Operation Photo Rescue: Free image retouching offered to those who had family photographs damaged during Hurricane Ida

Published 8:10 am Friday, September 17, 2021

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LAPLACE — Community members who had family photographs damaged during Hurricane Ida have access to free image copying and retouching services that can help save their precious memories.

Family Photo Rescue in cooperation with the non-profit Operation Photo Rescue is helping recover these cherished images from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22 and from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 at the 1811 Kid Ory Historic House, located at 1128 Highway 628 in LaPlace.

The process begins with making digital copies of photos and placing them in cloud storage. The Operation Photo Rescue team will access the cloud storage to retouch and digitally restore images to the best of their ability.

Please choose 20 or less images that you would like restored and retouched for free. Unfortunately we cannot handle negatives at this time. We can accommodate large framed photos to small prints, color or black and white. If the print has water damage please keep it in the frame, as it might come apart when you take it out.
If you have a tub or big box of photos with water damage, look through your pictures outside or in a well-ventilated area and use large gloves and a mask. The photo chemicals combined with mildew can smell pretty bad and the color prints can leave a sticky residue on your hands.
You may find that some photos in a big stack are all stuck together and beyond recovery, but sometimes when you peel apart the prints some in the middle of the stack may be salvageable.
Family Photo Rescue is a group of local news and commercial photographers who live in the Greater New Orleans area. Traveling through damaged neighborhoods in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida we have seen the need firsthand in recovering the images of our neighbors.