Old family photos are a treasure – the images have the ability to transport us to the moment in time when the photos were taken. We can learn so much - what our ancestors looked like, what they wore and how our families lived. Sometimes the emotions shine through – joy and sadness.  Sometimes we recognize similarities that pass down through several generations.

My family is very fortunate that we have numerous old photographs. Many of these photographs are from the collections of my great grandmothers – Helen Tillie Bukowski and Frances Philomena Selker.  As the family genealogist and archivist these photo collections are now in my care.

My Great Grandmother - Helen Tillie Bukowski

My view is that family photographs belong to all for the descendants – our rich history is meant to be shared.  To share these photographs I have been working on a project called “Portraits of a Life”. The goal of this project is to digitize, archive, restore and share the old photographs. There are numerous steps required to reach the final stages of sharing the old photographs. To learn more about the Portraits of a life project please view the following blog posts at my research site Our Ancestors - The Murosky & McDonald Ancestral Lines:

• Portraits of a Life

• Step 1: Create a Digital Image

• Step 2: Archive the Original Image

• Step 3: Preliminary Sort

• Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore

• Step 5: Identification

• Step 6: Finalize Organization

• Step 7: Share

After researching and considering many options I have opted to use Zenfolio. This website has been established to preserve and share the old photographs. The photos are organized into collections by surname. The photos within each gallery are presented in chronological order. Clicking a photograph within a gallery will bring up the image and also provide details about the photograph - providing a brief history of the individual. Selecting the slideshow option will allow all of the photographs in a gallery to cycle through.

A brief note regarding the names of women. It is common practice in genealogy to record women with their maiden name.  For reference this site uses the convention to record women with their maiden name. If the woman was married her spouses name will be recorded in the comments if known. 

There is no copyright on these photographs.  I felt it was important to not copyright these photographs – these photographs are not my work.  I am the simply the caretaker doing my part to ensure the photographs survive for future generations.  The photographs are available for download. To download a photograph right click on the image and select the download option. This will allow you to save a high resolution copy to your computer.

The website also has numerous sharing options. The "SHARE" button allows the photographs to be shared on social media or sent by email.  The site also has an option to purchase printed copies of the old photographs. Many of these images would look beautiful in frames. To purchase a photograph click the “BUY” button and follow the instructions in the popup menu. Orders can be placed via pay pal. For more detailed instructions on how to access the site please visit the blog post Launch of the Old Family Photographs Website. 

The photographs already shared are just the start. As content is added to the site the Blog section will be used to highlight new content.  If you are interested in updates via Facebook please visit my Facebook page - Our Ancestors - The Murosky & McDonald Ancestral Lines.