This week Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective, is joined by B. Wells Douglas, a professional photographer who has quite the following on the social media platform TikTok.

B. Wells looks at slides that he’s found and digs deeper into their meaning, looking at who is in the photographs, and trying to examine why they may have been taken, who is in the photos, and what story they tell. 

He also dives into what it means to be able to afford camera equipment, and how our ancestor’s socioeconomic status often influences just how many photos we have of them, and approaches the slides with an artistic lens, looking at their composition and the world of light and dark. 

Related Episodes:

Episode 165: Reading Clues in World War I Snapshots with Curator Lora Vogt

Episode 144: A Ten Year Photo Identification Journey

Links:

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• Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About My Guest:

B. Wells Douglas is a photographer who lives in Bloomington, IN. His work uses historical vernacular photography to construct digital spaces that explore social and political issues facing the United States. He grew up in Montana within a family of artists and was taught from a young age the importance of approaching life creatively. In 2019, he joined the Indiana University BFA photography program and began building an archive of 35mm slides. 

An additional outcome of this work has been the development of a large social media platform with over 20,000 followers. Several followers have shared/donated images and his pages have become an intersection of a wide variety of people. 

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective is sought out by clients all over the world to help them solve their photo mysteries. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and others. Maureen is a frequent keynote speaker at historical and genealogical societies, museums, conferences, libraries, and other organizations across the U.S., London, and Canada.  Learn more at Maureentaylor.c

I'm thrilled to be offering something new. Photo investigations. These collaborative one-on-one sessions. Look at your family photos then you and I meet to discuss your mystery images. And find out how each clue and hint might contribute to your family history. Find out more by going to maureentaylor.com and clicking on family photo investigations. 

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