The Photo Detective

Mar 01 2025 267 ep. 27 mins 238
The Photo Detective Podcast artwork

Join The Photo Detective, Maureen Taylor, each week as she discusses historical photos and how they fit into your family history. From ancestor identification to photo preservation, The Photo Detective Podcast covers it all. Featuring special experts from genealogy, fashion history, photo history, and restoration, it’s a not-to-miss for photo fans, genealogists, and lovers of history.

  Society & Culture  Education  History
RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


The Photo Marketplace Shift: What It Means for Your Memories

Mar 01 2025 24 mins  
In this episode, Rick Voigt, co-founder and CEO of Vivid-Pix.com, joins Maureen Taylor to discuss the evolving photo marketplace and its impact on genealogists and everyday users. They explore the recent shutdown of FileShadow, the risks of relying on digital storage providers, and the importance of backing up precious memories. Rick shares insights from his 40-year experience in t

Digging Into Civil War Pension Files with Brian Rhinehart

Feb 08 2025 26 mins  
In this episode of The Photo Detective, host Maureen Taylor speaks with Brian Rhinehart, founder of CivilWarRecords.com, about uncovering lost Civil War history through archival research. Brian shares his journey from genealogy hobbyist to professional researcher specializing in Civil War records at the National Archives. He explains the misconceptions about military records, empha

Exploring Project Kin: Barbara Tien's Community for Storytellers and Genealogists

Feb 01 2025 27 mins  
Barbara Tien discusses her role as the “ringleader” of Project Kin on the Photo Detective podcast. After her startup, Ponga, shut down, Tien decided to keep her team together and transitioned to creating Project Kin, a community focused on storytelling and family history without any financial gain. She emphasizes the platform’s global reach, privacy importance, and its emphas

Fileshadow News. Photos of Famous People. Photo Detecting Clues

Jan 25 2025 17 mins  
In this January 2025 solo episode of her podcast, Maureen Taylor, the photo detective, shares news for users of Fileshadow.com. She also shares insights into her professional life, detailing her expertise in analyzing historical photographs to assist in dating them and incorporating them into family histories. She discusses a recent project involving a photograph from Providence, a

Seth Rockman on Plantation Goods: Unveiling Material History of American Slavery

Jan 11 2025 33 mins  
On this episode of The Photo Detective, I’m joined by Seth Rockman, author of Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery. Seth’s groundbreaking research uncovers the economic and material ties that connected New England industries to the Southern plantation economy in the 19th century. From the labor of Rhode Island seamstresses to the cotton fields of Mississippi

The Power of Knitting: History, Healing, and Resilience in Loretta Napoleoni's Book

Jan 04 2025 28 mins  
Loretta Napoleoni’s The Power of Knitting explores the universal significance of knitting through history, culture, and personal memoir. An economist by profession, Napoleoni combines research with heartfelt reflections, revealing knitting’s historical roles in revolutions, spycraft, and resilience. She highlights its meditative, brain-stimulating effects, debunks its dismissal

Solving Family Photo Mysteries: A Journey with The Photo Detective

Dec 21 2024 19 mins  
Welcome to the December 2024 solo episode of The Photo Detective with Maureen Taylor. In this episode, Maureen shares the story of Amy Barlow, who solved a photo mystery with Maureen’s guidance during a consultation. Amy’s photograph depicted a family standing in front of a store. Using resources like eBay, WorthPoint, city directories, Sanborn maps, and more, Amy unraveled the

Preserving Everyday History: Kiki Smith's Journey with the Smith College Historic Clothing Collection

Dec 07 2024 35 mins  
Kiki Smith, a professor from the theater department at Smith College, joins the “Photo Detective” podcast to discuss her unique journey with the Smith College Historic Clothing Collection. Initially joining the department temporarily, Smith found herself organizing a chaotic costume storage area into a vital educational and research resource. Her book “Real Clothes, Real Live

Author Paul Frecker Discusses Cartomania: The Intersection of Photography and Fame

Nov 30 2024 36 mins  
In this podcast episode, we are thrilled to have Paul Frecker, an expert on 19th-century photography and the author of Cartomania: Photography and Celebrity in the 19th Century. Paul brings a unique perspective from his days as a dealer specializing in 19th-century photography, focusing on the intriguing format of Carte de Visite. His journey from collector to author reveals the pa

Through the Lens: Unveiling Family Stories

Nov 23 2024 18 mins  
In this episode, Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective TM explores the power of a photo through a series of case studies. She introduces a new photo storytelling option for clients. The Power of a PhotoDecoding the ContextThe Emotional LandscapeIntegrating TechnologyCase Study: Putting it into Practice. Related Episodes: Episode 237: How Storied.com Transforms Family History into Cap