Maureen Taylor is thrilled to have Dr. Michael Pritchard on the podcast. He’s a celebrated historian and the author of A History of Photography in 50 Cameras. They discuss cameras, history, and the art of capturing moments.

• Introduction to Dr. Michael Pritchard: His background and expertise in the history of photography.
• Discussion on “A History of Photography in 50 Cameras”: Insights into the book’s approach to storytelling through cameras.
• Michael’s Early Fascination with Cameras: The story of how a vest pocket Kodak sparked his lifelong interest.
• Journey into Research and Collection: Transition from collecting cameras to focusing on photographic literature and trade catalogs.
• Experience at Christie’s: Insights into the world of auctioneering and camera collections.
• Evolution of Camera Collecting: Trends in camera collecting from the 1980s to the present.
• The Importance of the Camera Obscura: Discuss the significance of this device in the history of photography.
• Key Technological Advancements in Photography: Exploring chemical and mechanical improvements in the 19th century.
• The Shift to Consumer Photography: How Kodak revolutionized photography for the general public.
• Digital Photography and its Future

Related Episodes:

Episode 170: Snapshot Cameras in Your Family with Peter Dumas

Episode 120: Good Pictures: Amateur Photography and Our Family with art historian Kim Beil

Links:

• British Photo History
• Sign up for my newsletter.
• Watch my YouTube Channel.
• Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
• Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About My Guest:

Dr. Michael Pritchard, a renowned figure in photography, has a diverse career spanning various roles. Initially a photography specialist at Christie’s, he set record auction prices for cameras. Holding a PhD in photographic history, he has extensively written and lectured on the subject both in the UK and internationally. His expertise extends to teaching MA courses and consulting for the British Library on the Kodak Historical Collection. He contributes significantly to the field as the director of the Royal Photographic Society’s public programs. His practical experience includes studio and location photography, darkroom techniques, and alternative processes. Michael has also been prominent in curating exhibitions and judging international photography competitions. His published works include notable titles like “A History of Photography in 50 Cameras,” and he edits The PhotoHistorian and the British Photo History blog. 

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective^Òhelps clients with photo-related genealogical problems. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and others.   Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

The post Episode 222: Discovering the World Through Lenses: Dr. Michael Pritchard and the History of Photography appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

This week Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective TM, is joined by Greg French.

Greg is an antique photograph enthusiast who buys and sells his images, as well as lending images to projects such as the 1991 book “American and the Daguerreotype, as well as placing a rare stereoview of Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration in the Library of Congress.

Greg and Maureen talk about photo collecting, photo identifying, and all about what it means to be a photo enthusiast in this week’s episode. 

Related Episodes:

Episode 207: An Underutilized Source: The Newberry Library 

Episode 204: Many Shades of Blue–Cyanotypes with Sabina Ocker 

Links:

• Greg French Early Photography
• Sign up for my newsletter.
• Watch my YouTube Channel.
• Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
• Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About My Guest:

Greg French started collecting antique photographs in 1981, focusing on social history. As a collector, he lent images to seminal projects such as the 1991 book ‘American and the Daguerreotype’ by John Wood and the 1999 groundbreaking ‘Africans in America” documentary. Greg was one of three founding members of the ‘Mirror of Race’ project. Greg is affiliated with the Photographic Historical Society of New England. He chaired the Auction Committee of the Daguerreian Society for 17 years. Greg still toils away on eBay offering 21 auctions a week and many buy-it-nows at least 50 weeks a year. Meanwhile, he sells to museums around the country, with a particular interest in New England. 

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective^Òhelps clients with photo-related genealogical problems. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and others.   Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

The post Episode 217: Collecting Photography with Greg French of Greg French Early Photography appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

In this week’s bonus episode, Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective, is joined by author Amanda Quay Blount.

Amanda has recently been taking the literary scene in Rhode Island (and beyond) by storm, as she recently published Meet Me at the Biltmore, a historical look at The Biltmore Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island, which has been around for over 100 years, and seen many famous visitors, including John F. Kennedy and The Rolling Stones.

In this episode, she and Maureen discuss the hotel, Amanda’s writing process, what it means to fall in love with a historic building, and how to tell its story.

Related Episodes:

Bonus Episode: Chat GPT, Image Generators, and What You Need To Know

Bonus Episode: Tintypes Made for the Movies and Television with Rob Gibson

Links:

• Sign up for my newsletter.
• Watch my YouTube Channel.
• Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
• Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About My Guest:

Amanda Quay Blount is an author and historian who lives in Rhode Island. Amanda hails from New Jersey but came to the Ocean State in 2018 and was instantly enthralled by the historic allure of the city. Amanda holds a degree in History from Rutgers University and a Master in Social Work and Community Development from Washington University in St. Louis. When she isn’t writing or researching, Amanda runs a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting adult literacy.

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective^Òhelps clients with photo related genealogical problems. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and others.   Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

The post Bonus Episode: Meet Me At The Biltmore by Amanda Blount appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

This week on the Photo Detective Podcast, Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective, is joined by Daniel Patt. Daniel is a software engineer at Google, as well as the grandson of three holocaust survivors. 

It’s this familial relation that inspired Daniel, in his spare time, to create an artificial intelligence platform called “From Numbers to Names” that aids those descended from individuals who faced the Holocaust to discover connections and photos of their loved ones. The project also aims to help identify the millions of unidentified faces in the Holocaust photo and video archives. 

Maureen and Daniel discuss his project, how a trip to Poland six years ago served as the inspiration to create this project, and how his background has helped him develop AI. 

It’s a project that all listeners should hear about, whether they are descendants of those who were in the Holocaust or not. 

Related Episodes:

Episode 187 : Building a Story with the Ancestry.com App

Episode 153: Ellis Island Immigrant Photos Identified with Louis Takács

Links:

• Numbers to Names
• Sign up for my newsletter.
• Watch my YouTube Channel.
• Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
• Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About My Guest:

Daniel Patt is a software engineer at Google, and is the grandson of three holocaust survivors. In his spare time, he created an artificial intelligence platform called From Numbers to Names to help Holocaust descendants discover photos of their loved ones – and help identify the millions of unidentified faces in Holocaust photo and video archives.

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective^Òhelps clients with photo related genealogical problems. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and others.   Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

The post Episode 205: Numbers to Names: A Holocaust Photo Database appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

This week Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective, is joined by Leonard Marcus, a leading writer about children’s books and the people who create them. The two discuss Leonard’s book Mr. Lincoln Sits for his Portrait and how Abraham Lincoln not only had a huge influence on the world of portraits – but how he may be responsible for some of the most famous photos today – all for believing in the technology behind a new device – the camera.

Related Episodes:

Episode 166: Picturing Frederick Douglass

Episode 167: Victorian Photo Studio Secrets

Links:

• Leonard Marcus
• Sign up for my newsletter.
• Watch my YouTube Channel.
• Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page to get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
• Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About My Guest:

Leonard Marcus is the author of more than 25 award-winning books including Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon; Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom; You Can’t Say That!; and most recently Mr. Lincoln Sits for His Portrait. Leonard is a founding trustee of the Eric Carle Museum and was the curator of the NY Public Library’s landmark exhibition “The ABC of It: Why Children’s Books Matter.” He lives in Brooklyn and speaks about his work to audiences across the world

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective helps clients with photo-related genealogical problems. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and others.   Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

The post Episode 202: The Story Behind President Lincoln’s Portrait appeared first on Maureen Taylor.