The aim of this project was to estimate the proportion of cellulose nitrate negatives within a large, private photograph collection.

Researchers from the PlastIC Research Centre spent a day in November, 2025 at the site where the collection is located.

The archive consists of over 8,000 photographs distributed across four chests of drawers, each containing four drawers. Due to the size of the collection and time constraints, a representative sampling strategy was agreed. Thus, two drawers from each chest were used. Photographs were selected from the front, middle, and end of each drawer and analysed using a portable FTIR. In total around 720 photographs were identified.