Digital BW, The Print

"Paul" <paulmwhiting@...> wrote:
>
> Just wondering what your thoughts might be on these guidelines. I've had some positive conversations with them and I explained the advantages of carbon ink printing. I didn't see that technique listed here, but they did end up accepting carbon b/w prints. They used to accept only archivally processed darkroom prints.
> 
> Please note especially the inks and paper they approve, on page 3. I realize this is a b/w group, but I gather one of the reasons we like b/w prints is for their archival qualities.
> 
> http://www.nps.gov/nr/publications/guidance/Photo_Policy_final.pdf
> 
> Any thoughts?


It looks like they are basing their guidelines on Wilhelm's numbers.  If Claria on brightened paper meets the criteria, the bar is nowhere near the 100% carbon images we are pursuing.  But, if you rely on Wilhelm, ">200 years" of dark storage sounds very impressive (that for Claria).  (That, of course, is not B&W and a degree of fade we might be a bit embarrassed by.)  And, all the products that are on the National Register list are good, but not close to the best and maybe not even what we'd be comfortable with.  

For a much more accurate yet simply way to judge image longevity, I would recommend that the people who developed the National Register take a look at the "Conservation Display ratings" developed by Mark McCormick-Goodhart at Aardenburg Imaging.  

At http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com/documents.html the third document from the top is "An Overview of the AaI&A Conservation Display Ratings."  This PDF explains what I consider a better system of fade and image evaluation.  In the words of this document, "The Conservation Display ratings in the AaI&A lightfastness testing database indicate the range of acceptable light exposure to which prints can be subjected and still remain in very good to excellent overall condition."


Looking at how long images will be in "very good or excellent overall condition" comes a lot closer to the criteria I would apply to my work or what I would be looking for if I were a collector or museum.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com