Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Enhancement - Looking for Lost Details - September 2012

For some, an old photograph loses its charm when "restored" to modern day clarity with all the age spots removed. Some photographs however, benefit greatly from just a nudge of enhancement. An improved contrast or the reversal of the yellowing brings out details that otherwise would have been missed and lost forever.

To please both camps of those of us who rescue old photographs, here are both the originals and the enhanced of just a few of the latest additions to Lost Gallery.


Man an Chair
Man an Chair

Barn
Barn

Man with rolled down socks.
Man with rolled down socks.

Man and woman
Man and woman

Class Picture
Class Picture

In large group shots like this one, the details are lost because of size. It was enlarged, in relation to the mounting board.


Child on a Pony
Child on a Pony

An extra bit of repair was warranted for this one as the original was broken in half. It was also enlarged, in relation to the mounting board.


20120730 boy on a horse

As you can see, this one was almost gone.

Boy on a horse

Curtis Brown Co.
Curtis Brown Co.

unknown building
unknown building

Indignant Woman
Indignant Woman

Woman on porch
Woman on porch

Man and woman in garden
Man and woman in garden



The most popular photographs most popular, Family Group,
An album of the most requested photographs in the Lost Gallery.

Area 51 and a Half Area 51 and a Half
You are probably not authorized to see these.

Don't take my picture! Oh! You DID didn't you! completely unaware of the photographer
This is a collection of photographs that disappear on the way home from the photo processing shop.



And don't miss
Cabinet Card Gallery
One Man's Treasure
Penny Tales Square America
Tattered and Lost Vernacular Photography
The best
FOUND PHOTOGRAPH
sites on the web.

And for postcards try
THE DAILY POSTCARD.

All images are the property of Lost Gallery and the author. Permission must be granted for their use. All rights reserved.

THE KIDS Lesson one.
It is always a mystery
how a photograph of any
of these precious children
could end up lost
or abandoned.
Here are a few.
You will probably say
"Ooh..." at least once.

Dee and the Business School Dee and the Business School
The beautiful Dee. A curious story; What do you see?

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
Neiffel and Helvetica Typehigh

"What are they doing?"

2 comments:

  1. These are grand and I agree. I was thinking about this today after watching a tv show about out of control collectors. They seemed to want quantity instead of quality. Which got me thinking about the quality of some of my collection. Some of it is horribly ragged and faded, but I know the image is there, an image worth saving. So then I ask myself, since I talk to myself a lot, how is it collectors often fall into two camps: those that prize the object, especially if it's pristine; and those who value the image and wish to see what the photographer saw. Now, some of my stuff I love simply because it is so worn with time, others it's purely the image. And seriously, what's wrong with putting the old photos best foot forward? The original is not damaged. It comes down to which is more valuable, the object or the image. I say the image because that is where the story starts.

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  2. I’m with you. I really prefer the original to the “fixed” ones. To me, the state that it is in tells of its journey to my time, my eyes. The scratches and flaws tell me how it was honored or not, how it struggled to stay intact; if someone cared, if someone didn’t.

    The only reason I often digitally remove the yellow and bump the fading contrast a bit is to discover otherwise hidden details that also tell me something about how it got here. And sometimes, where it really belongs.

    And yes indeed, the original is untouched, archived in a plastic pocket, filed carefully for that hopeful day when someone says “Hey, that’s my great-grandma!”

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