Lightfastness and Microfade Testing

  • Registration Closed

Wednesday, September 25, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Led by Katherine Schilling

Created from light, photographs have a wide ranging response to subsequent exposure with the risks that include both organic and inorganic deterioration. Understanding this risk is an essential first step when it comes to the responsible display of photographs.  In this context, microfade testing is a powerful tool to interrogate the lightfastness of individual photographs with the potential of developing data-driven exhibition policies.  This seminar will cover the basics of the technique, including equipment costs and instrument assembly.  Case studies, from a wide range of photographs studied at Yale, will be presented in order to examine data outputs and to provide a practical guide for accurate interpretation.  New variants of the technique, such as adaptation for UV stability, will be presented.  Discussion will focus on practical applications of the technique, including best practices for analysis, record-keeping, and complementary techniques such as spectrophotometry, as well as an examination of the impact of greater deployment of MFT vis-à-vis existing “rule of thumb” recommendations for the display of photographs.

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Program Information
Return to Material Immaterial: Photographs in the 21st Century program.