The Visual Ancestor library of 18th and early 20th century photography was conceptualized in 2006 after I, its Chief Curator, discovered the world of antique photography within the community of antique dealers in Warren, Rhode Island. Both having an interest in genealogy and professional expertise in data science, I quickly realized that once digitized and archived, vast hoards of antique photographs that lie in circulation among antique dealers and collectors can serve as a real treasure for those seeking to add a rich photographic element to their family histories.

Without any effort to accumulate and to digitize this material, it would otherwise continue to lie out of reach from genealogists, family historians, and anyone else interested in them. I for one know what a treasure it is to discover photographs of my ancestors, and the enriched feelings that I experienced when someone showed me TinTypes of my great-great-great grandparents for the first time. It's not only the appreciation of antique photographs that had prompted me to establish Visual Ancestor, but my joy in possibly enabling other people to experience those same enriched feelings when laying eyes on the images of their ancestors for the first time.

Photography is also art at its best, and this adds a depth of additional dimensionality to the appreciation of ancestor photographs. Not only are these photographs potentially of your ancestors, but they portray them ensconced in a pictoral display of art remeniscent of the elete painted portraits of earlier times. So in actuality, the Visual Ancestor library is where antique photography joins with cutting edge data science, further joins with archival and preservation science, further joins with genealogical research, and if that's not enough, further joins with the world of photographic art.

As with many efforts, Visual Ancestor began with fits and starts. A website had to be designed, and it had to be a custom website because it would act as a functional service and not just presenting information. So, time had to be taken to scope out its design and function, and then learn how to put it together -- all in my "spare time." A nominal amount of antique photographs was acquired to serve as my starter material, and after a year the first functional website library went live sometime during the fall of 2007.


But life happens, and only a limited amount of time and effort can be devoted to a project like this. Plus it's expensive to acquire photographs, so it was shelved for a long time.

Renewed energy and interest compelled me to take this project off the shelf, and I started to acquire more antique photographs. I then expanded to Victorian photo albums developing the process and the means to digitize and to archive albums and their content. The website was re-programmed using Python Django, and re-designed using Pinegrow. And then came the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the form of Facial Recognition.

Facial Recognition is a game changer for antique photographs and genealogy because it makes it possible to link persons in different photographs based upon the similarity of faces. We use AWS's "Facial Rekognition" technology to create face profiles for all of our public domain, pre-1940 photographs. Each time a photograph is viewed, it performs a comparison of all the faces therein against all the faces stored in our database, and then returns those that meet or exceed a certain similarity threshold. Once a member, you can use Facial Recognition to search for photographs already archived in the library using your own ancestor photographs you upload.

If you have an interest in antique photography and wish to share ideas, to collaborate, or to work together, do reach out to us. Our aim is to build a community of people with overlapping interests, talents, and materials with which to bless others. We will also digitize and add your pre-1940 public domain content to the library for free. So get in touch!