Photographic Materials Group

Tatiana Cole is the Conservator of Photographs for the Harvard Art Museums. Previously, she was the Paper Conservator at the Boston Athenaeum, Associate Conservator of Photographs at The Better Image in NYC, and Fellow in Photographs Conservation at the Amon Carter Museum in Forth Worth, TX. Tatiana holds a Master of Science from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. She has completed internships in photograph conservation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Paul Messier LLC, and Harvard University’s Weissman Preservation Center, where she also spent time working with the Audiovisual Preservation Program and the Harvard Film Archive.

Biography coming soon.

Mirasol Estrada is the photograph conservator at NMAAHC. She’s gained considerable experience in the care and treatment of fine-art photography and in exhibition procedures. Her primary focus as the Mellon Fellow at the Art Institute of Chicago was the study of László Moholy-Nagy’s photographic work and the working practices of the New Bauhaus. Mirasol was honored with a two year Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in the Advanced Residency Program in Photograph Conservation at the George Eastman House and the Image Permanence Institute in Rochester, New York (2007-2009). While a Fellow, she developed a system to safely access the 35mm nitrate film rolls of the Mexican Suitcase, on which she has written several articles. Previous to her fellowship Mirasol worked as Assistant Conservator in the Photography Collection of Fundación Televisa in Mexico City, working primarily on the establishment of their laboratory. She graduated with honors from the Escuela de Conservación y Restauración de Occidente in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2006 with a focus on Photograph Conservation and a Diploma in Museum Studies. It was during that time when she gained a broad knowledge and understanding of the different materials and objects from the Prehispanic and Colonial periods of Mexico. Mirasol has given presentations in the United States, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina. She has also contributed to the translation of the Photographic Information Record for the Photographic Materials Group and with the Journal of The American Institute for Conservation within the Book Reviews Section. Mirasol is a Professional Member of the American Institute for Conservation. 

Elsa Thyss is an Associate Conservator of Photographs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She holds a Master’s degree from the conservation program in management for cultural heritage at the Institut national du patrimoine in Paris with a specialization in photograph conservation and a degree in Art History from the Ecole du Louvre. Elsa’s previous experiences include fellowships at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. 

Marie-Lou Beauchamp is Conservator of Archival and Photographic Materials at the Canadian Conservation Institute. She holds a Master of Arts Conservation from Queen’s University. She has held previous positions as Paper Conservator at the National Gallery Singapore and as the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Photograph Conservation at the Art Institute of Chicago. 

Ashley Stanford is currently the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Photography Conservation at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). She is a recent graduate from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC), class of 2024, where she majored in photograph conservation and minored in paper conservation. She has completed graduate level internships at MoMA, The Better Image, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and Gawain Weaver Art Conservation. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin in 2015 and completed the bulk of her pre-program training as an Intern in the Paper Conservation Lab at the Menil Drawing Institute as well as additional positions at the MFA Houston, Rothko Chapel, and UT Austin's Landmarks Preservation. She is also an active member of the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network, serving as Vice Chair (2024 - Present), PMG ECPN Liaison (2022-2024), Outreach Co-Officer (2020-2022), and Houston Regional Liaison (2018-2020).