Jan Jones, Forever Studios & Working on Dr. Beare’s Daughter.
The most important stories are the experiences we have lived through, from our formative, youthful years to the more informed, mature years of adulthood. They shape who we are as people, our dreams and ambitions, and how we view the world. Each story has a lesson that we can learn, and they are all the more engaging when the story connects with the audience on a personal level.
Jan Jones, Forever Studios & Working on Dr. Beare's Daughter.
That’s why we found it incredibly rewarding to work with author Janice Jones on restoring the historical photography for her latest book, Dr. Beare’s Daughter. Our Forever Studios Pro Services Team worked hand in hand with Ms. Jones to make sure she had all the imagery she needed to tell her story the right way.
The fact that the story itself is about personal histories and family experiences made the process of doing these restorations all the more emotionally involving for us, and seemingly for Ms. Jones as well.
This beautiful restored and colorized image is featured on the cover of Dr. Beare's Daughter.
What is Dr. Beare's Daughter About?
Janice Jones, author and subject of Dr. Beare's Daughter: Growing Up Adopted, Adored, and Afraid, has written a captivating coming-of-age memoir. It follows her life path in the 50s and 60s as the adopted daughter of a "charismatic doctor-daddy and easily-hurt socialite mother" and her pursuit of becoming their perfect "golden child."
As anyone can attest, growing up is not easy, no matter what circumstances one finds themselves in. But as an adopted child in a small town, raised and judged by the lofty, strict rules of the Catholic Church, figuring out who you are as a person is complicated and confusing.
Can you spot the difference between the two images? Hint: Forever Studios removed a pesky pole and a few other things from the original image (on the left).
AN EMOTIONAL, GRIPPING FIRST CHAPTER.
In the book's introductory section, Ms. Jones states that she hopes the reader will connect with her life experiences. And, just within the first chapter (which is available on her website), she pulls the reader in with the emotional complexity of being a young child desperate for the love and support of one's family while reaching for an unknown, ever-fluctuating ideal.
The prologue, a bittersweet moment, was enough to make me cry. When I spoke to Janice Jones about her book, she told me that writing it is the bravest thing she's ever done. She wants to tell the world her story so her history isn't lost, and what a story it is, full of adventures and knowledge gained from living life to the fullest.
Forever Studios erased some of the more distracting elements in the original photo (on the left) and sharpened the faces of the subjects to make them clearer.
If there’s one clear takeaway from a perusal of Dr. Beare’s Daughter, it’s that everything contained in it is very visual. And I don’t just mean the proliferation of period imagery.
Jan Jones’ writing style asks you to put yourself right into the times and places she’s discussing. The fact that there is so much actual imagery to go with the prose only elevates the feeling of being right there in mid-century Ohio with a young Janice.
Who Restored the Photos in Dr. Beare's Daughter?
By some stroke of luck or kismet, Janice Jones entrusted Forever Studios to restore photos for Dr. Beare's Daughter, and we are quite proud to say that she was impressed with our work. I could paraphrase her compliments, but since Ms. Jones is an author (have you read her young adult novel, Secrets of a Summer Spy?) and extraordinarily well-written, she said it best.
JANICE JONES’ FEELINGS ON WORKING WITH FOREVER STUDIOS.
"I wanted high-quality photos to illustrate the most important people and events of my young life. However, my photos from the 1950s and '60s were old, faded, and, in some cases, too cluttered with background images. In addition, some of the most precious moments in my life were never photographed but recorded on old home movies.
I dug out seventy-year-old super-8 film that was badly deteriorated and took still shots from the film with my iPhone. The quality of these photos was terrible. I tried having these particular photos restored by a couple of online photo restoration services. I was told they could not help me. 'There's nothing we can do about this degree of blurriness.'
I decided to try Forever Studios. I spoke to Zachary, the owner, and he told me that his head restorer, Olivia, could work wonders to bring back extremely poor-quality photos. The results were fantastic."
The original image (on the left) was blurry and discolored. After numerous revisions, Forever Studios is proud to showcase a young Ms. Jones and the late great Charlie Bell from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Forever Studios & Historical Photo Restoration.
The lovely photos in this article were all restored by Forever Studios and are featured in Dr. Beare's Daughter, alongside an extensive collection of great imagery that really makes you feel like you’re there, experiencing things right alongside the author. That being the case, it was critical that we were as historically accurate as possible with our work, to make sure that it complimented Ms. Jones’ writing appropriately.
Our amazing head artist, Olivia, truly worked magic on the images by giving them a new life. Now, we don't want to give away all of her techniques (after all, a magician never reveals their secrets), but there are a few things that we can explain. We always aim for the final result to be as organic as possible, and we accomplish that by keeping some rules in mind:
This photo is blurry and muddled. But my goodness, that’s a giant fish!
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If certain features (i.e., hair and face) in the original image are sharp, then all the other features (like the clothes) have to be sharp, too.
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All details should be preserved as much as possible. It keeps the image historically accurate and visually dynamic.
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Photos with distortion in the wrong perspective need to be aligned.
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Color on faded photos should be corrected or restored using reference images and feedback provided by clients.
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If AI is used, double-check the image for defects and distortions.
This revised photo is so crisp and clean.
As Janice Jones stated so eloquently, "Forever Studios reconstructed parts of images that were missing, removed background elements that were distracting, and eliminated blurriness. They brought new life into my old, badly deteriorated photos, so I can proudly display them in my home. Most of all, it means the world to me to be able to share them with my grandchildren while I tell them about their ancestors."
Working with Forever Studios: America’s Most Trusted Photo Restoration Company.
If you have precious family memories that have succumbed to the ravages of time, the best way to bring those photos back to their former glory is to entrust them to an old photo restoration service with proper and proven experience, talent, and equipment.
At Forever Studios, we will go above and beyond to ensure that your vintage photos are restored and treated with the respect they deserve. For $35 per photo, you’ll receive amazing results worthy of being passed down to future generations in just two days!
The image above cuts off the poor pup. With the use of reference images, Olivia was able to rebuild the rest of the photo.
This is such a beautiful, nostalgic photo.
Make Sure to Check Out Dr. Beare's Daughter.
Forever Studios was honored to work with Janice Jones on such a prestigious project, and we can't wait to see her book soar to the top of The New York Times Best Seller list. Dr. Beare's Daughter is now available in paperback and ebook formats on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and most places where books are sold.
If life in the 2020s is starting to get you down, taking a trip back through the 20th century with Janice Jones may be the break from it that you need, and a great exploration of what it was like to have to try to fit that era’s conception of “normal”. All told, having been Dr. Beare’s Daughter sounds like it was a very interesting ride.
