Other students also called the cleaning process fulfilling and rewarding, particularly in light of the Millers’ history. Seeing the grime come off an image as it is being cleaned is super satisfying, especially knowing the story behind them and why we are preserving them.” “However, all of this makes it even more rewarding when we are able to clean and fix these images. “It's very daunting to be working with materials such as these damaged photos because I don’t want to make mistakes, knowing the significance of the images,” said Kristyn Williams, a second-year art conservation major with a minor in museum studies. Their ages and sizes varied, but the subject matter resonated with the students - everyday images of families gathered at a Christmas tree, children in typical school-photo poses, grandparents holding babies, parents and youngsters on vacation or just relaxing together. The photographs included color and black-and-white prints as well as a few Polaroids. The first step of the treatment process for the 200-some photographs that were not in albums was cleaning, and the team began working with soft brushes, tiny cosmetic sponges and swabs dampened with water and alcohol to gently remove dirt and soot. (Norris was named interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences on May 31, 2023.)ĭuring a recent class meeting, the students gathered in a work room on campus, with Stanford and Morrigan Kelley, an alumna of the undergraduate program, overseeing their work. After a friend in her close community sent her an article about that project, Miller reached out to Debra Hess Norris, who is Unidel Henry Francis DuPont Chair of Fine Arts, professor of photograph conservation and director of WUDPAC.

A family who lived not far from the Millers lost three young children in a house fire in 2015, and WUDPAC students worked to restore their damaged photographs. In that way, it will be possible for the photographs to be more safely handled and digitized for the family’s use, Stanford said.Īngel Miller learned about UD’s art conservation work from news coverage of another tragedy. The goal, according to the formal treatment plan that Stanford developed, is to clean and stabilize the photographs - using various tools and scientifically tested methods to remove them from albums, unblock them from each other, and preserve as much as possible - to prevent further deterioration.

“They won’t all be perfect, but I do think we can work with most of them.” “The damage is serious, and the photographs are fragile, but I think we can treat most of them,” said Stanford, a second-year master’s degree student in the internationally recognized Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC). Working under the direction of faculty members, and with assistance from an undergraduate conservation class and a recent alumna, graduate student Ashley Stanford has taken on the project of treating the Millers’ photographs. … I am forever grateful for the more recent photos that are saved in my phone, our family had so many photographs over the years that were completely lost, so it was very emotional.”īut now, Miller and her father are hopeful that many of the damaged photos they were able to salvage from the leveled house might be preserved thanks to work being done in the University of Delaware’s Department of Art Conservation. “Mom and I always loved photos and loved taking photos, too. “It broke my heart to see them that way,” Miller said.

Black light burns albums