Photos developed in reverse?

[sally2154]

Does anyone know if it is/was it possible for photographs to be accidentally developed in reverse? I ask this question as I had a photograph of my dad, which I believed was him but some family members questioned whether it was or not (see first attached image). Many comments were about how his hair was parted on a different side to usual (second photo is a definite photo of my dad - you can see the hair is parted on the other side). Anyway my research and use of some facial comparison software led me to try and flip the image. When flipped it looks like an exact match (see third image)

The original photo was definitely developed as per the first image.

Could a mistake like this happen? I'd appreciate your thoughts!

[Chris Doran]

It's certainly common with photographs of places, where there's a little excuse for the apprentice given the tedious job of printing, who doesn't know the scene and hasn't yet learned to check which is the emulsion side. Less excuse with partings as the person's gender is usually clear. But I've never considered how rigorous the rule is/was and whether left-handers comb the "non-standard" way.

[sally2154]

Thanks Chris for your info, that was very useful information! I can see now from my other old photos that my dad always parted his hair on the "Wrong" side - the right. Perhaps that's why whoever developed the photo got it the wrong way around. His other brothers (those that wore a part) and his father parted on the left. I never knew until now there was a masculine side to part hair!! Dad wasn't left handed but we have a lot of cowlicks in the family, I suspect that may be the way his hair naturally fell. My son has a massive cowlick which makes his hair naturally part on the right. Thanks again.

[Lesley Robertson]

Interesting, I always thought that the location of the parting fell according to the growth pattern of the hair... And habit, of course. I've never heard about a rule before!

Sally, it was very easy in the darkroom to get the negative wrong side up, and many of us printed our own. if you want an extra check, print your pictures quite big, and then do a bit of digital analysis on the faces - human faces are rarely symmetrical and you can measure all the fixed didtances such as between the corners of the eyes, eye corner to bottom of the nose, top of ear to corner of eye, etc. It won't be exact, like modern passport photos, esepecially as he's smiling a bit in one, but it would serve to rule the idea out if the numbers are too different. (amazing what you can learn on TV cop shows...)

[sally2154]

Hi Leslie! That sounds like a great idea. I'll give it a try! Thanks.