Salvem les Fotos: A project to safeguard, rescue and conserve family photographic archives affected by La DANA in Valencia

By Rosina Herrera Garrido

On Tuesday, October 29, the Valencian Community was severely affected by La DANA (Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos/Isolated Depression at High Levels), which took a devastating toll on the region. More than 60,000 people in 78 municipalities suffered the consequences of intense rain and floods. The torrential waters destroyed key infrastructure and left thousands of homes without basic services such as electricity and drinking water. Among the most damaged municipalities are Catarroja, Massanassa, Paiporta, Chiva, Aldaia, Sedaví, Benetússer and Alfafar. Despite all the efforts, recovery has been slow, and the situation remains critical in many locations where the scene is described as apocalyptic.  The human impact has been tragic, with at least 223 fatalities and a growing number of people missing. The rescue and cleanup efforts have been carried out with the participation of professionals and thousands of volunteers who came by foot from Valencia.

Salvem les fotos: how it came about and who we are 

Faced with so much devastation, the inhabitants of the province’s capital city of Valencia, where the rains were felt but there were no floods, have reacted in different ways to do their part in contributing support. In a few days, all kinds of initiatives emerged to help the victims including families—as well as the animals from different affected shelters—and the cultural and family heritage that was left in the rubble.

The University of Valencia (UV), from the Vice-Rector's Office for Culture and Society and at the initiative of Alejandra Nieto (researcher at UV), launched the Sal-vem les fotos (Save the photos) project, which consists of saving and recovering a large number of photo-graphs and family albums affected by the flood, a service offered free of charge to victims in order to give them some relief and comfort. In a few hours, a telephone and email contact list was created, man-aged by Marisa Vázquez de Ágredos, director of herit-age at the University of Valencia and coordinator of the project. The flow of requests was so great that it was soon necessary to expand the network of institu-tions involved. At this moment, the alliance is made up of five public universities [Universitat de Valencia (UV), Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Universitat Jaume I de Castelló, Universitat d'Alacant and Universitat Miguel Hernández d'Elx, the Etno (Museu Valencià d'Etnologia] and the Spanish Group of the IIC (GEIIC).

But behind those big names and logos, there are real people doing everything possible to save this heritage in urgent conditions facing incomparable physical and emotional exhaustion. The vice-rectors of the two Valencian universities involved (Ester Alba from UV and Salomé Cuesta from UPV) joined forces to coordinate their teams and make it possible for these keepsakes to reach the laboratories of both campuses as soon as possible. In the laboratories set up at the Museum of the University of Valencia of Natural History (MUVHN) and in the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Assets (UPV), thousands of photographs have already been washed, dried, and digitized. At UPV, for example, professors from different disciplines (José Madrid, Pilar Soriano, Esther Nebot, Salvador Muñoz, and Pedro Vicente) have been able to organize dozens of volunteer students who have been working in shifts to accelerate these tasks. The Etno team, organized by Pau Monteagudo (photographic archive technician), located a space in Torrent that is able to receive and wash the materials brought in from surrounding areas. This pilot project can be spread to other regions, since we consider that working in situ and involving the local community is vitally important in helping people who have lost so much to feel some hope. Finally, the GEIIC, chaired by Cristina Picasso, has launched a campaign to search for volunteer restorers and a platform to collect materials and donations that will be of vital importance for this project to move forward.

Despite this tremendous effort, there are many disaster areas, and requests to deliver photographs have not stopped. An incalculable number of photographs and albums are expected, and we fear that it will not be possible to respond to everything, especially in light of the second wave of material deliveries, which already has serious problems with microorganisms.

First steps

The first task of the Salvem les fotos team was to communicate to the affected areas that there was hope for their keepsakes. This work was not easy in those first days when many areas had no elec-tricity or running water and the communities had other priorities such as surviving or searching for missing people, so the team’s strategy consisted of launching the “save the photos” message on social networks and in the media communicating that these materials should be saved, not thrown away, as well as giving some simple guide-lines for packaging the photos with common household materials. Our first post included the following guidelines:

1. If you find photos in the rubble, DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY! Many can be recovered by experts.

2. If the photos are stuck together and do not come off easily - DO NOTHING - a restorer may try to remove them.

3. If the photos can be separated, INTERLEAVE BAKING PAPER between them and make small groups in plastic grated boxes so that water does not accumulate inside.

4. Make separate groups of photos: a) slightly humid photos, b) very humid and c) those with fungal growth. Put them in plastic bags. 

5. Each box must be marked with the contact information of the collection owners so that they can be returned later.

6. If you can't follow these steps, don't worry, put the photos in a bag with holes and label with contact information. 

7. Send an email to: patrimoni.cultural@uv.es and restauracion@upv.es  

Action and rescue protocol

Internally, a protocol was drawn up to coordinate actions and preparation at each collection location. This protocol includes typical recommendations on what to do in the event of a flood and establishes intervention priorities according to the water resistance of the different types of materials: 1) color photographs, 2) black and white and 3) negatives.  At the moment, we are focused only on rescue and safeguarding efforts, ignoring treatment tasks.

The protocol includes guidelines for how to wash effectively, minimizing contact with water and information on washing with water and alcohol (50%) when needed. Also included are guidelines for air drying, according to the different photographic processes—for example, those that should be dried horizontally and those which can be hung on ropes, etc. At the end of the protocol, some simple recommendations on how to carry out photographic documentation are also included. Despite the circumstances and urgency, the work of documentation and data collection is important. It is also vitally important to maintain the details of the family to which each collection of photographs belongs.

Transfer of works to universities (UV and UPV) and organization of on-site campaign laboratories

At the time this report was written, after a week of floods, Valencia continues to have transportation problems. There are no subways or trains, and the roads are clogged. Once the families have contacted the universities involved, getting the photographic materials to us is not an easy task. Some-times families bring them directly, and other times teams of volun-teers come to pick them up by bus, on foot, or by bicycle. Given the volume of work and the impossi-bility of carrying everything, more spaces are being set up to collect and carry out the first interventions on site. 

The first pilot space is being set up at the Museo Comarcal de l’Horta Sud in Torrent, which has volun-teered its facilities for collection, washing, and drying photographs collected from Torrent, Paiporta, Picanya, Xirivella, Alaquàs, Albal, and Sedaví. This museum provides a patio with access to running water where the rinsing and drying tasks will be carried out. The ability to work outdoors is an advantage in this case, allowing for maximum ventilation. At the end of the day, the photographs can be stored in the exhibition rooms that have been emptied for this purpose. 

Recovery tasks: washing and drying

The works arrive covered in mud, giving off an unbearable smell. It is necessary to work wearing protective gowns, gloves, and a mask in ventilated areas equipped with fans and dehumidifiers. The first step is triage, assessing which photos are salvageable and which are not, prioritizing portraits over other types of images. Once it is decided that a photograph has hope of surviving with treatment, a bath in cold tap water is carried out. The bath is short and can be accompanied by a second bath in distilled water. Some photos are barely able to withstand rinsing, in which case other solutions are chosen: a single bath, rinsing with a hydroalcoholic solution (50%), or rinsing by placing the print on a rigid support and pouring water over it. 

Drying is done by air drying on absorbent surfaces (blotters, paper towels, etc.), accelerated by fans or hair dryers (cold air). To save space, you can hang the photos on ropes or clotheslines, protecting the clamped area with Reemay® or Hollytex®.

How you can help

This summary is just the beginning of a huge project that continues to grow. For the moment it is supported by researchers from universities, volunteers, and improvised materials in several workplaces. Currently, there are three locations in operation: the laboratories of the MUVHN, those of la Facultad de Bellas Artes de la UPV, and el Museo Comarcal de l'Horta Sud in Torrent. However, work is being done to set up two more spaces: in el Museo Casa Alamanzón de Utiel and el Museu Valencià de la Festa in Algemesí, which will serve the nearby affected towns. Locations are also being sought out in Benetússer and Alfafar. 

For the project to go ahead, it is urgent to provide all work points with resources and teams of people. This is being achieved thanks to financial contributions and donations of material from different universities and schools of conservation and restoration of cultural assets, la Cátedra Unesco Forum Universidad y Patrimonio, ICOM, ICCROM, the Photographic Materials Group of the American Institute for Conservation, and from individuals. This is the link to learn more and to contribute: https://www.ge-iic.com/proyecto-salvem-les-fotos/ 

Acknowledgments

I want to thank all those who have provided material help, advice, bibliographies, encouragement, or any type of help. Firstly, to the members of the GEIIC Board, the members of the GEIIC Photography Group, the assistant coordinators of the Photographic Materials Group of ICOM, to APOYOnline, to ACRE (Asociación de Conservadores Restauradores de España), to the professionals who provided encouragement and advice (Debbie Norris and Luisa Casella in the USA, Ana Masiello in Argentina, Yoko Shiraiwa in Japan, Sara Ruiz in Madrid), to Enric Navarro (from Terra i Xufa) for donating dozens of fruit crates, to Virginia Valverde for bringing them to Valencia, and to all those who have offered to collaborate.

You can read the report in Spanish here: https://www.ge-iic.com/2024/11/14/boletin-ge-iic-noviembre-2024-2/

 Author bio

Rosina Herrera Garrido is a photograph conservator working in private practice in Valencia. She was trained at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester and has worked in museums such as MoMA and Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam). She is the author of Conservación y Restauración de Fotografía (Síntesis: 2022). For the Salvem les fotos project, she collaborates as consultant and offers training.

You can read the full story in the December-January 2025 "News in Conservation" Issue 105, which you can access from the IIC homepage: iiconservation.org