MORE LEADS

Explore these links to learn more about the examination, testing and authentication of photographs.

Online

Roots Web
Offers useful info on dating tintypes.

The Library of Congress
Has in-depth information on daguerrotypes

The Daguerreian Society
Dedicated to history, science and art of the daguerreotype.

Lost and Found: Rediscovering Early Photographic Processes
Contains extensive descriptions of daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and tintypes and the general photographic process.

Craig’s Daguerreian Registry
Lists of American photographers from 1830-1960. There are similar books of lists available at libraries.

The International Photographic Historical Organization
Devoted to the preservation and study of antique cameras and photographs.

PBS Links

Antiques Roadshow
History Detectives' own Wes Cowan on how to tell a fake.

The American Experience 
A timeline of photographic history.

Antiques Roadshow - Real or Fake?
A story of Wes Cowan appraising some historic photos to determine if they're real or fake.

Ken Burns: Civil War: Telling Details
Series of historic photographs and details about each one.

American Experience: Ansel Adams: Inside a View Camera (144K) Requires Flash
Explore a view camera in this interactive demonstration, featuring photographs of Faneuil Hall, the Boston landmark where 18th-century colonists held Revolutionary meetings.

Masterpiece Theater - Shooting The Past
Information about the The Library of Congress and its daguerreotype collection, dating from 1839 to 1864.

Downloads

Chronology of Photographic Processes (PDF 278K) Requires Adobe Acrobat
National Park Service, Conserv-O-Gram #14-03

Identification of Film Base Photographic Materials (PDF 365K) Requires Adobe Acrobat
National Park Service, Conserv-O-Gram #14-09

In Print

Art Information and the Internet: How to Find It, How to Use It, Lois Swan Jones, Oryx Press, 1999.

Authenticity in Art: The Scientific Detection of Forgery, Stuart J. Fleming, Crane, Rusak and Company, 1976.

The Care and Identification of 19th Century Photographic Prints, James M. Reilly, Saunders PhotoGraphic, 1986.

False Impressions: The Hunt for Big-Time Art Fakes, Thomas Hoving, Simon & Schuster, 1996.

How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Ink-Jet, Bamber Gascoigne, Thames and Hudson, Inc., 1995.

Labs

Image Permanence Institute Rochester Institute of Technology
Tests for photographic image stability, film deterioration and enclosure quality, Photographic Activity Test (PAT). World's largest independent lab with this particular scope.
Rochester, NY 585.475.5199

Applied Consumer Services, Inc.
Paint, paper, wood, textile analysis; concrete/stucco analysis; mineral analysis; paint and varnish analysis; material testing.
Hialeah Gardens, FL 800.371.5854

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Conservation Dept.
Organic coatings, paint, films, pigments, fillers, metal corrosion products, ceramic and stone degradation products.
Philadelphia, PA 215.763.8100; 215.684.7540

Williamstown Art Conservation Center
Analysis of cross-section, thin-section, particle/fiber samples from paint, coating, gilding, and other layers of historical objects and architectural surfaces. Emphasis on interpretation, authentication and dating.
Williamstown, MA 413.458.5741