Beyond what the naked eye can see: Victorian Britain on film

As part of a collaborative project with the British Film Institute, a mobile heritage laboratory from University College London will be visiting The National Archives this June.

Conservators and conservation scientists will explain their work with collections of film and photographs. These materials pose particular challenges as they are often inherently fragile, with significantly shorter life expectancies than some of our oldest paper and parchment records.

Attendees will be invited to handle film and photographs in different states of deterioration and to ask questions about how best to care for these materials. Our innovative research will be explained though practical, hands-on demonstrations of techniques including optical microscopy, polarising filters, ultraviolet radiation and chemical spot tests.