Advocate photographic collection
The Advocate photographic collection was donated to the museum in 2018. Allegedly there are believed to be almost one million images dating from the 1950s to early 2000.
Many of the acetate negatives were suffering from 'Vinegar syndrome' a condition that deteriorates negatives from the breakdown in the chemicals used in the negative production process. A new cool room and freezer were constructed to house the negatives an a climate controlled and appropriate setting. All of the negatives (except glass plate) are now stored in the freezer at a temperature of about -22o Celsius.
Phase 1 of the digitisation of the glass plate negatives commenced early 2021. Each negative is cleaned, rehoused, photographed and catalogued so in the future we can share access to the many thousands of images taken by the newspaper's photographers.