The AIC guide to digital photography and conservation documentation

Abstract

Documentation is basic to the ethical practice of conservation. The Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works requires that the conservation professional “…document examination, scientific investigation, and treatment by creating permanent records and reports.” In recent years, technological developments have brought profound and fundamental changes to this critical aspect of conservation practice. While the use of computers has been integrated relatively smoothly into the creation and handling of written records over the past 25 years, the photographic aspects of documentation have undergone changes far more profound and precipitous. This is a result of the remarkably rapid introduction of the digital camera over the past decade, portending the end of film-based photography for documentation.