Silver Clouding on back of 4x5 negative

Hello, I have some 50 year old 4x5 negatives that have a silver-like clouding on the back side. It makes up about a 1 inch boarder and shows through when I make prints. I'm guessing that the negatives weren't fixed correctly long ago, and I've tried refixing one and it didn't work. Does anyone know of some kind of correction, like a chemical or product to use to eliminate the silver clouding? Thank You

Once this happens, nothing can be done to repair the damage. It might

be silver from residual halides that have been reduced. It might also

be degradation due to contact with airborne or other contaminants,

which can free up ionic silver to be replated in another location.

Your best hope for reclaiming the image is probably to scan the

negative and retouch in PhotoShop.

I have some of the same thing. I read in a book on restoration about

a way to remove it, but I don't own that book, and can't remember the

title. Maybe somebody else will help.

Well...yes & no, really. How old are they...i.e. do you really know?

AND do they say "safety film" on them, edge markings etc. You need to

make sure you're not dealing with any nitrate based films, before you

start trying to do anything with them really. If you're not sure, feel

free to drop me a line, there's just too much to get into here, other

than to say that if you have an archive nearby--state or fed.--you may

want to seek out some advice in the form of a patron request. Try to

find one that has a photo conservator, or some type of conservator, on

staff. I'm not one--just a museum photographer--but I do handle old

negs in my job, printing & duping them. Nitrate negs can be (are) bad

news, so take care. Other than just printing an old negative, I would

advise just leaving them alone. When they age, they get unstable and

unless you know what you're doing, you're likely to do more harm than

good. As to what it is, could be anything...could be the film base

breaking down, improper storage, bad processing, or all of the

above....the worse case scenario would be the base breaking down.

Which happens to all films eventually, it's just that the nitrate

films & early safety based acetate films, can get really

nasty...Anything prior to 1950 (sheet film), that doesn't say "safety"

on it someplace, should be suspect...

 

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this is a good overview site of examples from the Library of Congress,

if you want to see some:

 

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http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/gendetne.html#Nitrate

 

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Good luck.

Here are some reference books, I don't know if they're still in print

or not, BUT...Kodak's "Conservation of Photography", Siegfried

Rempel's "Care of Photographs", Weinstein & Booth's "Collection, Use

and Care of Historical Photographs". The website, Conservation OnLine

(CoOL) has a ton of links to various institutions as well, and

educational serials. But, I would really suggest trying to get some

solid professional advice if these are nitrate negs. Alot of people

don't like messing around with this stuff....not trying to scare

anyone here...but handle 'em carefully.