Family archives
Caption an old photo when some details are uncertain
Name the people you can confirm and mark every other identification as possible, inside the caption itself. A note kept elsewhere gets lost when the image is copied. Add the evidence for each name and the question still open.
A text to start with
Here is a photo described as [image file name and what is visible]. I am sure that [person] appears, because [evidence]. I think [possible person] may also appear, based on [reason]. I do not know [unknown details]. Write a caption that states confirmed facts plainly and labels the uncertain parts as possible. Add one line naming what would settle each open question.
Example request. Change the details to fit your situation.Photo caption record
Image file reference: [ ] Where the original is kept: [ ] What is visible: [ ] Confirmed person: [ ] Evidence for confirmation: [ ] Possible person: [ ] Evidence for the possibility: [ ] Person not identified, position in image: [ ] Date or period, with the basis for it: [ ] Place, with the basis for it: [ ] Open question: [ ] Who might answer it: [ ] Caption wording with uncertainty visible: [ ] Source of each opinion and date recorded: [ ]
Keeping doubt inside the caption
A caption that says "Grandpa Joe, 1952" when the year came from clothing style has turned a guess into a label. Check each name, date and place for its evidence. Resemblance is weak evidence, so a possible identification should say it rests on resemblance. Watch for a caption that mentions doubt in a separate note but states the name plainly in the title line, since the title is what travels. If two relatives name the same face differently, record both.
Ask another agent to check the result
Read this caption as a stranger who will see only the caption text. Does every uncertain name, date and place still look uncertain there? Quote any phrase that reads as settled fact but rests on resemblance, clothing or memory, and rewrite it with the doubt stated.
Ask someone who might know
Show the captioned image to one older relative or family friend and note who said what, with the date. Do not upgrade a possible name to confirmed because one person agrees. Record the agreement as added evidence and decide separately. Save the caption text in the image file's description or in a log next to the original, and revisit the open questions when new records turn up.