Publishing your photos - what's your opinion?

[Rick White]

I think another way to address John's topic is with the question "are our photos worth LESS when they are published." The answer is yes. The price of unpublished photos is significantly higher than ones that have appeared in books/magazines/web sites. If you are looking at preserving the value of your investment, do not share them for publication...and be careful about who you share scans with in general.

Rick

[tobau]

I agree with Rick and he is a knowledge photo man !

[R MICHAEL]

Now this is a question I have asked myself. I have had one of my photos published and one other soon. The value question isn't a determining factor in wether I publish, but to be honest I do think about it in the back of my mind. So this is food for thought in the future.

Mike

I think another way to address John's topic is with the question "are our photos worth LESS when they are published." The answer is yes. The price of unpublished photos is significantly higher than ones that have appeared in books/magazines/web sites. If you are looking at preserving the value of your investment, do not share them for publication...and be careful about who you share scans with in general.

Rick

[Eric JB]

Gentlemen,

Well I did help some authors with their pubications, but not all of them kept their word to credit me as the owner of the original material.
I did see my own documents back as........."authors collection" !!!
And there were also a couple of books where the author decided that it looks more interesting for his book to say that the photo(s) did come from the veteran, instead from a dutchman !!!, so my name wasn't with the photo or the document at all.

I am still helping some authors at the moment and it still is a matter of trust.

yours
Eric-Jan Bakker

[CSP]

John:
As an aspiring - and serious - author (I am actually writing now, have done photo research in the Bundesarchiv and document research in the National Archives, and am beginning to talk with a publisher), I greatly appreciate when a collector will share their exceptional photos for publication (I am not that far along yet to where I know what I am missing or discover things I want).

That said, the process, if you have never done it...or worse...if it is your first time as it is mine... is hellishly tedious and time consuming - years in teh making. While I am not relying on collectors heavily right now - I have no doubt I will need help and am keeping a list of whom I will ask when I have it together enough to do so.

Even writing the 5-6 cufftitle articles I did for Wehrmacht Awards (these were how I decided to cut my teeth at writing 6 years ago), I at times lost track of who provided what to me. I certainly wanted to give credit where credit was due, but even as hard as I tried, I goofed here and there. However, I never took credit for something that was not mine. This is why for "my"book, I am waiting until I can plug in exactly what I need from others.

If people are asking you for items - not just photos - I recommend that you explore their project some with them unless it is someone you trust off-hand. For example, Frank Huekemes has published and is working on a second book. He's asked me for photos (and I am sure others). I have no doubt Frank will do it all right - and while it is taking me seemingly forever to do what he's asked, I will do it for him with complete confidence he will credit things to me. Neil Stewart and his partner have been working on a book for several years...I knew Neil through collecting and sent him some of my uniforms to photo. That book is not out yet, but we discussed how credit would be given and there is no problems there either.

Not everyone wants the same kind of credit and it can get tedious to accomdate everyone's idiocyncracies. Some authors thus, tend to just list credit in the front of the book as a result.

No doubt that there are others that will not do it right.

[Bob Lyons]

I supplied several period photgraphs to some of the Bender series of books, written by Jack Angolia, and sent several original photos to him, I did get the credits to some, and several I didn't, and on one photograph that I have never owned is also credited to me, (I think that is in the KM books), but as to the volume that he was working on, I really didn't mind, as I was never the person who originally took the photographs, I was just the person who scrounged them many years after the event, and I would like to think that the photos are of use to collectors and historians, as I was never after any monetary gain from it, to me it is a hobby that I hope we can all enjoy, and maybe the original person who took the photos may see that they still exist, but he would be getting very long in the tooth by now though! I can understand that a collector who has paid a lot of money, time and effort to obtain a fine collection of photographs, and through good faith puts some of them onto a forum such as this, and fraudulent individuals rip them off and add their own names to them in some other publications, as this has become a fairly lucrative business over the past few years, but for me, I am happy to share any of the photos that I own with any genuine collectors, and I enjoy this thread and some of the fantastic photos that have been shown over the time of it's existance, but I have rambled on for too long, so will close,

Still collecting

Cheers

Bob

[trotlin13]

I think another way to address John's topic is with the question "are our photos worth LESS when they are published." The answer is yes. The price of unpublished photos is significantly higher than ones that have appeared in books/magazines/web sites. If you are looking at preserving the value of your investment, do not share them for publication...and be careful about who you share scans with in general.

A robust discussion - but I have stark reservations with the statement quoted above. With the exception of film, no other medium conveys the perspective of an historical event more than the simple photograph. By publishing your photos, you not only allow fellow collectors to share your passion, but you enrich the perspective of future generations who are afforded the opportunity to learn from past experience. While I appreciate Rick's position who, incidentally, is responsible for the majority of my own collection, I believe that "history" should never be secreted away in a private collection when it has a chance to be shared and enjoyed by others. My opinion - publish, publish, publish!

[astarr]

It's always amazing to me to continue to find one more color image from WW2 out there... you'd think by now most have been published. I always appriciate the folks on this forum (and others) that use their time and resources to publish (online or otherwise) their material. I try to scan and upload what I can when time allows, but the private collections have a such a intimate nature of the war. Some collections are vast, but inaccessible, like the collection in Germany that was the source for the book "The Onslaught" about Staingrad. The author admits there is a larger collection, and I think I have seen bits and pieces of this collection in sources such as "Ground Power" magazine or "Tank Magazine" from Japan (superb reference materals). If you like color photos, the folks at "Luftwaffe im Focus" have a color issue out (if you can find it, it's OOP), but they claim to be working on a "Heer im Focus" to publish this year.

Cheers!
Astarr

[W Petz]

As many of you know I have shared alot of my photos on the forum and gladly so but have been very selective on allowing my photos to be published. Usually the person is someone well known and trusted such as Karl-Heinz Muench who is a very good friend of mine in Germany and Frank Heukemes. I have been in contact with a few other aspiring authors that I'm trying to accommodate as well but I don't grant all requests. I believe it is a personal choice to publish your photos and not like some who have said that you have to publish. I don't have to publish anything! - Bill

[Maisalto]

For several years now, I´ve been the chief editor of Mais Alto, the Portuguese Air Force magazine. ( http://www.emfa.pt/www/po/maisalto/ http://www.emfa.pt/www/po/maisalto/a...s.php?ano=2005 ) and I know how difficult it is to illustrate an historical article with photos that are 60 or 70 years old.
People tend to keep those treasured images for themselves, not realizing that a photo that isn´t shared by publishing, is a photo that doesn´t exist.

[Maikäfer]

Should I charge a cost for allowing my photos to become published? Im not sure if I should just send them the scans or asking some sort of small fee?

[Larrister]

As you all know I am a regular poster of photos on this and other forums.
This I do because I like to share my collection with others. I don't see my collection as an investment.
I have sent photos to several people for books and magazines. Some have given me credit and a couple of others I have not heard back from.
A lot of my photos have been posted to this great forum so that the many knowledgeable people out there can give me valuable information about them.
This would not be the case if my collection was locked away.
Got to go now and post some more photos!

Cheers
Larry

[Joachim_Nilsson]

Right now I would have to say that I'm at a cross-roads of sorts. I certainly agree that items connected to history, as well as historical information itself, definately should be shared.

I only have a small collection of photos, all of them from a personal photo album belonging to my grandfather. And that's what also puts me at the cross-roads... While I some time ago couldn't wait to have them scanned and posted on the internet, I'm now in a place where I really don't know what to do. All of a sudden I became very uncomfortable with the thought of posting scans of them online. To me it's not a question about monetary value or anything like that. I'm having a hard time explaining why it makes me feel so uncomfortable, but if I were to second guess myself, I'd say that it's too personal. These pictures have been in my family ever since the war, and not many people have seen them besides my grandmother, my mother and myself.

That being said; for quite some time know I've harbored thoughts on writing something about my grandfather, be it a lengthy forum post, an article or a book -so you will probably find it very ironic to say the least, that I'm wexed over posting them online.

On the other hand I'm also doing (slightly amateurish) research on my grandfather, and since I'm so curious about his ribbon bar (and have just recently sent in a request to WASt), perhaps I should just try my hand at applying a watermark on them and then go ahead with posting. Because right now I've been staring myself blind at that ribbon bar and to me it looks like it could be just about anything...

[Rob Kopan]

I've had a few photos published. I agree with Necker's statement in that as long as I have the original I don't mind them using it and my getting the credit for it. I'm a bit trusting, though, in the fact that I seldom watermark my photos. I've uploaded most of my collection onto my website and a few here. Am I being foolish? I'm assuming they would have to ask permission before using them, right? Hmmm...

[Paul Henley]

Right now I would have to say that I'm at a cross-roads of sorts. I certainly agree that items connected to history, as well as historical information itself, definately should be shared.

I only have a small collection of photos, all of them from a personal photo album belonging to my grandfather. And that's what also puts me at the cross-roads... While I some time ago couldn't wait to have them scanned and posted on the internet, I'm now in a place where I really don't know what to do. All of a sudden I became very uncomfortable with the thought of posting scans of them online. To me it's not a question about monetary value or anything like that. I'm having a hard time explaining why it makes me feel so uncomfortable, but if I were to second guess myself, I'd say that it's too personal. These pictures have been in my family ever since the war, and not many people have seen them besides my grandmother, my mother and myself.

That being said; for quite some time know I've harbored thoughts on writing something about my grandfather, be it a lengthy forum post, an article or a book -so you will probably find it very ironic to say the least, that I'm wexed over posting them online.

On the other hand I'm also doing (slightly amateurish) research on my grandfather, and since I'm so curious about his ribbon bar (and have just recently sent in a request to WASt), perhaps I should just try my hand at applying a watermark on them and then go ahead with posting. Because right now I've been staring myself blind at that ribbon bar and to me it looks like it could be just about anything...

Joachim, I think your concern is justified. I'm all for sharing images. It's a window into a past that should not be forgotten or lost. However, you should protect your heirlooms from those that may potentially profit without expressed permission from you.

In addition to applying watermarks, I would also recommend that you submit your photos to the Library of Congress for copyright registration. You can submit the whole batch with one registration fee and registration allows you to successfully protect your images from infringement. That's not to say you could not pursue legal avenues without a registration (since photos are copyrighted the moment of creation), but registration gives you a solid foundation to pursue litigation should the parties involved failed to resolve the matter.

I've already had two incidents where people have used my photographs without my permission, so I take this thing very seriously and no longer allow good intentions and/or some naive hope that others will do the right and honorable thing with my images.