Advice for faded old Polaroid Land prints

[Paula G]

I have some very faded B/W pola prints, marked 1962 on the border. They appear to be uncoated. Two questions: did Polaroids still need coating in 1962? And, would re-coating them keep them from further fading? I have some old coaters that are still wet, from Type 55 Positive/negative film that I used a lot. I did a test on a corner, and it doesn't seem to have changed anything. Would you go ahead and coat them? I don't know if they were originally underexposed, I inherited them. Thanks.

 

[koraks]

In which category do these prints fall?
* "Should be saved for posterity; I'm just a temporary guardian of these relevant artifacts."
* "Amusing old stuff that I can experiment with; no great loss to anyone if they are damaged in the process."

 

[Paula G]

In which category do these prints fall?
* "Should be saved for posterity; I'm just a temporary guardian of these relevant artifacts."
* "Amusing old stuff that I can experiment with; no great loss to anyone if they are damaged in the process."

Excellent question! Pretty important, but super light and already hard to see. Not sure if they were always like this, or continuing to fade. They've been packed away, so not much light exposure.
I guess I could scan them first?

 

[koraks]

I guess I could scan them first?

That's what I was about to suggest.

If these prints are important to you, I'd suggest getting in touch with a professional in the field of conservation of dye-based photographic materials. You could try contacting this lady: https://www.uva.nl/en/profile/w/a/c.c.waldthausen/c.c.waldthausen.html?cb She might be able and willing to give out some advice, and/or redirect you to someone who is in a better position to assist.

 

[BrianShaw]

In my experience, faded Polaroid B&W are what they are. Not much chance of direct restoration. Might be best to re-photograph and try correcting digitally.

 

[Don_ih]

I guess I could scan them first?

Definitely.

Coating them probably won't hurt. But it will make the surface more glossy and less nice to scan.

 

[Paula G]

That's what I was about to suggest.

If these prints are important to you, I'd suggest getting in touch with a professional in the field of conservation of dye-based photographic materials. You could try contacting this lady: https://www.uva.nl/en/profile/w/a/c.c.waldthausen/c.c.waldthausen.html?cb She might be able and willing to give out some advice, and/or redirect you to someone who is in a better position to assist.

Thanks!

 

[Paula G]

Definitely.

Coating them probably won't hurt. But it will make the surface more glossy and less nice to scan.

Thanks! Agree.

 

[Paula G]

In my experience, faded Polaroid B&W are what they are. Not much chance of direct restoration. Might be best to re-photograph and try correcting digitally.

Yep, agree. I wish I knew whether they'd always looked this way, and are super underexposed vs. faded. Thanks!

 

[BrianShaw]

It’s extremely hard to tell. Could be either, or a delayed/incomplete coating. The degradation from either of these conditions is rapid and profound. The B&W was much more fragile and much less “archival” than the Polacolor prints.

 

[GregY]

In my experience, faded Polaroid B&W are what they are. Not much chance of direct restoration. Might be best to re-photograph and try correcting digitally.

or in the darkroom.....

 

[BrianShaw]

or in the darkroom.....

Yes, why not. I should be more open-minded. Thanks for the correction!