How should you use old pictures of Didsbury?

Now just occasionally I go off on a rant and this is one of them.

Lansdown House circa 1950

It started in a pub which had bought into one of those montage pictures of Manchester and had displayed it on the wall opposite the bar.

It was tastefully done and in its way an interesting picture of how we lived.

That said it included one photograph which was not from the city and set me going.

At which point there will be those muttering “get a life, it’s only a picture” and of course in the great sweep of things getting a tad upset is silly.

But I think it does matter otherwise we might just as well include a picture of the San Francisco Bay Bridge in sepia along with a Pearly King and Queen.

It is about historical accuracy.

Walking with the parade, 1911

And in turn it opens up that other issue of publishing pictures found randomly on the net with no acknowledgement and no attempt to give a context to the picture.

I fully accept that copyright is a minefield and that if you have laboured over something you deserve the credit and possibly some financial recognition.

But it can be baffling to see why an old image can only be used by paying an inflated fee.

Of course many organisations and individuals are happy to let an image be used with just a credit and a link back and others operate a sliding scale preferring not to charge non commercial users.

Either way what also matters is that the context is fully explored.

Putting up a photograph of a group of people somewhere in Manchester, sometime in the past does little to advance our knowledge.

On School Lane circa 1911

Not that I want to stop people sharing the past but just offer up this cautionary tale.

I remember coming across a picture of the old Palais de Luxe cinema on Barlow Moor Road.  It was a small image and much of the detail was lost.

But I tracked it back to a local studies centre in east Scotland and  established that it had been taken by Charles Ireland a local photographer.

Jointly the archivist and I explored how it had come into their possession and the research revealed a fascinating story linking a Scottish iron works with our Chorlton cinema and Mr Ireland with the added bonus that they supplied a very good quality picture which allowed me to read the posters advertising the films and a musical concert thereby providing a possible date for the picture

None of which came to light when some one hovered up the picture from the blog and just reproduced it in a social network site.

So yes getting it right does matter.

Pictures, detail from Lansdown House, circa 1950s and outside Mrs Martha Meredith fish and chip shop on School Lane circa 1911, and a detail of the celebrations for King George V from the Souvenir of the Coronation Festivities Held at Didsbury, June 22nd 1911, Fletcher Moss