One of the most rewarding aspects of our business is that we get to help people reclaim their family history by restoring damaged photos. We’ve taken it to a new level with The Frameable Faces Restoration Project where we encourage people to share their stories with us and with our community! Lisa was referred to us by a mutual photographer friend Heather in Georgia who saw us discussing photo restoration on Periscope. That’s part of the beauty of this – we can help people restore photos from any corner of the world especially if they have a scanner – in this case a Polish wedding over 100 years old! In Lisa’s case the photo she had didn’t fit on her scanner so she had to scan it in two parts. I just laid them over the top of each other on my Mac and took a screen shot so you can see the whole original in one shot for the purposes of this article – that’s why you see the line of separation towards the left of the photo to go with all the crumbling pieces around the edges because this photo was in bad shape. Luckily the main image of Lisa’s great grandparents was intact! Sometimes if significant pieces of the main image are missing the photo can still be restored but it’s a little more work.
A Polish Wedding Over 100 Years Old!
We asked Lisa to share the story of this photo and she did!
FF: Tell us a little of the story of this photo and the people in it.
Lisa: This is a wedding photo of my mother’s maternal grandparents, Anthony and Maria. They came to America from Poland, and it is assumed that the picture was taken in Poland over 100 years ago. My mom has had it for quite a while and every time it is taken out it seems like another corner or small piece would fall off.
FF: Tell us what you know about the photo itself – Who took the photo? Where was this photo stored? Was it recently found?
Lisa: We do not know who took the photo, or much about the moment it was taken. It was stored by my grandmother in a drawer for years and then went to my mother when she cleaned out my grandmother’s home. The gentleman in the picture, Anthony, was my mother’s grandfather. She did not know her grandmother, as she died before my mother was born. Anthony lived with her family on and off during her childhood and only spoke Polish. My mom has old wedding photos of many family members (each of Anthony and Maria’s 3 children) and all are in good condition. When showing this photo to a cousin (child of Anthony’s brother) a corner snapped off. After that it began to deteriorate each time it was handled. Given the sentimental value, my mom asked to have this photo restored as a Christmas present to preserve it for future generations.
FF: What are you planning to do with the photo now that it’s been restored? What has the restoration of this photo meant to you?
Lisa: My mom loved the finished product! It is on display in her living room. She cherishes the memories as she was only 9 when her grandfather passed away. She particularly liked that the restoration was printed with a sturdy backing instead of plain paper. The majority of larger photos she has from this time were also printed with backing as opposed to paper.
*Note – we restored this photo, printed it as an 11×14 per Lisa’s request and shipped it to her. All photos we print as 11×14 and larger are mounted on a sturdy backing as Lisa mentioned.
Maria and Anthony – restored
We hope you enjoyed Lisa’s story and we hope you will join us! Help us help you restore and reclaim your history!
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