Our goal is to dedicate to one decade at a time, starting from the 1960’s and to strive in recording all information such as the surfer’s name, date and location of each photo.

Vinegar Syndrome

The negatives made during 1950~1980 have an acetate cellulose base. Once these films are developed, the lactic acid surface and moisture in the air combined together causes deterioration in which the film base breaks down. 

The odor is like vinegar and the negatives have high shrinkage with separation between the base (the plastic carrier) and the emulsion (the actual images).  It is difficult to transport the film through any machine in order to view or copy.

As the film advances through the stages of the vinegar syndrome, it becomes impossible to watch the content on a projector or flatbed viewer without damaging it. Once it has gone too far, even the gentlest of preservation scanners may be unable to duplicate a copy.

We need to act quickly to reformat and preserve as much visual information as possible.