What’s the story behind this mysterious photo album dropped at Global Edmonton?

globalnews.ca:

Sarah Ryan is a reporter and anchor at Global News Edmonton. This is her first-person account.

For more than a year, I’ve been trying to discover the secrets behind a mysterious antique photo album delivered to Global Edmonton.

It arrived at the TV station in 2023 — with no note, no return address and no context.

The album is full of sepia photos, many of which were taken in Scotland. How they ended up at a news station in Edmonton… I set off to find out.

Many of the photos are posed, portrait style images, clearly taken in studio. Others are candid, amateur pictures depicting life on the Prairies.

First, I thought perhaps the book had been stolen. Perhaps the thief had a change of heart and was returning it to a safe space. But Edmonton police didn’t have any reports of missing antique photo albums.

So then, I thought I’d bring the album to a local photography expert: Fay Cunningham, from the Antique Photo Parlour at West Edmonton Mall.

“For the age of it you know, it’s in really good condition,” she said, her eyes lighting up as she turned the album over in her hands.

She’s been taking professional photos for nearly half a century. She flipped through the pages, analyzing each image and explaining how much photography has changed over the decades.

Nobody said “cheese” back then and dental hygiene wasn’t a priority. Cunningham said there’s also another reason everyone looked so serious back then.

“To smile in a photograph was to be thought a fool. You want to be considered sort of sophisticated.”

She believes the the oldest images are from the late 1800s and were taken in studio by a skilled photographer.

Back then, portraits were expensive and usually only taken for special occasions, such as weddings.

Based on their