One more story about old slides and then I swear I'll shut up about them for a while. You know how I like to rescue damaged images that might otherwise go in the trash. Here's an extreme example.
I told you before how on my first trip to Camden Market I found two slides on the floor and acquired them. Well, what I didn't tell you is there was also a third slide, one that was so damp, bent and crumpled that I left it behind. That slide pulled at my memory enough that when I went back to the market the second time, I looked to see if it was still there.
And it was -- which says something about how thoroughly and frequently the floors get cleaned.
Anyway, I retrieved it from under the table where it was lying with some other scraps of paper and trash, and for just a pound bought it and a handful of images in much better condition from the slide box. I couldn't even view it because it was so filthy, so I had no idea what the picture was.
I brought it home, took it out of the cardboard frame and gave it a gentle wipe-down with a Q-tip. I read online that a tiny amount of rubbing alcohol on a swab can be used to clean a grimy slide, so I also tried that, but it definitely removes photographic emulsion so I wouldn't recommend it.
Here's what I wound up with:
Yikes! As you can see, it's pretty badly damaged. First step was color correction.
Looks like it was taken somewhere in Germany. I'm basing that on the word "Reisen" on the bus, which is German for "travel." Looks like a '60s vehicle, and definitely a '60s or '70s building.
One good thing about this picture is that the whole lower half can be cropped out. It's just an expanse of concrete floor. That saves the trouble of trying to repair about half the photo.
My Adobe Lightroom skills are pretty rudimentary. I'm entirely self-taught, and I didn't try for a perfect restoration. That would take ages, if it were even possible. But in about half an hour I was able to roughly patch that big white spot and take out some of the bigger fibers and other bits of debris.
I'm sure with more attention to detail I could do a much better job, but this at least lets us see more or less what the photographer intended. It's not a bad picture, given the interesting architectural shapes.
Processing it through Waterlogue hides the damage even more.
Here's a more vivid version, if you like more color.
Anyway, it was fun to experiment with this and see what could be done with a picture that was otherwise almost certainly headed for the dustbin!
It's a fascinating shot with architecture, bus, two individuals next to the bus, and then others walking in the background. Some fun elements. You turned into a nice piece of art. A fun project.
ReplyDeleteLove it. It could almost be the brutalist architecture of the University of East Anglia built in the early 1960s. Fabulous shot and great that you restored it. The people give it scale and it is so well composed.
ReplyDeleteI think you are pretty clever getting as much picture back as you did there.
ReplyDeleteHow good it would be to identify the place!
ReplyDeleteThe original composition was excellent, again I wonder if the photographer was going for art photography. It had echoes of Las Meninas and other masterworks with a passage where there are people not intrinsic to the foreground. I'm very glad you rescued it, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI love reading your posts about rescuing all these old prints! Wonderful sleuthing on your part. Do you ever read the blog Doing Hard Times in Shaker Heights? He also has similar interests (and is just a great read in general).
ReplyDeleteWhen my mom passed in December, we found boxes (and boxes) of old, old prints/photos. Sat and went through them all. Literally no idea who they were, other than Irish relatives, I'm assuming, but I enjoyed looking at them. Kept some that were just so cool and unfortunately had to discard the others. Makes me wonder what I should do w/all these huge old photo albums I have sitting around...
I, too, like playing with photographs and fixing them and such but you are far more advanced than I am.
ReplyDeleteI quite like your restored version.
You did a great job! The reveal of the restored version gives me a sort of frisson of discomfort. There is something unbalanced about the two figures seemingly squeezed between the bus and the beams (wall?) with all of the space beyond them. And what is the woman doing? What am I missing? Is that her purse on the ground at her feet? Is she slipping? Hailing someone?
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?
a fun experiment anyway. I have photoshop elements and have no idea how to use most the tools.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed at what you accomplished. Great job saving this slide. I like the Waterlogue version too.
ReplyDeleteI love that section with the vehicle & the people - the movement, and what they're wearing. Looks like a scene from an old movie.
ReplyDeleteWow. So cool. I love seeing these slides. I always wonder who the people were and where they or more likely their children and grandchildren would be now (if they had had children). Your ability to fix the slide is terrific.
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent and very creative project! You have a lot of patience.
ReplyDeleteI love how you transform old crumpled damaged slides into beautiful pieces of art. Well done, Steve!
ReplyDeleteThat was excellent restoration work. It's amazing how much detail you can bring forward.
ReplyDeleteThis is off the subject of slides, but is about those kitchen drawers that weren't sliding in and out correctly!
ReplyDeleteWhat did you figure out to do with them and were they off the tracks?
Curious the things one thinks about while finishing lunch! LOL
If only somebody might see it someday and recognize it as their photo. I've had some success finding distant relatives posting pictures of ancestors.
ReplyDeleteI'm quite impressed with what you've managed to do with this slide! In my imagination, this is some sort of terminal (air? bus?) with possibly a parking garage attached. It's actually quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteWell, I surely like the young lady with the lovely legs.
ReplyDeleteYou are a wunderkind for saving these mysterious images for us.
That is an amazing result. I can't wait to see what you do with other damaged slides.
ReplyDeleteSo cool, Steve! I'm currently doing a 100 day project, and I could see you taking something like this on for one hundred days.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty amazing. I'm impressed, Steve. Well done!
ReplyDeleteMitchell: It WAS a fun project. Overall, I do like the photo.
ReplyDeleteRachel: It looks like a lot of buildings in England. In fact, if it weren't for the bus I'd guess it was taken here.
River: Well, thanks! It was fun.
GZ: I tried running the picture through Google image search but got nothing identifiable.
Boud: I'd love to know why he/she included so much of the floor. That seems like a very weird framing choice. But maybe he/she was trying to avoid the distortion that comes with tilting the camera upward.
Elle: I've never read that blog. I'll have to check it out! Old photos are great but there are limits to what we can keep.
Bob: It's all about whatever photo editing software you have to use. Some is much better than others!
Ms Moon: The woman IS in a strange pose, isn't she? Which gives it a sort of creepy feel. I think she may be waving at someone but I'm not sure.
Ellen: You should learn! Who knows what you could do?! (That being said, I don't know how to use all the tools in Lightroom either.)
Sharon: When I thought about saving it, I flashed onto some of the editing tools you've used on your photos, making them look like paintings and whatnot. That would come in handy here! But the closest thing I have is Waterlogue.
Bug: I think having just a few people in the shot, small as they are, makes a great deal of difference in the mood of the picture.
Karen: I always wonder whose pictures I'M wandering through!
Margaret: It actually didn't take much time. If I repaired it properly -- like full restoration -- THAT would take a lot more effort and, yes, patience.
Robin: It was a fun challenge!
Allison: The good thing about slides is they preserve a lot of detail. The textures of the walls, for example.
Marcia: It wasn't off the track. There's some mechanism that grips the track when the drawer is closed to keep it in place, and that seemed to be malfunctioning. On Saturday I took the drawer out and put it back again and now it seems to work. (Crossing fingers)
Ed: Yeah, I have mixed feelings about anyone recognizing the picture as theirs, but it would be interesting! They could at least tell us where it was taken.
Kelly: It does look very much like a bus station. Or maybe a shopping center parking garage.
Catalyst: You can see that her legs are lovely? I think your imagination is working overtime, Bruce. :)
Caro: We'll see what I find out there!
Elizabeth: That WOULD be fun. The hard part would be sourcing 100 damaged photos or slides to repair! They're not THAT easy to find because everyone just throws them out.
Jeanie: Thank you! :)