Photo Detective: Real-Photo Postcard Premium
Eighteen-year-old Peter Gordon of Middlesbrough, England, submitted this photo he found a box of his great-aunt's things. Gordon has a fair amount of information on his family members, but he needs a date for this picture to identify the sitter. When I look at any photo, I see it in...
View DetailsPhoto Detective: Silhouettes Premium
Judi Fuller's curiosity led her to submit this image with a single question: "What is it?" A caption identifies this woman as Anna Upson (1809 to 1863), Fuller's fourth-great-grandmother, so it's not the person but the image we're investigating in this case. The desire for a lasting likeness...
View DetailsPhoto Detective: Learn about the Photographer Premium
In this Photo Detective article, Maureen Taylor explores whether one woman's grandfather took a mysterious photograph (and who that woman may be).
View DetailsPhoto Detective: How Are They Related? Premium
In her grandmother's box of photographs, Patricia Matthews found three similar portraits of young girls wearing large bows. They intrigued her because all three young women also wore the same locket and bracelet to have their pictures taken. She submitted one of the images for identification to find out more...
View DetailsPhoto Detective: Star Signs Premium
Dating this photograph didn't require examining clothing details or finding out when the photographer was in business. The evidence was so obvious that it was easy to overlook. Sometimes the smallest details immediately date a photograph—in this case, the details are the flags. By simply counting the number of...
View DetailsPhoto Detective: Couple Confusion? Premium
If you need a reason to check out the new FamilyTreeMagazine.com Forum, here's one: Debra MacLaughlan-Dumes asked about her unidentified photos in the Photo Detective Forum, and now her pictures are featured in this Identifying Family Photographs column. You can weigh in on this analysis, too, by responding to...
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Photo Detective: Alice and the Looking Glass Premium
In an earlier column, "How Are They Related: 5/29/00" a teenager posed for a photographer with a large bow in her hair. This week, Mary Wisniewski submitted an image of a younger girl with a bow in her hair. An elderly uncle gave her the image, but no one in...
View DetailsPhoto Detective: From Girl to Woman Premium
Figure 1 Figure 2 Janie Martin Whitty submitted two photographs she thinks are her great-grandmother and her grandmother, but she isn't certain. Since neither image has identifying information on the back, she can't decide who they are. She asked for assistance dating their clothing so she can determine if...
View DetailsPhoto Detective: Unsolved Mystery Premium
If dating a photograph is about adding up the clues, what happens when the evidence doesn't add up to a logical conclusion? That's the case with this unnamed, undated photograph (Figure 1) owned by Valda Fernald. The photograph originally belonged to her great-grandmother Sarah Elizabeth (Wyatt) Red. The photographer's imprint...
View DetailsPhoto Detective: Kids in Captions Premium
Kathy Culbert owns this photo of two children, but she's having trouble dating it. Someone captioned this picture "Dora and Frank." Children's clothing can be confusing. Mothers often dressed boys like girls until they were school age, but you can tell the difference by the way they wear their...
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