Although Brady was the most famous wartime photographer, many of the pictures were taken by assistants like Gardner, since Brady was almost blind from inhaling mercury fumes while making daguerreotypes. The museum's current home was once a house, so it has nooks and crannies and even an atrium converted to display areas. Klein, Watters and their small staff take great pains to make sure the images are both accessible and well-preserved. Klein bought the oak library shelving from a school in the South Hills and installed special conservation glass that filters out damaging ultraviolet light. Sometimes, the wooden shelves were replaced with glass both above and below for better viewing.
Every photo is mounted on archival mat board and framed with conservation glass.
The air is regulated to a constant temperature of 68 to 70 degrees and humidity of 45 percent, the correct conditions for archival preservation. An air changer replaces the air in these rooms every hour, so that dust brought in on people's feet is filtered out. In the Pittsburgh Room, there are photos on the wall, behind glass and propped on the floor, of Polish Hill, Fifth Avenue, the Allegheny County Courthouse, the construction of Forbes Field, burning barges set afire by the 1892 Homestead strikers, and Dimlings Bar and Restaurant on Market Square. Other special-interest areas include photogravures by the famed American Indian photographer Edward Curtis, which line the staircase to the third floor. More than a museum, Photo Antiquities can do digital restoration and museum-quality matting and framing of old photos.