Family photo detective : learn how to find genealogy clues in old photos and solve family photo mysteries

315 Pages·2013·8 MB·English

by  Taylor

Family Photo
Detective
Learn how to find genealogy clues in old photos
and solve family photo mysteries
Maureen A. Taylor, The Photo Detective
Cincinnati, Ohio
shopfamilytree.com
Contents
Introduction
What is a Family Photograph Collection?
About This Book
How to Use It
CHAPTER 1
Bringing the Past to Life
Compiling a Visual History
How to Get Started
Identification Tips
Draw Conclusions
CASE STUDY: More Than Meets the Eye
CHAPTER 2
Talking with Relatives
The Interview Process
CASE STUDY: The Power of Persistence
CASE STUDY: The Bessette Family
CASE STUDY: Tall Tales and True Stories
CHAPTER 3
Cased Images
Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, and Tintypes
Daguerreotypes
Ambrotypes
Tintypes
How to Identify a Cased Image
Dating a Cased Image
CASE STUDY: Metal Mysteries
CASE STUDY: Dating Cases
CHAPTER 4
Paper Prints and Negatives
Talbotypes: The First Paper Prints
Card Photographs
Stereographs
Candid Photography
Dating Paper Prints
Dating Portraits
Dating the Card Stock of Stereographs
Other Dating Clues
Negatives
Other Photographic Formats
CASE STUDY: Not In the Family
CHAPTER 5
Color and Digital Photographs
Hand-Coloring
Retouching
Color Photography
Polaroid
Digital Photographs
CASE STUDY: Wedding Album
CHAPTER 6
Identifying the Photographer
Photographer’s Imprint
Researching a Photographer
Online Help
CASE STUDY: Tracking the Manchester Brothers
CASE STUDY: Which is the Original?
CHAPTER 7
Images From Birth to Death
Children
School
Weddings
Military Service
Holidays
Religious Occasions
Vacations and Recreation
Postmortem
CASE STUDY: Barker Cotton Mill School
CHAPTER 8
Looking for Clues
Family Resemblances
Props and Backdrops
Internal Information
Finding Answers
Public Libraries
Special Libraries
Research Resources Online
Building a Home Library
CASE STUDY: A Family Resemblance
CASE STUDY: Celebrity Look-Alike
CASE STUDY: Star Signs
CASE STUDY: The Curiosity Shop
CASE STUDY: Examining the Front and the Back of an Image
CASE STUDY: Internal Details
CHAPTER 9
Identifying Costume
Women’s Fashions
Men’s Fashions
Resources for Costume Dating
CASE STUDY: Alice McDuff
CHAPTER 10
Reading the Clues in Photographs
Matrimonial Images
Military Images
Finding New Pictures
Immigrant Images
Foreign Lands
Magnifying the Details
Comparing Pictures
Following the Trail
Documentary Evidence
CASE STUDY: Civil War Views
CASE STUDY: A Mystery at Sea
CASE STUDY: Links to La Familia
CHAPTER 11
Photograph Albums
CASE STUDY: Family Photo Album
CHAPTER 12
Adding Up the Clues
Family First
Format Focus
Ancestral Fashionistas
Family Complexities
Don’t Jump to Conclusions
Photo Reunion Sites
Online Success
CASE STUDY: The Mysterious Ladies
CASE STUDY: Civil War Made Easy
CASE STUDY: Bridging the Past
CASE STUDY: Celebrate the Details to Discover the Story
CASE STUDY: A Family Photo Mystery Remains
Appendices
Labeling Your Images
Worksheets
Important Addresses
Acknowledgments
About the author
Free Downloads
Copyright
Introduction
On winter afternoons during my childhood, my sister and I would sit with our
mother and talk about the last fifty years of our family history, using
photographs as the inspiration for the stories. I would spend hours imagining
what life was really like for the people in the pictures and searching their faces
for family resemblances. Whom did my sister resemble? Was it true that almost
everyone had blue eyes? Our ancestors stared at us from faded photographs,
captured for eternity by a camera. The images never changed, but our questions
about them did. As we grew older our inquiries became more sophisticated,
leading to richer, more detailed stories.
By paying attention to the details in the images, we were able to find clues to
the identity and character of the people in the portraits. In some cases there was a
photographer’s imprint; in others, a handwritten scrawl on the back identifying
the person as “Aunt Loretta.” Pictures alone, however, couldn’t give us the full
story behind the images. To fill in the gaps, we needed the family history.
Genealogists are used to examining documents, asking questions, and
researching data. These same skills enable you to decipher the clues in a family
portrait. Basic questions such as who is depicted and who is not, what their
clothes tell us, or where and with whom are they posed can help you break down
a brick wall in your family research.
While examining your family photographs may initially raise more questions
than answers, patience and persistence can solve the picture puzzles in your
family album. Start by constructing a list of questions about each family
photograph. If the photo is a formal portrait, you may wonder why they chose
the props pictured. Other questions to ponder: Did the people change their
appearance for the photographer? Did he or she adopt a new hairstyle, or remove
a pair of glasses? Can you tell how they felt about being photographed? Do the
pose and expression tell anything about the individual? If you look closely,
questions will be raised whose answers can shed light on the life, times, and
personalities of your ancestors.