The Ethics of Photo Restoration

This is an issue that we deal with frequently: how much photo editing of historical photographs is “ethical.” When I say we deal with it frequently, I mean every time we hold a class on the subject. We have presentations on editing old photos using both Picasa and Photoshop Elements. We always address the issues of what changes and how much change is “all right.”

James Tanner in his blog Genealogy’s Star also tackles the subject. He expresses the same concerns we do, and essentially arrives at the same conclusions. Check out his article at Genealogy's Star: More on the Ethics and Historicity of Photo Restoration