Photo Restoration
• Mending the Past •
Our relatively recent commitment to become full-time artists comes with the mindset to trust we will make interesting and relative work. That trust also assumes that new and challenging commissions will come our way. It certainly has with this project. Working on this new Photo Restoration project supports a financial need, allows me to keep skills sharp, and create something that has ancestral and historical relevance.
Mother and daughters in Atlantic City. NJ
I’m currently working on a collection of photographs from one extended family.
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Two thousand images (some as early as 1893) that include photographs,
slides, large and small format negatives, and film strips.
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Unfortunately, many were damaged when a tree fell on the family’s house during a storm.
Mildew, water stains, dust, dirt, cracks, tears, faded and covered with schmutz.
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Because they came from a professional photo studio, they are quality photographs scannable at a high resolution.
This makes it possible to zoom in tight to make digital corrections.
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Pennsylvania Hospital Clinic Room 1893
Pennsylvania Hospital Men’s Receiving Ward 1893
The mildew and decay caused most of the collection to be discarded.
This archival restoration will ensure that some of the images will exist for at least another 250 years.
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In some cases, I have had to recreate sections from scratch using neighboring colors and textures from that photo.
My visual arts background and drawing skills have been very helpful at those times.
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Teaching and using Photoshop for 27 years has also prepared me for this challenge.
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As tedious as this work is, it’s also very engaging.
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Jan 5, 1920, taken at an Armenian Bazaar
Problem-solving on-the-fly with no two photographs the same keeps the challenge interesting.
Viewing a lifetime of photos from one family is much like reading the 2,700 letters from Jesse Flowers of The Other Brother documentary; a different way to compile one continuous term of life but no less detailed or informative of a true story arc.
Oh, I just loved looking at the photos you restored. It was as if you were rescuing people from oblivion — so lovely! My favorite person is the girl in the hair bow, wiping away a tear. I just know that impy girl behind her pulled her hair, and the boy next to her is trying to comfort her. –Valerie Tripp
A previous post, Mending Family Albums, led to this project.
Do you have family photographs or documents that need repair or reconstruction?
Please contact me by phone 717.658.2204 or email khigby@mountainteastudios.com
