What do you buy?

[Karl B]

Hi

What do you buy when you pay for a photo?

Do you pay for the image or the whole photo?

What am I on?

I have made a few purchases of single photos from different sources and some have been removed from an album. I do not have a problem with this as I see it as they are going to a better home. Some of these have sustained damaged to the back of the photo when they were ripped off the page. The damage has ranged from a few thin layers of the backing paper missing to huge sections missing and only the image remaining. You can hold it up the light and see right through.

I have yet to be told by the sellers that this damage is present, especially if it is great.

What are your feelings? Are you buying the image and as long as it is in good condition then no problem or do you buy the whole photo including the back?

Cheers

Karl

[Jon9]

hello guys,
i have been collecting photos for about 2 years now. i seem to look for a decent setting with in the photo. I seem to also look at the condition within such as creases and rips! for me these 2 things are not a problem because i would repair the photos in photoshop. But maybe they would be a problem to some collectors. we all have diffrent opinions on what really creates a good photo. For my self i collect nice crisp winter images, i find them very exciting to veiw. And they are easy to set an example of easy photoshop coulouring. But agian thats my opinion
I collect the photos and enlarge them and get them printed off at my local photoshop and place them in cheap green albums with a small slip stuck below the photo with a bit of historical background to what the photos is all about. almost like a book huh?

regards

Jonny.

[Simon O.]

The image and what it shows is the important thing, unless there's information written on the back.

As for ripping photos out of an album. I personally think it's dispicable and is motivated solely by profit. Much historical information which a complete album could give is spread to the four winds.

[Joe Slavick]

I believe the photo as a whole is important....The image, the backing and the condition.

I collect in a very specific and small niche'. So with few photos to be had in the first place, I always hope to have a good sharp image, a complete backing and an overall photo in good condition with hopefully no bends, creases or tears.

The best for me is then to have written information on the back to then research and put a name to the face and a place to the location on the photo.

I just can't stand to see photos that are removed from an album. A lot of information has been lost forever because complete albums provide so many more clues and offer more of a chance to research than single photos do.

Joe Slavick

[Todd Gylsen]

I, too, cannot stand it when photos are ripped out of albums. I had a dealer sell me a grouping of photos from the same guy and then the dealer had attempted to sell me the album which he ripped all the photos out of! It was now impossible to put all the photos back in the correct places in the album. What a shame!

I collect mainly press photos and prefer to have the photo with the paper caption still atached. To me, most of the value is lost when the caption gets ripped off. So much information is lost when the caption goes in the trash.