>i recently discovered that my slides and negatives
(spanning 12 years of
>work) had been exposed to water at some point in the last 6
months.
<snip>
>my question is this: many of the negatives clearly have
water between
>the negative and the sleeve. should i allow this to dry or
keep them all
>wet (in a pan, etc) until i can take them to a professional
lab to have
>them rinsed and dried?
<snip>
>bradley
Bradley,
My quick suggestion is to be careful! The emulsion softens
and may even separate from the backing. Mechanical damage
is the most serious risk. I lost a batch of prints (150!)
many years ago when the emulsion separated from the backing
due to long exposure to water (24 hours)
A quick call to the conservators at your local museum or the
professionals at your local pro-lab may provide some useful
information. Otherwise I would slowly dry the negatives
with minimal movement. Best of luck!
Alex
