P.E.I. man breathes new life into historic photos

Earle MacDonald says his hobby of restoring old photos of P.E.I. is keeping him busy during retirement.

"It's really more enjoyment for me more than work," he said.

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MacDonald said he got the idea from a Facebook group that was posting old photos of the Island, but the quality of the images were affected by scratches, creases and dark spots.

"[It] takes away your view of the actual picture," MacDonald said.

About 7,000 photos restored

That's when he decided to take it upon himself to old photos.

Over the last five years, MacDonaldestimated he's fixed up about 7,000 photos, most of them from old P.E.I. postcards, or from the provincial Public Records and Archives.

"A lot of photos from the archives, they're kind of dark, it's hard to see them," he said. "I put them inPhotoshop, and Ilighten them up so people can see them better and it's almost like finding a new photo in an attic," he said.

"I just love history."

Sharing a love of history

Once he restores the photos, MacDonaldshares them to his own Facebook page which has over 7,000 likes.

"The thing that I look forward to is the people that comment on it and they thank me for posting it," he said. "That's the enjoyment I get from doing my hobby."

MacDonaldhas beensent photos as far away as New Zealand to restore, and said there's no plans to quit his hobby any time soon.

"As long as I can find new pictures," he said.

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