Images:

(Database Contains 158 Records)

We have begun adding public domain photograph images, but it is a slow process. To speed things up, we are entering images with just the photographer details and a rough estimated date range, these records will be edited later to include more complete descriptions and carefully calculated date ranges.

Click on the 'Public Domain Photographs' link above to see thumbnail images which are linked to current descriptions.

Our database includes images covered by four levels of copyright protection, but only public domain images are shown on this site. Paid subscribers are able to view images from all four levels of copyright:

1. UNKNOWN -- images for which we are unable to even guess at a date, and thus have no clue as to possible copyright status. With further research we expect most of these will turn out to be public domain, but don't have the data to support that supposition yet.
2. PUBLIC DOMAIN -- these are images for which we show thumbnails and list descriptions on this site. They are free for anyone to use in any way they see fit -- if you can use the thumbnail sized copies we have here, you are welcome to do so. We have larger versions archived off-line, and those may be obtained for a small retrieval fee.
3. PROBABLY PUBLIC DOMAIN -- these are mostly images that fall in the gray zone, for which copyright status may be determined with further research. Old unpublished images for which the photographer has probably been dead 70 years, but we don't have a death date, fall in this category. So do published images from the late 1920s through 1940s which are public domain if the original copyright was not renewed; most were not, but only a search of the copyright office records can tell for sure.
4. PROBABLY COPYRIGHTED -- These are images for which technically a copyright probably exists, but the odds of anyone being able to prove such rights are slim. Old images that were never published and for which no photographer is identified, fall in this category. A 1910 studio photo of my grandmother, with no studio name or photographer on it, is one such photo. Under U.S. law, it is copyrighted, but the photographer is undoubtedly deceased and his or her heirs would have a hard time proving who took that image. Still, to adhere to the letter of the law, such images are not displayed on this site, though they may be in the off-line archives and database.

Photographers:

(Database Contains 41740 Records)

The ultimate goal for his site, which I envision as a life-long project, is to record every professional photographer (or published amateurs) who worked between the birth of photography and 1949. With nearly 25 years experience as a professional genealogist, my emphasis is on recording not only the names, addresses and studios, but also the important identifying information, such as date and place of birth, names of close relations, and date of death.

That last item, date of death, is of particular importance. Many people think all photos made prior to 1923 are public domain -- when in fact only photos published prior to 1923 are now in the public domain. Photos that were never published (and most family portraits fall in this category) may be protected up to 120 years from the date of creation! That means photos as old as 1888 may still be protected by copyright. The copyright law (in the U.S.A.) extends copyright protection to unpublished works for 70 years after the death of the creator (photographer). Hence it may be very important to know when a particular photographer died.

Our main emphasis is on U.S. photographers, but we collect information worldwide as we encounter it: we just search harder for U.S. info, and have access to more databases from American sources. When prioritizing data collection and entry, we give higher priority to information on 19th century photographers, though we include anyone working up to 1949. Also, it is beyond our area of expertise to transcribe names in non-roman scripts, such as Arabic, Chinese, etc. So we only record photographers for whom we can read the name and location information.

We have on-hand information on another 15,000 to 20,000 photographers beyond the 35,000+ entered in the database so far. That information is being added as quickly as we accurately can. We appreciate any information you may contribute, and in particular seek details on exact dates of operation for particular studios and photographers, and of course death dates.

Get Information on Photographers!

You can purchase details, or get them FREE by helping build this site. You can help by transcribing information, entering data, submitting images, and other tasks that will speed the growth of this site -- and earn Credits good for obtaining data and images from our database. Join Now for FREE to start earning credits.

You can also SUBSCRIBE to this site, buying the credits that allow you to access information and the large-scale photos from our database.

See EXAMPLES of typical photos and photographer records from the database.