The Photographic Library
Hear from the people behind the scenes at the BBC Archive
The Photographic Library
The Photographic Library
An interview with Natalie Dewar from the BBC Photo Library
Natalie Dewar, who looks after the BBC's photographic collection, talks about the great images the BBC has kept over the years.
- Click on a heading below to jump to that section of the film
- What's in the BBC Photo Library?
- Why does the BBC have photographs?
- Who uses the Photo Library?
- The Team
- What format are the images stored on?
- Preservation
- Behind the Scenes at the BBC
- Our Top 10
Transcript
Preservation
The BBC is committed to preserving photographs from the last 80 years. Some of the problems that we face include the deterioration of images. One of the main things is vinegar syndrome. This is a nasty condition which attacks acetate negatives and causes them to release a very horrible vinegar smell, and also the surface of the image begins to bubble. We have had some images that have been affected by vinegar syndrome. Fortunately, this is a very small amount and we do have copies, but it is our duty to make sure that we constantly monitor this material. We're very proud of the BBC photograph collection and we take good care of it, making sure that the temperature and the humidity in the store is correct and also ensuring that the images are kept out of direct sunlight and that they are kept in appropriate packaging.
