"It's a Ballarat book published 1901, and it was basically all streetscapes and shopfronts of the time," Mr Holloway said.

"The thing that interested me was the changes in the shopfronts from that time to now."

Mr Holloway said he believed the book was produced as a marketing tool for Ballarat businesses, and many of the images show owners and staff standing at the shopfronts, posing.

"So I went out and photographed about 20 shopfronts present day and compared them against the old photos," he said.

Sometimes, finding the old locations required some detective work.

"It was fun going around trying to discover some shopfronts, especially in the Bridge Mall," he said.

"It took me half an hour of walking up and down the mall trying to find this particular shop because all the street numbers have changed since these photos were taken.

"[I look at] the shape of the roof or the shape of the windows, the one at the Bridge Mall shops ... the only way I could find it was the shape of the windows."

So far, Mr Holloway has restored 85 of the images from the book and is seeking funding to continue the work for another about 150 images.

"I'd like to go and do a whole lot more ... I think it'd be valuable for Ballarat's history to see a comparison, 2022 compared to 120 years ago," he said.

"There's a lot of depth of history in Ballarat. All the people who worked in these places. How they were proud of their shopfronts and their displays."

Some of the collection is currently on display at The Turret Cafe on Sturt Street.

For history lovers, all 85 restored photographs are available to purchase online in a 61cm by 45.7cm size.

"The architecture back then was really ornate and beautiful," Mr Holloway said.

"It just seems that there was a lot more thought put into the actual design and making it a beautiful street view back in those days."

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