This is the first in a series of posts on the 2018 Steffens-Colmer Studios and Don Coltman Company Photographs Digitization Project, funded by the British Columbia History Digitization Program.
We are working on a project to digitize thousands of negatives created by commercial photographer Don Coltman. His photographs are all public domain copyright, cover a wide variety of subjects, and will be freely available for use once the project is finished. These negatives are made of rapidly deteriorating cellulose acetate, which is a health hazard. They are stored frozen to keep them from deteriorating further. We had to develop a way to digitize the negatives that would be
- safe for our staff (reduce their exposure to a hazard) and
- safe for the negatives (reduce their time out of freezer storage)
Eric Vale. July 1949. Photographer Don Coltman. Detail from Item Identifier : CVA 586-8194.
