Assignment #1 : Introductory Reading
Assignment #3: Gelatin Silver Prints
Assignment #4: Daguerreotypes, tintypes, ambrotypes and other ‘hard’ early photos
Assignment #5: Stamps and Tags
Assignment #6: Color Photographs
Assignment #7: Real Photo Postcards
Assignment #8: Antique Mounted and Card Photographs
Assignment #9: News Photos and Press Photos
Assignment #10: More News Photos
Assignment #12: Other Antique Paper Photo Processes
Assignment #13: Modern Photomechanical and Digital Processes
Assignment: Read chapter 30 in the textbook (free pdf version here or purchase hard copy here).
This assignment would involve final discussion covering bringing all the past reading and assignments together to make final judgments about photographs. As discussed in Assignment #1, you will be confident about the identity of some photos, not quite sure about some and others will be outside of your realm of knowledge and experience. Some photos you will be certain about the general age and identity but not some specific details. For example, you may be confident a photo is an original cabinet card from the 1800s, but can’t pinpoint it to the 1870s or 1880s. You may be certain a photo is vintage, but are unsure if the less than perfect image was printed from the original negative. You may believe a photo is ‘printed later,’ but not sure how many years later. If you don’t know, you don’t know and it does no one, including yourself, any good to be more specific in your answer than warranted. Also, most collectors and dealers are specialists. Few people are experts in all areas and eras of photographs, and even fewer in all subjects in the images (baseball players, politicians, geography, etc). You aren’t expected to know everything, because no one does.
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Course Assignments:
Assignment: Re-read chapters 29 in the textbook (free pdf version here or purchase hard copy here).
There are a wide variety of photomechanical and digitial processes that are used to make modern original photographs and reprints (including forgeries) of old photographs. This includes photolithography, screen printing and various computer processes. Some processes make near photographic quality images, while other are easily identified as non-photographs even at naked eye level. There are too many digital processes to cover here, but this post will offer many common ones.
The old photomechanical processes photoengraving, collotype, gravure and wooddburytype were covered in assignment #7. Again, those three processes are no longer used commercially but still used today by some artists. If you identify an item as being one of those prints, that is constant with it being old.
Halftone Lithography
Halftone lithographs, which can be used to reproduce color and monotone photos along with paintings and other art, are easily differentiated from real photos due to the visible dot/ink pattern under magnification. Halftone lithography has been widely used commercially to reproduce photos and art for magazines, calendars, postcards, record album covers, trading cards, posters and much much more.
Early 1900s lithographs are often aesthetically pleasing and colorful but don’t resemble real photos even at the naked eye level. They more resemble little paintings or colorized picture.
Modern photolithographs are much more photorealistic at the naked eye level, but, again, the dot ink structure under magnification gives it away.
Photolithographs can be dated by the ink consistency and color and printing patterns, but this is covered in the future other course on prints. This course is photo-centric.
Screen Printing, Seriography, Silk Screen
A screen print or serigraph won’t be mistaken for a real photograph, as it doesn’t have the photorealistic detail or quality and the artists usually aren’t trying to make photorealistic designs. As with lithography, this printing is covered more in the prints course.
Computer prints
Computers, including many home computers, can make high quality digital images and reproductions of old photos. Reproductions of old photos are identified by the modern paper (and no-photographic paper), ink pattern, etc. Some have dot patters, while others have line or mesh patterns. Some times the pattern can be subtle and it takes careful examination.
Many of today’s artists make original computer digital prints. Clearly, when investing in modern original digital photography, provenance, certification, photographer stamps and signatures are important. These days you can buy digital photos directly from the photographer.
More advanced photorealistic digital photos
Beyond the home computer printer, there are now much more advanced and quality digital methods to make very quality digital photos. Some have clear ink/printing patterns under the microscope, while others have barely.
Some have to be printed on specific photopaper that is identified by the branding on back. The branding will often make it clear it is a digital print (ala ‘Fuju Digial Print’)
A future short course on identifying these computer prints will be available in the future. However, if you wish to delve into the topic now, the following are some good online sources
An outdated but extensive look at identifying digital prints by conservator Martin Jurgins
graphicsatlas.org— and excellent all-purpose site identifying photographic and non-photographic processes. Hosted by the Rochester Institute of Technology.
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Course Assignments:
Assignment: This post is about salted paper prints, cyanotypes, platinum prints, carbon prints and gum bichromate prints. Read chapters 14 in the textbook (free pdf version here or purchase hard copy here).
Notes/highlights on these processes/photos:
Cyanotypes: Fairly common and simple to identify due to the bright blue (cyan tone). Used to make a variety of types of photos, including antique real photo postcards, snapshots, cabinet cards and CDVs. Can see paper fibers under microscope. No silvering, often lacking aging to image.
Salted paper prints: Rare and highly desirable process. Usually identified by early date (1840-1860), brownish tones and matte surface (albumen prints are usually though not always glossy). Can see paper fibers in image. Images can be blurry/mottled if printed from paper negative or sharp and clear if printed from glass negative. Can have significant deterioration to image and paper due to aging. Salted paper print images have the same texture as the paper they are printed on.
Gum bichromates have a distinct artistic/charcoal or pastel sketch look, often blurry quality distinct to other processes. Do a google search to view old and new gum bichromate photos and all their artistic designs.
Platinum prints can come in different tones, including brownish, but are often a distinctly steely black and white, They are scarce, have superior images, have matte surfaces and lack silvering that is often found on period gelatin silver and albumen prints. Matte surface gelatin silver prints are sometimes mistaken for platinum prints, but you can see the paper fibers under the microscope in the image of a platinum print but not with a gelatin-silver print. If an old platinum print was stored in contact with another piece of paper, such as in a stack of photos or a folder, there will often be a transfer image on the other sheet– a lighter ‘ghost’ image. This is a sure sign the photo is platinum print. My experience is that while platinum prints are much rarer than albumen prints and gelatin silver prints, they can be found and you likely will come across them now and then in antique stores, estate sales and the like.
Carbon prints are scare and valuable. They are glossy in the dark areas bot not the light– so the glossiness will differ in different parts of a single photo image. The paper fibers can be seen under magnification. Under strong magnification, you can sometimes pigment particles and the surface often has a textured, relief surface.
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All of these old time processes are still made, though only by artists and skilled photo enthusiasts. They are no longer used commercially. The modern subject and artistic style usually is a clear giveaway a photo is modern and, as they are sold by artists who want full credit, they are usually clearly advertised as modern creations. Also remember the always useful black light test for identifying modern paper. Modern photo paper is usually quite thick and lack aging signs.
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Course Assignments:
Reading this column I wrote for Sports Collectors Daily (opens in new page): ‘The Importance of Provenance in Collecting‘
The article is sports memorabilia-centric but the basic concepts apply to photos and most everything collected.
Many photographs or important details about the photo are identified in part by where they came from. While many photos by famous photographers have the photographers stamp for simple identification, some will have no such markings and the source will be essential to photographer identification. Perhaps a photo came from the photographer’s personal archives or a studio he worked for. Perhaps the seller is a recognized expert and his identification opinion holds great weight. I have had unstamped photos that I knew came from the photographer’s studio and, correspondence with the photographer, he said he had made them. I’ve had unstamped and unmarked news photos where I knew exactly which newspaper archives they came from. Researching images online has identified the famous photographer of a photograph.
As the article demonstrates, studying the provenance and history can uncover forgeries, altered and stolen items.
And buying from knowledgeable and known reputable sellers just makes common sense, especially when buying online and being only able to view online images. If you don’t know the seller, you can usually tell if he knows what he is talking about by reading the descriptions of all his photo auctions. And you can often quickly identify a scammer or someone who clearly has no clue. The more knowledgeable and experienced you are, the better you can judge the knowledge and experience of the seller.
The stamps and tags discussed Assignment #5 are documentation of provenance and are clearly helpful in authentication. An authentic United Press International stamp on the back of a photo shows it came from UPI.
Also, while provenance can be a great help and offer invaluable information, it can be forged or have erroneous information, so authentication involves examining the totality of an item, not just the piece of paper that accompanied it. It doesn’t matter that a letter from the estate says a photo is from the 1880s, because a Polaroid can’t be from the 1880s. The Polaroid process was invented in the 1900s. The photo itself proves the LOA wrong. Provenance can help verify a photo, but the photo can help verify the provenance. You look at the totality of the information available, and not just one detail. For an authentic item, it will all come together, each detail supporting the other. If that Polaroid was instead an abumen cabinet card from the ancestor’s local photography studio, that would support the letter from the family.
Provenance and historical details may not be necessary for authentication or add to the resale value, but are interesting. Photos are historical artifacts. Knowing a cabinet card came from Minnesota can be interesting to know.
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Course Assignments:
Assignment: Read chapters 22, 23, 24 and 25 in the textbook (free pdf version here or purchase hard copy here).
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Assignment #10 Homework questions:
36) What is the difference between a wire photo and an original photo?
37) How do you identify a news photo as a wirephoto?
38) All other things equivalent (same subject, age, size, condition, etc), what will be worth more: a wire photo or an original new photo?
39) Describe some type of production marks that can be found on news photos and what was their purpose?
40) Some collectors like productions marks on photos and other don’t. Some take it on a case per case situation– for example, not minding notes on back but preferring the front image not to be ‘marred’ by marks. What is your personal taste?
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Course Assignments:
Assignment: Read chapters 17, 18 and 19 in the textbook (free pdf version here or purchase hard copy here).
Notes:
As you’ve already read about gelatin silver prints, stamps and tags, you already have a big start on news photos. With that information, you should have no trouble identifying and dating most news photos.
Just a few examples of news and press photos, showing why they are so popularly collected:
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Course Assignments:
Assignment: Read chapter 10 (Early Mounted Photographs) in the textbook (free pdf version here or purchase hard copy here).
Additional notes:
In general, mounted photos are dated by a combination of the image subject, the process (albumen = 1800s, gelatin silver usually 1900s) and the style of the mount. Many fakes are identified when the mount and subject don’t match (ala a 1910 image of Teddy Roosevelt on an 1860s cabinet mount). Also realize that in the old days many famous images (Abe Lincoln, Custer, George Washington) were reprinted years later, so you can find a genuine 1890s cabinet card showing, say, Lincoln in the 1860s. That the image is albumen demonstrates the cabinet is vintage 1890s, and not some modern forgery.
Though photographic images are by far most common, CDVs and cabinets can be found with etchings, engravings, lithographs and other ink and printing press prints affixed to them instead of photos. These are also collectible.
Some fakes have a digital reprint of a desirable image (famous baseball player, famous Western outlaw, other) pasted to a genuine antique mount. The digital print is pasted over the old image. The print itself can be identified as fake by the dot pattern under magnification or black light test, and often the image and mount don’t match up (ala 1910s image on 1860s mount).
The mounts themselves are usually easy to identify as genuine/antique, as they were factory cut, often professionally embossed and gilded and show signs of age– toning, foxing, smell old and musty, bone dry.
Further online resources:
Some use thickness of the mount to help date CDVs. An online guide this subject is at http://www.classyarts.com/howto.htm?part=DCPthickness
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Homework questions for Assignment #8
30) Carte de visite is French for what?
31) What are the dimensions of a cabinet card?
32) A cabinet card is larger or smaller than a carte de visite?
33) What are the dimensions of a boudoir card?
34) Describe what a crayon and chalk portrait photograph looks like.
35) What are the dimensions of a Swiss card?
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Course Assignments:
Assignment: Read chapters 11 (real photo postcards) in the textbook (free pdf version here or purchase hard copy here).
Antique photomechanical postcards with photorealstic images
Beyond real photo postcards, in the old days there were many photo-realistic postcards made from photomechanical (ink and printing press not photography) postcards that resemble real photo cards. They are identified as photomechanical by the ink and printing patterns under magnification. Though ink and printing press prints are really beyond the topic of this course, this post will look at the common antique photomechanical postcards. These are also popularly collected.
Collotype: Collotype real photo postcards have a matte suface and under the microscope have a distinct reticulated pattern, meaning an assortment of different shape pieces. I often say it looks like a bowl of noodles. At normal naked eye level, the images are usually sepia or black and white. Albertype was a company that made collotype printing, so the Albertye Co. name on back will identify a collotype.
Photoengraving. Many antique photorealistic postcards are photoengravings. Under the microscope the printing has a dot pattern a distinct dark rim to the edges, from how the ink as physically pressed to the edges during printing. Any text on the postcard will have a similar dark edge or rim to th printing. Photoengraving is still used in the fine art, but hasn’t used commercially for many years, so this ink pattern demonstrates the old age of a postcard.
Photogravure/gravure/rotogravure. This type of antique printing made excellent photoreastic images. There are two main types. Photogravure has speckly quality under the microscope while rotogravure has a distinct mesh-like pattern.
The key is if you have an otherwise antique looking postcard that matches the above, you can be confident it is antique.
Also note that these processes aren’t reserved only for postcards, but other antique prints and the fine arts. Many old magazines, premiums and prints are made from these processes.
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Homework questions for assignment #7
28) According to chapter 11, what are the differences (both in physical look and time period) between a ‘Postcard Era’ postcard and a ‘Divided Back’ postcard?
29) According to the stampbox listing in the chapter, what era does the ‘AZO (2 triangles up, 2 triangles down)’ stampbox come from?
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Course Assignments:
Assignment: Read chapters 9 (c-prints) and 14 (rarer paper processes) in the textbook (free pdf version here or purchase hard copy here).
Though few photo collectors know it, it’s an easy lesson to learn.
There are four standard color photographic processes/prints: c-print (chromogentic), dye-transfer, Cibachrome and Polaroid. The popular significance attached to each process is the quality and durability of the images. Some have better images than others, and some images last longer than others. Brief summary is as follows:
chromogenic print (also known as c-print). Very common– most color snap shots, 8x10s, family photos, graduation photos, etc are c-prints. Early c-prints have a matte/fiber based back and glossy front, while more modern have smooth/plasticy backs and gossy fronts. They often have various Kodak, Fuji, Agfa and other photopaper brandings on back. The dye transfers and cibachromes don’t have these brandings. Older c-prints tend to fade and gain a magenta tone, while dye transfers and cibarchromes barely fade with age.
Polaroid: Common. Distinct look. Backs are plasticy and say Polaroid, Fuji Polaroid or Fujifilm on the back, the front border is matte while the central image area is glossy. They often have a larger bottom white border than the sides and top. Each photo is unique and almost always original.
Dye-transfer: Rare and high end/expensive. Used by fine art and for exhibits. Matte texture front and back. High quality images and do not fade over time. Digital prints can be on matte paper.
Cibachrome (aka Illfachrome): Scarce and high end. High quality, long lasting images, used in fine art and for exhibit photos. Ultra glossy fronts, common jet black borders, smooth plasticy backs. No photobranding (Kodak, Agfa, Fuji, other) on back. The fronts are so glossy it seems to be like the surface of a pool of water, and the images often have a 3D-like quality. My favorite process.
Homework questions for Assignment #625) How do you tell the difference between a dye transfer and a cibachrome photograph?
26) If a true color photo is matte/fibery on back and glossy on front, it is a c-print. True or false?
27) If someone shows you a ‘1950 color photo,’ what qualities would support that photo indeed indeed being old versus modern reprint?’
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Course Assignments:
Online Course in Photograph Identification and Authentication 