Fishy

[Vincent S.]

While searching for photographs on eBay, I noticed the following:

Seller X is offering a high amount of high-end photograhs, including many Waffen-SS shots. (I will not mention his name publicaly, nor by PM, as the seller mentioned that these could be early post war prints) At first glance, nothing wrong with these pictures. However, after having seen all his listings, I noticed that many of these photographs - although featuring different developer marks and printed on various sorts of paper - showed certain similarities. For starters, all had a dark border around the actual photograph, which I believe to be a first bad sign. Then I noticed that many photographs had exactly the same patterned edge, which is quite strange, given the fact that they show various motives and different developer marks, most even being printed on different types of paper...

Here is a quick side by side comparison I made, illustrating my observations on how deviecing reproductions can be. Or at least, I believe these to be reproductions/ Post-war prints.


What do you make of this?

Sincerely,
Vincent S.

[lohengrin]

Hi there,

I can confirm that the photo on the right side is a 100% forgery. Not a repro, but a forgery. The photos with this atelier mark are made for only one purpose - to fool collectors. The stamp FOT. ROSSING, Leipzig began appearing on many photos in 2008. I was not able to confirm if this is (former) East German forger or if these photos are made in Poland or the Baltic states. As you said the edges are too perfect to be period photos. I got one of the pictures recently and as soon as I got it in the hand, I knew it is wrong. The guy who distributes these all over the place is from Lobenstein in Germany, it is a dealer from a place called Antikhandel Bethge. He is a smart guy and mixes a lot of original photos with worthless stuff...


Best,

Mark

[PzV]

one also sees imperfections in the photo which means the negative could have been stored a while or encountered other damage. A good friend of mine spent much money on some excellent portrait photos that he purchased in Leipzig which also were somewhat dark. We found that they had been coated to prevent a glow under a black-light and when we scratched the surface they lit up! A well known Austrian (whose family had been in the photo business) was selling photos as originals for years -which were modern reproductions on old paper. After his negatives/motifs became too well know (also colored!) he was searching in our area here in Germany to buy negatives from former photo ateliers. He sold his photos for years at all major European and US markets.

[Zeller]

I recognize the auction style.I bought some nice original pics from that seller but I also saw suspicious prints as well.

[Marco]

Good to know this...me too bought some pics from him, but after that I see this thread I think...STOP! Thanks friends.
Marco

[waldkraiburg]

Yeah, he is a scum!! Lobenstein sold me photos on eBay for 200 Euro, 5 of the photos were fakes, no refund. You should stay away from him, unless you collect reproductions.

Peter

[MLW]

I had a different problem with the seller in post #2 - namely, photos "lost" in the mail and no refund even though I paid for registered mail. The same seller is also known for providing confusing non-answers to questions when asked about refunds or order problems.

Buyer beware.

[MLW]

I want to clarify that in my previous post I am referring to Lobenstein.

[Vincent S.]

Sad to see my initial thoughts confirmed. Hope this thread gets the attention it deserves, thus helping a lot of new and not yet experienced collectors from getting burned.

I am sure that his photographs have fooled a lot of people, and will continue to do so...

Sincerely,
Vincent S.

[Zeller]

this answers my question on how he always list top portraits.
I checked the pictures I got from him and they look legitimate. They were mostly HJ or Flak Helfer pics, though. I had problems with him regarding the shipping costs and had no answers for long time. Almost did not send the payment because the cost was inflated.

[lohengrin]

Here is one of the prime examples from Mr. Bethge. He offered me a collection of Polizei photos. I bought it, as I had the opportunity to examine all the photos carefully in person, but mixed among them were about dozen post WWII forgeries, including this portrait. I passed on the rest, but I still got this one for my reference collection... So, if you collect WWII originals - NEVER EVER buy photos with the ROSSING atelier stamp....

Mark

[JWL]

A studio-portrait on Agfa-Lupex paper like that..??

These fakes seem to gain in numbers on ebay. Here's another one.

http://cgi.ebay.de/Portrait-Uscha-Pa...item1c0e3531a6

[Thomas H]

A studio-portrait on Agfa-Lupex..??

Hi JW,

Can you enlighten us why this is impossible?

Groet, Thomas

[JWL]

Hi Thomas,

I think my point wasn't clear, so I adjusted my post a little.

Ofcourse it is not impossible, although from all the photo's I handeled, I only had a few (like 3 / 200) studio-portraits on Agfa-Lupex paper. All were late-war and of inferior quality. Remember that studio-portraits, even late in the war, were of 'high(er)' quality and preferable not developed on these kinds of photopaper.

Have you ever seen a photo with 7 agfa-lupex stamps btw..?

KR,

J-W

[lohengrin]

Hi Thomas,

I think my point wasn't clear, so I adjusted my post a little.

Ofcourse it is not impossible, although from all the photo's I handeled, I only had a few (like 3 / 200) studio-portraits on Agfa-Lupex paper. All were late-war and of inferior quality. Remember that studio-portraits, even late in the war, were of 'high(er)' quality and preferable not developed on these kinds of photopaper.

Have you ever seen a photo with 7 agfa-lupex stamps btw..?

KR,

J-W

This is 100% correct... There is no Agfa Lupex paper that has this many logo stamps. Also, the font is incorrect, the image quality is inferior... These are not early post-WWII copies - these are forgeries and fakes... They have been made in past 2 years to fool collectors.

Be careful EVERY portrait in this group by this seller is a fake.

Mark