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Photographs Forever – Where Memories Meet Artistry

We would like to share more about our collective passion for the arts and how this love for art shapes every restoration we do.

Richard’s passion for photography began at age 10 with his first Brownie 127 camera, marking him as the family photographer. By 1974, he was capturing candid images of the prog rock band Genesis – photos that have been featured in various media outlets, most recently in the October edition of Record Collector magazine. You can see more Genesis image HERE

 

His lifelong love for photography led him to establish Photographs Forever, where customer care and exceptional quality are at the heart of every restoration we do.

It’s no surprise then that daughter Amy has shared a love and appreciation for photography for as long as she can remember. Today, her love of the arts has found its purpose in the restoration work she does every day. With a keen eye for detail, she’s dedicated to bringing a new lease of life to photos while carefully preserving the authenticity that makes each one truly special.

Digital photo restoration is truly an art. It requires skill, patience, and dedication –  there’s no rushing the process. We take the time needed to bring each photo back to its absolute best, with care in every detail.

Photographs Forever – Truly a Family Business

It has occurred to us you might not know that we are a family team at Photographs Forever. So, we thought we would take a moment to re-introduce ourselves and remind you of the true value of a family business.

I began Photographs Forever in 2009 and, since 2021, I have been lucky enough to have my daughter Amy working alongside me.

Amy and Richard – Don’t panic, this photo of us is from 1999!

As a father and daughter team we truly span the generations, offering a great wealth of experience and a first-hand understanding of just how important our photos are.  Being a small team allows us to act with empathy and common sense at all times – your photos are unique to you and we understand that this means our process needs to be unique as well.

Building relationships and trust with our customers is at the heart of what we do. We have developed so many amazing connections over the years and we love hearing all of the wonderful stories behind your photos – we have been lucky enough to restore some amazing historical images!

As a family business, we know personally just how essential photos are in keeping us connected to our past, for now and generations to come, and we are always here to help or offer advice whenever you need it.

Today, Amy’s partner Luca works alongside us too, heading up our in-house design projects and ensuring we continue to thrive together as a family business.

All you need to do is take the time to sort out those special photographs, and you can leave the rest to us!

How Stephen Saved The History Of The Titanic…

We’d like to share with you the fascinating story of Stephen Raffield, an avid Titanic historian and collector, who came to us last year with a very special photo album. Stephen and his wife had acquired a personal photograph album of John Kempster’s containing unique, never before seen, historic photographs of both Olympic and Titanic ships. The album was headed for being completely dismantled before they stepped in.

Stephen explains, ‘John Kempster joined Harland and Wolff Belfast in 1900, and was appointed as managing director in 1906 in charge of the electrical plant. Kempster became involved in the construction and launch of both Olympic and Titanic. He was also a very keen photographer and, in 2012, an album of photographs taken and developed by him came to light. A lady walked into a Wiltshire auction house and asked if the album she was holding was worth anything. As well as a number of photographs of the Kempster’s family holiday in America in 1911, the album contained stunning, never seen before, photos of Olympic leaving Belfast for her maiden voyage and also the launch of Titanic and her own departure from Belfast for the first and last time. The photographs are of exquisite quality and finely detailed. The initial plan of the auctioneers was to break up the album and sell off the photographs singly or in small batches. Steve and Jane Raffield, collectors of Titanic memorabilia, were able to negotiate the purchase of the whole album so that this unique record of both Olympic and Titanic at Belfast would be preserved for the future.’

Stephen came to us with the Kempster album.  We scanned the photos in high definition so that each photograph could be safely stored on Stephen’s computer and was also able to appreciate the greater detail of the enlarged images for the first time!

We went on to digitally enhance, and bring out of the photos even more definition by using modern technology, and removing any imperfections from the photos which Kempster himself had developed and printed. We also re-created the album so Stephen could give replica copies to his children.

“The restored photos are simply stunning. The originals are amazing and I didn’t think you could improve much from what are the most detailed photos in the world of the launch of Titanic. Absolutely amazing!”

The original album, photographs and the rest of the Raffield Titanic Collection are currently on display in Brisbane, Australia.

Going, Going, Gone! 

Here is one of the frames we provided showing photographs of the Titanic actually being launched.


It’s very easy to start the process of saving your own precious photos. All you have to do is send us a message!

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Reigate & Banstead Mayors Have Been Restored!

We were asked by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council to restore 49 faded framed portraits of their Mayors going back many years. This involved removing the existing photographs from their frames, scanning and digitally restoring each one as well as reintroducing all the red and gold elements of many.  Here is just one of the worse ones showing before and after our restoration.

Photographs Forever Before and After

When all 49 were fully restored we printed them all on archive grade paper (so the fading will no longer be an issue going forward) and replaced them in their original frames.  Here they are safely reinstalled and being regularly enjoyed by all visitors the the Town Hall.

Photographs Forever

April 2024 – 20% off Digital Colourisation

For this month only (April 2024) we are offering a 20% discount on digital colourisation.

We all understand the power a photograph can have to transport us back to moments filled with laughter, love, and nostalgia, and whilst black & white photos are fantastic, sometimes a vibrant colour photograph can make all the difference.

Photographs Forever Colourisation Example

 

Photograph Restoration Colourisation Example

 

Re-Enacted Scene From Years Gone By

Photograph Colourisation Example

Initially, Keith asked us to restore the picture of him and his sister in Trafalgar Square when they were children. A few months later he came back to us with a re-enacted picture of the two of them taken recently that they wanted to gift to their mum, and we helped to get it looking as close to the original as possible.

 

Torn photo restored

As you can see this photo was in a bad way having been sent to us in four pieces. Turned out OK in the end though!

Grenadier Guards Photo Saved!

At some point someone obviously thought it would be a good idea to give some of these characters beards and glasses.

That’s where we were able to be helpful to a very grateful customer.

Here’s the before and after

Luca Joins The Photographs Forever Team

We are very pleased to let you know that Luca Quasimodo has joined Photographs Forever on a full-time basis. He will be creating our photobooks as well as carrying out many other duties so that we can be as efficient with customer photographs and photograph restoration.  Luca has been working for us part time until now. He has a Design Degree from Brighton University.
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Ferrari 275 Photograph Restoration and Colourise

We recently restored this photograph of the very handsome Ferrari 275 built around 1966. 

Our customer Claire H says ‘the results were absolutely fabulous, top notch!’

Do you have an important photograph that is looking a bit the worse for wear? Get in touch now!