To Restore, or Not To Restore
That is the Question…
Among our boxes, drawers and albums of old family photos are prints that have seen better days. Colors have faded and shifted. Folds, breaks, scratches and missing parts plague century-old images.
As we contemplate scanning old family photos into digital image files, there is the temptation to restore those photos to their original glory.
The technology is there. With a bit of a learning curve and YouTube tutorials we can learn the fine art of repairing and restoring images in Photoshop. There are apps that will colorize black and white images or create “deep fake” animations of our ancestors smiling and talking and even frowning.
I believe there are limits to what we can or should not do with our old family photos.
Badly mangled, broken and scratched images are worthy of restoring as long as the obvious damage is repaired and the remainder of the image is left in its current state.
Photos that were made with our lifetime are fair game for restoration if the colors shifted or faded because of the materials of that day lacked inherent archival qualities.
All other photos made before our time, scan them as they are. We are not Civil or Revolutionary war re-enactors who need kit that appears and functions like back in those days.
I take my lead from two sources. Ken Burns’ Florentine Films historic documentaries use photos dating back 150 years ago as the images appear today. From Antiques Roadshow I hear how an item’s valuation drops because of aggressive refinishing and removal of patina.
Leave old images alone. Scanning suspends aging, but let them be as they are today for future generations to experience.