I spoke with a local photographer who has spent many hours in the dark room prior to the digital age. He stated he is unaware of any reliable safe product to remove editorial markings withot damaging the emulsion on photo paper. There are products that are made to clean negatives and slides however he said those are solvents and will damage photo paper. He recommended using a photo archivist but related that unless the image is extremely valuable such services are cost prohibitive. I showed him this picture of Chief Bender I purchased for $32.99. He indicated that the paints on the photo were likely water soluble and could be removed with warm distilled water and a Q-tip. He said that any excess water should be dabbed away quickly to prevent absorption.
I took a leap of faith and gave it a shot. The editorial paint melted into the water and transferred to the Q-tip which I moved in a circular pattern. The water left on the photo clouded pretty quickly. To prevent absorption I removed it by gently dabbing it with a non-abrasive pad of tissue. After all of the editorial marks were removed I used a blow dryer to dry the photo. It curled slightly after drying. I placed it in a book and stacked weights (40 lbs) on top of it. The following day I removed the photo and it had returned to the previous shape. Obviously this method is very similar to card soaking. I don’t know if this process will result in long term damage to the photo that will be revealed over time. Nonetheless, at least for the moment, I am pleased with the results. I seldom buy photos with such markings but it seems that they can be purchased cheaper than unmarked examples. Based on the results of this process I will likely be more willing to buy them.
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