Still looking for a needle in a haystack
 

Is anyone driving through Bamberg while touring Germany? I am still looking for a person's relatives, and would appreciate it if the visitor (or resident of the area) would make a detour to Burgebrach to ask the IFO photo studio there (information with the baby picture) if they have a record of who the baby is or would be willing to post the picture for passers-by to see in the hope that the persons would be recognized. This is the studio picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7623729292655/

and what I believe is the father and baby taken at home around the same time:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7623729292655/

Why don't you try writing to them? I am sure you could do this much more easily. You might have a problem in that in my experience with photographers in Germany, they keep the negatives for 7 years and then dispose of them. That's possibly not the case since digital photography, but it was the case in the late 90s.

Lavandula

IFO Fotografie
MARKTSTR. 1
96138 BURGEBRACH
DEUTSCHLAND
[email protected]
Telefon:
09546260
Fax:
09546921850
URL:
http://www.ifo-fotografie.de

I've e-mailed them on two separate occasions, and they did not reply.

Sorry to hear that - did you write in German? Is the language an issue? Can we help with that?

Lavandula

OK, here's what I would write to them:

A friend of my mother's died at the age of 100 and left photograph albums in her belongings. Some of the pictures seem to have been taken in your studio. More information is given at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7623729292655/ Might you have a record of the baby picture taken January 23, 1993? Or if you downloaded the pictures from the web site and posted them in your studio, do you think that someone might recognize the individuals in them?

Thank you.

OK, here's a version of what you want to write:

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

eine Freundin meiner Mutter, (insert name of deceased here), ist im hohen Alter von 100 gestorben und hat mehrere Fotoalben hinterlassen. Es scheint als ob einige Fotos aus Ihrem Fotostudio stammen. Sowohl die Bilder als auch weitere Informationen dazu kann man bei http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7623729292655/ sehen.

Hätten Sie vielleicht Informationen über das Babyfoto vom 23. Januar 1993, so wäre ich Ihnen dankbar. Oder wenn Sie das Foto herunterladen und in Ihrem Geschäft ausstellen, kann gut sein, dass jemand die Fotos erkennt. Ich bin für jede Hilfe sehr dankbar.

Mit freundlichen Grüssen,
(insert name here)


I wrote:

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen (this is the formal start of a letter to people you don't know),

A (female) friend of my mother (insert name) died at the great age of 100 and left behind several photo albums. It looks as though several photos originate from your studio. Both the photos as well as more information can be seen at (address).

If you had more information about the baby photo of 23 January 1993 I would be very thankful. Or if you download the photo and display it in our shop it could well be that someone recognises the photos. I am thankful for any assistance.

Yours sincerely, etc.

Is this OK? It's not exactly what you said but close, and I also included space for the deceased's name, because that's the first place they're going to look.

Good luck. You might find that a native speaker wants to make a few adjustments to this but this will pretty well get the message across.

Lavandula

Thank you. The e-mail has been sent.