Photographs capture moments in the flash of an eye, often being the only remaining witness to events tremendously significant and life-changing to our society. Caring for photography is a double challenge - preserving the physical material and recording the image so that both may last. Join us as two speakers talk about caring for photography from two very different perspectives. Preservation through conservation, Preservation through digitisation.

What do we keep? How do we save it? And what do we find when we dig deep into the archive?

Wendi Powell

Wendi will be presenting on her experiences and knowledge gained whilst attending The Centre for Photographic Conservation's 7-week certified course 'Preservation and Conservation of Photographic Materials' in April of 2022 in London, England. The course, through intensive theory and practical workshops, has deeply developed Wendi's knowledge and skill in the preservation and conservation of photographic materials.

Different samples of photographic types that Wendi primarily procured while in England will be on display for participants of the event to view after the talk.

Wendi Powell is the Head of Paper Conservation at Sophie Brown Conservation & Framing. She has been a practicing conservator since 2004 after graduating with a Diploma Collection Conservation & Management from Sir Sandford Fleming College in Ontario, Canada. Wendi specialises in the conservation of works of art on paper (watercolours, drawings, prints, and pastels), maps, documents, bound volumes, ephemera, parchments, and photographs. She also has experience in the conservation of wallpaper and 3D based paper objects.

Giorgia Gakas (they/them)

The definition of the Archive and Archivist is broad, complex, and ever evolving. Giorgia challenges the Archive to operate as a thriving ecosystem comprised of ‘Accidental Archivists’ who work within complex and contextually bounded systems while handling tangible and intangible content.

In this presentation, Giorgia will champion the curiosity, investigation, and discovery of lost stories, hidden memories and forgotten sites that make up the photographic archives of various NSW cultural institutions and government agencies. Through the lens of departmental photographers, stories will be revealed through the unlikely assistance of annual reports, staff newsletters, post-it notes, faxes, photographer shot lists, contact sheets and much more.

Giorgia Gakas is a digital collection specialist and historical photographic archives researcher with experience in community and government archives, large-scale photographic digitisation projects and records management within the Australian and greater NSW public sector. Curiosity has taken Giorgia to the National Archives of Australia, SBS Television Archives, the Transport for NSW Historical Archive, and most recently the Australian Museum Photographic Archives where Giorgia managed the successful digitisation of over 320,000 analogue film photographs.

Image: Local television crew interviewing Sue Walston (former Head of the AM Materials Preservation Section) in 1974 regarding emergency treatment in the former Darwin Room of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT). Upon request from MAGNT's first Director Dr Colin Jack-Hinton, Walston flew up to Darwin for two weeks to undertake emergency treatment of the Museum's collections damaged during Cyclone Tracy and to advise on storage and conservation requirements. Digitised as part of the AM Photographic Archives Digitisation (PAD) Project. Image ref: ams391_m00573_09

This event is hosted by the AICCM - the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material. We are a registered charity, the aim of the AICCM and its membership are dedicated to the conservation of Australia’s cultural heritage, to ensure it survives for future generations of Australians.

Contact the host of Photographic Memory - Conserving Photos, Preserving Memories

There were 0 errors found in the information you submitted: