Daguerreotype Storage

[lajolla]

For those or you who may own or curate daguerreotype collections, there is an interesting article in the current, December 2012 issue of Scientific American
concerning recently discovered nano-molecular processes that are deteriorating daguerreotypes worldwide. Apparently the molecular nature of the original daguerreotype
process makes these images particularly unstable after approximately 150 years. The images literally can re-develop themselves with atmospheric contact and
produce a haze over the metallic image. Apparently there are now efforts to produce affordable argon-gas frames that can keep these valuable images stable.
The link below is to a summary of the current Scientific American article. Good luck:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...ating-artworks

[AgX]

Thanks for that link!

[TheFlyingCamera]

Wow- that's really important. It means that for the moment, I'll be keeping my dags in dark storage. Fortunately most of them are in their original cases,with intact lids, so they can be kept dark when not being viewed.

[Marizu]

It looks quite alarming.
According to this response, http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/...ource=activity, it is largely incorrect.

[Prof_Pixel]

It looks quite alarming.
According to this response, http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/...ource=activity, it is largely incorrect.

Thanks for the reference.