Family Photo Detective by Maureen A. Taylor

Author:Maureen A. Taylor [Taylor, Maureen A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4403-2502-1
Publisher: F+W Media
Published: 2013-12-03T05:00:00+00:00

Grant Emison

Use caution when comparing facial characteristics: a person’s face changes over time.

Family Resemblances

Probably the most difficult technique involved in photo identification is identifying and grouping people by facial characteristics. In some families, there may be a distinguishing characteristic, such as a mole that appears in a particular part of the face in several family members, or a distinctive shape of the eyes or nose. Hopefully your collection of photographs contains some identified images, so that you can begin to group them by family facial attributes.

Criminal investigators use facial characteristics to identify suspects, and you can use some of their techniques to try to identify people in family photographs. Police identification specialists use a standard list of characteristics to help create a composite. You will be attempting to do just that. Inspect the faces in your photographs and create a table of unique aspects to look for.

Trace a photocopy of a family portrait, reduce it to the scale of the photo you are trying to identify, and compare jaws, ears, and facial shape. This can also be done by scanning an image and manipulating it using photo-editing software. Be careful with this method of identification, though—a person’s face changes with age and weight tends to fluctuate.

Lay your identified family photos out in a timeline for each person. Compare your unidentified images to the timelines. Noticing similar noses, eyes, or cheekbones can establish a family connection. Those images that defy identification will require further research.

When you create your photographic timeline, use photocopies of the images so you can retain the layout of the collection as arranged by the original owner. Re-examining the photographs in the context in which they were given to you can also help to identify individuals.

Physical Characteristics to Examine

In particular, it is helpful to look at:

Shape of face: oval, heart shaped, round, square

Eyes (shape, position, color, size)

Nose and nostrils (shape, size)

Ears (shape, size, position on head, length)

Hair pattern (baldness, widow’s peaks)

Eyebrows (size, shape)

Moles

Teeth

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