“Please help me locate (and recreate) this photograph of my deceased mother” [GEO DETECTIVE #26]

[@HogandBun]

Hi, it’s Cilla here 🙋🏽‍♀️ I screamed the house down when I saw this thumbnail and I cried throughout the entire video 😭😭😭 You found her 🥹🥹 thank you so so so much Geowizard, it was so surreal watching you find her and I am blown away by how you were able to find her precise location. I never imagined the exact plant pot would still be there!! Thank you to those who pointed out the red paint is still visible in one shot 🤯 I’m so excited to visit here to recreate this photo and I will certainly send a copy of it to you Geowizard. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

[@aquilschutte]

Are you really cilla cus the mother was young in '65, so the child may be from 80-90(maybe even before that maybe 70), but you have the pfp from a person born in 2015. I am a very distrustful person

[@MagnetonJjungle]

Aww that‘s so wholesome. Hope you have a great holiday in Italy.

[@Zanagash]

That's so awesome !! I thought Geowizard sent you the video before posting, and I wish he'd wait for you to send him the picture before posting, so we can see the picture. Nevertheless super happy for you !

[@criesinmusic9711]

The real one

[@room5245]

@@aquilschutte you seem fun at parties

[@austinbridge]

We are witnessing GeoWizard slowly but surely turning into his ultimate form - a travel agent.

[@Macarite]

lol

[@owlvo]

lmao

[@quaidbergo]

ffs 😂

[@nieksalomons]

Or an undertaker, while he was mentioning "....make this your final destination." @ 22:22

[@thisisgreentext2147]

🤣🤣

[@Rubrickety]

I’m just going to take a moment to appreciate how utterly bonkers it is that, in the era we live in, this is possible. A man finds the precise location of a photograph taken 60 years ago in a spot thousands of kilometers away in a few hours without leaving his desk. Insane.

[@rijden-nu]

Yep, and it was all foretold in a book written 3500-2000 years ago 😂😂

[@Ash_18037]

"in a few hours without leaving his desk" He's impressive but not that good. Watching very carefully I was able to detect very subtle clues ( eg 11:56 ) that he spent a couple of days with a many breaks on this one. Understandable you missed that though ;)

[@Rubrickety]

@@Ash_18037 Obviously he mentions various breaks and a 2-day span in the video, but it didn't look like he spent more than a few hours actually searching. I allowed myself a bit of poetic license with "without leaving his desk", since all the actual research was done at said desk. In the not-too-distant past this quest would have required many months and many thousands of dollars in research and travel.

[@mftmss7086]

not 60 years ago Get it right out get a grip!

[@thespankmyfrank]

​@@mftmss7086What? The person who sent in the picture said it was probably in the 60s. That's 60 years ago. Going by the video, which is the only information op has, they're not wrong.

[@dankification]

Your next straight line mission is to go and try to retrieve your phone that you lost in the saplings forest!

[@JeffHundo]

PLEASE. its not impossible to just go to the van meetup near it and trace the line back perfectly on a sunny day.

[@user-cr3ti1vj6f]

I've snatched that up last week. Video is coming soon.

[@Yaozaaaaa]

@@user-cr3ti1vj6fback to the cave, troll

[@JohnYancey767]

His next mission is Scotland 14:31 he leaked it

[@dankification]

@@user-cr3ti1vj6fyeah ok! Don’t think anyone will trust anyone with a default KZbin generated URL

[@KAPTKipper]

having photos with the negative flipped was quite common in the days of film photography

[@j0nasbs]

That might be relevant for other old pictures. :D

[@Chyrre]

Yeah. Could also have been a scan of a reversal film

[@executivesteps]

Flipped “slide”.

[@pilsplease7561]

It still happens with film photography lol

[@palmeadia]

Slide film

[@goldenappel]

I love how you've combined geodetecting into both providing entertaining content and doing a great kindness for a random Internet stranger. Came for the straight line missions but stuck around because you're a genuinely lovely bloke

[@sam183796]

The most wholesome guy on the internet

[@mrsimpleslowmo]

Smart way to earn money

[@xTOMxJx]

There was red on the final plant pot you zoomed in on at 20:18, just on the inside at the back under the flowers!!

[@Lordsnow17]

Good catch

[@spoofer20]

Good eye.

[@lucidmoses]

Look up "Shadow color illusion". or "what is the color of the dress".

[@Blackadder75]

that's incredible.. Americans would have replaced those pots every decade, with some new designs, probably made from plastic..... Italians: 'if it was good enough for it's good enough for us.....

[@morrisman4761]

Great eye! 👁️

[@Castorps_Shadow]

"That is a far cry from Kielder Forest isn't it.." 😂🤣

[@benedward8559]

20:16 there's even a little bit of red paint on the inside of the pot to verify it even more

[@scotlawrence]

Original photo was taken on slide film, and scanned from the slide. There is an easy way to tell which is the "correct" way of viewing, just from the text on the slide mount: Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Agfachrome, etc. But 99.9% of people today wont know that. Which realistically gives a scanned slide today, if it cant be determined which is the right way from the photo itself, 50/50 odds of being correct or backwards.

[@jimreed87]

Yes. I've recently been going through family pictures from the my childhood in the 1960's and noticed that all of the printed photos were black and white while all of the color photos were slides. I was too young to understand if that was due to technical or economic reasons. I know we were getting color prints in the 1970's, but that could have been due to newly available film.

[@giovanni8120]

That photo really looks like a home scanned negative, judging by the amount of dust and particles you can see in the sky, as well as the color. So that's something to keep in mind in future searchs.

[@gavinjenkins899]

how does that help?

[@EchoOfGecko]

It helps because that's probably the reason it's reversed; either a scanned negative or I think probably a slide. If it looks like one of those things, don't assume the photo isn't reversed.

[@giovanni8120]

@@gavinjenkins899 ​ the thing is that it's much more common to have an inverted picture when scanning at home than it is from a lab, where they are supposed to have a workflow that tend to provide consistent results.

[@lucidmoses]

In 1965 slides where popular. When they went out of fashion people had there slides converted to photo prints. A process that annoyingly caused some to be done backwards. That would also explain the other problems with the photo.

[@gavinjenkins899]

@@giovanni8120 Dirt and "colors" don't indicate home scanning though

[@carvoloco4229]

"Well, we know what shape it is, it's... ok, we don't" 😂 You're the best at this, Tom

[@yell9140]

I can't believe I didn't recognize that place. I am italian and I've been going in holiday in the town next to Sestri Levante since I was born. Although I've never been in that hotel. The fact that it was reversed and that the bay wasn't clearly visible made it more difficult for me. Good job Tom on keeping to search in Italy.

[@christophmartin5381]

The village is Sestri Levante, Hotel Helvetia. We were there 2021 in the village you can see on the photo. Nice town, but man in August is totally overrun by tourist, in September or May this is beautiful silent and calm. The whole coast down to south , "cinque terre" to La Spezia is a "once in a lifetime" experience.

[@tullochgorum6323]

Never go to Italy in August - impossibly hot, and the entire country is on holiday, along with half of Germany. As you say, May and September/October are the best times. I also love that coastline - lots of little towns and villages that are still authentic and Italian.

[@Yora21]

September is a great time to travel to Italy anyway. Weather is still very nice, but it's not as hot as during peak summer time.

[@tullochgorum6323]

@@Yora21 Also, early October is a great time for the Alps. Huts and trails are much quieter, less risk of dangerous thunderstorms, pleasant weather without energy-sapping heat, and by so late in the season the passes are mostly clear of snow and ice.

[@garethwhite4629]

I had a few goes on google lens, and it got no where. I ended up zoomed in to just the skyline and google showed me pictures of Syria with a dozens feared dead headline. Love this series. Good to see your are still better than Ai.

[@jaskir5171]

*cries in syrian*

[@speedstyle.]

For me the top Lens result is Santa Margherita Ligure, only 10 miles up the coast. ChatGPT gives the exact town, Sestri Levante

[@speedstyle.]

@@apache937 _"The location in the photo is Sestri Levante, a picturesque town on the Italian Riviera in the Liguria region. The distinctive landscape and architectural style visible in the photo match Sestri Levante's well-known features, including its colorful buildings, palm trees, and coastal views."_ Then with a satellite photo, _"Based on the aerial view of Sestri Levante and the distinctive coastal features, the photo appears to be taken from the area near Hotel Miramare, looking towards the Baia del Silenzio"_ (this is the next hotel along the bay, around 100m away)

[@speedstyle.]

@@apache937 As in, _after_ it guessed the right town, I gave it a Google Earth screenshot and had it guess a precise location.

[@therighttobeleftinthecentr9083]

Well that was unexpected (the lump in my throat). I lost my Mum last August and she looked remarkably like that lovely woman in the photo. How special to be able to give someone the joy of treading along their parent's path. A job well done indeed Geowizard 👏🏼

[@motttta]

Much love mate. 🤍

[@Wingspan_5]

Straight line mission right into Geodetective. You’re spoiling us Tom.

[@davidd6171]

60 years later and all that stuff is still there!! It's amazing given buildings are torn down and built over all the time! Well done Tom!

[@Consumer0001]

Italy was/is built to last

[@Oscar97o]

I don't know about Italy but France for example doesn't really allow people to tear down old buildings, unless they're a security risk. You can renovate them and completely modify the interior, but they have to keep their facades.

[@gig4570]

My family owned an house in that image and i can tell you they dont allow you to change anything even If you wanted

[@fernweh3726]

@@Oscar97o Of course in Italy too we do not tear down our old buildings

[@SvendleBerries]

Thats one of the reasons why I love the "old world". Many towns and cities have existed as is for centuries with very little changes. Meanwhile here in the US just 10-20 years can go by and notable places can become unrecognizable.

[@mosmarb]

That was a heartwarming one. Cilla, do please tell the owners how you found it when you go, I'm sure they'll enjoy the story too.

[@JackFlash23]

LOVE the Geo Detective series. The skill level involved is fantastic.

[@feangio]

Great job. As an Italian, this might also have been one of the lakes in northern Italy - palm trees and steep slopes are reasonably common there. Not far from where it ended up being. Surprised you discarded the option right away.

[@besimav]

I immediately said Como and expected him to go through the Mediterranean coastline only to end up in Como finally. But he was right all along apparently :)

[@ChrisHillASMR]

Hes looking for some tourist trap not a kidnapping location

[@sampledude8846]

Geo detective is the most enjoyable part of youtube. Wish you would do more of them more often.

[@SSK2600]

I love how you immediately ruled out Portofino, and then later found the exact spot pretty much right next to Portofino 😅

[@tarantellalarouge7632]

having skills in architecture and also in plants and trees is definitively a must for this kind of research ! I knew it was Italy but I am impressed with the Google maps researches ! Internet is such a treasure to find anything out !

[@alemassa6632]

I agree at 100%, it's 'Baia del Silenzio' in Sestri Levante. Really a good job!!

[@MrToucana]

That was a very good catch indeed ! The reversal of the photographic image probably arose from it being originally taken on Kodachrome/Ektachrome colour reversal film stock that would have been processed as a 35mm slide transparency. At some point, the slide was then most likely blown up and copied to a paper print - and the image was inadvertently flipped in the process.

[@PhotobillyTV]

Was on holiday in Sestri Levante last week. The best place to stay at Ligurian coast and Baia del Silenzio is most beuatifull beach there. But i would certainly not recommend the car. Places there (especially Portofino and Cinque terre are way to flooded with tourists and coast is really narrow to drive and impossible to park. Take the train which drives every hour and maybe short boat trips. All the best! 🌞

[@paidaelis]

I can't believe it! I've been only one time in Italy, and went to this very specific beach at Sestri Levante. It's so nice to see a familiar place featured here! Get in!

[@chetdavis784]

Dude. This is impressive. For years, been watching this channel and he just keeps leveling up. Amazing AF.

[@tobysimmonds487]

I love seeing how the trees grow in the photos!

[@BlinkyMet]

Haven't watched it yet but these are my favourite of your videos. Started with your original Geoguessr stuff and obviously love your straight line and everything else but something about these videos are just so wholesome and genuinely life changing to people. Keep up the good work!

[@DarrenDayo0903]

One of the best series of anything on KZbin. relaxing, interesting and a joy to watch.

[@lisacrandall409]

Well done, what fantastic work!!! It’s so lovely that Cilla will be able to recreate this photo of her beautiful mother ❤

[@326Alan]

The words he said at the end... Tom is such a kind bloke

[@gyros69420]

I'm so glad his channel's grown so much since I was first recommended the Wales SLM. He's a great guy. And I wouldn't have anyone else represent my county, the west midlands

[@326Alan]

@@gyros69420 hear, hear. It's amazing to see how widely acknowledged he's become, despite the rather niche themes

[@danv8718]

Forget about the straight-line mission shenanigans! This is what we crave!!

[@PW-om1ds]

Incredible. Like a modern day Geo Poirot. You'll have made someone (Cilla) really happy with this.

[@NazmulHossainPotato_PeeZy]

I loved how accurately you were able to pinpoint the location. You really gifted her the best holiday you ever could. Another thing is how much of the place didn't change at all. The palm trees, the stairs. Man i loved this episode. Btw congratulations on the successful England straight line Mission.

[@Vetni94]

Anyone else notice the notepad tab "to do October 2020" lol

[@Ery1389]

Wow! I'm from Italy and instantly thought of the coast of Liguria (with some doubts) because I visited it recently but I'm impressed that someone from another country could guess it was Italy so fast! Great work!

[@architect1580]

What an incredible investigation!!!! The lady who has been looking for this place for years must be absolutely happy!! I loved your channel!!!

[@robbiejames8144]

Please don't ever stop uploading these! Could watch hours upon hours without getting bored.

[@stefanomorandi7150]

so happy to see a new geodetective, and this time its even in my country... the liguria seaside is just marvelous, as soon as you get out of the big coastal cities it becomes bike trails, colorful villages and epic cliffs as far as the eye can see

[@andpad8380]

This is definitely my favourite series on this channel

[@satori9928]

Tom, you wonderful human being! When you have “italian riviera vibes” remember we also have them in the major northern Lakes, just a tip from a local, cheers mate 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🍻🇮🇹

[@gregorygant4242]

Wow she was a beautiful looking lady ! That's so sad but also so nice that her daughter would also want to go there at the exact same spot she visited. You are doing God's work there my friend and it's touching that you're doing stuff like this . God bless you Sir !

[@Di0nysiac]

Tom still got his October 2020 todo list open. You really should get round to those tasks!

[@celticbarry9877]

This video cut down to like 1 minute as a tiktok or ig reel would go crazy, its astonishing how little its changed even the trees are still there lol

[@Ry4n1230]

What GeoWizard is doing for people is unbelievable, finding precise location from photos of people no longer with us must be so rewarding for himself and these people sending the photos in. Thank you Geowizard for what you're doing for people, I can't wait to see more of these & hope you can make another person reconnect with their loved ones 👍

[@TheNovaq]

Great job @GeoWizard. Cinque Terre for the win. Been there last year and I'm sure Cilla will have awesome vacation.

[@avroml]

Sestri Levante! Looked very familiar, but the flipped photo threw me off. Cilia doesn't even have to rent a car, there's a train service from Genoa. Great place, equally beautiful as Cinque Terre, but much less crowded.

[@coldijkx313]

Hell yeah! New geowizard upload!!!

[@marzipanmonkey]

Wish you'd do more of these! Such amazing skills and patience. What a lovely gift back to her also figuring that out.

[@madcacher1119]

I’m not sure how the algorithm delivered your channel to me, but I am so pleased! I love a good real-world puzzle!

[@LiiMuRi]

My first thought wasn't the coast, but one of the lakes in Italy. Let's see the rest of the video to find out...

[@Autumnalwitch623]

same, i thought lake garda (haven’t got to see whether he finds the location yet or not)

[@MostlyLoveOfMusic]

feels like Lake Como

[@TheStarBlack]

Yea I was feeling quite smug about the lakes until he proved me wrong!

[@carbonell123]

Cilla, you've come to the right place. Tom will look after you

[@Furin1521]

Every Italian here would have loved to spare you some research time with some hints! Heartwarming and nice as usual

[@qyntifex]

amazing detective work, and you are definitely my favorite :)

[@_______v]

With film photography, whether you're printing or scanning a negative or slide, there's often no easy way of knowing which side is "up" and if you get it wrong the result will be flipped. Keep in mind it's transparent before printing or scanning.

[@markylon]

The text on the slide will tell you. If it's a plastic slide the white side is front. If in doubt look for text/clocks or car licence plates, or even on what side the car is driving on. Also what way clothes are buttoned up. There are lots of tricks.

[@nrosko]

Love it GEO personally i've had so few holidays but know how much they mean to people and structure their memories I really think the family will travel there to re-live that memory.

[@bschuss1]

Absolutely love this series. More so with every new episode. Who would have thought that you end up putting KZbin and your Geoguessr skills together to create something where you actually help people out in this way?

[@griffinmoore]

Great video. I recommend the song "Remember the day" by Sibylle Baier for Cilla's travels. "Sun was high and I found me on the road to Genoa."

[@HogandBun]

Thank you so much, I will listen to these on the journey 🥹

[@stealkar6351]

I hope one day you'll do a geo detective, and as an outro, you check the place by yourself on holiday.

[@flamehairdisaster1]

Tom, that was genius! I didn't think about a reverse image...why would I?! I was thinking that you'd missed a trick and that it was one of the lakes. Well done!

[@Leatherfacet]

Sestri Levante! Was there for a couple of days 2 years ago. Within minutes I thought "Is that Sestri Levante?" Highly recommend it!

[@davidparker5071]

My favourite part of Tom’s channel!

[@dylanimatio]

Your hitchhike vids been deleted I think my dude

[@n2e913]

Copyright strike I'm glad I watched it in time

[@n2e913]

I'm glad I watched it in time since it just got removed

[@AndyMcBlane]

Darn I was going to rewatch it

[@AndyMcBlane]

@off-the-rails copyright strike it seems

[@NowhereBeats]

Wonder what the copyright was for. One of the Euro dance tunes the Yorkshire guys were playing?

[@BrownestHarry]

Thanks Tom. If ur reading this and noticed I didn't comment on ur last video it's bc I watched it on my console, where there's no way to comment. In future: Thank you for all your videos I watch and thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy. Best, Unknown

[@daniellovett577]

Came for the straight lines, stayed for the geolocating family history. I do have to say that after following around on the map I got an ad for sailing the Mediterranean... and I'm not mad about it...

[@geography_czek5699]

22:19 Don´t rent a car. The best way to visit all the towns is by train. You can't even get to some of them by car.

[@sebastianfowles7813]

Loving your Stranglers tee :)

[@kookamunga2458]

Peaches on the beaches.

[@NoName-ex9pl]

That place isn’t called Baia di Silenzia, its Sestri Levante. I was there on Holiday like 2 Months ago and I can’t believe I didn’t immediately recognize it just because the Image was flipped. You can only access the exact location of of the photo nowadays when you are actually staying in the Hotel Helevitca (or you could ask the owners but this place isn’t open to the general public). Sestri Levante has 2 beaches: The Baia di Silenzia (Silent Bay) on the South-east side of the Peninsula which is the Bay shown on the Photo, which is by the way the best sand beach in all of Liguria. And there is the Baia delle Favole (Fairytale Bay) on the North-Western side of the Peninsula, which got its name from the famous Danish author and Fairy Tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, who stayed in Sestri in 1833. When you are in Liguria, definitely visit the cinque Terre National Park with 5 charming villages squeezed between the Mountains and the Sea and the village of San Frutuoso.

[@No19Name94]

If you need more countries for straight line missions: have you considered The Netherlands before? On its smallest point it's just 5 km wide (around Susteren in the province of Limburg).

[@Dhoing]

Please keep us updated on the photo she's most definitely going to take and send you!

[@Dennis-io1ku]

Congratz on the find, another important one. For the future if youre interested in a different approach, i asked chatgpt to give me the top 10 italy tourist destinations in 1960s and after i asked to output me a map with all the locations. the final location where the picture was taken was only a few kilometers away from 2 of the locations on the map chatgpt created for me.

[@jessiuss_juiice]

why would he do that when he greatly enjoys searching himself?? that is the whole point of this video series.

[@dwbrad123]

Been on holiday here few years ago, Sestri Levante. Bakeries, crystal clear water and no fallen trees…

[@ibendiben]

Such a great series this is. Well done again!

[@Bismarck-S]

Hello Tom! Would you consider doing a straight line mission across some province in Sweden in the future? I believe you would like the nature, and the right of roaming makes it easy to talk yourself out of any heated farmer situation

[@beetle2893]

Your next straight line mission should be across ireland

[@fivefortymining3302]

One of the best channels on youtube hands down

[@karlrickysteve7163]

I used to sigh when I saw you post a geo-detective instead of a GeoGuessr video, now I love it and think it's one of the very best series on KZbin

[@RussellB]

amazingly the first image on google maps for that town shows nearly that same location

[@merlinthewizard]

Haven't watched the video yet but why does the notepad have a to-do list for october 2020?

[@samhughes9631]

Bloody hell Tom this is absolutely superb and very moving - bless you for doing such a delightfully personal service which is also insanely good viewing! Congrats on another EXACT! ...Also massive well done for the England mission, despite it being mostly you getting pissed off at trees it was so much better than anything else I've watched in the last... Well, however long it is since Wales :)

[@kim-andresandnes5749]

Greetings from Norway 🇳🇴😁 Discovered your channel recently, and been watching your GeoDetective episodes constantly the last two days. Very addictive, and exiting. Bravo 👏 😃👌👌

[@mfmahoo3867]

do you like ham ?

[@mfmahoo3867]

i like ham !

[@Totally_Not_A_Pigeon]

I like ham!

[@MostlyLoveOfMusic]

go vegan

[@RadioMattM]

Something that might help in the future: most point and shoot cameras had lenses that were wide-angle. A wide angle lens would make things appear farther away than they really are.

[@Nooticus]

Amazing episode as always. The way you turned into a travel agent at the end had me cackling, classic Tom ;) You’ve gotten me so intrigued about the next geodetective episode…

[@jimmyzhao2673]

*Flipping the image* was a masterful stroke of genius ! I'm just amazed at your skills.

[@leorodriguez-vd7qw]

You're a beast, brother. You had me sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation.

[@notmenotme614]

9:55 “We know what shape it is. It’s …errr… mmm …. Ok no we don’t” 😂

[@MxTommy96]

Geodetective videos are great, but special geodetective videos are INCREDIBLE.

[@el_dani]

We just booked Sestri Levante and I knew this picture rings a memory in my head.

[@wbbartlett]

Honestly and with no snark or sarcasm, that is a job well done. A lovely, heart warming result.

[@bongledrot7760]

I came for the straight line mission, I stay for the geo detective vids. This is brilliant

[@HughRaine]

The travel tips at the end! Well done, Tom. Loved this one!

[@cdigdawg]

My favorite series on YT! Well done Tom.

[@steampunkerella]

what a genuinely delightful series. so adorable. teared up a bit

[@Onlygloo]

I absolutely love what you do and always have great fun watching your content. It's so original and that's the kind of stuff YT was originally made for, even if nowadays most of the content "creators" are more interested in creatively copying what's been proven successful with others.

[@Yora21]

As someone growing flowers for flower stores in Germany, I am noticing that they are still having pelargonias in those flower pots. The new image has white ones instead of red, but same type of flower.

[@Ernzt8]

They must have reversed the negative. These series are definitely the most interesting and rewarding. Good job!

[@markylon]

No it's slide film, most photos back in the 60s were slides, whoever scanned it scanned it backwards

[@2e0wmghamradioandkayaking85]

Ahhh, Sestri Levante, I recognised it straight away, such a lovely place. I’ve been twice by flying into Pisa and getting the train. Just below the hotel is a small bar called Citto with a fantastic view of the Bay of Silence. Beautiful, well, done for finding it. Cilla will love it❤️❤️