How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Post Reply
Topic Author
Caduceus
Posts: 3527
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2012 1:47 am

How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by Caduceus »

A few days ago, a blog that I follow listed a vintage photograph that, amazingly enough, had both of my grandparents in it. The problem is that this writer simply took the photograph off the internet without attributing the source. All she can tell me is that "I used Google search."

I've tried to do a reverse Google image search but to no avail. It's a street scene, and Google just matches me with lots of random shots of streets that look the same aesthetically, but they are not the same photograph.

Are there better ways of locating the original source of this photo? For various reasons the context of this photo means quite a bit to me. Are there other websites or programs that can run a deeper, more comprehensive search? Thanks!
Marseille07
Posts: 16054
Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2020 12:41 pm

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by Marseille07 »

See if this works any better: https://tineye.com/
Topic Author
Caduceus
Posts: 3527
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2012 1:47 am

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by Caduceus »

Thank you for the suggestion. Tineye didn't work either. I've experimented with uploading photos for which I know the source (from Flicker or Pinterest) on both Google and Tineye, and they couldn't isolate the source either. :(
User avatar
Sandtrap
Posts: 19590
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:32 pm
Location: Hawaii No Ka Oi - white sandy beaches, N. Arizona 1 mile high.

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by Sandtrap »

If you still have the picture, sometimes the image will still have the "metadata" attached to it. See if you can get that off the picture.

j :D
Wiki Bogleheads Wiki: Everything You Need to Know
Marseille07
Posts: 16054
Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2020 12:41 pm

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by Marseille07 »

What about instagram? Unfortunately It's difficult to help you since we don't know which photo you're talking about.
MoonOrb
Posts: 1506
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:58 pm

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by MoonOrb »

You could probably find a subreddit to post it to and harness the power of lots of helpful nerds.
User avatar
rob
Posts: 5247
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:49 pm
Location: Here

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by rob »

Sorry - That not easy....

If the blog was up for a bit you MIGHT get lucky on the wayback machine - see if they have a snapshot. If you can get the original url from the blogger that might help. If it was published in something like a newspaper - search with google image search around the various online libraries maybe.
| Rob | Its a dangerous business going out your front door. - J.R.R.Tolkien
luckyducky99
Posts: 415
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2019 6:47 pm

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by luckyducky99 »

Caduceus wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 2:14 pm A few days ago, a blog that I follow listed a vintage photograph that, amazingly enough, had both of my grandparents in it. The problem is that this writer simply took the photograph off the internet without attributing the source. All she can tell me is that "I used Google search."

I've tried to do a reverse Google image search but to no avail. It's a street scene, and Google just matches me with lots of random shots of streets that look the same aesthetically, but they are not the same photograph.

Are there better ways of locating the original source of this photo? For various reasons the context of this photo means quite a bit to me. Are there other websites or programs that can run a deeper, more comprehensive search? Thanks!
Could you ask the blogger to look through her browser history to see if she can find the site she got the image from, or if not that, find the google search with the search terms that returned it?
User avatar
Watty
Posts: 28859
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 3:55 pm

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by Watty »

If you have not already done it you can also check on ancestry.com, familysearch.org, or less likely findagrave.com to see if anyone has posted the same picture with more information. Your local library likely has an ancestry.com subscription or you can use a free trial.

You might also try searching for your grandparents with Bing images and even Yahoo to see if they give different results than Google.
User avatar
cartophile
Posts: 67
Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2015 10:52 pm

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by cartophile »

Try searching for your grandparents by name, on the off chance that somebody (not necessarily your blogger's source) might have posted it somewhere with names attached.
User avatar
cartophile
Posts: 67
Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2015 10:52 pm

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by cartophile »

Also try searching by any other terms from the context (e.g. "Luigi's Itialian" or "Arnold's Shoe Repair" or "West 35th Street") that might have been used to label the photograph somewhere.
User avatar
nisiprius
Advisory Board
Posts: 52211
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:33 am
Location: The terrestrial, globular, planetary hunk of matter, flattened at the poles, is my abode.--O. Henry

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by nisiprius »

Google Image Search used to work like magic. A few months ago it seemed to suddenly turn useless. Same experience as Caduceus: it now seems to be doing an artificially-intelligent search for pictures with similar themes, rather than locating pictures with very close visual matches for the whole picture. Tineye, too. I wonder what happened? Response to some kind of privacy issue, maybe?
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
User avatar
JamalJones
Posts: 247
Joined: Sat May 28, 2016 12:53 pm
Location: Virgo Super Cluster

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by JamalJones »

Caduceus wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 2:14 pm A few days ago, a blog that I follow listed a vintage photograph that, amazingly enough, had both of my grandparents in it. The problem is that this writer simply took the photograph off the internet without attributing the source. All she can tell me is that "I used Google search."

I've tried to do a reverse Google image search but to no avail. It's a street scene, and Google just matches me with lots of random shots of streets that look the same aesthetically, but they are not the same photograph.

Are there better ways of locating the original source of this photo? For various reasons the context of this photo means quite a bit to me. Are there other websites or programs that can run a deeper, more comprehensive search? Thanks!
You can try these:

karmadecay.com

rootabout.com

imageidentify.com

pictriev.com

exif.regex.info/exif.cgi

fotoforensics.com

https://29a.ch/photo-forensics/#forensic-magnifier

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... se-search/

https://futureboy.us/stegano/decinput.html

http://www.cameratrace.com/trace

flickr.com/map

flickr.com

Bing.com/images

images.yandex.com
TSP + Vanguard + Fidelity CMA: 80% equities / 20% bonds | "I don't shine shoes, I don’t tape ankles, I don't cut checks - straight cash homie!!" --R. Moss | Winner 2021 Hedge Fund Contest
User avatar
snackdog
Posts: 3102
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2014 3:57 am
Location: PNW

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by snackdog »

What will you do when you find it?
BH Consumer FAQ: | Car? Used Toyota, Lexus or Miata. | House? 20% down and 3x salary. | Vacation house? No. | Umbrella? $1 million. | Goods? Costco.
User avatar
billthecat
Posts: 1052
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:50 pm
Location: USA

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by billthecat »

Why don't you post the link to the blog?
We cannot direct the winds but we can adjust our sails • It's later than you think • Ack! Thbbft!
User avatar
JoeRetire
Posts: 15381
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:44 pm

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by JoeRetire »

Caduceus wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 2:14 pm A few days ago, a blog that I follow listed a vintage photograph that, amazingly enough, had both of my grandparents in it. The problem is that this writer simply took the photograph off the internet without attributing the source. All she can tell me is that "I used Google search."

I've tried to do a reverse Google image search but to no avail. It's a street scene, and Google just matches me with lots of random shots of streets that look the same aesthetically, but they are not the same photograph.

Are there better ways of locating the original source of this photo? For various reasons the context of this photo means quite a bit to me. Are there other websites or programs that can run a deeper, more comprehensive search? Thanks!
Ask the blogger what terms she used for her "Google search". Use those.

That said, at best you can find another source of the same image. On the internet, he concept of "original" is extremely fuzzy.
This isn't just my wallet. It's an organizer, a memory and an old friend.
JohnFiscal
Posts: 1113
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2014 3:28 pm
Location: US citizen now retired in Canada. Subject to income tax in both.

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by JohnFiscal »

I have no particular suggestions for you other than what's been offered. But I have an encouraging anecdote for your endeavor.

A recent CNN Travel story asking "do you know these 60 year old travel photographs?" (bought in a Dutch flea market) soon led to their being identified. The photos were taken in Alaska in the 1960's by Dutch tourists, the subjects being local residents (street scenes. or snow scenes). Oddly enough (to me) the location of the photos was identified and some local residents were even recognizing their own relatives in these. So, does happen.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/redi ... index.html
RCL
Posts: 768
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 2:48 am

Re: How to locate a photograph on the internet?

Post by RCL »

If you know their names, you can use www.FamilySearch.org to perform a search. You will need to create a login, but there is no charge to use the site.
You may be able to find some interesting things if you start browsing around the site. Hopefully someone will have your ancestors in their tree and maybe even have some pictures.
Good luck
Post Reply