About the work

A closer look.

Trying to identify a location, or read a mystery photo, or place an old family photo in a genealogy file? Send me the place and I tell you what is actually there, and when the picture of it was taken. This is a dated read of a place you name, for anyone asking where was this photo taken, or what a spot on the ground is really like before they put weight on it. I place the ground, not the people: I tell you where a scene is, not who is in it. You are moving somewhere, checking somewhere, or holding a photo of somewhere you have never stood. Send me the address, the block, or just the name. I go there through dated street frames, maps, terrain and records, and I tell you plainly what is actually there: what the street looks like at eye level, what is walkable, what is loud, what is further than it looks, and the thing the listing photos leave out. Every line traces to a source you can open, and I name the date of every frame I use. Where the sources disagree, I keep the disagreement instead of smoothing it. I never claim to have stood there; I tell you what the dated pictures and records actually show. If I cannot reach the place that way, or cannot see enough to be useful, I tell you before you pay and nothing is owed. One page, one revision.