Lost and restored: San Angelo man revives flood-damaged photos back to life

SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — When the floods hit San Angelo, the devastation was far-reaching, but for Matt Butcher, owner of By the Stream Media, the true heartbreak was not in the physical destruction but in the irreplaceable memories lost to water damage.

"The sad thing is, you have all this history for a family that's just... generations and generations of stuff they've collected, and these are the only photos they could save," Butcher said. "But it is a little bit encouraging to me that at least we can save this for them. At least there's a part of their history that'll still survive."

By the Stream Media, a business Butcher has operated in San Angelo for over 13 years, specializing in videography, graphic design, photography, and helping businesses with marketing. Yet when the recent floods ravaged the area, Butcher realized he could use his skills for something bigger than just business: helping people recover the pieces of their past that water had stolen.

"I wasn't personally impacted by the flood. My house was safe," Butcher said, recalling the first moments after the storm. "We had a little bit of rain, but it wasn’t bad. I didn’t even know what was going on until later that morning. My wife said, 'Have you looked on Facebook?' I had no idea."

As the storm wreaked havoc, Butcher wrestled with the decision to go out and capture footage as a videographer, but ultimately chose to remain on the sidelines, giving priority to rescue operations and ensuring his presence wouldn’t interfere.

But the real turning point came when a friend at the YMCA shared a heartbreaking story. “He said, 'I’m cleaning out these houses and coming across all these photo albums that are just trashed. Do you think you could save any of them?'” Butcher explained. "That’s when the light bulb went off for me — there’s probably a lot of people dealing with this, and I do have the skills to fix a lot of these photos. Maybe not everything, but it’s something I can do to help."

In the days that followed, Butcher began offering free photo restoration services to those affected by the floods. Using a combination of AI tools and his own expertise, Butcher worked tirelessly to restore damaged photos. "AI helps a lot, especially with cleaning up backgrounds," he explained. "But AI still struggles with people's faces — it’s not quite the same person. You need a human touch to go back in, tweak things, and make it look good. And after a little bit of editing, we end up with something like this."

Butcher has been able to improve and revive the photo, and for some, improve the image quality beyond their original condition. “Oftentimes we’re able to make photos look even better than the originals, with more detail and better color,” he said. "It’s like bringing memories back to life, but in a way that improves the past."

While many families have faced financial hardships due to the flood, Butcher is offering his services for free. "The sad thing about this flooding is that not a lot of people had flood insurance," he said. "But one thing that insurance doesn’t cover at all is the memories that are just washed away."

Butcher’s generosity is not lost on those he’s helped. Many flood victims have been grateful for the opportunity to salvage even a piece of their past.

"There are companies that will charge you plenty of money to restore these kinds of things, but I just didn’t think it was fair for people who have already been hurt and knocked down to have to pay even more money to recover their memories," Butcher said. "So, we just wanted to help."

For Butcher, this effort has been more than a business venture. It’s been a way to restore what’s been lost and to remind people that, even in the face of disaster, their memories are worth saving.

"I think it’s a small thing that we can do to make a big difference," Butcher said. "At least they’ll have something to look back on and remember the people and moments they cherish."

For more details on how to check if your photos can be restored, click the link.