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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!

Featured on Sarah Beeny’s Life In The Country

In Series 3 Episode 5 Sarah Beeny discovers many odd antiques and family heirlooms that have been passed down through generations and decides that the best way to use these findings in their new home is to transform their downstairs cloakroom into a Victorian cupboard of curiosities. That’s where Photographs Forever came in and we were asked to restore some of the deteriorating precious family photographs.

Here’s one as we received it, together with the restored version and below as it appeared actually in situ in the cloakroom.

 

New Life in the Country is a Channel 4 documentary series starring property expert and TV presenter Sarah Beeny and her family. The show follows Beeny, her husband Graham Swift, and their four sons as they embark on an ambitious project to build a sustainable new home and start a new chapter in the Somerset countryside.

The series documents the Beeny family’s move from London to rural Somerset, where they take on the challenge of building a modern, eco-friendly home on 220 acres of farmland. It captures the highs and lows of creating a new life in the countryside, from construction challenges to the family’s adaptation to a different lifestyle.

The show is a mix of property development, family life, and lifestyle change. It highlights themes of sustainability, self-sufficiency, and the rewards and difficulties of significant life changes.

Throughout the episodes, viewers see various stages of the home’s construction, interior design decisions, and landscaping projects. The show also delves into the family’s day-to-day life, interactions with the local community, and adjustments to country living.

The series has been well-received for its genuine depiction of family life and the beauty of the English countryside. Viewers appreciate Sarah Beeny’s relatable approach and openness about the challenges they face.

Sarah Beeny and Graham Swift’s project reflects their long-held dream of raising their children closer to nature and living a more grounded lifestyle. The documentary provides insights into the balancing act between professional ambition and family priorities.

Overall, New Life in the Country offers an engaging mix of home-building inspiration, personal storytelling, and picturesque rural life that appeals to fans of property shows and lifestyle documentaries.

 

 

Norman Wisdom Memorabilia Exhibit

We recently restored several images of Norman Wisdom for his son Nick. These were to form part of an exhibition that Nick is mounting.

We restored these two photographs so they could be printed the appropriate size for the framed exhibit of Norman’s suit dating back to 1952.

Nick says:

“As the Norman Wisdom Exhibition reaches its capacity of circa eighty frames, it’s fair to say that the best has been saved to last. A five foot high frame (below) features Norman’s long tailed suit first worn in the theatre in 1952. As ever, thanks must go to the experts who I have come to rely on. Gerald Fleuss, master calligrapher and Richard Haines of Photographs Forever who can resurrect and adapt any form of photography to great effect.”

Removing All The Unwanted Parts…

Our customer is creating a gallery of his grandchildren’s’ sports photos and this photo had lots of unneccesary elements he wanted removed.

He was very pleased with the two 16″ x 12″ canvases he ordered of the final image

 

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.

 

Photographs – Digital Restoration or Preservation of Original?

We are sometimes asked to restore an actual physical photograph (photograph preservation) as opposed to restoring a digital scan of the same photograph.

Photograph Restoration Example

Photograph preservation can improve a photograph, image quality is not usually the primary purpose. Conservators will try to improve the overall visual appearance, but they would find it impossible to match what can be achieved by digital restoration. Because of the knowledge and skill and time required to carry out the physical preservation, the cost is likely to be prohibitive.

Digital restoration has many advantages including:

  • Preservation of the original photograph
  • Prevention from further deterioration
  • Eliminating scratches, blemishes, tears, folds and fading
  • Increase in the level of detail and enhancement of facial detail
  • Prints of any size can be made and shared
  • The ease of storage of digital files, also able to be shared

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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