Back in December 2019 Jack Miller, our Photographic intern for the HLTAL project, was thrown into the deep end on his first proper assignment for Catcher Media when he attended an intensive workshop with Liz Bowerman (Senior Conservator at Herefordshire Archives and Records Centre). Liz wanted to ensure that strict archival procedures were followed in the framing and handling of the exhibition at the Museum and Art Gallery which was going to display 48 of Derek Evans original prints.
Jack was shown how to properly prepare and handle the prints. Ordinarily the process for framing prints is quite straightforward, but after ensuring that the boards used were up to correct archival standards, Jack was instructed in correct pastes and careful applications of cotton strips to create a hinged frame that could sit in the lovely wooden frames kindly supplied by the Museum Service. This level of attention to detail meant that the process of creating the hinged frames and then fitting these into the wooden frames, having thoroughly and carefully cleaned the glass, took a lot longer than one might expect.
The final result, hanging in the gallery (surrounded by in-depth captions, Derek’s actual stills and film camera equipment and numerous scrapbooks) made all the effort worthwhile.
Photographs by Rick Goldsmith