Show notes
In this episode I’m sharing tips on dealing with twentieth century baby photos and news from Rootstech.
You’re probably thinking I wish I was the Photo Detective. I bet she doesn’t have any unidentified photos. Well...that’s not quite true. I have some. Most folks do. I’m working through the few I have by studying the clues and my family history. One of them is a group portrait. My Dad identified his father and grandfather. The rest are up to me. It’s likely a community group gathered for a summer outing. That’s the hard part. More about this photo in a future episode of The Photo Detective.
In a recent blog post I shared details about a photo buying trip with my daughter. She knows the sentimental value of photos and was appalled to see the piles of baby pictures in baskets and boxes. Discarded and unloved. It struck a chord with us both. For some reason baby pictures seem to end up without names. At least that’s my experience viewing client photo collections.
Those unidentified infant snapshots nag me to solve their mystery. So I took another look at the ones in my collection.
I’m lucky. My Mom is still with us and her memory is pretty good for 90. We’ve gone through the photos and she’s identified most of them. She gets stuck on the baby photos. I mean who doesn’t. We think we’re going to write the names on the back, but why would we. We know the identity of that cherubic face. Therein lies the problem. Fast forward a few decades and you find you have more than a few photos of infants. I do. I bet you do too. I was working through my images adding metadata in MemoryWeb when I kept finding baby pictures with no names on the backs. It’s like they sprouted from the collection when I wasn’t looking. It’s one of those moments when you think, HOW could I have overlooked that?!
So what’s a family photo detective to do? Here are some suggestions.
Ask a Relative
So first I asked Mom. Problem was, every baby was my cousin Lou. That can’t be right I thought. I won’t tell you WHY she thought they were all him. It’s one of those family things. Do you have a relative you can ask either a DNA match or through a genealogy database like Ancestry, Family Search, or MyHeritage? MyHeritage Instant Discoveries might help connect you to a cousin. Listen to episode # to learn more about how Instant Discoveries works
Research the Photographer
While All of my mystery baby pictures are snapshots you might have some taken in a studio. I treat photographers like members of the family and research them using city directories, census records, AND by googling the name. Work dates for the studios might help put the photo in a time frame.
Lay out the images.
There is something about seeing all your mystery photos laid out in view. You can spot things you’ve missed. It’s all about getting a new perspective on the image. I’ll often look at the real photos but also examine them on my computer so I can easily enlarge details.
In this case, I’ll start by putting them on the table. I already know they aren’t the same infant because the photo formats are a bit different. They all date from the mid-twentieth century. A lot of my first cousin’s on my Mom’s side were born then. So who’s who? That’s what I’m trying to figure out.
Look at the Details
Next up is studying the details in the picture. The baby carriages, their clothing, and what’s in the background. It might be household goods or if it was taken outside there could be a car. None of these images feature another person. That would be TOO easy. I’ll look at each image one at a time and research the details.
A Game of Facial Concentration
You know that game where you lay all the cards down on a table face down and you try to find the matches. That’s what it’s like when you start to compare faces. MemoryWeb incorporates an algorithm that gets
I'm thrilled to be offering something new. Photo investigations. These collaborative one-on-one sessions. Look at your family photos then you and I meet to discuss your mystery images. And find out how each clue and hint might contribute to your family history. Find out more by going to maureentaylor.com and clicking on family photo investigations.
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