23 Oct Connecting Past & Present
Photography often serves as a fascinating bridge connecting the past to the present. It’s one thing to read about your history and ancestry; it’s another to see it. You can pick up small clues and insights into your family by viewing an image and imagining how the people felt and what it was like to have their experiences. Tom certainly felt this way while viewing his family photos. Our team asked Tom to share his experiences with photo restoration, custom framing, and making new connections with his family history.
Tell us about your piece(s) (photo restoration, custom framing, or painting restoration). What did your project(s) mean to you? How did you feel about its original condition?
I’ve had quite a bit of work done now by Coyle Studios. The biggest project really had two parts, both over 100 years old and dealing with framed photographs of my great-grandfather’s family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One consisted of multiple, informal pictures in a single frame. All the photographs had deteriorated, and I was afraid to touch them. The goal was to remove all the pictures, copy them and reframe the copies so they looked like the original. The other was a single, formal portrait of the same family, also much deteriorated. I only recently discovered these photos (rescued from a cousin) and they were the only copies of these pictures in existence, as far as I know. My mother lost her father (Thomas Lambert Small) when she was very young (1923), so she scarcely remembered him, but she spoke of him from time to time, things her mother told her. In these photographs, I got to see him as an impish kid in Cambridge, alive for me in a way he had never been before. In the family portrait, taken the year my grandfather was born, my great-grandmother is clearly pregnant with him, her hand on her belly, cradling her unborn last child.
People have varying experiences with restoration and custom framing. Some people have used professional services, have explored do-it-yourself options, or are completely new to the process. What did you already know about restoration or custom framing? Did you have any concerns or questions about the process?
There was no way I was going to touch these photographs myself. I was afraid to even try to unframe them. I knew basically nothing about the sort of work Coyle Studios does, but I knew that I needed professional help and that there were solutions. Mary Lou was wonderful about explaining the process and discussing options. For instance, she worked to save the original frames for the copies I kept for myself, and then helped me select affordable, modern frames for the copies I made for my sister. I have a lot of confidence that Mary Lou will never sell me something I don’t need and will take the time to help me figure out what I actually want and can afford.
Everyone has different timelines for their projects. Some pieces sit on our clients’ shelves for years before they bring them in for restoration or framing. Others act straight away. How did you decide this was the right time to frame or restore your item?
I had recently been given the pictures and was afraid to let them deteriorate any more. I didn’t want to put them on our walls in the state they were in, which was quite bad, but I also didn’t want to just shove them in a box in a closet and hope my kids would deal with them some day, though they probably wouldn’t even know the names of the people in the pictures.
A before and after reveal is so exciting. How did you feel when you first saw the finished product? What reactions–if any–did you receive from your family and friends?
I was so pleased with the way things looked, and I think my sister, who didn’t know that I was dealing with the pictures, was very pleased with her framed copies.
We always wonder what happens to projects after they leave our studio. They become very special to us. What did you do with your final piece(s)? How did you feel about the end result–especially when compared to its original condition?
I’ve got my copies on walls where I see them every day: in my study and in the master bedroom. Honestly, I feel emotionally connected to these strange folks in a way that I never would have without the work of Coyle Studios. It’s a funny feeling, a little spooky. Two of the people in the pictures, my great aunts Bessie and Helen–tough, independent-minded New England women–I actually met when I was very young around 1957. Meeting these two very old ladies, so young in the photos, in their old house in Brookline Mass. is one of my earliest memories. My mother said I behaved remarkably well, and so, when they died, they left me a small legacy that helped pay my way through college.
Was there anything about the process that surprised you? What was your favorite part?
I love talking to Mary Lou and John and Brynn. It’s a treat to visit the incongruous old house in Towson where they’ve hung out their shingle. The planning is almost as fun as seeing the finished project. Mary Lou and John are telling the truth when they say on the website that they give as much attention to small customers as they do to the big companies they often work for. They are an amazing resource–so knowledgeable and professional, but treat you like family.
What advice do you have for people looking to start their own restoration or custom framing project?
Set up an appointment and talk to Mary Lou before you try to do anything on your own. She won’t try to talk you into anything, but will explain what needs to be done and walk you through the options without a hard sell. It is rare in my experience to find a business like this one. Working with Mary Lou and John and Brynn is like spending time with the family members you like best.
