“At a time when most visual art wavers between doctrine and decoration, Ryan has created a body of work which is not only aesthetically compelling, but also simultaneously modern or topical, yet charged with historic significance.”
-Peter Waite
While images such as those shown on the left below might previously have continued to decay in time, and will in their original form, the pristine clarity of the original, and the purpose of the original is no longer lost for good. Through the practice of digital restoration, most images can be brought back very near to their original form. These images were all restored using Adobe Photoshop.
| Major Damage | |
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| This photograph had extensive cracks running from side-to-side through some vital areas and was missing any sense of vibrancy. It was also an odd size, so I carried the line of the left shoulder out enough to balance the additional background I added to the left side since an 8"x10" was requested (the image shown here is cropped and does not show the left side). I also fixed all the creases, scratches, dust spots, areas of discoloration and gave the image a uniform background color with some texture so as not to flatten the image. | |
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| This 1860's Civil War era tin type was missing a lot around the edges and a 5'x7" print was requested. I had to recreate a lot of background and do a general cleanup on the image. I tried to stay true to the coloration that had been added to the original black and white image, while lightening it up a good deal. | |
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For an obituary, it became necessary to present this sailor by himself. The gentleman to his right was removed and this was turned into a framable portrait rather than a candid snapshot.
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This photograph from 1916 needed major cleanup after nearly a century of handling. The photo had been cut in a circle, so was cropped to be horizontal, with some creation of the upper corners. All smudges, cracks and dust marks were repaired and a lasting memory was given a new life.
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| This photograph was clearly an original proof, the copyright of which would no longer apply. The stamp was removed and the photograph returned to its original form. | |
| Moderate Damage | |
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| This photograph was flat, with very little contrast and some noticeable scratches, dust spots, pen marks and other discolorations. All of these were fixed and the contrast enhanced to give the photo back it's original life. | |
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| This photograph was scanned at very high resolution as a means of extracting the relatively small subject and to be able to print an 8x10. The various splotches, dust and lines were removed and the picture was salvaged. | |
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| The line running from top to bottom was removed and the picture was given a sepia tone. | |
| Minor Damage | |
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| This photograph needed a small amount of contrast and for the background to be evened out, as some spots were discolored and blotchy. There were no problematic areas in vital locations, making this image fairly simple to bring back to it's original, pristine form. | |
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| This photograph was in decent shape except for a few dark splotches and the usual dust cleanup. The sepia tone makes it stronger visually. | |
| Minimal Damage | |
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| This image had a few hairline scratches and dust spots, most visibly in the upper right section of the background, but very little damage otherwise. | |