Restorations

I've been trying my hand at restorations lately. My mom lent me several old photos which I have begun to scan and restore in Photoshop. Here's my mom (center) with two of her sisters:

I am generally pleased with this. It was surprisingly fun -- not a bore at all -- and there is a strong sense of accomplishment when looking at the before and after.

Just as important as the restoration itself is the fact that this image is now preserved digitally. I am glad to be a part of preserving this small slice of family history.

I just finished reading Steve Fitch's book "Gone" in which he chronicles abandoned homes and schools on the Great Plains. The photography is striking and incredibly sad. So many people just up and left, leaving behind photographs and even children's artwork. Like Fitch, I am interested in the stories behind the photos: Why did this family leave? Why did they leave behind so many personal items? Is there someone out there who might want these things?

The most likely answer to that last question is "No," and that itself is incredibly sad. Maybe that's why Fitch's book is so disturbing: someone out there, at some point in the family history, chose to leave behind -- chose to forget. Or maybe there was just no one left at all -- maybe that family line just simply died out.

My mother has several boxes full of photographs, some of them 80+ years old. How many other grandmothers have a box of photos sitting in a closet? Photography is a relatively young medium, so it's probable that these photos will be passed on to a daughter, then a grandson, and so on. In many cases, they'll gladly accept the old photos. But as time moves on, the colors fade, the paper crackles, and the edges are worn.

I think I'd like to be a part of saving some of those images. I'd like to clean up, brighten, and preserve a photo of someone's great-grandparents so that they can better remember where they came from, so that they can forever see the resemblance and know that many, many people came before them, and know that they have a place in the world.

Maybe that's what it comes down to for me: helping people preserve their own pasts so that they don't feel so lost in the present. Maybe.

But there is much to learn. I've begun reading a few books on restoration, and I plan on trying my hand at a bunch more projects. Then, hopefully sooner than later, I can offer my services to people in the community.

G