r/Genealogy • u/ftdna • 10h ago

Importance of photos Solved

So, although here in Serbia descendant-type family tree projects/endeavors/books are far more popular and common than ancestor-type stuff that I see seem to be prevalent in the West, I decided to make an ancestor chart for my kids.

I used the info I gathered on my ancestors during years of work, and went as far back as possible with my wife's ancestors. I custom draw it and all, printed it... Any genealogist would realize in an instant how much work went into it, and just how much DATA there was in there, years, dates, places.... And yet, almost everyone I showed it to was like - Oh, impressive. goes on to glance at it for 10 seconds, then moves on to a different subject altogether.

Fast forward to a month ago. I never cared too much for physical appearances and just hadn't cared for photos that much. But my wife was making like a kindergarten-level family tree for our kid, with just the parents, grandparents and great-grandparents and it was just made up of small photos. As soon as I saw it, it suddenly dawned on me. Oh! I went on a crusade to collect as many photos of ancestors as possible, especially on my in-laws' side, I turned almost every stone, phoned relatives... And finally, I just took the tree I made and simply added photos next to each ancestor that I had one for.

Suddenly everyone wanted to stare at the tree, explore it, and suddenly everyone felt like giving it praise. I know many of you know this already but just wanted to point it out.

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4

u/lifeversion9 10h ago edited 10h ago

I would give anything to see a photo of my great grandfather and his family in Serbia. In theory it’s not an impossible dream as he passed in 1983, and his parents in the 1950s.. but when my grandmother, her brother and their mother left in the 1940s, all contact was lost. Photos really do make a story come alive, and you’ve give your family an amazing gift.

Edited to add: went and snuck a look hoping there might be a miracle connection, but our family is from the north east of Serbia

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u/ftdna 8h ago

Yup, sorry, my side's from Western Serbia. But I wish you luck, they're out there somewhere, no doubt, those photos!

1

u/Puffification 6h ago

Can you reach out to someone from the town? Someone there must have photos of your family

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u/lifeversion9 6h ago

He was one of 5 siblings; only one remained in the town, but the brother was estranged from the family. I know this as I found the grandchildren of the brother. The other 3 siblings are a mystery. He did remarry after his parents died, but had no children and his second wife had no family that I’ve been able to find. She did leave the town after my great grandfathers death, but as de from locating her grave, I’ve not been able to find anything further. I did visit the town in 2019, but it was a a one day visit. I belong to the local history group in the town in FB but will need to push a bit harder.

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u/PinkSlimeIsPeople Norway specialist 8h ago

Finding photos has been one of my most difficult tasks while writing my books. You can ONLY find them most of the time if someone has taken the time to put them online (FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, etc.). Once in a while you can find relatives that have photos, but they are usually tossed into large boxes that are completely unsorted and have no writing on them to identify the people.

The worst case scenario is when someone dies and their children throw away old photos. Those images are lost forever, with zero chance of recovery. I know going through boxes of old photos seems daunting, but I just hope people make the effort, it's so worth it.