What is the best way to identify people in old photos?

Question

I have repaired many photos but I don't know who some of the people are in them but I would like to share them so others might be able to identify their ancestors.  They were related to the Metcalfe and McAfee families of West Gwillimibury or the Sarvis family of Oxford county and Lambton county.

Answer 1

Deborah if I had lots of old photos I did not know whom was on the photo

I would share them here on G2G and write on top do anyone know the

People on the photo you might be lucky

Comments

Good idea. I’ve got a whole album of unidentified folks!

Answer 2

You could also post them on DeadFred

Comments

What a great resource!  Bookmarked and up-vote for you!

Answer 3

You might consider researching some of these families paying attention to the records of your related ancestors - census overlaps, etc., and see if you can find profiles for them (on any site) and compare known photos against what you have.  

And then, I would suggest to open create a free space page with a name, "Unknown photos of Metcalfe and McAfee families of West Gwillimibury or the Sarvis family of Oxford county and Lambton county."  And then upload the photos there and provide as much details - perhaps one of their descendants will find the page by search.

Answer 4

All good answers - show & tell. I inherited a large collection which had been reviewed by many descendants and neighbors for about 15 years before I received it, but about 25% were still unidentified. After scanning all of them, I downloaded a free facial recognition software, which mainly confirmed the ID's of similar faces, especially in group photos. Studying the extended families helped identify gaps to fill. Another skill is learning dress styles and other ways to date a photo. Sometimes the photographer helps narrow era and place. Recognizing family facial characteristics ID'ed a few more. I've uploaded some to a free space page here. Facebook has a hometown page where I occasionally upload an unknown. I also opened a cloud account and have shared the collection with a dozen or so extended relatives, who have in turn uploaded their collections. Ongoing, never-ending project, but one most intrigueing.

Answer 5

I created a free space for my own family’s unidentified photos. One space I have is geared towards the community where they lived, in the hopes that perhaps someone else who is researching may have additional photographs they can use to identify my own ancestors. I have done this for Easton, Washington County, New York and the Otisco Valley region of Onondaga County, New York. I haven’t added a ton of photos yet but as I get some daguerreotypes digitally restored I will add more.