Fellows and Interns

During their one-year fellowship, Kayla focused on the conservation and acquisition process for time-based media artworks. Kayla contributed to identity reports and iteration reports for time-based media artworks, as well as produced condition reports. They also contributed time to other activities related to the exhibition of time-based media artworks. Their time was spent working together with Jonathan Farbowitz, Associate Conservator of Time-Based Media, and Felice Robles, Conservation Intern.

During her time at The Met, Rachel acquired hands-on experience in many aspects of photograph conservation. In addition, she investigated how best practices can be adapted in the context of a multiple risk zone such as Lebanon, where conservation quality materials are not manufactured, and where the ongoing economic collapse has made importing materials a daunting and expensive prospect for all institutional collections. Rachel researched alternative designs and materials for preservation housings using locally-sourced cardboards and a range of plastics and barrier films primarily used in the food packaging industry. Her findings will have potential implications for many countries around the globe.

During her Fellowship, Cat focused on photograph preventive conservation and the conservation of photograph albums. She spent much of her time assisting Georgia Southworth, Associate Conservator for Books, with a survey of over 1,000 photo albums in The Met's Department of Photographs. Cat performed conservation treatments on several of these albums, and she assisted conservators with exhibition activities, including condition reports, gallery installations, and routine light level monitoring. She and Fellow Rachel Tabet will also contributed to several ongoing preservation projects, including integrated pest management, and the rehousing of a collection of glass plate negatives by the photographer E.J. Bellocq.

Silver mirroring presents as a metallic sheen on the surface of a photograph. While easily visible in raking light, the subtly reflective nature of mirroring is difficult to capture using current documentation protocols. This makes monitoring its development over time nearly impossible. This project focuses on point analysis and imaging techniques that can prove useful in tracking the accumulation of metallic silver particles on a photographic surface. The larger goal of this research project is to develop a documentation workflow that can be implemented in the Photograph Conservation department. This documentation workflow will improve the longevity of mirrored works in The Met's collection by informing guidelines for displaying and lending mirrored photographs.

The conservation of software-based artworks in museum collections necessitates continuous management and care of a complex artwork system including digital files, equipment, and artist-provided documentation generated over time. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has approximately 265 time-based media artworks and four software-based artworks in their collection, and is actively acquiring contemporary works of this genre. Over the course of her one-year fellowship, Caroline focused on creating a foundation for the long-term management and storage of time-based media artworks by contributing to an audit of digital artwork components, and by updating TMS database records with distilled information culled from artists' interviews, installation instructions, and original research. As a continuation of her prior work at MoMA, Caroline focused her attention mainly on two artworks; "With a Rhythmic Instinction to be Able to Travel Beyond Existing forces of Life" by Philippe Parreno and "Motion and Rest #2" by Jim Campbell.

In close collaboration with Nora Kennedy, Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge of Photograph Conservation, and members of the departments of Conservation, Curatorial, Legal Counsel, Information Services & Technology, Digital, Registrar, and Exhibition Design, this project focused on developing policies, workflows, legal contracts, and documentation templates for the acquisition, exhibition, and preservation of time-based media (TBM) at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. During this time Nichols researched and identified improvements to The Met’s infrastructure and policies for the care of digital artworks. She also assisted with the Time-Based Media Conservation Assessment, which advocated for resources to support the conservation and preservation of these artworks in the collection. Read more.

This three-year fellowship focused on the study and the conservation of the 88 glass plate negatives by the photographer Ernest J. Bellocq (1873–1949), representing women of Storyville, the red-light district of New Orleans, at the turn of the 20th century. Research in archives and the literature paired with a thorough examination of the objects and scientific analyses contributed to a deeper understanding of the manufacture and the post-processing of the gelatin glass plates. The identification of a range of applied media revealed precious information related to the original prints made from the negatives, which are now lost. Finally, lifting emulsion on some of the negatives was stabilized using specific treatment techniques adapted to the characteristics of each object. The plates were rehoused in custom-made preservation housings allowing safe access to them in The Met's Department of Photographs. Read more.

The Department of Photographs at The Met became the permanent repository of The Diane Arbus Archive in 2007. These holdings are extensive, including the artist's photographs and negatives, personal library, equipment, and ephemera. The goal of this research was the technical characterization of the photographic papers used by Arbus. The project included collecting characterization data such as sheet dimensions, paper thickness measurements, documentation of back printing and surface topography, color and gloss measurements, and paper fiber analysis on both historic photographic paper samples and photographs from the collection. Photographic paper samples from catalogues provided references for comparison. The data collected will broaden the understanding of Arbus' photographic papers, as well as the efficacy of the test methods used, for scholars and the public. Read more.

This two-year fellowship investigated questions relating to the effects of exhibition and storage on the appearance of photographs by measuring changes in color over time using a spectrophotometer. Relying on baseline measurements collected in 1999 by Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Photograph Conservation, Dana Hemmenway, this project involved taking new measurements on the same photographs. Analysis of the newly collected data compared against the 1999 baseline measurements provided a better understanding of how the photographs had changed over the preceding decade. Since color changes are irreversible, these measurements provided a means to discovering to what degree photographs are changing, evaluating the methods used to monitor this color change, and ultimately to use this data to inform focused monitoring and exhibition policies for the future. The ongoing color monitoring program in The Met’s Department of Photograph Conservation continues to inform storage, exhibition, and loan decisions. Read more.

The dyes used in autochromes are extremely sensitive to light. Typical exhibition conditions can cause rapid and irreversible fading, precluding exhibition of original plates. This research studied the response of autochrome dyes to light under low oxygen conditions, an approach that had not previously been explored for this specific application. Samples were created in accordance with historic recipes and were exposed to light in both a normal oxygen environment and a low-oxygen (or argon) environment. After light exposure and color measurements, results demonstrated a much lower rate of fading in low oxygen, though not complete protection from deterioration. This research made possible the display of original plates for a short period of time under specific low-oxygen conditions. Read more.

A whitish haze was noted on several Southworth & Hawes daguerreotypes from a number of collections after they were exhibited together in 2005-2006. In collaboration with the Department of Scientific Research, several of The Met's daguerreotypes were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy in the reflection mode to learn about the composition and formation of the haze. The analyses revealed the presence of silver chloride, which is light sensitive in the ultraviolet-visible wavelength range, and thus can generate metallic silver deposits on a daguerreotype surface. The source and formation of the silver chloride was not determined, but these findings have a profound implication for the exhibition and preservation practices of these daguerreotypes. Read more.

During the most exceptional period of his career around 1916, Paul Strand produced a small group of photographs on Satista paper, a commercial silver-platinum paper. While his platinum prints maintain their rich densities and broad ranges of tone, several of Strand's Satista prints have deteriorated as manifested by fading, orange-yellow discoloration, and the appearance of fingerprints. The goal of this study was to investigate the photographic papers used by Strand and to determine how and why the appearance of the Satista papers has changed through deterioration. Read more.

The primary goal of this fellowship was to establish a baseline color monitoring program for works of art in The Met's collection of photographs. Photographic images are sensitive to prolonged exposure to visible and ultraviolet wavelengths, and image density and color can be irreversibly altered from extensive or repeated exhibition. Vulnerability and the type of change varies with the photographic process and a photograph's condition. A group of 100 photographs was assembled to represent a cross-section of the Museum's photographic holdings, which comprised a range of photographic processes, ages, and condition states, and included works that were exhibited frequently as well as some that were infrequently displayed. Baseline color measurements were taken using a densitometer and spectrophotometer, providing data with which to compare subsequent measurements to assess the type and degree of change incurred by a photograph over time. This type of study is a vital tool in The Met's ongoing preventive conservation efforts.