demonstration placards because they were offensive brought this practice to current discussion. That instance--of a museum’s removing critical information from a photograph--should not be practiced or tolerated. But it should not be confused with other means of “touching up” that might not be so egregious. I recently created an exhibit panel that included a poor landscape and poor portrait photograph. Using photoshop, I “touched up” a woman’s eyes so that they were visible and not just two bright dots in her face. I also darkened a landscape to bring out background detail. In these cases, touching up is not removing critical information and, in fact, sometimes brings out details that were not visible in the original print. And then of course there is cropping, another form of photo manipulation.
Anna Fariello
Curatorial InSight
> On Apr 24, 2020, at 12:00 AM, MUSEUM-L automatic digest system <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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> There is 1 message totaling 206 lines in this issue.
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> Topics of the day:
>
> 1. Touching up historic photos for exhibit
>
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> Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2020 06:08:54 +0200
> From: C. Müller-Straten <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Touching up historic photos for exhibit
>
> Hi Lisa,
>
> as we do not know the reasons why your exhibit designer intents to do
> so, here are my general remarks.
>
> A museum is an institution of trust. Each historic photograph is both, a
> work of art and a document.
>
> 1) Touching up or changing historical documents to make them appear
> "when new" is not a good idea for a museum. An historical document like
> a photograph should never be treated this way because all signs of time
> are part of the document. There is only one exemption: The duties of a
> conservator. It is not the duty of a conservator to make the object look
> like new. This idea is one of the past.
>
> 2) It is an illusion to think that such a reconstruction of "the"
> original state can be done by an exhibit designer. An exhibit designer
> should respect the documentary character of each object! Additionally,
> these persons are neither specialists in the history of photographs, nor
> a conservator who, under certain conditions, may come close to it.
> Generations of artists, conservators, and art historians changed
> paintings believing that they would reconstruct the original look of a
> picture. But they created another new look, not the old.
>
> 3) There are some digital tricks nowadays to change a source into this
> direction which are marketed by developers of software like photoshop,
> but scientists and museums should restrain from these tools because this
> opens the door to fakes. These tools may be good for family albums, but
> not for an institution of trust.
>
> 4) If a museum omits to mention such "reconstructions" in detail in
> catalogues or objects descriptions, it puts itself in jeopardy to be
> called a counterfeiter.
>
> 4) Last but not least: The idea of your exhibit designer to alter some
> sources, others not, may deceive visitors, if not explained in detail.
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> Best
>
>
> Christian Mueller-Straten
>
> (Editor of MUSEUM AKTUELL, EXPOTIME! and author of "Fälschungserkennung"
> [Fake detection], member of ICOM Germany)
>
>
> On 22.04.2020 at 22:08 lisa wrote:
>> Our exhibit designer wants to bring some of the historic photos that
>> will be reproduced in an upcoming exhibit back to what the original
>> image looked like when new.
> --
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