A photo's Type is essentially shorthand for when and how the print was produced in relation to the original negative. A Type can be assigned to any kind of photograph, but not every photograph within that kind will have a clear Type.
The When part of the Type is why you will most often see it used with news photos, which tend to have a lot more information on the back regarding when the print was produced. By definition, a Type 1 photo has to have been produced within about 2 years from when it was shot. With many snapshot photos, especially candid out-of-uniform shots, it is difficult to determine exactly when the photo was taken, and even more difficult to narrow down when the print was produced. If you can somehow, then you can assign a Type to a snapshot just as well as a news photo, but more often I fall back to just calling them "Original" when the time frame is indeterminate.
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