Photo Restoration question

[ichieh]

Hi All,
I have this question. This is my Ruth photo. As you can see, it is missing the upper left corner, and even though the missing part is not anywhere close to his face, it is still a bit of eye sore for me. So here are my questions.

1. Should I leave it as it, or find a restorer to fill in the missing part? Or ask a restorer to crop the photo?

2. As far as value is concerned, is it better to leave it as it, or have it restored?

3. Any photo restorers that you can recommend? What's the cost for something like this?

[EddieP]

Wow! Really nice photograph. This was used for his W519 Card.

Restoring old photos helps preserve them and people outside of sports memorabilia will pay a premium for a restored photo. BUT I don’t think this holds true in the sports collecting market. My preference is to have a photo restored. I’m sure others will feel strongly against this.

If you do decide to restore the photo , I would seek out a Photo Art Gallery and ask them who they recommend. Sometimes these Galleries have an on-site restorer AND the restorer will give you the better advice whether to crop or fill-in the missing piece.

[Leon]

50/50 to me. I would always rather have something not restored. That said, photos are for display and aren't like cards, where there are sets etc....So, I would be more inclined to get this to look better, while disclosing the restoration. Good luck, great photo!
.

[Foto1]

Being a photographer for 40 years and having framing equipment, adding a piece of corner doesn't seem like the right thing to do. I would put a French mat around it, cropping the missing image out of site. It would display beautifully. Frame it up with uv glass, hang it and enjoy. Better than laying in plastic, with an attached artificial corner. A single mat could be cut into an arch, with a single piece of acid free tape, the picture would be preserved and observed.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Foto1

Being a photographer for 40 years and having framing equipment, adding a piece of corner doesn't seem like the right thing to do. I would put a French mat around it, cropping the missing image out of site. It would display beautifully. Frame it up with uv glass, hang it and enjoy. Better than laying in plastic, with an attached artificial corner. A single mat could be cut into an arch, with a single piece of acid free tape, the picture would be preserved and observed.

Heartily agree with this. Do not restore or add to this important photo.

There are so many attractive framing/matting ideas that could make it look spectacular. An oval-cut mat would work very well. I would make the oval cut as large as possible, while avoiding the missing portion of the photo by about a millimeter. Then pick a great frame, and enjoy your all-original piece.

[eastonfalcon19]

Beautiful as is!

[GoCubsGo32]

Originally Posted by Foto1

Being a photographer for 40 years and having framing equipment, adding a piece of corner doesn't seem like the right thing to do. I would put a French mat around it, cropping the missing image out of site. It would display beautifully. Frame it up with uv glass, hang it and enjoy. Better than laying in plastic, with an attached artificial corner. A single mat could be cut into an arch, with a single piece of acid free tape, the picture would be preserved and observed.

+1

[ichieh]

here you go

[ichieh]

I am surprised that most of the responses were against restoring this photo. Is it really sacrilegious to make the picture looks better?

[EddieP]

Originally Posted by ichieh

I am surprised that most of the responses were against restoring this photo. Is it really sacrilegious to make the picture looks better?

Not only does it make it look better but restoring also cleans it, mends it etc. Restoring slows the degradation process of photos and will make your photo last longer. Your 103 year old photo has 103 years worth of acids, molds, bacteria, moisture, dirt and grime which as we speak now is slowly destroying your photo. Restoring photos will preserve it for future generations.


This thinking is a carry over from card collecting which is a carry over from collecting game-used memoribilia. I get it. But photos??? Serious collectors of photos and art don’t think that way. If a photo/painting can be fixed the artist will get it fixed. A well known scam in the art world is to cover a photo/painting’s defect/damage with a frame. The major reasons why a Gallery/Seller will not restore an Art piece are: 1) the seller is cheap or 2) restoration will cause more damage to the piece.Art collecting 101 is to remove the piece from the frame, examine it for any defects/damage AND demand the seller fix the damage OR drastically reduce the price. The thinking here is the exact opposite, If you had a family heirloom photograph that got damaged wouldn’t you try to get it fixed? How many people here will drive around in soot covered cars or dirty and ripped clothing? Even game-used jerseys get washed before being sold to the public.

I could write more stuff on this. But rant over.

[Lucas00]

I think the missing corner and back make it what it's worth. If you matte just his face it looks like every other $5 xerox copy to me.
Of course I know people enjoy that, but I personally wouldn't touch it.

[TCMA]

My vote is to leave the original undisturbed. Make a beautiful hi-res scan then have someone proficient in photoshop add the missing portion. You should then be able to create an extremely high quality print for display.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dwalt]

Originally Posted by TCMA

My vote is to leave the original undisturbed. Make a beautiful hi-res scan then have someone proficient in photoshop add the missing portion. You should then be able to create an extremely high quality print for display.


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For display purposes, it is very simple for anyone even moderately proficient in the use of Photoshop to scan and "Restore" an old image to near-original pristine appearance or better, and blow it up to make any size print desired for framing and hanging it on your wall. And an internet search will turn up many sources that can perform photo restoration. I have done that work myself to many older photos with good results, and I am what no one would call a master of Photoshop. But of course such an image is a reproduction and would have no collector value, purely decorative. Otherwise, I personally would leave it as-is and in the slab in order to preserve its value.

[ichieh]

So imperfection is worth more than restored perfection? It is very counter intuitive.

[lumberjack]

A few years back, a friend got an estimate of $8,000.00 for the restoration of three Conlon photos. I don't remember the people he approached.

Paul Messier in Appleton, Wisconsin, does restoration and authentication.

Integrated Paper Services, IPS, also deals in the above.

These guys aren't foxing around.

I can understand repairing a photo with a nasty tear or missing emulsion, but rebuilding a missing corner of a photo is asking a lot.

Some people like the water-color/ink added to a photo by a newspaper art department decades ago. I've known collectors who would trim the jagged edges off of a Conlon to make it look cleaner. It's all a matter of taste.

This is a great Ruth photo as is.
lumberjack