Quote:
Originally Posted by obcbeatle
OK ... I do have a new question about old sports photographs from newspapers. Perhaps I should start a new thread but will ask here for now. I am seeing many sports photo's being sold on eBay that include typed editorial comments on the front side of the photo. They are usually action photo's but not always. Would I expect to pay less for these photo's (perhaps excepting photo's of HOFER's ...) since there are markings on the front side of the photo? As opposed to photo's with editorial comments only on the back? I can understand that having the provenance of the photo being of value, but wondered that in general if the provenance were just on the back I would expect to pay more for a photo, than if the provenance were on the front/side of the photo or on the back AND front of the photo. Hope that made sense :-)
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In most cases, when the typed comments are on the front, it's generally an indication that the photo has been through the wire, sound, tele or radio photo process. Generally considered a Type III, although I'm not a big fan of the classification system.
Not as desirable as a photo from the original neg or contact neg because you can usually see the process in the photos, as it robs it of much of it's clarity.
Still, they are usually of the period and can have plenty of value themselves, especially if it is of a popular shot that is tough to find in 1st generation form, like Ali standing over Liston with his arm flexed, that I believe went for over 300 bucks in the Yee auction.
Not to say, some wire, sound, etc., type photos can be found with back type slugs instead of front captions, but it is not typical, and sometimes collectors will trim off the front wire tag to make a wire photo more aesthetically pleasing to them.
Easiest way to tell a wire photo, is to put a light and lower power magnifying glass over it, and you will see the wavy lines in the wire process.
Ironically, the highest quality wire photos seem to be from the mid-30's, when the process first became widely used, and if the front tag is trimmed off, you may need to put it under magnification to be sure it's a wire process shot.
As the years went on, the process became cheaper, but lower quality, and 60's-70's era's wire shots are usually very easy to spot with just the naked eye.