We believe one of a kind vintage, antique and old family photos don’t belong tucked away in homes but rather shared with the world. Below you will find the most recently added vintage photos shared by the community.

Where To Find Family Photos

The first place to look for old family photos is from our own photo albums and photos hanging on the walls around the house. If it’s not convenient to scan the images, take a digital photo making sure that the flash doesn’t hide the image. The next step is to check storage and closets - you’d be surprised at the valuable collections found in old shoe boxes and school yearbooks.

Additionally, you might try asking relatives to scan and share their family photos. If that’s too big a task, consider asking nicely to borrow these family photo albums and returning them after you have digitized them.

Finally, one of the more fun places to look for old photos are in antique shops. We call these vintage images that have been separated from their families ‘orphan photos’. Many members subscribe to ‘RAOK’ or Random Acts of Kindness, who go on treasure hunts at antique stores, purchase these vintage photos, scan and then add them to AncientFaces. If names are included on the back of the photo you can take the extra step of researching the genealogy of the individual to help living family members find these treasures.

Genealogy Photos

For genealogists old photos play a critical role in our family history research. Portrait and candid photos show the faces of our ancestors, and the photos of locations show the surroundings. In addition to adding faces to the names in our family trees, old photos provide clues. The photographer’s name or photography studio provides approximate dates & locations of when and where our ancestors lived. The clothing and pose of the ancestor all help to paint a story.

When adding photos it is important to include as many details as possible. This includes the location of where you found the photo, possible date of when the photo was taken, the names of the individuals, a description of who and what appears in the photo, and of course the photography studio name if possible.

Share and preserve your memories so that they are shared for generations to come.
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