Last month, Assistant Conservator Brenna Campbell traveled to the Art Conservation Department at SUNY Buffalo State to take a workshop on using UV photography to learn more about cultural heritage objects. This qualitative technique is valuable both for identifying areas of change within an object — either from damage or treatment — as well as for tracking changes over time.
Instructors Jiuan Jiuan Chen and Dan Kushel expertly led participants through a variety of lectures and hands-on exercises. The group experimented with photographing a variety of objects, including paintings, prints, glass, baskets, and textiles. A few examples are below.
![A study collection painting photographed under visible light](https://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/conservation/files/2015/09/1-B_Cardinal04Visable-765x1024.jpg)
![The same painting fluorescing under UV](https://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/conservation/files/2015/09/1-B_Cardinal07UV-Vis_AIC-Target-765x1024.jpg)
![The painting reflecting UV light](https://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/conservation/files/2015/09/1-B_Cardinal14_UV-IReflected_UV-IReflected-765x1024.jpg)