More family memories

[kiev4a]

This shot was probably taken about 1925. My father, center and two of his brothers. They are a little blurry but the cars in the background are sharp. Pretty sure this was shot with a Kodak folder of some sort. They seem to be trying to be a suave as possible.



The composition on this shot isn't great but has family significance. My dad died in 1978 and in 1981 mom sold the farm where they had lived since 1941--and where I grew up. I shot this photo at the auction where they sold all the stuff mom couldn't move to her new smaller house. The whole community turned out. I think I shot this with Mamiya M645. BTW. That old barn is still standing today but the land around the farmstead is filled with mini mansions.

[Randy]

Really great nostalgia Wayne. I like the first shot!

[kamera]

I just love old nostalgic shots...thanks for sharing!

Ron Head
Kalamazoo, MI

[mickeyobe]

These folks are my mother's parents. These 9" x 12" pictures were taken about 1890. They have been hanging for almost 100 years with no signs at all of deterioration. No fading. No discolouration. No staining. They were re-framed about 25 years ago.
I wonder if my digital pictures will survive 100 years.



Mickey

[herron]

Neat pictures, Mickey!

I think it would be nice if I could last 100 years...I'd even put up with being reframed! ;D

[kiev4a]

I have a rather large framed photo of my great-grandfather and his family that was probably taken shortly before he died (1894). It has curved glass and the the photo itself is molded to a curved backing. It has faded slightly but is in remarkably good shape. We keep it out of direct light

[PeterW]

These folks are my mother's parents. These 9" x 12" pictures were taken about 1890. They have been hanging for almost 100 years with no signs at all of deterioration. No fading. No discolouration. No staining. They were re-framed about 25 years ago.
I wonder if my digital pictures will survive 100 years.

Hi Rick, lovely family heirlooms, and in excellent condition. If they've been hanging in even moderate daylight for 115 years without any fading or discolouration it's possible that they are platinum prints. This process was often used to 'archive' family portraits. The silver content was bleached out and replaced by platinum in a series of chemical baths.

Platinum prints were noted for rich deep blacks, sometimes showing a trace of dark blue in some lights. Many people at the time weren't keen on them, they didn't look so 'homely' as a sepia toned silver print, or even black and white silver print, and the greyscale range wasn't quite as wide.

I once heard the difference described as like the difference between the 'softness' of nickel plate and the 'hardness' of chromium plate.

As for digital pictures lasting, this doesn't depend on the camera nor the computer, solely on the printer. I did a trawl round the internet about this some time ago, and several museums are working on 'permanent' or semi-permanent digital printing for copying and displaying historic photographs, but I don't know how far they've got. As well as working on 'permanent' inks, some are trying UV filter glass for framing.

Trouble with that sort of research is that even artificial aging by exposure to high intensity UV light isn't definitive. Only time will tell, and those guys' work will be appreciated (or not) by the next two or three generations!

Peter

[John Parry]

Wayne

Both 'special' - I love to check out the background of old photographs for clues as to the way of life at the period. Your dad's hat is seriously cool. Today of course the peak would be down and the whole thing back-to-front. See nearly everyone in the second photo is a goody - just the one baddy in the centre!

Mickey

Love the vermilion top and cerise skirt on your grandmother's photo.... OK - I know - but what a nice exercise to speculate on what the colours actually were. Your grandad looks so smart in his best 'bib & tucker'. Do you know what unit he belonged to?

Regards - John

[mickeyobe]

Peter,
I just checked the portraits. The blacks, rather than having a blue cast, seem to be rather warm. The whites are still pure white which, I suppose, would indicate that there has been no overall warming up of the image. I guess the photographer adhered strictly to proper photographic procedure.

John,
Vermillion and cerise?? And I always thought they would have been rather conservative.
As for the uniform. It was Romania so it might have been of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or, Vlad the Impaler. I have no idea. Any military buffs in this group? That sword looks wicked.

Mickey