RESTORATION, PRESERVATION & ARCHIVING
MENU
ABOUT
Growing up in Europe during the post-Cold War cultural and creative renaissance, Sebastian Wintermute developed a passion for history and the arts. He was fortunate to have the opportunity to travel extensively, visiting places that are familiar to many from epic poems, paintings by renowned artists, and film by master cinematographers. During summers Sebastian often worked as a volunteer on archeological excavations and maritime historic preservation projects. As a photography and history aficionado, it was no surprise that, after time, he was asked to preserve and restore old photographs that contained great personal value as well as a visual history of people, their families, and their rich heritages.
At first, the requests came from friends and acquaintances, but as the portfolio of his restoration work grew, Sebastian began to receive commissions for the preservation and restoration of photographs from private collectors as well as historic societies, organizations, and religious groups, including the Jewish Chabad-Lubavitch, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and others. Over the years, Sebastian applied his knowledge and skills to save thousands of old photographs and faded pages dating back two centuries, from portraits of American settlers and Eastern European immigrants to NASA documents from Apollo Moon missions; a Civil War Union Army veteran’s service records and snapshots of American GIs on their push to the Rhine during the final months of WWII.
Before they were brought to Sebastian’s studio, many of those pictures and pages were lovingly kept in family albums, passed from one generation to the next, while others were carefully stored on the shelves of libraries and archives. Yet many were found in dusty attics and dirty basements, where they might have remained in oblivion until eventually deteriorating into dust. However, all of them, whether they depicted a world statesman, a close relative, or a high school sweetheart, equally received the highest quality of care. Because of Sebastian’s knowledge of history and photography, very often, seemingly the simplest of projects turn into fascinating journeys of re-discovery of long-forgotten names, places, and events.
|
|||
