Thinks happen: Relative Value - The Found Photograph Dilemma

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.)
The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

What an angel looks like.

~ NataLHA says: thank you! =*

moos says: Precious. It always bothers me knowing that people toss out photos when they don't know the subjects.

anyjazz65 says: Thanks. I cannot imagine how this photograph could not be in the possession of someone who cares. It is full of the character of a beautiful child.

She is probably a great-great grandmother by now.

I am trying hard to avoid becoming obsessive about these abandoned old photographs. I know I can't save them all. There is such a wealth of history and art in old photographs. I will just do my part.

opie_jeanne says: You and I need therapy, I think. The abandoned photos are calling me too, but there are so many.

Gary M says: Nice find, thanks for posting :)

anyjazz65 Says: Thanks for your visit Gary M.

@ opie jeanne: Okay, it's me and YOU, chinabob, art naphro, angel shark, gem66, mr. waterslide, Frank Lavigne, vintagephoto and about a hundred others on Flickr.

WE will rescue ALL of them! YES! (Do you think I should increase my therapist appointments to three-a-day?)

white intermezzo says: this brings a smile to my lips ~ )

opie_jeanne says: I think three days would be better. I was going to say I'd join you, but someone might take that all wrong.

anyjazz65 says:
@white intermezzo: She certainly is a peach.

@opie jeanne: Maybe we can all go and get a special rate.

arch_eman says: Beautiful dess... & very innocent look

anyjazz65 Says: Thanks arch eman. The look appealed to me also. I see a bit of mischievousness behind that innocent face too.

Omega418 says: Adorable angel. This is someone's great grandmother perhaps.....but hey, she's our family now.

anyjazz65 says: Ah, I love that. "She's our family now." That's great! That she is. Thanks for that.

fridak61 says: what a precious baby, i want one!

anyjazz65 says: Everyone wants an angel like this.

apres-midi says: I treasure mine..... someone who was moving to a smaller house gave me a littllel box of childrens' portraits. She didn't know who they were as they didn't match family
members. Possibly they were children of her grandparents friends. Lost children, mine by 'adoption'.

anyjazz65 says: You are so lucky to have had such a gift. It shows you the relative value of these photographs. This person didn't know who they were so they were worthless. You had no connection, so they were priceless. Fodder for ponder.

apres-midi says: Beautiful statement, anyjazz65. Give me chills (good ones). May I use that quote? I think it could be appropriate to add a story to the back of each photo for whoever should own them next.

anyjazz65 says: Of course. Please use the idea where ever it works. Relative value is a whole anecdote in itself. I once found a hundred-year old tintype with the dealer’s price scratched into the front face of the tiny print. Worthless to the dealer, and now, worth LESS to me. I wonder if he marked his antique furniture the same way.

My apologies for the upcoming ramble/rant but somehow I need to say this stuff now and then. As Pete Barbuti used to say: “Where is all this written down?”

Yes, many of these old “found photographs” need additional comment. Perhaps every impression or detail noticed needs documentation. Who knows what historian will benefit from these notes a hundred years from today?

As you have probably noticed, additional impressions (usually with humorous intent) have been added to many of the photographs in this stream.

While considering adding notations directly on the photograph, the following event tempered my decision. I ran across one photograph (the Fulsom Family picture) where on at least one occasion someone had added their interpretation of what had been written originally on the back. Their effort only obscured the original notation and it wasn’t completely correct anyway. Then another dealer wrote a catalog number and a price in the middle of that, obscuring it more. This saddened me so much that I decided then that I would not make any notes directly on the photographs.

There are only two things that will be possibly important to all “found photographs”: when and where they were found. Those facts may eventually have some connection to their source or meaning. Most of these photographs can be stored in boxes or envelopes with those facts attached.

If there is some notation on the reverse, I keep them in a pocket page so both sides can be seen without handling the photo further.

But you are absolutely right, sometimes there is more to say about a photograph. A few of these old treasures might have notable details, have real connections with other photographs or simply leave impressions that need notation. I have opted to do this on separate media and keep these notes in the same envelope or pocket page with the photo. I feel these photographs should be handled like old stamps or artwork from old masters.

And then there is Flickr, where a digitized version of the photograph can be safely displayed with any notations desired, inviting the impressions and comments of hundreds of other collectors. Without harming the original treasure in the least.

The photography companies have stopped making much of the physical media: the print paper, the film, the processing chemicals. The photo print itself is an antique, let alone the era that it depicts.

I invite the thoughts of other collectors on handling old photographs. How do you keep track of your collection? How is it stored? It is a growing hobby and interest; are there universal ground rules? Are copyrights ever involved? Does it matter?