Business celebrates 25 years of preserving city’s memories

AFTER a quarter of a century in business, it’s still the reaction from customers when they see a photo he’s restored that means the most to Kerwin Ross.

Kerwin Ross has celebrated 25 years in business at Photopro.

AFTER a quarter of a century in business, it's still the reaction from customers when they see an image he's restored that means the most to Photopro owner Kerwin Ross.

Mr Ross has been operating his photographic retail, restoration and printing business since 1995, first headquartered in Market Plaza (where JB-HiFi is now), before moving to its CBD location in Ruthven St in 2003.

It's been a turbulent 25 years in the photographic industry, which was the first of many to be disrupted by the introduction of digital technology and saw many businesses close.

But Photopro has survived and thrived.

"We don't let anything out of the store that I wouldn't be happy with myself," he said.

"I treat customers as I would expect to be treated myself. It's pretty simple."

He thanked his current and former staff for their hard work and dedication over the years.

But it's the art of photo restoration - in essence, preserving people's memories - that means the most to Mr Ross.

"It's actually really exciting to watch the development of an image, before and after, if it's for restoration," he said.

"Even just copying and preserving old photos - those memories, you just can't put a value on those, and it's quite incredible to see people's reactions when you give them a photo we've restored.

"And that means a lot to me. Sometimes I spend more time on a photo than I should because I feel a personal obligation that this photo can be better, even though a customer may not expect it.

"At the end of the day it makes me feel better."

Mr Ross said the switch to digital was the biggest shift in his 25 years in business.

"Every year for quite some time we were unfortunately replacing people with machines," he said.

"That was a bit sad. I like having people around me but that's inevitable for our industry."

But digital never killed off film completely, with Mr Ross observing a clear resurgence in people shooting on film.

"It's nostalgia, and a lot of young people who didn't grow up with it have found this new hobby that is pretty exciting, getting a hold of granddad's camera or dad's camera or whatever it may be," he said.

"It's also about people taking the time to slow down and actually think about taking a photo, rather than just pressing a button … and hoping to get one good shot.

"It's a bit of a lost art, but yeah, film … it's no different to vinyl or so many other things that have come back in vogue."