More Than Meets The Eye (Again): A Tuesday's Tip Follow Up!

Photo C

(Photographs Privately Held by Cynthia Shenette; Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette) A couple of weeks ago I wrote about zooming in on photos to pick up details that might be missed when viewed at a smaller size.  After my initial post, More Than Meets The Eye - Tuesday's Tip, I noticed even more in my photos from Kepno, Poland while looking at them collectively as a group. This seems such a simple thing.  I don't know why I didn't do it before. Maybe I did, but it's been a while since I looked at them all together which brings up another point.  Look at your photos more than once, AND if you have photos that are related to one another in some way consider them collectively as a group.

In general I am fan of "re-reading" documents--letters, diaries or in this case photos--to gain additional insight into the subject in hand.  A letter I read a year or two ago may reveal more information today than it did before, particularly if I've done additional research on the subject in the interim. Context is everything.  If I learn more about the subject or the context of the letter from current research, it makes sense that the same letter if read again may reveal new information with a fresh reading.  This is also true for photos.

For clarity sake I've identified the photos in this post as Photo C and Photo D, so as not to confuse them with Photo A and Photo B in my previous post.  Take a look a Photo C above.  As in the previous post Photo C is one of a number of photos I've been able to figure out are from family and acquaintances in Kepno, Poland.  You can  see another photo of the children without their parents here.  Like the photo I posted for my post Christmas in Poland, 1929 and the photograph of the children, the photographer's stamp on the back of Photo C indicates the photo was taken by the same photographer (Zaklad Fotograficzny / Jan Nawrocki / Kepno, Wlkp. Warszawska 23).  Different families, but the same photographer. Hmm.  Might there be a connection? It could be as simple as there was only one photographer in Kepno during that time period.  It also could mean different branches of the same family used the same photographer or they lived near that particular photographer.

Take another look at Photo B in my original post, More Than Meets The Eye.  Now look at Photo D below. Obviously it's the same building, but this time the photo shows the building under construction.  We know when it was built, because you can see the date on the building at the top.  1933. I mentioned this in my previous post.  I also speculated that the building my have been built by someone in the Walkowski family.  See the initials J.W.? Now zoom in on the men on the scaffolding in Photo D.  When I first looked at this photo I noticed the men in the white construction outfits.  I didn't really pay attention to the man who is second on the right.  It's the same man who is part of the family in Photo C!

Photo D

When I initially sorted all of these items out from my mother's house I put anything that said Kepno or looked like it was related to Kepno together in the same box. As I was looking at all the Kepno photos after my last post I found the small scrap of paper below.  Look at the name and the address on the paper!

Jozef Walkowski / Kepno / Hotel Centralny / ul. Sienkiewicza 11  (or 77) / Polska.  Wow!  (Note to Self: Do not ignore seemingly insignificant scraps of paper!)  I looked for information on Hotel Centralny and ulica (street) Sienkiewicza on the Internet.  No luck on Hotel Centralny, but you can see a picture of ul. Sienkiewicza here and here.  Could the building shown in Photo D be Hotel Centralny?  Hotel Centralny also might be where the Jozef Walkowski family was living while the building in Photo D was being built.  Or it could be another property owned by the Walkowski family. 

What have we learned?  Tomasz Walkowski and Jozef Walkowski might be brothers. Jozef might be the man in Photo D.  If you look at Tomasz who appears in my post, Christmas in Poland, 1929 you'll note the resemblance between the men.  Am I a 100% sure Jozef is the man in Photo D and that Tomasz and Jozef were brothers?  No.  Am I maybe 95% sure?  Yep. Until I get the supporting documentary evidence I can't be a 100% sure, but still it's not bad for a day's work.

Tuesday's Tip: Review your photographs periodically, and if you have a group of photos or materials that seem to be related in some way make sure you view them together and consider the group as a whole.  To quote Aristotle, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."


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