Friday, January 9, 2009

Who Are You? 9th Edition of Smile for the Camera

The 9th edition of Smile for the Camera asks:


We are asked to share a picture from our collections. The pictures should contain people whose identities are not known.

Sadly, I have a few of these images. My family is quite small during the photography era, so the chances that I am related to these people are pretty high.

The photograph I've chosen for this edition came from my maternal grandmother's collection. She had one parent come from Germany and the other from Austria. This image could belong to either one, but I'm leaning toward it being from Austria:

I'm guessing this is a wedding photo. It might be the Yost/Jost family. The book the center woman is holding has a cross on it. My great-grandmother was a devout Catholic. Also, if I may be so blunt, the noses on some of the ladies make me feel that this is my great-grandmother's family. Lastly, that baby on the right bears a strong resemblance to my grandmother's brother as a child. They are two different people, perhaps first cousins, but the similarities are significant.

It's possible that the bride and some of the others are siblings of my great-grandmother. I might be releated to everyone in this picture. Are her parents in the photo? I'll never know.

It's very hard to be this close to the answer and realize it will likely never be resolved.

4 comments:

  1. It might have been an anniversary picture too. Just going by the ages of the two holding hands. Not an authority on such things though. Thanks for sharing the picture. I am one of your Genea-blogger friends.

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  2. Carol, you're right. I noticed the age of the center subjects, too. I do have some pictures of individual couples related to this event. Wedding, anniversary or other, it was clearly important enough for all these people to wear their best and come together. Thanks for commenting.

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  3. Hi Amy. That is a fantastic picture! I love that they all got together for this event and had a picture made. They all look pretty stoic, but isn't that the way they all posed for pictures back then?
    Judy

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  4. Great photo! Love how all the ladies look so "happy" why do they do that? The lady on the far right (I believe she's holding a child) bears a very strong resemblance to the woman who appears to be in the center of the photo. Because she seems to be "showing" the prayer book and rosary beads, you'd think it was some type of religious gathering - but no baptism or first communion gowns in sight... must be a wedding - all the guys have little flowers and ribbons on their jackets. Anyway, it's a great shot, thanks for sharing!

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