Old Photographs forms one movement of Hatzis' multimedia theatre work Constantinople, as well as enjoying life as a stand-alone work. It has been particularly championed by the Gryphon Trio, for whom the work was written. Old Photographs differs from the rest of Constantinople in drawing entirely on Western musical idioms and provides a strong emotional contrst to the rest of the work. It opens with solo piano, in a theme Hatzis describes as "reminiscent of the music of Robert Schumann." With the entry of the violin and cello, the music begins a stylistic drift towards what he considers "early 20th century popular idioms reminiscent of Astor Piazzola." In the latter half of the work, the composer draws on his experience of tonal analysis to build many-layered polytonal textures in an increasingly exuberant and virtuosic tango.

In addition to its role in Constantinople, Hatzis considers Old Photographs to be a part of his Parlor Music collection. The collection is a group of concert works for small chamber ensembles drawing on early 20th century music forms, and combines works written for the collection, with works like Old Photographs drawn from other sources.