Life expectancy of photo's.

[Don Fischer]

Have read for a long time about life expectancy of photo's. Seems to be a major concern. I've wonder about that a lot and have photo's of my own that have been around over 20 yrs. Old photo's of dog's that I have a hard time parting with mostly. My photo of the Monger Ranch was printed well over 20 yrs ago and hangs in a shadow box I'd built back then. But today it seems people are willing to spend aa lot of money on paper that will hold an image 100 yrs! Well looking around on the internet I found a deal on photos over 100 yrs old. Oldest were printed in 1860! So how come in 1860 they could print photo's that lasted that long but cost a bundle to do it today? Got to thinking a bit more and I don't recall ever seeing a really old print in someone's home hanging on the wall. People have the habit of upgrading. Seems their favorite are stored in a photo album. I have some of them too. Old photo album I got from my dad. In it are a bunch of photo's well over 100yrs old! Well had that album, lost in a house fire a number of years ago. I'm coming 78 yrs old and in that album were photo's of me in diapers! Also my grand parent's home that burned down in early 1900's and new one they rebuilt. Now I'm quite sure all these photo's were developed in a drug store! But don't hear a lot about it today but seems most photo's like that today are still done in some local store. Those stores using that expensive long lasting paper? Be interesting to see how much longer some of mine on cheap paper will last. Some very old and hanging on my walls for a good number of years.

MSN

 

[smoke665]

I have some studio prints from the 1890-1930 range that still look really good. I have some B&W prints I developed in my darkroomfrom the early 70's that are still in good shape. Unfortunately I have a ton of commercially developed color prints from the 80's-90's that are terrible, even the negatives are fading away.

 

[Don Fischer]

I have some studio prints from the 1890-1930 range that still look really good. I have some B&W prints I developed in my dark room from the early 70's that are still in good shape. Unfortunately I have a ton of commercially developed color prints from the 80's-90's that are terrible, even the negatives are fading away.

I haven't had a photo printed in a shop since I got my first computer and digital camera. All inkjet and seem to hold up very well!

 

[smoke665]

All inkjet and seem to hold up very well!

This is an open ended statement without context. Dye based inks are not considered permanent and subject to fading quickly. Pigment based inks are the better choice. However as with all processes, the longevity is highly dependent on the paper, temperature, humidity and UV exposure.

 

[webestang64]

A lot of prints pre-1900 last so long because a lot of them were selenium toned (sepia).

Pigment inkjet prints on archival quality paper could last with no visible fading for 75 - 400+ years, depending on quality of framing and display conditions.
Silver gelatin fiber prints properly processed, framed, and displayed could last several hundred years or more. Toned silver gelatin prints will have even more longevity.
Platinum prints on archival paper could last for 1,000+ years.

Color wet prints will fade no matter what you do, at least the wet chems we use today (RA-4) will last longer than the older (EP-2) process from the 60's-80's.
Color slides.....Ektachrome, Fujichrome (E-6 process) will fade no matter what you do but the defunct Kodachrome (K-14 process) stored properly will last several lifetimes. I have many Kodachromes in my collection and they look like they were taken yesterday even if they are over 50 years old.

 

[cgw]

And we work so hard--and pay so much--to get that "stored-in-a-damp-basement-for-50-years" look with PS and plug-ins...

 

[Grandpa Ron]

With today's and tomorrow's technology, that cherished photo that you admired for decades, and is looking a little "aged", will be whisked away by some future transport media, rejuvenated and returned bright and shiny as new.