{"id":5188,"date":"2024-11-11T08:18:30","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T13:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/?p=5188"},"modified":"2024-11-14T15:39:41","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T20:39:41","slug":"vivak-velvet-and-vantage-fotofocus-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/2024\/11\/vivak-velvet-and-vantage-fotofocus-2024","title":{"rendered":"Vivak, Velvet, and Vantage: Display Installation for FotoFocus 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Vivak,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of my favorite aspects of working for the Preservation Lab is the problem solving required to reach our clients’ goals. Whether performing treatments, building housings, or installing displays, we frequently find ourselves thinking outside the box to come up with custom solutions to unique problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FotoFocus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The problem solving aspect of the job was in full force with a recent display request from Art and Special Collections Reference Librarian, Sara Williams, for CHPL\u2019s (Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library’s) participation in FotoFocus 2024<\/strong><\/a> this Fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those unfamiliar, FotoFocus<\/strong> is a biennial \u201cmonth-long celebration of photography and lens-based art that unites artists, curators, and educators from around the world\u201d (as described by the FotoFocus website). This year\u2019s event was FotoFocus\u2019 seventh iteration and encompassed 107 projects at 86 participating venues across Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Northern Kentucky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Display <\/strong>Request<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The theme for FotoFocus 2024 was Backstories<\/em>, which focused on hidden stories within photographs that are not initially obvious. With this theme in mind, Sara Williams came up with the idea of highlighting stories hidden within one of CHPL\u2019s most highly prized collection items: the 1848 Fontayne and Porter Panorama Daguerreotype. (For more information about this historic photograph, its preservation, and daguerreotypes in general, an earlier blog post I wrote on the subject can be found here<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Vivak,
1848 Fontayne and Porter 8 full-plate panorama daguerreotype<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To convey this idea, Sara requested that the exhibit contain surrogate images attached to the back of the display cases, with images popping out at varying degrees of depth, highlighting the idea that each subsequent image is zoomed in closer, just as the story within the images become more in-depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constructing a Prototype<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I am still relatively new to the world of conservation, and even newer to that of display installation. When confronted with a task I am unfamiliar with such as this request, I like to think about what<\/em> needs to be achieved, and then brainstorm how<\/em> it can be achieved practically using stock materials we have in the lab. I did not yet have the specs on the display cases or the sizes of the specific images, but Sara gave me several printed foam board images like what would be used in the display to run tests with. Most importantly, I knew the two following bits of information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n