Looking for old family photos - Help :)

[Iain...]

I'd have a try at wedding photos.  Not necessarily the person's family in question, but group photos where that person might have been invited.  Invitations from other family members, work mates, neighbours and friends.  Had he/she been invited, then you can pull out a mug-shot.
I’ve had this on several occasions where whole families with 3 or 4 generations on the same photo have been easy to pick out. 
Good luck…, Iain. 
 
PS  You’ve got me thinking.  I would love a photo of a Sergeant who was at Waterloo.  He became one of Queen Victoria’s Almsmen at Westminster Abbey.  I might have a look around for old archive photos…, his name wouldn’t be mentioned, however his pewter arm badge ‘Pass and Repass’ may have his name on it. 

[Maiden Stone]

One of the groups is the factory with 900 employees where my late father worked - and he's often on photos.   You might be lucky  to see him in one of the 1945 street parties after WWII.  Many companies in days gone by organised coach trips to the seaside/countryside, so if you know where he worked you might find him on such a photo.  Postal Workers and Railway  workers were often photographed by their company.

Members of my family (20thC.) are in photos in a published pictorial history of a firm for which they worked.
Local pictorial histories are another source. Photos of church or works events for example.
Local newspapers.
Did any serve in WW1 or other conflicts? Individual or group photo may be on a military website. Photos of deceased soldiers may have been in local newspapers. 

[Erato]

Public libraries and local historical societies often have collections of old photos.

[Andrew Tarr]

I would guess that if your family has not passed any down, and you have failed to get any from relatives or other tree members, your chances will be pretty slim.  There may well be photos of your relatives on the web, but quite likely unidentified.  Possibilities are group photos of schools, colleges, army units - that kind of thing.

I am lucky that some of my Victorian ancestors spent money at local photographers, including a glass plate original from 1865 which has survived.  Interestingly a copy of it appeared on Ebay without identification, because it was a 4-female generations picture, which were a popular pastime then - when it occurred.  We also inherited a couple of Victorian albums full of photos, most of them unidentified, annoyingly.

[Andrew Tarr]

You’ve got me thinking.  I would love a photo of a Sergeant who was at Waterloo.  He became one of Queen Victoria’s Almsmen at Westminster Abbey.

It's not that far from Waterloo to Westminster ... 

[Iain...]

You’ve got me thinking.  I would love a photo of a Sergeant who was at Waterloo.  He became one of Queen Victoria’s Almsmen at Westminster Abbey.

It's not that far from Waterloo to Westminster ... 

 

[bykerlads]

I have some precious photos of grandfather and all is brothers from 1st decade of 20thC.
A huge, very poor family, they woild have had no chance paying to have photos done.
However, as young men they all were members of a local harriers running club and ran for sponsorship and prize money. The club published a book on its centenary with many photos of grandad and his brothers. A real pleasure to see. ( one brother being very, very like my own son in appearance)
The same lads and their sisters also appear in photos taken at the local Methodist chapel, of study and activity groups. ( the Wesleyan Methodist movement had a strong educational and self-improvement mission). The photos were in a booklet produced in the mid-20thC, to celebrate the history of the chapel. I found it by chance in our history library. It seems that many such bookets and small publications have been bound and thus preserved.
Maybe worth a look . You never know what you might find.