RESTORING THE PAST

Owner of McGleam Studios Photo Retouch and Restoration, Patrick McGleam, seeks to bring old, age-worn memories back to life through his work. He has been in the business since 1995 and has operated in his current location for the last ten years. “My business is digital retouching and restoration, so what I do is restore photographs and documents with digital software using the original image, scanned or photographed,” says McGleam. “Everything I do is done in-house and the client’s original picture never leaves the studio.” McGleam has worked with several of his clients for years, restoring their collections of treasured photographs. “I take them into photoshop and work on them in that program,” says McGleam. “Usually, the turnaround time, from the time I meet with the client till I have a print, is three weeks.” One of his most difficult requests came in the form of a destroyed wedding photo from the 1930s. “I had a client come in two Christmases ago with a 5x7 wedding photo from the mid-1930s that was in 20 pieces,” says McGleam. “They had found her nephew on the floor with grandpa’s wedding photo and there were a couple of pieces missing as well. I was able to refer to their couples photo from that same setting and fix the one I had. That’s the kind of thing that’s possible – from 20 pieces back to one.”

McGLEAM STUDIOS 227 S. 3rd St., Geneva (630) 587-5808 mcgleamstudios.com

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