A vintage black-and-white photo of a family from the early 1930s, with faded edges, symbolizing memories rediscovered and preserved

Old Photos, New Stories: Why I'll Never Toss Memories Again

Family History| Photo Preservation| Facial Recognition

December 28, 2024•2 min read

Each month, I host in-person photo workshops in Chamberlain and Kimball SD. Photo friends gather at these sessions and we have conversations about recent memory-filled moments—whether it’s the latest event a child or grandchild is involved in or an exciting trip taken over the past year.

An Old Photo with a Mystery to Solve

At our most recent workshop in Chamberlain, we reviewed a black-and-white photo from nearly 100 years ago. Melanie Olson, a fellow FOREVER ambassador, brought in a photo featuring four individuals. She thought I might know who was in the photo.

Family Connections Across Generations

To give a little context, Melanie’s husband, Greg, is related to the Feistner family. My great-grandfather married Matilda Feistner, so Melanie and I are distantly related! While going through Greg’s family photos, she found this photo and thought I might recognize the faces.

Recognizing Faces: A Journey into the Past

The back of an old postcard with a written name of "Matilda Pawlowski".

As soon as I saw it, I recognized my great-grandfather, William Pawlowski. The name 'Matilda Pawlowski' was handwritten on the back of the dated postcard. I wasn’t sure about the two men in the back row. Melanie and I wondered if they could be some of their children but weren’t certain.

How FOREVER's Facial Recognition Solved the Mystery

Recently, I had been working on my Pawlowski family history. I was using FOREVER’s facial recognition to identify faces in photos, specifically those of the William Pawlowski family. I suggested to Melanie that I could snap a quick picture of the photo and run it through FOREVER’s facial recognition to see if we would get any hits. Moments later, three out of four faces were identified! Seeing confirmation of these lost faces was thrilling.

A vintage black-and-white photo featuring four individuals, with facial recognition boxes highlighting their faces. Three of the individuals—Matilda (Feistner) Pawlowski, Otto Pawlowski, and William Pawlowski—are identified using FOREVER’s facial recognition tool, while one face remains unidentified.

I reached out to my dad and his brother to see if they could identify the fourth face. I didn't have any luck at this time. Even though one gentleman remains unidentified, we safely saved this photo from hitting the trash can.

Saving Photos Preserving Legacies

This experience has inspired me to continue working with my ancestors’ memories. Rather than letting unidentified photos collect dust, I plan to upload them to my FOREVER permanent storage and let facial recognition help me piece together the past. Who knows what treasures I’ll uncover next?

Your Turn: Discover the Stories Behind Your Photos.

If you have unidentified photos, I encourage you to try FOREVER’s facial recognition. You might be surprised at the connections and stories waiting to be discovered!

In your FOREVER Permanent Storage account, simply create an album such as "Unknown Faces". Upload your photos into this album. Let facial recognition run and see if those unknown faces are identified. What a treasure you may find!

Lori Lafferty

Lori Lafferty is the owner of Photo Legacy Digital Solutions, working in partnership with FOREVER as an ambassador to share innovative solutions for memory messes. She is passionate about helping families preserve their memories—from a child’s first milestones to uncovering the faces of long-lost ancestors. Through digitization, permanent cloud storage, and photo organization, Lori transforms cluttered photo collections into cherished legacies. She also hosts in-person workshops, connecting with others who share her love for storytelling and preserving life’s most precious moments. She is also willing to meet with clients one on one as everyone's family is as unique as the photos and videos represented in them.

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