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A passion for old photographs is a fairly common trait amongst photographers. That interest can lie in the methods of how such antique prints were created, the black and white printing on classic papers or even glass slides, or it can be an interest in the equipment used and the skills required to tame the awkward beasts that are vintage cameras. Another area of interest comes from the often distinct style of old pictures, the portraits almost always so stiff and formal due to long shutter speeds required, the sepia-toned colour bias of days gone by – prints which were sepia toned more often survive the decades better than those which were left in their original black and white.

Then there is what fascinates myself and many others in looking at old photographs and vintage prints, the journey into the past which they offer. Snapshots of a time gone by, another world, recognisable but often so very culturally different from my own modern 21st Century technology ridden lifestyle. The paradox of these glimpses into days so different from my own current experiences, so unrecognisable at times but also these very same old photographs having a sense of familiarity, afterall they’re depicting the lives of people I have known. The sepia faces that look back at me from their youth I only knew as ageing grandparents, others I never knew but still recognise unmistakable family resemblance in their faces.

Of course many of these photographs suffer harsh treatment through the years, the paper and the image suffering many hardships and becoming rippied or torn, even the photographic image itself fading away to almost nothing. Each of these old photographic prints have a history unique to themselves, a vintage picture split across the middle revealing that it was carryed for many years as a keepsake folded in a purse or pocket book. The scratches and blemishes become part of the story the picture tells, these are the things that can’t be faked by a simple digital sepia filter and it’s these imperfections that can give a true sense of age. So I feel the process of photo restoration is always a balancing act, trying to reveal lost detail and tidy up an image while being careful to not remove the originals character or it’s place in history. There is little value to me of restoring an old photo to the point where it looks like it could have been taken yesterday.

The photo restoration example pictures for this blog post are my Father’s Mother. The original is a cropped scan of an old postcard photograph from, I think, the early 1920s and restoration work completed in around 4-6 hours using Adobe Photoshop CS3. You can click the images to view larger versions on Flickr.