I’ve been offering photo retouching and restoration services since 2012. Generally, the process involves restoring lost details on damaged photos, repairing torn or ripped photos and healing wounds such as scratches, grime, water damage and other blemishes.
Oh, and sometimes dipping shadowy monochrome snapshots into a wonderful world of colour!
You can enjoy some before/after work of ours on this page – Old Photography Repair
In a time before Instagram and the Selfie
Today we naturally take the act of photography and portraiture for granted. But there was a time when smartphones weren’t around and the concept of the selfie was unheard of. A photograph of yourself was a luxury – and it wasn’t cheap.
This picture is from my private collection. I’d been postponing restoring it as I was always so struck by her facial expression. So confident – gazing directly at the camera. As if she’s been posing for photograps all her life. Doesn’t seem more than 22/23 years old. And by the looks of her clothes, doesn’t belong to any high social class. If that was the case, she would have used her clothes and composure to tell that story. I imagine her makeup would also have been more pronounced, which it wasn’t, if it was even there at all. I decided to keep it that way during the restoration process. That’s what’s so notable about this woman, she seems so humble, yet carries herself so well. Happy to be remembered in this way through this one photograph. I guess that’s why her innate beauty shines through so effortlessly. Her name was Lourdes (or Lodres, at least that’s what’s scribbled on the back of the postcard). The photo was taken on the 19th of June 1916 at the Ideal Studio in London. I wonder if she lived as happy a life as she deserved.
This picture is from my private collection. I’d been postponing restoring it as I was always so struck by her facial expression. So confident – gazing directly at the camera. As if she’s been posing for photograps all her life. Doesn’t seem more than 22/23 years old. And by the looks of her clothes, doesn’t belong to any high social class. If that was the case, she would have used her clothes and composure to tell that story. I imagine her makeup would also have been more pronounced, which it wasn’t, if it was even there at all. I decided to keep it that way during the restoration process. That’s what’s so notable about this woman, she seems so humble, yet carries herself so well. Happy to be remembered in this way through this one photograph. I guess that’s why her innate beauty shines through so effortlessly. Her name was Lourdes (or Lodres, at least that’s what’s scribbled on the back of the postcard). The photo was taken on the 19th of June 1916 at the Ideal Studio in London. I wonder if she lived as happy a life as she deserved.
Each old photograph contains a life of it’s own. A memory, an instant in time stored forever on a small piece of cardboard – an instant in time which is found only in that photograph. Here at http://www.mikielcamillerihaber.com we’re very conscious of this aspect to photography – the individuality of each snapshot. We believe that the value of an old photograph can’t really be surmised, even more so when the person in the picture is no longer with us. That is why each restoration project is given its’ due dedication.
No one photo restoration and another are the same. We’re proud to say we’re devoted to produce the best version possible of each particular photograph.
At my great aunt’s – A million and one thoughts raced through my head while working on this restoration. This must have been the most prevailing one; What would the family dynamics have been like back then? Decades after this photo was taken, I would be born into this family. I would grow up playing in that same sitting room. I would get to know much older versions of most of the people in this photograph. But I would never get to meet my great-grandparents. I only did so through this one picture. It’s amusing for me to think that for them at that instant, this was once the present – and it was all that mattered.
At my great aunt’s – A million and one thoughts raced through my head while working on this restoration. This must have been the most prevailing one; What would the family dynamics have been like back then? Decades after this photo was taken, I would be born into this family. I would grow up playing in that same sitting room. I would get to know much older versions of most of the people in this photograph. But I would never get to meet my great-grandparents. I only did so through this one picture. It’s amusing for me to think that for them at that instant, this was once the present – and it was all that mattered.
What started out as a simple photo snapped in my great aunt’s living room in the late 1960s turned out to be the only physical indication of what my great-grandparents, who I never got to meet, looked like.
I ask myself one question and one question only before commencing work on a restoration project:
How would s/he want to be remembered?
And do my best to be faithful to what I believe, would be the answer.
The Service I Offer
- Colorizing: I give colour to photos which were originally b/w, sepia or heavily tinted in some other colour…
- Water damage repair: I remove damage by mould, spots, humidity…
- Restore faded photographs – by time, old prints tend to loose their luster and start fading. I’ll do my best to restore them to their former glory. Even when it seems too late.
- Amending many types of flaws – scratches, pen marks, tears, pin holes…
- Red eye touching – common but irritating. Especially to the eyes.
- Photo enhancing & manipulation – Alterations to items, backgrounds, face swapping, adding people to images…
While in the years gone by photograph restoration entailed restoring and working on the actual original photograph, today all this work is done digitally. So after the restoration is done, the original photograph will be returned to you intact.
Other Services Offered
- Film and Video Editing
- Audio Cassette Tape to Mp3 / Cd Conversions
- Audio Cleaning and Restoration
- Event Reviews and Reporting
- Private Event Photography
- Audio Transcription Services (for your thesis, research journal, other documentation)
For more information and personalized quotations, feel free to contact us through the below form.