FAQs

What are your criteria for selecting photos for the blog?

Generally, the time frame I work from is 19th Century to the late 1960s, although I will make allowances for that for a very interesting photo (but really, 1970 is my cut off.) Otherwise, I don’t really have any criteria. I love snapshots as much as studio portraits. I’d really like more of the Edwardian actresses, but you can’t have everything in life!

How can I tell when a new picture goes up on the blog?

A new picture goes up everyday. I usually tweet a link first thing in the morning (my Twitter account is @monochromelady)

Where do you buy your photos from?

I tend to look in junk/antique shops and on eBay. I’ve also got really generous friends who are willing to lend me their photos!

How can you tell what era a photo is from?

There are certain clues- shoes and hairstyle can be a massive giveaway. Relatively very few photos are labelled with a date, so sometimes I have to be creative in my guessing (which is why sometimes there are two decades in the tags- I’m hedging my bets!) I also use sites like British Photo Detective to help me.

What is your favourite type/era of photo?

I think the 1920s would have to be my favourite. The hemlines and the hair were fantastic! On the other hand, I seem to be amassing a collection of photos of nuns. So I’m contradictory, it seems! My goal is to own an old photo of a nun holding a cat…

Why did you choose women as your topic? There are a few men, surely you should just stick to women only?

Women tend to be in a lot of photos- probably because their husbands/boyfriends/sons etc were the ones taking the pictures (the amount of bored and long-suffering expressions on the women I have in my collection is testament to this.) Also, ‘normal’ women have largely been ignored in history. When photography became available to the masses, this changed- we had a record of working- and middle-class women that was almost instant.

Men also form an important part of the blog, even if they don’t frequently appear on it- they were often the ones taking the pictures!

Can I submit a photo?

YES! I’d really like more submissions, particularly in the following areas:

– land girls/working women from WWII

– women in uniform

– dancers/actors (both professional and amateur)

– photos of any women in your family with an interesting story

– women holding cats (I have a lot of women with dogs. I’d quite like to redress the balance. This is the internet, after all and the cat is king..!)

– women in costume

If you’d like to submit, please email a scan to me (the address is on the ‘About Me’ page) with as many details as you can about the photo.