PhotoTek is back in business with a new look. Expect the same, old-fashioned, personalized service when you walk through the doors because that service is fueled by the same mission: Helping customers preserve memories for future generations.

Paula Stebbins, co-owner of the business that’s been a Lake Charles staple for the past 37 years describes the changes inside and out as “subtle.” The damage did provide “an opportunity” to create something new and fresh from the rubble.

“We’ve had some of our customers say they passed our new building a couple of times because they were looking for the blue and red stripes,” Stebbins said. “The new black and white look is an homage to photography’s black and white beginnings. Sheena Franks designed it.”

When Hurricane Laura blew through Southwest Louisiana and other states on Aug. 27, 2020, it also blew through the glass front of the PhotoTek building. The ceiling collapsed to the floor.

Stebbins couldn’t get out of her own driveway for twoand-a-half weeks after the hurricane, she said.

When she did, and she saw the devastation, she cried.

“We literally had to climb in and over debris,” she said.

She said she never contemplated closing. Nor was she able to contemplate reopening.

“Those two statements may not sound any different, but they are,” she said. “My fear was we would not be able to reopen.”

For six weeks after the hurricane, PhotoTek — like many local businesses — had no power. For three months, there was no Internet. Blue tarps were stretched overhead and secured as well as could be and business resumed as “if under a circus tent,” Stebbins said.

Construction was scheduled to begin on the rebuild on the day Ida was to make landfall, possibly in Lake Charles.

Now the rebuild is complete except for some small interior changes. The last 18 months or so have left Stebbins with a renewed appreciation for her staff, calling them “real troopers.”

“They have stepped up and done whatever it takes,” she said. “I think I’m more reliant on them now than I’ve even been and that’s a good thing.”

In addition to a new look and a new appreciation of staff, Stebbins and co-owner Lynn Broussard now have a plan in place in case of a “next time around.”

The question, “Where will your pictures be in 50 years?,” is as relevant now as when PhotoTek opened its doors in 1985.

People are taking more photos and videos with phone cameras and phone cameras are getting better and better, but Stebbins worries that great photos aren’t being developed, preserved or put on disc and are in danger of being destroyed or forgotten. What can be done with photographs using various software and production techniques continues to change.

“Digital has made so much possible,” Stebbins said. “Technology continues to change. We make our customers comfortable with dropping in for prints from their phones or cameras, or dropping off prints to be produced on just about any material. We have photo gifts and invitations. We do video transfer of old home movies and cassettes. We still do photo restoration, custom framing and have a large format scanner. We’ve freshened up our look, but nothing has changed about the way we serve our customers or our services.”