BUZIT-TRAGNI, CLAIR, CORINNE DUNE, LENE GRINDE, AND PHILLIPA MORRISON."COATINGS ON KODACHROME AND EKTACHROME FILMS"

Abstract

The Eastman Kodak Company introduced Kodachrome in 1935 and it quickly became the first commercially successful color transparency film. The first Kodachrome film to be marketed was 16mm motion picture film, followed in 1936 by 8mm motion picture and 35mm still picture film. A sheet film version was available in 1938. Ektachrome was introduced by Kodak in 1946 and by the 1950s had become the dominant color transparency film. From 1939 to the present day, different film lacquers have been applied to Kodachrome and Ektachrome transparencies to protect the emulsion. The coating formula changed for various reasons over time. Kodak stopped production of lacquer for color transparencies in the 1970s, but other companies continue to produce film lacquers that can be used for these films.

It is essential that information about the different lacquers is available in order to devise conservation methods for coated films because the ingredients of a given lacquer will dictate which solvent-based treatments might be attempted. This research focuses on the use of lacquers on Kodachrome and Ektachrome films, and was compiled from literature and personal communications. No published scientific research was found in the conservation literature regarding the effect of lacquer on transparencies. This chapter provides information about the different lacquers used on Kodachrome and Ektachrome, including their period of use, composition, and application method. The conservation issues are then discussed in regard to guidelines for identification, the problems described by the manufacturers, the solutions recommended in Kodak publications, and related issues reported in the field of conservation.

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Clair Buzit-Tragni, Corinne Dune, Lene Grinde, and Phillipa Morrison were ARP fellows from 2003 to 2005. This independent study was produced as a contribution to the book, Coatings in Photographs: Materials, Techniques, and Conservation, published by the Photographic Materials Group of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works in 2005. Currently, Clair Buzit-Tragni currently resides in France, Corrine Dune is a conservator in private practice in San Marco, Texas, Lene Grinde is a PhD candidate in scientific conservation as well as an assistant professor in the School of Conservation at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Phillipa Morrison is the conservator of photographs at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia.

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