Information and discussion on all aspects of British photographic history

Publication: The Atlas of Analytical Signatures of Photographic Processes

The Getty Conservation Institute has started to release an important new resource for photographic historians and conservators. The Atlas of Analytical Signatures of Photographic Processes is intended for practicing photograph conservators, curators, art historians, archivists, library professionals, and anyone responsible for the care of photograph collections. Its purpose is to aid in the formulation of analytical questions related to a particular photograph and to assist scientists unfamiliar with analysis of photographs when interpreting analytical data. The Atlas contains interpretation guides with identification of overlaps of spectral peaks and warnings of potential misidentification or misinterpretation of analytical results.

The introduction is available here to download: http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_public...

There is an article about the project an d an interview with Dusan Stulik here: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/new-getty-atlas-to-pre... which quotes Grant Romer: “In essence this can start to rewrite the history of photography. It’s already provoked a sort of crisis in the understanding of what we think we know about some photographs.”