Salvaging Tips

Mold, mildew, moisture, mud, sand + scratches and tears rendered by miscellaneous storm debris may have damaged your photos, not to mention harm incurred due to troublesome glass and plastic album sleeves. This page contains few handling suggestions.


ONE-ON-ONE GUIDANCE

Here's a golden opportunity to request one-on-one guidance — from top photo restoration experts at the Department of Art Conservation at the University of Delaware (UD). Department Chair, Professor and Photograph Conservator — Debra Hess Norris — has generously offered to triage 'your' photos and transparencies by providing specific options for home treatment &/or professional conservator referrals. Send questions about your images to art-conservation@udel.edu with the subject line "Save My Photograph". Debra, a colleagues or an informed student will respond. UD has kindly helped a great number of CARE for Sandy families.

PHOTO "BRICKS"

Now that several months have passed, the most common question we've fielding has been, "How do I cope with photo bricks?" — those pesky, often dried, stuck together stacks of Kodaks which appear impossible to separate. Download this pdf, researched by stellar CARE for Sandy volunteer, Martin Rigby, to learn how to potentially divide and dry your bricks. Not all Elmer-ized images can be recouped, but with patience and a lot of luck, it may be possible to salvage at least a few.

GENERAL ADVICE FOR A VARIETY OF PHOTO ISSUES

Martin Rigby has also prepared a meticulously compiled document which lists salvaging tips for a variety of issues. View &/or download it here.

COMPROMISED VIDEO + AUDIO TAPES

Neither CARE for Sandy nor it's current roster of friends nor sponsors are equipped to repair your damaged tapes, but this vendor has provided a great set of how-to-save tips. You can also e-mail our film restoration advisor, Lloyd Kaplowitz, for advice. He's known for his restorations of Bladerunner and The Godfather! 

Be careful of following randomly Googled advice based on questionably accurate internet hearsay! When in doubt — leave your photos be. 


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