The Living Archive
The Living Archive: heritage restoration and history research
Historical images restored in colour, stories researched from the record, and films that bring the past back to life, for institutions, archives, museums and publishers.
What we do
Heritage restoration and history research
History survives in fragments. These are the ways the studio brings it back.
Historical image restoration
Damaged photographs repaired, and colour restored from research.
History research
Sources, archives and records researched for films, books and exhibitions.
Exhibition and museum films
Short films that tell a collection’s story to its visitors.
Heritage documentation
Places, crafts and rituals recorded before they change.
Archival documentaries
History told through records and images. See documentary production.
Visual reconstruction
How a place may have looked, rebuilt from evidence and always labelled as a reconstruction.
Heritage restoration with evidence
Heritage restoration brings damaged photographs, places and stories back into view. Every restored colour, costume and building is checked against sources first, and anything rebuilt is labelled as a reconstruction so the record stays honest.
The studio works for institutions, archives, museums, publishers and families, and can turn restored material into exhibition films and archival documentaries.
On the record
Research on the record
- Research libraries on Assam’s history and Indian culture, built and maintained in the studio
- Historical images restored for stock and publication
- Devotional and documentary films researched from primary sources
- Trained as an architect: buildings, periods and spaces read with care
How we work
Evidence first
Restoration is only as good as its research. Every colour, costume and building is checked against sources before it is restored or rebuilt.
Reconstructions are always labelled as reconstructions, so the record stays honest.
Before and after
Assam on film, 2010
Archival footage the studio shot in Guwahati in 2010: Kamakhya Temple on Nilachal Hill, and Deepor Beel with the Durga Puja immersion at Pandu Ghat. Footage like this is the raw material of heritage films.
Restored photographs: before and after
Three historical restorations from the studio’s archive work. Each original was researched for period, place and dress, then restored and brought back to full colour. Click any image to see it full size.
Victoria Terminus, Bombay
The Taj Mahal from the riverbank
A Mughal emperor’s portrait
History, reconstructed on film
Historical films from the archive work
The same research carried into moving pictures: periods reconstructed from evidence (architecture, dress, daily life) and directed as cinema.
How it runs
How an archive project runs
- Brief: the collection, the audience and the purpose.
- Research: sources and references gathered and agreed.
- Restoration or film: the work itself, reviewed at named gates.
- Labelling: what is original, what is restored and what is reconstructed.
- Delivery: files for print, screen and archive.
Every stage has a named review gate. See the full process.
Questions
Questions about the archive
Can you restore our old photographs?
Yes. Damaged photographs can be repaired, and colour restored with research. You receive the restored files with notes on what was changed.
Do you research history for books and exhibitions?
Yes. Research is available on its own, or as the foundation of a film, book or exhibition.
How do you keep restoration honest?
Every restored or reconstructed image is labelled as such, and the sources are recorded.
Who do you work with?
Institutions, archives, museums, publishers and families who want their history preserved.
Can you colourise old black-and-white photographs?
Yes, with research. Colours for clothing, buildings and landscapes are chosen from sources of the period, and every colourised image is labelled as restored, so it is never mistaken for an original colour photograph.
Do you make exhibition films from archives?
Yes. Restored photographs, documents and research can become short films for museums, exhibitions and anniversaries, with narration and music made in the studio.
Why does heritage restoration need research?
Because a restored image is a claim about the past. Every repair and every colour is checked against sources of the period, so the result is faithful to what was there, not to what looks attractive today. The research is recorded and delivered with the images.
Related services
- Old photo restoration: restore, colour and bring family photographs to life
- Documentary production: field-shot, archival or animated
- Writing and research: articles, research and campaigns
- Film and song licensing: the studio’s library
- All services: the full list, from animation to teaching
- The studio on YouTube: films, song-films and devotional cinema
Bring your history back
Tell us about the collection or the story. You will hear back within one working day.