I think that photos are an important part of a story. The two together make history, which is incredibly valuable to families now and in the future, and also social historians.
Do you agree? Enjoy these photos without words or captions. Then check out the footnotes to see if the stories enhance the photos.
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Please share your opinions in the comments.
Where possible permissions have been sought for the use of images and text unless they are in the Public Domain. If there is an issue with copyright, please contact me. I do careful research using secondary sources (books, articles, videos, and a little bit of Wikipedia). If there are any mistakes I apologise, and please let me know in the comments.
French brothers Claude and Nicéphore Niépce invented an internal combustion engine. Though they had some successes there were many issues. In 1817 Claude travelled to London looking for investments and patents for the engine. He then began to suffer from mental health issues, and squandered the family fortune investing in failed businesses.
In 1826, back in France, Nicéphore, used light-sensitive resins previously used in their engines, and exposed a bitumen-coated plate in a camera obscura for around eight hours on his window-sill, at the family estate of Le Gras. The resulting picture of some outbuildings is accepted as the world’s first photograph. Nicéphore became famous and died in 1833, aged 68. Claude died destitute in London in 1828, aged 64, with his brother by his side. Caption: View from the Window at Le Gras c.1826, photo by Nicéphore Niépce.
Mary Wade (1778-1859)Â was 13 years old when she was found guilty of stealing a dress, scarf and cap from another child, and sentenced to hang. But to celebrate the recovery of King George III after his first bout of illness, all the women in death row were instead transported to Australia. After an 11-month voyage Mary arrived in Sydney. She married Teague Harrigan, who later left her. She then married Jonathan Brooker. It is thought that Mary had 21 children and now has thousands of Australian descendants.
This photo is all over the internet as being of Mary Wade, but it never includes a caption or source, and it is highly unlikely to be Mary. Commercial photography started in Australia in the 1840s, about the time this photo was taken, when Mary would have been in her 60s. So, who is this young woman? Caption:Â Young woman, unknown name and date.
Charles & Elizabeth had eight sons and three daughters. Sadly, in 1865 James, one of their sons, died when he was 19 years old. Family lore says he died of alcohol poisoning, and if he drank neat, white moonshine whisky, that is entirely possible. All his siblings attended the funeral. My great grandfather Albert is second from right, in the back row, but I don’t know all their names. All the men had at one time worked at the nearby Balmoral Estate for Queen Victoria. Victoria was so impressed by the sight of the men in their kilts, that she had this photograph taken. Presumably the less magnificently dressed sisters were behind the camera. Caption: The brothers outside Balmoral Castle c. 1865. Photographer unknown.
Isabella Lucy Bird (1831 to 1904) was a fine example of a handful of intrepid British women travellers in the 19th Century. Isabella was in her 60s, and had just taken up photography, when she spent three years travelling in China, Japan and Korea.
These were uncertain times to travel, with war raging between China and Japan, as well as the danger of being a female traveller in remote areas, unused to seeing westerners. Caption:Â Officer and spearmen provided as security for Isabella, in Mia-ko, China, 1896. Photo by Isabella Bird.
In 1995 my husband GW visited Cambodia. It was before we met. Sadly, since he died, a lot of his photos mean nothing to me or his daughter, since he is no longer around to tell us his stories. But I kept some landscape photos from his travels, since he wrote dates and place names on each photo. One day I may visit Angkor Wat, the largest religious structure in the world, and by retracing his footsteps, and recreating his photos, share my trip with my beloved. Caption:Â Angkor Wat, Cambodia, 1995, photo by GW.
This is my own ‘art’ photo and I love it, but I can’t remember where and when it was taken, probably in London. I uploaded the photo digitally, and so I don’t have the original date or more details about the photo. Caption: Snow at night c. 2009, photo by KW.
These photos are truly amazing and yes, the stories are an integral part of them. I'm so sorry for the loss of your husband. Your statement about his photo enforced the importance of labeling photos with place and date. I just had to look up the Maison Nicéphore Niépce on Google maps and was delighted to see it is still there and serving as a museum. I don't know which window was used for the photo but it looks like many of the buildings are still there so possibly the view is not drastically different even today. There is so much that has gone before us and these photos are a snippet in time. And, your photo of snow resembles an endless galaxy. Magical.