What can a photograph actually tell a genealogist?
A single old photograph often contains more genealogical evidence than a whole page of a census. Here's how to read one.
5 min read
To a family historian, a photograph is a small document. It has metadata (the studio stamp, the paper type, the mount style), it has content (people, clothing, background), and it has provenance (who owned it, who annotated it).
The studio stamp
Studio photographs from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s almost always carry a stamp or embossed name on the front or back. That stamp locates the family to a town — sometimes to a specific street — at a specific time.
The mount style
Photographic mounts follow fashions closely. A carte-de-visite is different from a cabinet card is different from a 1920s folder. Each has a fairly narrow date range.
Clothing and hair
Women's fashions dated more precisely than men's, but both narrow a photograph to a decade at least. A specialist can usually get within 2-3 years.
The back
Half the value of a photograph is on the back. Handwriting, developer marks, dedications ('To Auntie Vera, love Sid') — these are the pieces that connect an image to the tree.
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