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ATTLEBORO - What can an old photograph tell us? Who are those unfamiliar people inhabiting a family album? Why do we care about an old faded picture found in an attic?

Photographs link us to our past and to memories of grandparents, great-grandparents and other ancestors. They embody our history and the stories of those who came before us.

"There's an emotional connection between people and their photographs," said Maureen Taylor, a photo curator, genealogist and writer from Westwood. "They want that connection and the photo gives it to them."

Taylor recently spoke at the Attleboro Public Library, telling her audience how to unlock the mysteries and stories behind the faces staring out from decades ago. Initially, it requires asking questions of family members and others, she said. What do they know about a photograph? Are there stories behind it? Does anyone else have a copy?

The detective work also requires gaining insight from the many clues that photographs offer. For instance, Taylor discussed the nuances of style and dress from each decade of the 1800s while displaying photographs on a large screen as she went along. The brown color of a wedding dress (without a veil) helped her date one photo. The average bride didn't wear white in 1876, she said, because they couldn't afford a dress made only to be worn once. They also didn't wear veils at that time, and brown was a new color, said Taylor, who also collects wedding photographs.

The imprint of a professional photographer can provide a wealth of information, she said. When and where photographers did business can be researched.

Taylor also explained some of the photographic processes used to produce images. These processes often relate to a particular time period - useful knowledge for dating photographs. The daguerreotype, named after French chemist Louis Daguerre, is a type of photograph whose image was exposed onto shiny metal plates. They were used from 1839 to about 1865, she said. The ambrotype, introduced in the mid-1850s, is a type of photograph in which the image is exposed onto glass. And the tintype is a process in which the image is exposed onto iron. This type was prone to rusting, she said. It was popular in the latter half of the 19th century.

Taylor went on to explain styles of matting, formatting, glass, and casing. She showed examples of hand-colored photos, which remained popular through the entire black and white era.

She stressed that clues might come from most anywhere in a picture.

"You have to look at all the tiny features of the photo," she said.

In one photograph she displayed, the year was determined by the number of stars on the American flags in the picture.

Dates and names, though important, are simply the gateway to history, story and character. Taylor displayed the first known portrait photo taken in the United States: a 1939 shot of Dorothy Catherine Draper, taken by her brother, John Draper, a professor at New York University.

Dorothy Draper taught art and supported many of her family members, helping them emigrate to America, said Taylor.

"There is love in that face, but there is also steely resolve," she said. There seems to be great interest in identifying old photographs.

"When the Wall Street Journal published an article on me (October 12, 2007), it was the most read and e-mailed story for the week. I was stunned," said Taylor.

According to that Journal article, attendees of a Maine Genealogical Society meeting "lined up a dozen deep" to have Taylor examine their old photos. Additionally, the article stated that Taylor has "tackled some 10,000 photo puzzles" and that she receives about "30 requests each week, up from five a decade ago."

Most who attended Taylor's presentation are members of the Swedish Ancestry Research Association (SARA). Kay Sheldon from Brookfield, president of the 210-member association and a genealogist herself, has been researching family histories for more than 45 years.

Her interest in genealogy developed as a youngster. In American History class, a friend sometimes brought up the names of ancestors associated with historical events. "I was jealous," Sheldon said, laughing. "All I could say was I had a Viking (in the family) 1,000 years ago." Sheldon's aunt was a genealogist, and so was her friend's aunt. The two women helped Sheldon answer many questions she had about her own family history.

Sheldon attributes her interest in genealogy to being curious. It's appealing, she said, "If you like being a detective, or if you're nosy." She likened it to putting "a puzzle together and you don't have the pieces."

"It's fun to see how the world looked through your ancestors' eyes. They were incredibly brave, and they left under such different circumstances," she said.

Sheldon's enthusiasm for genealogy is apparent. "It's a disease," she joked. Recently, she wrote down her memories about what happened the day the Worcester tornado touched down and then mailed copies to her grown children. After Taylor's presentation, Sheldon consulted her about a photograph album bought at a yard sale. It was of people from Warwick, R.I. Sheldon is planning to present it to the Warwick Historical Society when she finishes her research on it.

Another audience member, Barbara Larsen from North Attleboro, integrates family photographs into her work as the activity director at Pond Home, an assisted living facility in Wrentham. She created scrapbook pages for all 40 residents. Now, Larsen is working on scrapbook pages for the staff.

Larsen also makes ornaments from old photographs. She has been doing it since 1997. "I learned to cut the glass. I learned to solder," she said.

Larsen sat in the front row at Taylor's presentation. "I'm her biggest fan," she said. "I love this. This is my thing."

In her lap were the photographs of Samuel Stratton and Mary Polly Merchant, her ancestors from seven generations back. "Every photograph tells a story," she said.

ALEX SPEREDELOZZI is an intern at The Sun Chronicle and is pursuing a master's degree at the Harvard Extension School. He can be contacted at asperedelozzi@hotmail.com.