A photograph preserves a scene, not necessarily a certain identity. Notes on the back, the studio and visible objects are clues to document.
The method, step by step
- Scan front and back. Keep a master file and a smaller sharing copy; do not crop your only digital original.
- Assign a stable identifier and record owner, provenance and dimensions. Transcribe inscriptions, distinguishing contemporary notes from recent additions.
- Ask several relatives for identification without suggesting a name. Compare answers with timelines and places.
- Label identities as certain, probable or unknown. Mark restoration and colourisation as transformations and retain them separately from the scan.
What to record
Give the scan and physical object an identifier. Record front, back, dimensions, inscriptions, owner and scanning date. A caption should name who proposed an identification and why; retain “unidentified person” when evidence is insufficient.
Record in your research log
- Print identifier
- front and back
- provenance
- confirmed or tentative identification.
Sources & references
- Archives Portal Europe ↗ (Resource review date : )
- Gallica — Bibliothèque nationale de France ↗ (Resource review date : )