Mourning, Memory, as the Purpose of Image Restoration

As I might have mentioned in a previous post, this year has brought loss and brought up memories of loss. Loss is often absolute; a finish line that begs the questions: “What Remains?” and “What’s Next?”

What remains is the mourning of who (or what) was lost, and also their memory. And that particular memory brings up the second question: “What’s Next?”, and, with that, the topic of today’s post — image restoration and its role in preserving memories.

In the aftermath of loss, the image restoration process can be a bittersweet experience of looking through and restoring, oftentimes old family images that bring back to life those we’ve lost. And we get to relive those memories through tears, as well as smiles.

When it comes to photography (and writing), there are various ways of preserving those memories. Here are a few examples:

• Create a slideshow with images and captions

• Print the images as metal prints or other photo gifts. I’ve had good experiences ordering metal prints from mpix and canvas prints from Canvas on Demand

• Design a family album. There are various companies that can print on demand (POD) photo books, including mpix and blurb. I’ve used blurb to print photography books, wedding albums, family albums, and the like

• Create 3D renderings engraved in glass and/or glass candle holders; it’s more expensive but also special; check out ArtPix3D (I’m yet to try it)

• If Text, Words, are an important part of the work you want to create, check out Story in Steel, “Memories Crafted in Steel,” as mentioned on their website (again, I haven’t tried it yet)

One more note:

I used to work on image restoration projects many years ago, but nowadays there’s just the occasional project for family and/or friends.

Image restoration used to be time-consuming. Now, not that much anymore, thanks to the latest version of AI-enhanced Photoshop or other programs.

That said, I believe that the process of image restoration still needs a human touch. And that’s because image restoration doesn’t have to preserve only memories, but the very human emotions, stories, and histories attached to those memories.

Don’t you think?

Feel free to share your thoughts on and/or experiences with image restoration in the comments below.

As always, thanks for stopping by,

Alina Oswald