Fred and I brought a tub full of genealogy material and photographs from his family back from our October trip. Dating from the late 1700s to the 1980s, the material is endlessly fascinating, holding revelations and mysteries. Some of the photographs are unmarked, short of the trademarks from the photography studios in Edinburgh, Scotland, where they were made. Given the myriad of studio names, there must have been one on every street corner. In all the photographs, I have found only two that were made in the same studio. Even more intriguing is that fact that some of these same studios remain in operation today, being run by a fourth generation!
Many of the prints, despite being over one hundred years old and not kept under ideal conditions, are remarkably well preserved. Yellow, yes, but the originals probably contained lots of silver and were very well fixed in the darkroom. The image below is one of the oldest of the group, and was also one that was without identification. We now know these were great, great grandparents.
Great aunt Kate
Great grandfather Andrew
None of these people were wealthy - char women, coachmen, cabinet makers - but to a person, they dressed in their best, and purchased the services of a studio photographer to document who they were at the time. Pondering all of this, it must have been a true cultural revolution, bringing photographs to the masses who were theretofore unable to have professional oils painted or drawings made. Today, smart phones have replaced the corner photo studio, which is wonderful. But therein also lies a problem. Data is collected and shed with the click of a button, leaving people as a series of 0s and 1s, and worse yet, unidentified. Metadata is grand but will the format be readable after the next technological evolution?
Thus, I open the year with a reminder to myself and everyone that digital images should be made into prints on archival paper with archival inks, the prints given clear identification to include full name, place and date it was made, and placed in archival sleeves. Perhaps not all, but many in future generations will seek information about who they are from their past. Will it be there?
My thanks to Larry Jones, photographic historian and collector, and Donna Coates, archivist, for giving me a swift kick to begin the process of identifying and organizing photographs - historic and recent.
until next Monday,
DB
a passion for the image
Love these! do you think fred looks like andrew? Kate is lovely isn't she?
ReplyDeleteThis is fun stuff, Daryl. I think these matters become more attractive as the years fly by. Do you see a resemblance between Fred and Andrew?
ReplyDeleteYes, the genetics definitely tell the story in a resemblance between Fred and Andrew, and, in actuality, many of the great, greats. Both the men and women in his past are stunning. Kate is lovely as was his grandmother (her sister). His mother is still amazing.
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