photographic restoration – Kathryn Rutherford

Lost Grandmother

“People who don’t cherish their elderly have forgotten
whence they came and whither they go.” – Ramsey Clark

In the late 1980’s I was exhibiting my fine art and restoration services at a conservation conference in Baltimore, Maryland when a lady entered my booth clutching a blackened piece of bent and rusted metal. What used to be a treasured image of a female had been reduced, over the years, to a ghostly silhouette highlighted by gold leaf paint over earrings, a broach and a ring. On the back of the metal was etched the date December 1877.

Living History

“History never looks like history when you are living through it.” – John W. Gardner

Our first tale concerns the oldest photograph ever brought to the Heirloom Art Studio, my fine art and restoration studio.

A customer had phoned stating she had a tintype photograph in her possession that had rusted and required some restoration services. At the appointed hour of her appointment, the woman arrived with nothing apparent in her hands. Following introductions, she reached into her purse and produced a plastic diaper bundle which she began to unfold. She grasped the contents between her fingers as if she were dealing cards and thrust the image toward me.