Annotated map

As part of the Place, Image and Object course we had to create an annotated map relating to our family history. It could be a town, a house or even a room in a house. The idea was to build layers on your map.

As I am not an arty person, I decided to go with technology and used Prezi. It was a few years since I had used this tool so had to do a bit of a run through first to make sure I was using it well.

Here is the final result:

 

I decided to look at the homes around Hobart that were important to us as a family. So began with the grandparents in Sandy Bay and West Hobart, then our family homes in Glenorchy and Lindisfarne and finally my home as an adult in Seven Mile Beach.

It wasn’t until I did the evaluation and reflection that I realised so much of it related to travelling and how the homes were there to come back to after spending time overseas or on holidays.

 

Dating photographs

A photograph is just one small moment in the life of the family or object. Five minutes before or after and the image would be very different.

So the quiz assessment for this course involves dating photographs. Some research on this topic should help me. Lots of sources are given in the course but here is my summary.

Types of early photographs

  • Daguerrotype (began in 1839 until about 1860) can be seen as either a positive or negative image depending upon the angle viewed. Do not expose to light and often found in velvet lined cases.
  • Calotype (began in 1841 but rare) meant multiple copies could be made onto paper but images were not as clear as a daguerrotype.
  • Ambrotype (began in 1851 until about 1880) is a negative put on a dark background to make a positive looking image. Backing material often paper, lacquer or velvet. With glass cheaper than silver coated copper, ambrotypes quickly took over from daguerrotypes.

Anyone having a photo taken using any of the above formats must have had money as they were fairly expensive.

  • Tintype (began in 1853 until about 1930) printed on lacquered iron rather than glass. Generally done in a studio, now becoming less expensive so more people could have their own photos. Often these were like thumbnails we have nowadays in photography.

If you are interested in photography in Australia, here is a link to a timeline from the Art Gallery of NSW. There are also some picture collections from the National Library of Australia including those by Peter Dombrovskis in Tasmania.

I haven’t seen any of these types of photos in my family photo box – they all seem to be from the 1900’s onwards but I am still going to have to look at fashions to date more accurately.

Here are the steps recommended for studying a photo and learning to date it:

  1. Inscriptions on the photograph
  2. Identify the photographic process used
  3. Identify the photographer or studio
  4. Date by costume
  5. Date by studio background & props
  6. Date using other photograph contents (ie. car number plates, cinema signs etc.)

Going to check this out using another photo in my family collection.

20160708-135050-1cmbrk1.jpg

 

Inscriptions on the photo

To Lizzie and Jim with compliments from Harry and Hanna June 16th 1923

Photographic process

Looks like albumen of some sort

Photographer or studio

Bottom right of page is Crawfords Studios, 64 Murray Street, Hobart

Date by costume

Looks like wedding portrait

Date by studio background or props – nil

Other photographic content – nil

Here are some websites to help when looking at fashions.

Photo tree walks you through a case study as well as giving you a gallery of photos to study.

Roger Vaughan personal collection including changing fashions from 1850-1950.

Victoria and Albert Museum goes through decade by decade with changing male and female fashions.

The Australian Dress Register looks more at Aussie styles of clothing. They also include a timeline sorted by type of clothing.

The Australian War Memorial has military uniforms worn by servicemen and women in Australia.

Readers: What fashion traits makes this photo one taken in the early 1920’s?

 

 

 

Using images in family history

How often do you find out everything shown in an image when adding it to your family history tree or scrapbook?

This course is now getting to the fun part of dating images. It is suggested that you start by taking one image and trying to read it carefully. Find out everything you can by studying it in all its fine details.

Remember back in the beginner Intro to Family History course, where we were told to do exactly that with a document?

Formal analysis looks at colour, lines, space, mass and scale. This is looking at the visual effect of the image and how the image is composed.

Contextual analysis looks more at the historical or cultural aspect of the image. This includes who took it, what type of image, why was it made etc. Often this is pure speculation and you need to ask more questions of the owner.

So I am going to test this out by using one of my photos relating to my family history.

20160706-154426.jpg

Formal Analysis

Two young girls facing the photographer. One standing upright beside a piece of furniture, the other sitting sideways with one leg tucked under the other on top of the piece of furniture. The image has been coloured with the older child in a pink frock and the younger in a green frock. Both frocks are knee high and simplistic in design with small collars and short sleeves.

Both have long white socks with Mary Jane type shoes. Behind the younger child is a vase of flowers and a draped curtain. The older child is standing on a rug in front of the piece of furniture (maybe a desk). The two girls are centred in the image with the light coming from the right hand side of the camera, giving a bit of shadow on the left side of the girls’ faces when looking as the photographer.

Contextual analysis

These two young girls are my aunts – the eldest is Iris who died about three weeks after my mother was born in 1934. The youngest is Margaret who is still alive. The image is a studio portrait from Brunton and Easton in Elizabeth Street, Hobart. It is framed on cardboard with the studio name included.

I have a second black and white copy of exactly the same image on a postcard with room for both correspondence and address. On the back of that copy is written the names and ages of the girls when this photo was taken. It is written in the handwriting of my grandmother (their mother) so Iris was aged 8 years 4 months and Margaret 4 years 8 months. This means the portrait was made in December 1932. Maybe this was a Christmas portrait with the girls in their new clothes and shoes.

Readers: Anything else you could add to my analysis of this photo?