old picture glued or cemented on old frame

[Marion P]

Hi Everyone,

A customer brought this old frame in today and wanted me to re-frame it.

Its a very old Black and white photo and someone had glued it on to the backing board which is wood.

How do I remove the picture from the wood and reframe it?

My thinking was cut around the picture and remat it and reframe it that way? Whats your thoughts on this??

thanking you in advance!
Marion

 

[preservator]

Removing a photo from a piece of wood is a job
that should be done by a conservator. Unless you
can see damage being done by the wood, it is
safest to leave things as they are. If there is
a coating of glue all over the back of the photo,
that may isolate the photo from the wood to some
extent.

Hugh

 

[Janet L]

Can it be scanned and then reprinted? That way you wouldn't have to worry w/removing it?

 

[TerryW]

With the correct equipment and experience, scanning a photo and making a print to frame can be a good way to salvage a damaged photo from a bad mounting. The scan can be saved to a CD and retouching scratches or tears can be done with PhotoShop, as well, all without altering the original. I find this to be a valuable service to offer customers. Enlargements and copies are easy, and they have the CD for any future printing. And what do they do with the additional copies of Grandma & Grandpa's wedding photo? Hopefully some will have me frame them for other relatives. But be careful to use photo paper and fade-resistant or archival ink in your printer, or they will be back in a year wondering why the faces have all turned green. Oh, and don't forget to upsell to UV glass, as well.

 

[briank]

The idea of reprinting the photo is a good one but......that still doesn't address the problem of the original photo. I assume that the client likes it or it has some monetary or personal value and shouldn't just be left as is because it's been reprinted. Have a conservator look at it. If you can find one, use someone that specializes in photography as photos are a diferent ballgame than paper art. If you know one, great. If you don't know a conservator that specializes in photography, ask a local museum for a referal.

that being said have it scaned and printed before any work is done on it just in case something happens to the photo in the process.