preserving/presenting clips

[Matthew_Villano]

I spent last summer interning with a daily newspaper and collected a large number of clips. While I've created a digital CDR portfolio I'd also like to put together a portfolio of the actual clips. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to preserve the clips and present them?
Thanks

[DickVanNostrand]

I'd check with a conservator at a local museum about the procedure they use to preserve newspapers. The only problem is that, unlike old newsprint made from rags, today's newsprint is made from wood fiber and it turns yellow and brittle in a relatively short time. I copied a large quanity of newspaper clippings on Kodachrome film as the clips themselves were becoming a fire hazard in my basement. I'd check with Light Impressions as they handle archival scrapbboks and other archival methods of storage and probably have something that would work. My advise would be to keep them flat and out of sunlight.

[David_Buzzard]

Get a plastic laminator and hermetically seal them. It's probably worth your while to scan them on a flat bed as well.

David Buzzard

[David_Sorcher]

I second David's idea, but will go a step further on the presentation end. I position my tear sheets on heavy black Stathmore paper meant for pastels and charcoals. Then i laminate. This makes for a much more professional presentation. I can't say for sure how long this will preserve them so scanning is probably a good idea too. It also allows you to present your tear sheets in ditigal form.
How are things in Whistler these days David? I've got some cousins there. :-)

[DickVanNostrand]

You may want to contact the pre-press supervisor at the paper you shoot for. Ask him/her to have the page saved as a pdf file. I have several pages saved that way (I wish I'd started sooner) and the printouts from the files make a nice presentation. Newsprint varies from roll to roll where the pdf file can be printed on some archival of high quality inkjet paper.

[David_Buzzard]

Just to expand a bit on this...

What I used to do back in the day was use a colour photo copier (this was before high quality ink jet printers) to shrink the clipping down to below letter size. Then I'd mount it on black card, then laminate, and when I had a big pile of them, get them spiral bound into a book. Makes a great portfolio.

David Buzzard

[Daniel_Lui]

Hi All

I don't have a whole lot of experience in photojournalism but I have had some experience with archival materials and with laminating... if you are going to laminate the clippings i would suggest having back-ups that you can store/archive in an acid-free environment, out of sunlight... the problem with lamination is that should damage occur it is very difficult to repair (same as drymounting)... i'm not sure if this is acceptable, but scanning them and perhaps you could create a collage of your work, or atleast a re-printable document should your original get destroyed from use...

lamination plastic tends to attracts dust and can yellow over time...

(i guess all i'm saying is protect your originals...)