THE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON OLD PHOTOGRAPHY

Ever since the invention of photography, the photographic image became an important means to record personal and collective history as well as a method of communication and artistic expression. Due to the advancement of digital technology, the expensive, time-consuming, and complex photochemical process of photography became obsolete and now belongs in museums as an object of studies. The photographic heritage that will always remain significant and interesting to the public is an important part of the visual legacy stored in museums, archives, and other places. The many old techniques of photography pose a real challenge to the researches who attempt to study and describe them. In addition, preserving the fragile photographic material is a difficult task that requires practical and theoretical knowledge.
Wishing to consolidate the heritage institutions in order to address the most complex problems of photographic legacy preservation and to encourage an official dialogue as well as best practice sharing between diverse professionals, the Photography Museum (Vilniaus st. 140, Šiauliai, Lithuania) is holding the International Symposium on Old Photography Techniques. It is an opportunity for Lithuanian and foreign photography researchers, museum workers, archivists, restorers, and practitioners of old photography techniques to share their knowledge. The Symposium consists of two parts – the conference and the workshop. The conference is dedicated to an overview of the old photography processes and their history; the presentation of photography collections stored by various establishments; and the review of research and preservation problems as well as the challenges of materials’ adaptation and use in the present day.

The Symposium consists of two parts – the conference and the workshop. The conference is dedicated to an overview of the old photography processes and their history; the presentation of photography collections stored by various establishments; and the review of research and preservation problems as well as the challenges of materials’ adaptation and use in the present day.

Program of symposium 2019 September 4–6 is published here>>