Wartime Photographs

Photographs of family members in uniform, serving their country in any capacity, are always a source of pride. On this page, several examples are shown of such photographs, which have suffered some sort of damage.

Example 1

The first example is a photograph (above right) which was taken during WWI, in a military hospital in Belgium. The client's grandfather is among the wounded soldiers in the photograph - front row seated, on the left.

The photograph was a little faded and yellowed, but the chief concern was the amount of surface damage - numerous scuffs which obliterated many details. An example is shown in close-up to the left, the restored (left) and original (right) versions. For the final image, the yellowing was corrected and the brightness and contrast boosted.

Example 2

This portrait photograph depicts the client's great grandfather, a 2nd Lieutenant in the 8th Tennessee Cavalry, Company G, Grand Army of the Potomac. It was most likely taken when he mustered out at age 22, after 4 years of service, on September 11th, 1865.

The original photograph, far right, had acquired many surface blemishes. The restored image (near right) had these blemishes edited out, and the slight green tint was converted to a sepia color. Finally, the facial features were enhanced as they were somewhat indistinct in the original.

Example 3

This photograph of a British Merchant Navy officer was taken on board ship around 1918, during WWI. The original photograph, near left, had been folded and wrinkled, which had caused much damage to the photograph. It had also faded and yellowed. The restored image (far left), whilst maintaining the original rich sepia tone, has been brightened and yellow tones removed. The damage from folds and wrinkles has been edited out.

Example 4

The studio portrait to the right shows the same British Merchant Navy officer as depicted in example 3 (he is seated on the left). The original (far right) had suffered a lot of surface scuffing and wrinkling, as well as the usual yellowing. Near right is the restored image, and below is shown a close-up of a restored area. Many elements had been scuffed out of existence - in this region the braid on the officer's right sleeve had to be recreated (below left), and the extent of the surface scuffing is evident in the original (below right).