How to tell from a copy photo to an original

[Willi Von Klugerman]

This thread is for those who are collectors and need information that will help them tell if a photo is an original or a copy.So all you experts in this field,share your information that would help beginer collectors!

[tcrean7828]

Originally Posted by Willi Von Klugerman

This thread is for those who are collectors and need information that will help them tell if a photo is an original or a copy.So all you experts in this field,share your information that would help beginer collectors!

Mate,
In my experience the pictures that I know are dated, show a zigzag-edge to the pictures, the texture is a bit thicker than that of photo's produced today. I say this 'cus I have been looking at pictures from days gone by for some 50 years or so.
Sometime they are stamped on the back with the person who processed the picture (a form of advertisement) and they are about a fourth/to half of the size of the Kodak pictures of today. The pictures are visually grainer than todays but clean, crisp and sharp, so if you blow them up, the detail of the snapshot's are clearly seen.
Also, (I believe) blow up's were not the norm and a blow up was the size of the average SANKA postcard.
Prints made from glass plates are crisp to the enth degree, and any imperfections show up quite visably. (I.E. an example would be - Werner Voss standing next to his F.I 103/17. If you see a picture where there is a scratch at the lower end of the Propeller, that one came from a glass print, the one's that have been cleaned up do not show that imperfection. Another example, Werner Voss sitting in his triplane for a engine run-up: the one that shows an ink stain from top to bottom on the right side of the picture, came from an original glass plate, while the pictures that are clean, were touched up a bit.) It also might mean that there were some pictures taken before somone spilled ink on the glass negative. (my guess).

And to top it all off, good forgers can fool almost anyone, including me. All 'n all - let the buyer be ware.

ttfn

tcrean7828

tom

[Jim]

The difficulty with photos is you have originals that were made right after the photo was taken, copies that were made from the original negatives any time from a few years to yesterday, and then photos of photos that could have been made at any time but are normallly from fairly recent times. The only way to be sure you have a print from the era is through unquestioned provenance, or one that is marked with period markings and stamps on the back.