JAN ZDZISŁAW WŁODEK’S AUTOCHROMES: DIGITIZING FROM AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The Zofia and Jan Włodek Foundation in Cracow takes care e.g., of the photographic legacy of its patron Prof. Jan Zdzisław Włodek. Its most valuable element is a collections of 240 coloured positives on Autochrome plates manufactured by Lumière and Agfa- -Farbenplatten; it is one of the largest sets of photographs of this type taken by a single author which has been preserved in Poland. In 2020–2021, thanks to the financing from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the collection underwent conservation and was digitized, following which it was made available to broad groups of viewers on the www.szukajwarchiwach.pl and www. zbioryspoleczne.pl portals. The unique photo technology used for their production constituted a real challenge in the set’s conservation and digitizing; moreover, attempts were made at an experimental digitizing of the selected autochromes with the use of directed bright-field. In order to promote the knowledge of the set, its author, and the works he conducted, videos and exhibitions were prepared, The whole project was quite challenging to a relatively small NGO. The key to its success was the cooperation of experts who proved to be flexible and creative in their approach to this particular task and peculiar conditions in which the project was implemented.