Some historic Oxford High School class photos were restored to their former glory thanks to Johnston Photography.
‘I’m always for helping the community,? said Dorothy Johnston, who owns the 8 N. Washington St. studio.
A total of 45 class composites featuring graduating classes from 1893 through 1958 will soon be ready for display at the Northeast Oakland Historical Museum, conveniently located at the northwest corner of Burdick and Washington streets in downtown Oxford.
Johnston and her staff graciously volunteered their time to restore the museum’s priceless photographs and have them shrunk down to a more manageable display size.
‘The originals are huge,? she said. ‘They’re not in bad condition. For the most part, they were pretty good. They might have had a little water damage here and there.?
Johnston spent two or three hours shooting digital copies of each class composite, which is a sheet containing individual headshots of all the members of a graduating class.
Then it was up to Janet Bissonnette, whom Johnston called her ‘retoucher guru,? to fix them on the computer.
‘If there were tears in them, we retouched them, got rid of the damage,? Johnston said. ‘So, now they all look clean and in great shape with the same tone of black and white.?
Bissonnette, who’s the daughter of former sudio owner and photographer Mel Pawl, spent about ‘three or four full days over a three-month period? working on the photos.
Johnston explained ‘it’s actually easier and more efficient? to restore digital copies of old photos on the computer than to repair the originals by hand.
The restored copies were sent to H&H Color Lab in Missouri who turned the class composites, which varied greatly in size, into uniform prints, most of which were 16 inches long and 20 inches wide.
‘They actually did them for cost for the museum,? Johnston noted.
The new, smaller size will make it easier for the museum to display the class composites in the new case it purchased, which is basically a giant flip book consisting of frames able to hold two 16×20 photos on each side.
‘It’s kind of like what Oxford High School has in their lobby,? Johnston noted.
‘It looks like a rug (sample) display, but it’s for pictures ? that’s how I explain it,? said Historical Society President Jerry Griffin.
Griffin said this new case makes for a more efficient way to store and view all these class photos rather than having them continue to clutter the museum’s main hallway.
‘We had them clear up to the ceiling and resting on the floor,? he said. ‘This hallway was full of them.?
The museum has OHS class composities through 1974. Graduating classes from 1975 through 2007 are on display at OHS near the main entrance.