We were asked to restore some poor quality retro prints and make them suitable to be used to become posters for a garage wall.
Here’s what we had to start
We took the original prints that were prints of folded old posters, restored them, and made large poster size prints
Our customer Clive visited some time ago and brought one of the most fascinating photographs I have seen since I started restoring photographs in 2009. Not only is the quality of the original photograph stunning, the detail contained in the photograph is amazing and you can see some close up details below. This is Clive’s story:
“So here’s a little bit of a back story on the photo that you restored for me and the family. “The Stadium”
The first time I ever set eyes on the photo I was about 6 years old and my father Bruce was arguing with one of his uncles (Neil Cooke) who wanted to sell the photo to which my father was quite annoyed and gave him £100 saying sold (this was about 1980).
As my sister and I grew up the photo hung in the dining room of my parents house and for many years it would get admired from time to time when the room was used. my Grandmother Ouida Monica Cooke pointed out to us that her father (my great grandfather) Leon Douglas Cooke was one of the 5 ringmasters standing in the centre, (he is second in from the left Top hat on and white waistcoat showing) his wife Iona Cooke (Formally Ginnett’s) is sitting rather sternly on the horse to the left of the photo (4th in from the left, Black jacket, right arm on hip).
The photo was taken at The British Empire Stadium (Now named Wembley Stadium) some time between 22nd June and 15th August 1925.
For the film lovers among you, the opening scene of the film “THE KING’S SPEECH” starring Colin Firth as King George VI giving his first ever public speech opening the British Empire Exhibition.
The original photo had some minor damage and had also started to fade due to light, I knew that I wanted to get this scanned and digitally preserved but also restored as best as possible and I wasn’t prepared to let any happy snaps have a go, It was with this in mind that I began my search, coming across Richard at Photographs forever (from an online search) and after meeting him I was more than happy to let him do his thing and what a wonderful job he did.
Thank you Richard I will be forever grateful for your work.”
Here are some small sections of this amazing photograph
Robertson and Ginnett’s Gigantic Circus was a significant attraction at the British Empire Exhibition held at Wembley Stadium in 1925. This circus was part of the exhibition’s second season, which opened in May 1925 after considerable debate due to the financial challenges faced in the previous year.
The circus featured an impressive spectacle inspired by the famous chariot races held in the Circus Maximus of ancient Rome. Organized by Messrs Ginnett and Robertson, these races involved 400-500 performers in each event, creating a grand and thrilling experience for the audience.
The Ginnett family had a long history in the circus business, with their involvement dating back to the early 1800s. John Frederick Ginnett, a notable circus proprietor, was known for owning a popular circus during his time.
The British Empire Exhibition of 1925, which hosted the Gigantic Circus, was a significant event that aimed to develop imperial trade connections and foster closer political ties between Britain and its territories. Despite the financial challenges faced in the previous year, the exhibition reopened in 1925, partly in an attempt to recoup the government’s investment.
The inclusion of Robertson and Ginnett’s Gigantic Circus at this prestigious event underscores the importance of circus entertainment in early 20th-century British culture and its role in showcasing spectacle and skill at international exhibitions.
We recently restored a small 10cm photograph from Ross Howard. It was a photograph of two men and Ross required a new photograph with just one of the men so that it could be printed life size.
The picture below shows the comparative size.
Here is Ross’s story:
“We run a yoga ashram in Southampton called The Yoga Sanctuary. The man in the photo is Swami Yogeshwar Ananda Saraswati, the guru in our lineage, known affectionately to us as Guruji. Guruji left his body in 1985 and I don’t expect there is picture of such detail (and size!) anywhere on the planet. Hence we are truly grateful, Photographs Forever’s work has meant a lot to all of the community here.
“The original photo was retrieved from an ashram in Rishikesh, India.
Swami Yogeshwarananda left home at 14 for a life of renunciation. He found his way to the Himalayas of North India and Tibet where he practiced severe Yogic disciplines for many years. Through this, he became an adept master and began teaching the wisdom of Yoga, setting up several ashrams across northern India. The Sanctuary’s roots stretch back to when our teacher (Steve Harrison) made contact with Guruji at his ashram in Rishikesh. Guruji left his body in 1985 but continues to inspire the work we do here at the Sanctuary to this day.
On a recent trip to the Rishikesh ashram last December we uncovered some photographs that hadn’t seen the light of day for many years. We brought them back to the UK to make digital copies and decided to get one blown up to life-size to display in our Yoga Shala. A few years back Photographs Forever had enhanced another picture of Guruji that we were also able to get blown up in size so we knew they were the right people for the job!
We couldn’t be happier with the result. It is like he is standing in front of you in life-like detail. I expect this is the biggest and highest quality photo of Guruji anywhere on the earth and it will cherished by the whole community here for many years to come.”
Here is the website of the sanctuary : www.yogasanctuary.co.uk
As a family, we know just how hard it can be to find unique gift ideas each year. That’s why we want to remind you of the magic of photo restoration and colourisation. Every photo collection holds the power to transport us back to meaningful moments in time…
Behind every photo is someone who chose to capture that moment. We’re here to restore those moments, so you can enjoy them as they were meant to be.
Unfortunately, physical photos deteriorate over time, and because it happens gradually, we often don’t notice until the damage is severe…
Whether it’s a wedding day or a loved one who’s no longer with us, photos bring a flood of emotions. This connection to family, friends, pets, and places, and the chance to relive special moments, is truly priceless.
Choosing which photos to restore can be daunting, especially for someone else. Our Gift Vouchers make it simple – available in any value and valid for any of our services. Let your loved one decide which photos to restore, while you give a meaningful gift without the stress.
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!
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.”
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.
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.
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
Brenda C sent us this message to ask if we could help:
I am having new kitchen worktops and was going to have a glass splashback across the cooker wall. I have decided to use two landscape photos placed somehow in the glass splashbacks but details have to be obviously pretty exact.
Would you be interested in creating the photo panorama for the glass manufacturers. It would consist of one landscape view, one central portrait view above the cooker and another landscape view. The photos to be used are of The Solent looking across to the IOW with sailing club yachts. Blue sky with few clouds, blue sea and the yachts have their dark blue spinnaker sails open. Obviously, sky, sea etc have to be in alignment with one another.
We have done this kind of bespoke project before and told Brenda we would be very happy to help. Brenda’s photos above show the original photographs we were supplied with and the finished result. We increased the proportions to allow for the exact placing of the power point positions which meant more sea was required.
Brenda was very happy with the finished result achieved by us and the glass manufacturing company, and sent us this feedback on the final splashback:
Everyone has loved the splashback with not one negative comment. Most comments are ‘Wow’. I love it and every time I go into the kitchen, it looks so clean and bright. I am also pleased that the upstand removes enough of the sea to balance the yachts being so high. Now you have added my splashback on your new website, I have sent the web page link to many friends.
I don’t know how you did it but it was exactly how I wanted it. I have been trying to find each of the yachts from my photos but have given up trying to find them now!
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!
