Backgrounds and Furniture in Photos
In the last month or so, I've met (via e-mail) a lot of people who collect specific types of pictures or who know a lot about a photographic detail. I even corresponded with someone who collects photographers' fingerprints on daguerreotypes. Now that's a identification database I'd like to have!&...
Read MoreDress Details Reveal Photo Dates
This week’s mystery photo comes all the way from New Zealand. Don’t you just love the way the Internet brings us all closer together! Janet Drinnan wrote of the picture below “We think it may be our great-great-grandmother, who was born in Buchanan, Stirlingshire, Scotland, in 1810...
Read MoreGift-Giving Tips
If you're looking for a gift for the genealogists on your list, here are a few photo-related suggestions:A digital camera. There's a member of my family who still uses film. While there's nothing wrong with that, the holiday season is a good time to jump into digital. Manufacturers often bundle...
Read MoreMourning Photograph?
This week's picture comes from the Photo Detective Forum. This is used by folks who want their pictures analyzed for this column, but you can also post a photo-related question. Alissa Booth wrote that someone crossed out the original caption, C.C. Smock's wife and wrote Mother. A little girl...
Read MoreAncestral Vacations
Two things drew me to this picture. First, the owner sent me wonderful background information to tell the story. Second, it’s proof this blog has an international following: Kathryn Larcher submitted this photo from her home in France. There's no mystery about the relative depicted. Kathryn knows the last woman...
Read MoreThe Plane Truth Revisited
Last year I wrote about Jacqui Marcella's photo of two couples standing in front of an airplane in The Plane Truth. I'm revisiting a few of my older columns to see if I can discover anything new about those pictures. When I looked at this 1920s image I thought, "Why...
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Hunting for Clues Part Two
For genealogists, it's easy to underestimate the power we yield. If you need proof, think about this: The recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article on The Photo Detective was the number one article read online at the WSJ for a week! This means thousands if not millions of...
Read MoreOld-Photo Reunions
I have a friend who has phenomenal family history luck. Around each genealogical corner is another discovery. She goes to libraries and finds new family in almost every book she picks up, posts online queries and actually gets an answer. A couple of years ago she used a...
Read MoreCrayon-Enhanced Portrait of a Child
Last week I wrote about Carolanne’s portraits of her relatives Laura Gilman and her husband James Wyatt Weed. Here’s a third, unidentified, picture. Behind each picture is a story, and Caroleann's three portraits are no different. Photo identification techniques can tell you when a person sat for a picture, but...
Read MorePhoto Detective in the News
Vintage photo fans, be sure to check out Maureen's appearance in today's Wall Street Journal Weekend Journal section. See part of the article and examples of her work online.Also, on the Genealogy Insider blog, we link to some of Maureen's photo-sleuthing advice for Family Tree Magazine readers.
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