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"Along Those Lines"
10/26/2001 - Archive
A Focus on Family Photographs
In most parts of the Northern Hemisphere, it is autumn, the weather is getting
chillier, and we're already preparing for our winter projects. Readers in the
Southern Hemisphere are looking forward to springtime and the opportunity to
once again get outside and enjoy outdoor activities. Regardless of where you
are, you probably share two of the most universal pastimes: genealogy and taking
photographs.
Photography is a multi-billion dollar business worldwide. Breakthroughs in technology
in the last twenty years have allowed those of us involved in family history
research to record the physical evidence of our lineage while creating and preserving
new memories. Affordable 35mm cameras, high-speed films, disposable cameras,
video camcorders, computers, CD-ROM burners and drives, scanners, digital cameras,
and software programs provide us with excellent tools with which to capture,
store, and reproduce photographic images. What a wonderful age we live in! No
more standing or sitting rigid and smile-less while the photographer poses you
for a long exposure and uses explosive flash powder. We live in a digital-point-and-shoot-and-transfer-to-disk
era.
In "Along Those Lines . . ." this week, let's focus on family photographs, and
examine some ways to record, identify, and preserve those wonderful images.
I'll also include a few reference books for you, and this week's Citation Corner
will focus on citing photographs.
Recording the Images
The digital era provides us with a number of methods for recording the images
we already have or that we want to capture. If you're like me, you want flexibility
and options. I attended a wonderful family reunion on 13 October and took with
me two types of camera. The first is a digital camera. Prices on these cameras
have dropped substantially in the last 2-3 years, and you can now buy a good
one for less than $200. (I urge you to do your research on the Internet and
then comparison shop online, where you can definitely save lots of money. I
saved almost $70 on my Fuji camera purchase!) The second was a disposable 35mm
camera with a built-in-flash, geared to both indoor or outdoor use.
The digital camera provided me with immediate gratification. I could tell
whether I had a good shot or not. When I returned home, I was able to transfer
the digital images to my computer, edit and crop them, and store them on my
hard disk. I also embedded some of them in my genealogy database program and
printed a few on photographic paper. While you may think this is "the" way to
go, don't be so certain. That photo paper is not always as economical as you
might think.
The disposable camera provided me with a lot of flexibility. While I didn't
know for certain if the pictures were 'perfect' at the time, they were cheap.
The cost of the 24-exposure disposable Kodak 35mm camera was purchased on sale
for less than $5.00. The cost of Kodak processing, two sets of 3" x 5" prints,
and a 3.5" photo disk, was $16.73. I now had the digital images, plus two complete
sets of prints, and the total cost was less than the price of one package of
photographic photo paper for my inkjet printer.
For existing photos, you may be considering the use of a scanner. Seven years
ago I purchased a Hewlett-Packard color scanner for $995.00, a real deal at
the time, and a graphics software program for $75.00. A good-quality flatbed
color scanner (including software) can now be purchased at Best Buy for as little
$49.95 and, after a manufacturer's rebate, can cost you even less. Chances are
that the scanner can also perform as a photocopier, too. How can you lose?
Scan those old photographs into your computer and work with them to enhance
them. Store them, embed them in your genealogy database, e- mail them to family
and friends, and print them on plain paper, on acid-free archival paper, or
on photographic paper. You might decide use your CD-ROM burner to create a CD
with images for other family members. You might also consider creating a free,
private family Web site at MyFamily.com (www.myfamily.com),
and uploading your family pictures there to share with other family members
you invite to view the site. Talk about flexibility!
Identifying the Images
You probably have a collection, as I do, of "the unknowns." These are the
people whose photographs reside in a box, a file, or elsewhere, and you do not
know their names. You don't dare throw the pictures away; they might be relatives
you will identify later. However, you probably just haven't figured out how
to do it. Well, I'm here to tell you to get on the stick!
You certainly can do your own research and try to determine who these people
are, using the photographs themselves as clues. If you have old photographs
mounted on various types of card stock, the cards themselves can be used to
help date the picture. Various card stock, edging, decoration, and other peculiarities
were used at different periods. Daguerrotypes, cabinet cards, and cartes-de-visite
are among the numerous types of photographs that can help you date old pictures.
Also, look for the name and location of the photographer for clues. Check the
backs of photographs for clues to dates and locations, even pictures that are
already framed. Karen Frisch- Ripley's book, "Unlocking the Secrets in Old Photographs,"
is one of a number of excellent reference books on the subject.
Consider, too, the clothing that the subjects wore. Clothing fashions can be
indicative of the time of the photograph, especially in the 19th and early 20th
Centuries, when people tended to dress in their best clothes to sit for photographic
portraits. Priscilla Harris Dalrymple's book, "American Victorian Costume in
Early Photographs," is a great primer on the subject and contains scores of
photographic illustrations and comments.
Another vitally important way to identify people in old family photographs is
by seeking input from other family members. Too many researchers neglect this
essential step. Let me give you two personal examples.
First, I took two photos to the family reunion I mentioned and asked two of
my first cousins, once removed, if they could identify any of the three subjects
in one of the pictures. One cousin is eighty-four and the other is seventy-eight.
The older one immediately recognized all three people in the picture, and the
younger one only recognized only one of the three.
Second, in my new book, Your Family Reunion: How to Plan It, Organize It,
and Enjoy It, there is a photo of "unknowns" on page 109 who obviously have
been playing baseball. At the time I wrote the book, I could not specifically
identify any of the people. However, I recently sent a copy of the book to another
cousin, and just received a letter identifying three of the people as being
his father, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather -- the first picture I've
ever seen of him.
Therefore, I suggest you send a photocopy or a printed scanned image of your
own "unknowns" to relatives, along with an SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope),
and ask for their help in identifying the people in the pictures. This may solve
some mysteries as well as unlocking new doors.
Preserving the Images
Make sure, whatever you do, that your pictures are printed on acid- free
archival papers, and store them in an archival quality box or album. If a product
doesn't say it is archival quality, free of acid and lignin, don't assume it
is. There are many photo boxes being sold that are not archival safe. Also,
make sure that mats, linings, and filler cards in picture frames likewise are
archival quality. You want to preserve these photographs for posterity, and
acidic papers can cause the beginnings of decomposition that does not stop,
even when removed from the acidic conditions. Be careful with your treasures.
Happy Hunting!
George
Citation Corner
If you are citing a photograph as a source of information, you still need to
create a citation that includes WHO, WHAT, WHEN and WHERE. A wedding photograph
of my maternal grandparents might be cited as follows:
Weatherly, Walton C. and Elizabeth Holder wedding photograph. 16 September 1908,
Rome (Floyd) Georgia. Owned 1999 by Carolyn Penelope Weatherly, 1025 Tarleton
Avenue, Burlington, NC 27215.
Citations for the three books referenced in this column follow:
Dalrymple, Priscilla Harris. American Victorian Costume in Early Photographs.
Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. 1991.
Frisch-Ripley, Karen. Unlocking the Secrets in Old Photographs. Salt
Lake City, UT: Ancestry, Inc. 1991.
Morgan, George G. Your Family Reunion: How to Plan It, Organize It, and Enjoy
It. Orem, UT: Ancestry Publishing. 2001.
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