Family Photo Detective: Learn How to Find Genealogy Clues in Old Photos and Solve Family Photo Mysteries

by Maureen A. Taylor

Unlock the Secrets of Your Old Family Photos! Historical family photos are cherished heirlooms that offer a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors. But the images, and the stories behind them, often fade away as decades pass - the who, when, where and why behind the photos are lost. In this book, photo identification expert and genealogist Maureen A. Taylor shows you how to study the clues in your old family photos to put names to faces and recapture their lost stories. Inside, you'll learn how Each chapter includes dozens of historical photos to illustrate key points and provide clear examples. Charts, timelines and resource lists make it easy to find the exact information you need. Dozens of case studies show you how to apply the techniques in the book to real-life photo research projects. The answers to your family photo questions are closer than you think. Let this book help you start finding them today.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, History, Photography, How To

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2013

About the author

Maureen Taylor is a frequent keynote speaker on photo identification, photograph preservation, and family history at historical and genealogical societies, museums, conferences, libraries, and other organizations across the U.S., London and Canada. She’s the author of several books and hundreds of articles and her television appearances include The View and The Today Show (where she researched and presented a complete family tree for host Meredith Vieira). She’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, The Boston Globe, Martha Stewart Living, Germany’s top newspaper Der Spiegel, American Spirit, and The New York Times. Maureen was recently a spokesperson and photograph expert for MyHeritage.com, an internationally known family history website and also writes guidebooks, scholarly articles and online columns for such media as Smithsonian.com.

Currently a contributing editor of Family Tree Magazine, Maureen also writes personal memoirs and narrative family histories for the Newbury St. Press of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Reviews

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really interesting to read. I would definitely recommend it for people interested in photo genealogy or just photographic history in general.

Read for LS 545: Ref Serv Genealogy & Local Hist

[Sharil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just an current version of : Uncovering your ancestry through family photographs. This paperback is a smaller format than the older edition, updated with a little more information. If your eyesight is not great, then you may want to review the older book for photo genealogy tips. A lot of focus is on identifying photo format types and what period they were used (such as tin type or cabinet photo) and things in the photo or period dress, also researching photographers. While I had really studied my photos and picked up on much of this on my own, I was hoping to find something I had overlooked or that was new to me. I'm not sure if I have enough un-dated or unidentified family photos that this could help me with, but would love it if my library had a copy I could check out.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-produced handbook for mining "your family photograph collection" for genealogical data and historical minutiae. Includes an excellent handy chapter of apparel details to approximately date photographs from 1840-1914. Also provides a wealth of technical detail to identify types of photography and print material in "your" collection. Assumes a reading audience of pen-and-paper genealogists with limited web literacy.

[T. Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great Addition To Your Genealogical Book Collection!

This is a useful book with a whole lot of information and advice on researching old family photos you may run across pursuing family history documentation.

[Betty Silvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich with detail. Packed with valuable resources and ideas. Being fairly new to genealogy, I've learned a lot from this book. I keep it handy to use as a reference.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended. This is very useful for genealogists who are lucky enough to have old photographs of family members. There is helpful information on how to date hairstyles & clothing styles with pictured examples not just text explanations.
The subtitle is very indicative of what hoped to be achieved.
Chapter headings are: Bringing the past to life; Talking with relatives; Cased images identifying old photography methods); Paper prints and negatives; Color and digital photos; Identifying the photographer (studio portraits); Images from birth to death; Looking for clues; Identifying costume; Reading the clues in photographs; Photograph albums; Adding up the clues. Appendices cover labeling your images, worksheets; important addresses.
There are a lot of books mentioned to help in various stages of the search, such as lists of professional photographers & where they operated, as well as fashion histories for clothing questions.
Sometimes more than you want to actually read, but still useful if you have a photograph actually in hand to research.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must have for anyone interested in old photography, especially for genealogy purposes. It approaches the subject from many angles, instructing the reader in the history of the art, ways to identify time periods through type of photo, style of costume, and even props that are used. With special sections on images from birth to death, and how to use images to talk to relatives, as well as worksheets to record your findings along the way, this book is an excellent reference to start your journey through the myriad of photographs you have hiding in boxes under the bed. Highly recommended for genealogists, history buffs, and archivists.

[Aubrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The majority of the text focuses on identifying very old photographs (e.g. tintypes, daguerrotypes). Since I only have a couple pre-1900 photos in my personal collection and nothing at all prior to 1885, parts of the book made for dull reading, but it was worth my time if just for the chapter on determining when a photo was taken based on clothing styles, props used, etc. which was very helpful in dating my 1885-1930 pics.

[Minnesinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many "tips" are just common sense, like ask older relatives to identify people in photos (duh). But I appreciated the section naming old types of photos, what the chemical process was in developing them, what the photo finish looked like, and how the paper edges were finished.

Main thing to remember: Do not try to clean these photos yourself!

[Rosemary Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting, easy to read has a lot of websites mentioned as references. good explanation how to decide dates of family pictures by using "clues contained in costumes and props" and people's spacing in photos. She also uses census data and data about buildings and businesses shown in the pictures.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of history of the photograph and how to date a photograph including, certain years various photographs were used, dating clothes of the subject, and more.
Wonderful resource for the genealogist.

[Adrian Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of history of the photograph and how to date a photograph including, certain years various photographs were used, dating clothes of the subject, and more.
Wonderful resource for the genealogist.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This enormously useful book discusses how to use clues in photos such as print edges, clothing, etc. to date photos. This would be a valuable resource to any family historian with old photographs, and who doesn't have them? I may have to get a copy for my personal library.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource--both very readable and filled with clearly explained, useful information for analyzing historical photographs. I'm buying a copy of my own.

[Shazzt]

More relevant for Americans and those lucky enough to have original photos but a great reference for any one with old photos they want to try to find out more about.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reference source.

[Jim Blessing · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a mildly amusing read.