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.