I'm trying to discover leads to who people are in some old photos. I notice one person will have a hand on anothers shoulder or be standing to the right or left in a photo. The photo I have attached is of my great Grandfather and Grandmother. I am wondering who the man on the far left and the woman on the far right are. There is some disagreement in my family regarding this matter. Some say the man is the son of my great grandparents and the woman his wife - but some say he is actually my grand mothers brother. Any ideas?

I have never heard of a heirarchy. If there was it probably died with the photographer. Photos of unknowns are diffucult to solve. Most is purely guess work. If you know all the ages of the possibilities your guess would be more accurate.

The only heirarchy that might be involved in most family photos would be traditional. From this photo I see the man on the end - he is not young nor old - he has his hand on the older lady who is sitting - his mother? The next man is about the same age as the lady - who is holding his arm - her husband? So I see son, mother, and father. Now for the tricky part - the two ladies on the end. Usually, couples who are married like to be posed together not apart. But if the couple are engaged or not yet married, they may not feel comfortable together. Now the lady on the very end is about the right age to be either a sister, a wife, or even a mother-in-law. The lady next to her is also old enough to be a sister or wife, but not quite MIL yet. She is holding onto the arm of the lady next to her - in style with a daughter holding her mother. The hard part is deciding if they are mother and daughter, and which is the wife? Is the young man about to marry the lady on the end and she has a daughter from previous marriage - or is the young man about to marry the lady who is posing along with her mother? One last area - this could also be the whole family - brother, parents, and two sisters.

The man to the far left is probably no older than about 35. The older couple say 60, the girl probably no older than 15. The woman on the far right is hard to gauge. There are resemblances here. The far left man and the girl look like father/daughter or brother/sister. Couples did not always pose together, at least in old US photos, but this photo looks like it may be Italian? Customs could have been different. Deference may have been given to the older couple to be in the middle, more or less, in which case the others could not have stood together as a family group, even if they were. The older woman may look like the younger man. Her eyebrows are washed out by the light and you see the line of her eyesocket. If you imagine her with visible eyebrows, she could resemble the younger man, particularly in the eyes. The older man doesn't particularly look like any of the rest, which isn't significant. If you have other photos of close relatives, maybe more could be determined by comparing faces. If I had to guess, I'd say the far right woman is the wife of the far left man. The girl is arm in arm with her in a mother/daughter way, more so than sister/sister. It would also be a fairly big age difference if the latter were the case. Possible, but not probable. Also, the far right woman doesn't particularly resemble any of the others.

Doug

I didn't notice the names - Spanish, not Italian. Sorry!

I think the woman on the far right is your great grandmother's daughter. The faces are very similar. The man on the left could be her husband. The hand on the shoulder could be a natural pose or the photographer instructed the pose...which is why the viewer feels there is a familial connection.

What else is known about your G-grandparents? Did they have a son and two daughters who would match this picture? Did they have a married son with a daughter? Is this a picture taken in the US or is it foreign? Could census records help? Was this a special occasion? The young girl has flowers in her hand. Personally, I think the lady on the end and the older woman have the same eyes! I do wonder why there is no connection between the older man and the young girl. Everyone else is touching someone!

To me, the 3 ladies look alike the one seated would be grandmother, far right would be daughter, 2nd from right would be granddaughter. The older man is the husband of the older lady. I think the man on the left is the son of the older couple. There are no in laws in the photo.
Coming from an Italian family I have found that in group photos the oldest couple is placed together, their child or children are next to them with the child or children husband or wife next, then come grandchildren.

this is what i think, the older couple is the parents, the man on the left is thier son as he looks like the father, the younger girl is their daughter as she looks like the mother( notice the nose and eyes) the lady on the far right looks like she could be a older daughter or the older woman's sister. a sister could have been living with them.

I think that the arrangement of the family in this picture
is artistically awkward, but may be symbolic of the actual
state of relationships between the individuals. I am inclined to believe that the younger man has his hand on
his mother's shoulder revealing a dynamic that is very
common, a strong bond between mother and son. I believe
that the girl could easily be his daughter due to family
resemblance. She is the psychological and physiological
link between her biological grandparents and her mother.
She is holding her mother's arm keeping her within the
family circle. The arrangement of this picture shows
that the son is psychologically closer to his mother than
to his wife. The wife appears to be quite alienated from
everyone except for the daughter. If possible try to determine the psychological dynamics and relationship history for this family unit.

This appears to be a large family picture to me. The women all appear to be related (three generations). I believe the man on the left was posed by the photographer but would be the husband of the woman on the right, so he would be a son-in-law of your great-grandparents. Does that make sense from your family history? Did your great-grandparents have a daughter who was married and had at least one daughter? Also, I believe that this was probably taken at the time that the girl turned 15. There would have been a religious ceremony and stern warnings to the girl about proper behavior. This would have been before the ultra-extravagant parties (Quinceanera) that 15-year-old Latino girls often have now where they wear long white gowns, etc. That would explain the flowers that the mother and daughter have. I love my idea...hope you do, too!

From what I've seen of old pics I'd say the first man is the son of the woman in the chair. The second man is the woman in the chair's husband. The young girl would be the daughter of the first man & grandchild of the woman in the chair & second man. The last woman would be the first man's wife.
The first man's hand on the one in the chair would be a tip off to the natural affection & respect he holds towards his mother. The child would be before the mother because she's blood kin. But she holds onto her mom's arm to link them all together. Noting she's not standing as closely to the others as she is to her mother I'd guess she feels closer (either consciously or subconsciously)to her than the others, especially her grandparents.
I honestly don't think it would be her brother though. In all the older ones I've seen with siblings brothers & sisters weren't touching as that wasn't considered proper until the mid 1900s. If you look at old pics of siblings together they're never touching, even when one is directly over top the other.

Hubby who is a little older than me said the only other possibility was the second woman was a daughter also. But if that was the case the second woman would be beside the second man with the daughter standing in front between them or seated beside the grandmother.
So he agrees the scenario I gave was the most likely.

I believe the younger man on the left is the son of the older couple because he has eyes that are similar to the older woman and a nose that is similar to the older man. The young girl has a nose similar to the woman on the far right, therefore I believe she is her daughter, but her eyes look like the man on the far left and the older woman. I think she is the granddaughter of the older couple.

I agree with the post from maryrenna that this is a three generation photo. Son and daughter of the parents on either each end of the picture and the young girl is the granddaughter. Facial characteristics between the son and father, especially the ears is striking. The son has a more direct pose to the photographer than the father, but you can still see the same shape. The eyes and nose of the grandmother and her daughter are very similar. As others have said the hand wrapped around the arm could very well indicate mother daughter as the facial characteristics again are similar. It may be the son-in-law is deceased or just not present for the photo.

I think the gentleman on the end is the son of the older couple with his wife and daughter on the other end

After looking at several old pictures of my ancestors, I believe they are a father & mother with their three children. Many times children were spaced far apart, due to deaths or a last child being born some years after the older ones.

The woman on the far right bears such a strong facial resemblance to both your great grandfather and your great grandmother that I'm sure she must be their daughter. She has the eyes and distinctive nose shape of your great grandmother and the mouth shape of your great grandfather.

I just happened to stumble on your question and feel pretty strong about the following (even tho I have no italian blood or a sense of heirarchy for this other than common sense). The old couple seated are obviously the main subject (your great grandparents?). To their left is their son whose nose and hairline greatly resembles his father's. Off to the right is the son's wife and daughter who were permitted to be photo's with the rest but clearly not part of the inner circle.