Mould Spotting Across a Boy's Portrait
This is what a few winters in a damp loft does to a photograph, and it is more common in British houses than people realise.
Drag the handle to compare the original with the restored version.
The photograph
A studio portrait of a boy of about twelve in a tweed jacket and tie, taken against a draped backdrop. Mid twentieth century.
The damage
Rust-coloured mould spotting covered the entire print — dense across the background, scattered over the jacket, and worst of all across his face, where a dozen or more spots sat directly on his features. The image had also darkened and gone cold, the way prints do when they have been damp for a long time.
The work
There is no shortcut with foxing. Each spot is removed on its own and the tone underneath rebuilt to match its surroundings, which on a plain backdrop is straightforward and on a face is not. The spots across his features were done last and most slowly. With the surface clean, the print was warmed back to the tone it would have had when it left the studio, and the drape behind him recovered enough detail to read as fabric again.
This was a mould and damp damage restoration job — see more on mould and damp damage restoration.
| Service level | Advanced repair |
| Price band | £15–£25 |
| Turnaround | 2 days |
Other Restorations
Torn Baby Portrait Rebuilt from Fragments
One of the most damaged photographs I have worked on, and proof that a print in this condition is not beyond saving.
A Colour Print Lost Under a Yellow Cast
Colour prints from the 1970s and 1980s fail in a very particular way, and it looks far worse than it actually is.
An Edwardian Child Portrait in Colour
Seeing a child from a hundred years ago in colour is the moment most clients tell me they had not expected.
Have a photograph like this?
Send me a scan or a clear phone photo. I will tell you honestly what can be recovered, and what it will cost, within three hours.
