http://www.starnews.com/features/articles/pictures0817.ART.html >
Starnews.com > Features > August 17, 2000 > By T.J. Banes > Indianapolis
Star > Photographs provide a picture of the past Joan Hostetler acts as
a sleuth with family snapshots to research genealogies and interpret
forgotten events. >
Remember that picture of great Aunt Eileen
that depicts a stern - faced matron
dressed in her Sunday finery ?
Or how about that morbid picture of
Uncle Harry -- face pale, hands folded,
eyes closed -- resting in his casket ?
By carefully examining both of those photos,
Joan Hostetler can tell you what year
the photos were taken and maybe even why.
Hostetler's not a private investigator,
but her sleuthing is similar to that of a detective.
She specializes in photo research and interpretation.
Family photo albums are like leafing through a
history book. They tell much about the way we were
raised and the culture we lived in, says Hostetler,
39. In her Downtown office, Hostetler
displays several photo albums --
ranging from the vintage velvet - covered
autograph books of the 1800s --
to the black - paged scrapbooks that preserve
crinkle - edged snapshots from the 1950s.
She'll share the books with participants
of the Indiana Historical Society's
free photo conservation workshop,
Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
in the museum's exhibitions gallery.
In her workshop, Hostetler magically tells
participants what she knows about
their lives just by looking at their photo albums.
"Not all albums are created equal.
Some albums are boring,
and some are very exciting and insightful,"
says Hostetler.
DEDUCING HISTORY
Families often look to Hostetler to
date a family portrait from long ago. She
quickly asks the dates of grandma and
grandpa's wedding anniversary, and their birthdays.
"Families usually take group photos
when special occasions bring them
together," she says. Once in awhile
families pose around a portrait of an
absent family member. "We can probably
guess that there was a war going on
when the photo was taken and that
someone was away, but the family
wanted him to be with them in spirit."
Images of political figures marching
in small-town parades, or children
dressed in their Sunday duds posing
next to the family roadster or new
house, offer hints about a family's
socio-economic status, values and
interests, and even tell about history in
the larger context of their lives, said Hostetler.
A little detective work goes a long
way when reviewing old photos, but for
many families, collecting the images is
just a fun way to compare resemblances
from one generation to the next, says Hostetler.
Such was the case with the earliest
albums of the late 1850s to the early
1860s. Known as "autograph books," the
albums protected small images that
were exchanged among friends and
family members. Typically, the photos
were serious portraits, highlighting the
physical details of an individual's face.
There was little emphasis on location,
clothing, or other props.
During many of the early photo
swaps, the giver signed the card with a
personal message. "That's why some
genealogists are thrown off track when
they interpret the signature as the
'sitter' of the portrait rather than the
recipient of the portrait," Hostetler says.
GAINING PERSPECTIVE
Her talks include a historical
perspective of photography that helps
families understand and appreciate why
certain images were collected.
For instance, the demand for photo
albums increased in about 1860, as the
popularity of the "carte-de-visite" (a
photographic calling card) and larger
"cabinet cards" (the 19th-century
version of coffee table photo books) increased.
Photo albums have always been
related to a pastime, says Hostetler.
Taking photographs is a hobby for some;
viewing the albums is a hobby for
others, she says. "Early albums were
often kept in the parlor to entertain guests."
Many people followed a particular
pattern when compiling their albums.
The beginning pages were reserved for
presidents, performers and celebrities
such as Civil War generals," says Hostetler.
Because of this, she often meets
people who insist they are related to
Abraham Lincoln because a vintage
family album contains the president's photograph.
"I just crush people's ideas when I tell
them his photo was probably purchased as a souvenir."
She also advises people not to
remove photos from their antique albums.
"Part of the historical sleuthing
comes in the order the photos are
presented. Two people on facing pages
might be husband and wife and the
photos that follow might be their children."
In the earliest days, people were
photographed an average of 10 times
during their entire life.
"It was expensive and time
consuming. You got dressed-up in your
finery and it was an event just to get
photographed. In the 1800s, poor people
and African Americans were rarely photographed."
ACCESSIBLE TO AMATEURS
All that changed in the late 1880s,
when George Eastman of Rochester,
N.Y., made photography accessible to
amateurs by introducing the low-cost
easy-to-operate Kodak camera.
Snapshot photography was marketed to the masses.
"The ideas of photography were the
same -- it was still about being seen by
future generations -- it just became
available to more people and with more
frequency," says Hostetler. "To social
historians, snapshots tell much more
about the past than studio photography.
We start seeing home interiors, gardens and everyday
living." Throughout history, rights of passage
-- such as births, baptisms, the first day
of school, graduation and weddings --
have been photographed the most. Up
until the 1940s and 1950s death also was photographed.
"In Victorian times, death wasn't
unusual. Unlike today, many families
lost three or four children, so they were
more comfortable with photographing
the dead and even displaying the
portrait in the home."
With snapshot photography, families
began creating specialized albums --
collections of photos from individual events or
occasions. Hostetler reads inscriptions written in
white India ink on black pages of a
1950s album: "baby with dog;" "baby
digging in dirt;" "baby in front of dad's
store." When she reaches blank pages,
Hostetler uses logic: "I think the album
stops before it's full because another
child came along and the family became too busy."
Through years of experience,
including work with the visual
collections and exhibitions of the
Indiana Historical Society, Hostetler has
learned to shed new light on many old photos.
And even with new technology such
as digital cameras, she says the
subjects haven't really changed. "We
can take more interior photos because
we have faster speed film, the cost has
dropped so we now have billions of
photos, and we can afford to be more
selective," she says. And some families
have posted their albums on Web pages
to be shared with faraway friends.
But no matter how it is shared, every photo tells a
story. "That's what's fun about what I do,"
Hostetler says. "I uncover secrets and family history."
Contact T.J. Banes at (317) 633-9815 or via e-mail at
tj.banes(a)starnews.com.
Copyright 2000 Indiana Newspapers Inc. PRC# 1.2119.966485266 © 2000
Indiana Newspapers Inc. AP materials © 2000 Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed. --
||||| my personal distribution of this - is a free non-profit
informational service to a limited number of individuals - who have
expressed interest in this topic for educational -and/or- research
purposes only ||| do not re-distribute or post copyrighted material
anyplace on the internet accessible to the public without attribution -
permission, -and/or- credit due to the author ||| distribution does not
necessarily constitute endorsement of the content - often distribution
is "opposition research" ||| postings of copyrighted articles are
provided to individuals for purposes of criticism - comment -
scholarship - research -and/or- mud-slinging under the doctrine of "fair
use" ||| humor is to be taken as humor - humor does not reflect the
personal or ethical beliefs of you or me - not meant to harm or offend
anyone - but to bring a smile to whoever ||| i do not claim copyright on
this - which could come from many various sources - if you find this to
be copyrighted - please let me know - so that we can give credit where
credit is due ||| dlferguson(a)worldnet.att.net |||||