If you have a photo stuck to glass

I had to remove the photos from this frame to scan them and found that the bottom right photo was stuck to the glass.

Probably it got wet at some point (there seems to be a water line above the figure’s shoulders) and when it dried, the photo emulsion became essentually glued to the glass. 

It’s an easy problem to solve, though it might seem counterintuitive. 

You have to submerge it in cool water.

When the photo has become completely saturated with water, the emulsion will release from the glass. You may have to be patient. It’s better to err on the side of letting the photo sit for longer than seems necessary than to try and pull it off too soon and rip the photo. 

The photo will need to dry completely, face up on a non-porous surface. Again, this will probably take longer than you think. I like to let a wet photo sit for at least 24 hours before stacking it on any other photos. Otherwise it could get stuck to other photographs. 

Here you can see a tear that already existed–it’s visible in the first photo in this post. The picture isn’t pristine, but none of the emulsion has been lost and with a little digital editing it will look as good as new.