Genuine photos?

[katzwhiskaz]

I have recently started to collect old photos of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis (nearly all from USA) how do i tell if it's a genuine vintage original or a reproduction? I dont want to get ripped off and pay a lot for a fake.

[tonymclark]

The only way is to look at the print itself, difficult if you are buying from the States ( I imagine you are buying over the Internet ).

You can pick up prints at collectors fairs in Britain. In London there are film fairs every couple of months at the Methodist Cenral Hall in Westminster.

Most original prints from the Studios will have information for the press on the back, either printed directly on the reverse, or printed on paper and stuck on the back as a form of press release.

To look at the print itself, it is all down to the grain of the photographic paper. Most copies are made by re-photographing a print, and this leads to a softer image, sometimes with more contrast. There may not be so much detail in the image, or whites may appear a little grey. Most prints will have a negative number in the corner of the image, which may be missing or cropped on a copy ( though it may be only some studios that did this ).

[katzwhiskaz]

Hi Tony

Many thanks for your reply. I understand what you are getting at, but i'm still none the wiser. I suppose you would have to have a bit of experience to know whats fake and whats genuine. I have just bought a photo off ebay for $16.95 and it was listed as a vintage original by George Hurrell which seems hard to believe as i have seen a few of Hurrells photos sell for �50 upwards.So maybe i have been ripped off.

[joko]

they may be making brand new copies from the negatives so i suppose it about what you class as original