Photo Restoration - Tear/Rip

[MikeKam]

Anyone know people who are able to repair tears/rips on photos physically (not digitally) with some degree of success? Looking to have a photo fixed up and would consider sending it out to a restoration place.

[drcy]

Paul Messier (Paulmessier.com) is a world famose photograph conservator in Boston. There's another place in Chicago I can't think of that someone else may mention.

[MikeKam]

Paul Messier (Paulmessier.com) is a world famose photograph conservator in Boston. There's another place in Chicago I can't think of that someone else may mention.

"World famous" sounds pricey haha. I've already had three quotes from local people here and one is completely out of my price range, while the other two are in it but there is not much proof of their work which has me concerned.

Thanks, I'll try contacting him and seeing what he says.

[Runscott]

Mounted Albumen Restoration

I've been playing around with restoring mounted albumen photos, and have had some success. I recently cleaned a couple that were very dirty and was surprised that the mount cleaned up some as well. I have also removed albumens from mounts and re-attached to either similar mounts or brand new ones.

The nice thing about mounted photos is that the mount protects the physical print - you can have totally trashed mounts with near-perfect condition prints mounted to them. You can then remove the print from the mount, cleaning the print in the process, then re-mount it to a new mount….or a vintage one. The only trick is finding a mat that matches up well, and re-creating any embellishments. But that's not impossible.

If anyone has candidates they would like me to look at, feel free to send an email. I can show you 'before and after' images and give an assessment.

[drcy]

I can testify that Scott restores pool cues and old fedoras.

[perezfan]

I can testify that Scott restores pool cues and old fedoras.

And vintage Gloves!

[drcy]

P.s. I assume Messier would be expensive. He does work for museums.

Interestingly, he's also an authentication expert, in part, as a conservator, he knows all about identifying processes and the substances in photos. He's written numerous scholarly papers on photo dating.

[Runscott]

Basically, I'll try to restore anything except furniture and Joan Rivers.

[Runscott]

As the result of an off-line conversation, I'll add the following about print restoration:

For torn photos I normally try to push the tear back in place, then use surgical tape to repair from the back (never the front). If the tear is straight enough, I cut the surgical tape thinner, so that it is an unobtrusive as possible.

For the damaged parts of the image that remain, you can use gauche paint. Gauce was the choice of restorers in the past because it does not soak into the paper;i.e-what you see when you apply it is what you get. As a result of its past use, you can generally find shades that would be used in photos in art supply stores. You might find gauche in Michael's or similar, but it probably won't be the correct grayish shade (or browns for some albumens).

I would first find a photo of similar gray shades to your repair area, tear it and practice. If it's a valuable photo, practice a lot, until you feel like you can do it easily.

[Runscott]

Here's a cabinet I did some work on. The 'after' pic shows it before I glued it to the mount, as I was uncertain whether or not I would screw it up. But it turned out good. Notice that the soaking removed most of the ink marks at the top right, bottom left and part of the '1902' at bottom right. It also cleaned other dirt off the photo, but not any of the image whatsoever. The ornate border was added with a tool I picked up at Michael's. I bought a set of tools of various thicknesses that I use to do that sort of thing.

I have only attempted this with copied prints and with less-valuable mounted photos that I thought were hopeless in their unrestored state.

[Runscott]

Here's the back - the pieces were dangling, which is why I chose this one as a restoration candidate. It is fairly easy to match the front mat, but the old mats are often created in layers, with a lighter layer of paper on the back. In the future I will probably practice adding the lighter layer. Also, don't attempt to do this unless you feel real comfortable with it. In most cases the glue, even if water-soluble, will not 'let go' of the paper enough to save the mount. That's good if all you are doing is soaking to clean the piece, but if you want the print removed you will probably have to slowly tear the mount away.

[Runscott]

One more example. This was the first one I attempted. When I acquired it 15 years ago, I tried to remove a new mat from it and broke it in half. It's been stored in two pieces since then.

I did not do a good job of matching the halves together - in practice they fit almost perfectly, but when I glued them to the mat, my hands must have slipped (notice it was also glued to the mat slightly off-center, but it was off-center originally, so I guess that's okay). You can also see a vertical tear at the bottom left that I created by not handling the wet print properly. It could have been a much better result, but this is why I say you should practice before attempting on anything important. These are both photos taken in bad light, so use your imagination.

[Exhibitman]

If you are looking to repair [not restore] a tear in a regular photo try using Transparent Mending Tissue from Lineco. It comes in a roll, is pH neutral, archival and has an acrylic self-adhesive. I use it to repair tears and stop further damage on old photos by applying on the backs. As an added benefit it nearly 'disappears' when you apply it. I've also used it to reinforce seams on newspaper items and other old paper pieces that aren't worth the attention of a world-class restorations expert.

[MikeKam]

If you are looking to repair [not restore] a tear in a regular photo try using Transparent Mending Tissue from Lineco. It comes in a roll, is pH neutral, archival and has an acrylic self-adhesive. I use it to repair tears and stop further damage on old photos by applying on the backs. As an added benefit it nearly 'disappears' when you apply it. I've also used it to reinforce seams on newspaper items and other old paper pieces that aren't worth the attention of a world-class restorations expert.

Thanks for the suggestion!

If I were to do it myself, my main concern would not be so much putting the tear together, but on getting the colour back.