Can I Fix a 100-Year-Old Photo In Five Pieces?

Forget about Dumpty, I thought as a client handed me a bag with the remains of a 16x20-inch print, taken in Moscow in 1920. The photo was disintegrating. It was in five pieces, and entire sections of were missing. Can I put it back together again?

The photo was of the client's family. Only 2 of the sixteen people in the photo survived the Holocaust, and one of them was my client's mother. A family get-together was coming soon, and my client wanted to give out prints of this photo to all of his cousins.

Some of the original, damaged photo. There were two smaller pieces, as well.

The official copy photo. I moved the pieces together as much as I could. That's when I realized that there was a significant part that would need to be rebuilt or re-imagined using AI tools.

The grand finale: Using Generative Fill and other AI-based tools, I stitched the pieces together, got rid of the gaps and crease marks, and delivered this as an 16x20" print.

The process of reconstructing missing hands, removing scratches, dust, and the seam lines between broken areas of the image took a couple of hours, but it was worth it to see the client's joy at seeing this family heirloom in its full glory. He reported that when he presented the prints to his family, many tears were shed. 

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that!

 

Do you have a challenging, damaged print, slide, or negative that is part of your family's visual heritage? I may be able to make it whole! Call me at 732-221-8748 or email me at masonresnick@gmail.com for a free estimate at my Highland Park, NJ studio. 

You can find price guidelines and other samples of my work on my website, https://masonresnick.com/generations-photo-restoration-in-new-jersey-and-online/.