It’s a rare person that doesn’t own at least one mystery picture and wonders who’s in the photo. When you’re trying to organize your pictures these unknown images are a fly in the ointment. Resist the desire to toss them, by using these tips you might be able to get closer to an answer.
Who Do You Look Like?
A friend of mine bears an uncanny resemblance to his five other brothers and sisters. They all favor his father’s side of the family–dark hair, dark eyes and an overhanging brow.
I look like my paternal grandmother, Gramma Taylor, from the nose up and my mother from the nose down.
Nana and I share the same light blue eyes and square face. I’m even the same height. Cousins say I look like the Taylor side of the family.They’re only half right. She’s actually a Wilson; she married a Taylor. Facial features get passed down on both sides of a family.
Our eyes and mind play tricks. Saying I look like the Taylors is part of the problem. We often see what we want to see and believe. Captions can be misleading.
Tip #1: Find the Right Side of the Family
Take a good look at your pictures and see if you can spot any “family features.” Think about what the Smith family nose looks like or which side of the family has blue eyes.
Do you see your ancestor’s in pictures as they really are or do you assume their identity based on whom you’d like them to be and look like? A mislabeled photo can lead you astray too.
Here are a few assumptions worth discarding.
- The album came from Great Aunt May so it’s her father.
- Your mother told you her great grandmother identified the face.
Are these tales true or a reality distorted by time? Memory is a tricky thing. Add to that, the fact that even though Great Uncle George and Great Grandfather Harry weren’t related, they looked enough alike to confound descendants living today.
It could also be possible that you don’t see that same person in other images in your collection. Or, perhaps you’re among the 2.5% of the population who can’t recognize facial differences.
Tip #2: How to Tell Two People Apart
I once had a client who sent me two pictures. One of herself and one of her great grandmother. Relatives told her she looked just like granny but she couldn’t see it.You guessed it. This client looked EXACTLY like her ancestor. They could have been doubles.
It’s very possible that my client had facial blindness also known as prosopagnosia. Think you’re good at seeing people, put it to the test The results will help determine whether you can tell people apart.
A surprising number of people tell me they can’t tell the difference between great uncle Harry and their own father. Sorting out the details in someone’s face for comparison purposes requires patience. Take it slow. Look carefully. Pay attention to little bits of the picture.
There are twenty points in a person’s face suitable for comparison. Start by studying the shape of a person’s face (and each feature), then compare all the spacing between those features paying particular attention to noses and ears.
If you’re comparing a person at a young age and another picture of someone a great deal older it’s important to remember that certain features change with age. A recent issue of the AARP newsletter featured an article on how our noses lengthen with age. While the length of someone’s nose might not be reliable, our ears are distinctive.
Pay particular attention to any ears visible in ancestral pictures. In the 1960s, police forensic specialist Alfred Iannarelli developed a system for identifying ears in suspects for the simple reason that each part of your ear is unique to you. The length and shape of an ear lobe combined with the size of the ear can determine if two images depict the same person.
Tip #3: Watch for Look-alikes in the Family Album, i.e. Doppelgangers
Who’s your family history twin? It might be a cousin or a grandmother. Genetics influence whom we resemble. A friend looks almost exactly like his other brothers who all resemble their father. News media makes a big deal out of people who look like celebrities, this is called a doppelganger. It could even be a friend, a famous person, a random person on the street or a distant relative. It’s not unusual to have a facial double. Use care when jumping to conclusions about whom you resemble.
Tip#4: Start with the Facts
First, slow down and make sure the person really is your relative by studying your family history. Start with the basic facts about those two photographs such as where they were taken and when, then compare those details to what you know about a person.
Make sure the person you think is in the second photo was alive and the right age to be the individual at the time the photo was taken. Also verify he was living in the place where the picture was taken. A man who posed for a portrait in Milwaukee, may not be your ancestor who lived in Florida. Add up the facts of his life to see if the identity makes sense and go back to compare faces.
As the Photo Detective, I know that there are elusive picture solutions but don’t despair, follow my advice in The Family Photo Detective , take a deep breath and relax into the mystery. Not every picture can be identified on the first pass. It takes time, patience and sometimes a bit of serendipity.
Tip #5: Double-Check the Look: Facial Recognition Software
Since 1964, scientists have been trying to perfect their recognition systems.The current success rate is around 50% .
Homeland Security uses facial recognition systems to scan crowds for terrorists and locate criminals. Those systems use those same twenty points
plus more to figure out if people in a crowd are on any watch lists. While we don’t have access to those sophisticated systems, many readily available programs now have facial recognition incorporated into them. For instance, Facebook utilizes facial recognition to help you tag faces.
Facial recognition isn’t 100% perfect. There are problems. Glasses, hair (or lack of), shadows and comparable facial angle can interfere with the comparison and give a false result. When comparing a profile of a person with a face front view, it can be difficult to match facial features.
Tip #6: Labeling Those Unknown Folks in Your Album
Mystery pictures are a challenge for anyone trying to organize their family pictures. If you don’t know who they are, how are you going to file them? Easy peasy. Keep those picture puzzles together with some basic information about who gave you the picture. Start a mystery box to show to cousins during get-togethers or to those virtual cousins on a Facebook page. In Essential Photo Organizing, you’ll learn how to take care of your images including the mystery ones.