Wire photos

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by daves_resale_shop

Gents,

I was hoping you can help me out...

what is the difference with press photos? how do you tell if the photo is type 1 vs type 2 etc... and likewise, what is the difference in significance?


I recently picked an interesting one up that has 2 newspapers stamped on the back and has a very thin typed sheet glued to it describing the photo...

Totally not my forte, but I thought the content was interesting & I decided to grab it...

Thanks for the help,
David

I know there have been at least a couple of threads on this before, but bottom line is if you like the photo and content, the quality is suitable to you, and you don't plan on selling it, the Type classification is irrelevent. Ultimately, the Type (1, 2, 3 or 4) will affect value, but not so much as content and quality of the image.

Since you asked, though, the Type classifications are:

•Type I - A 1st generation photograph, developed from the original negative, during the period (within approximately two years of when the picture was taken).
•Type II - A photograph, developed from the original negative, during a later period (more than approximately two years after the picture was taken).
•Type III - A 2nd generation photograph, developed from a duplicate negative or wire transmission, during the period (within approximately two years of when the picture was taken).
•Type IV - A 2nd generation photograph (or 3rd or later generation), developed from a duplicate negative or wire transmission, during a later period (more than approximately two years after the picture was taken).


From what you're describing, your photograph sounds like it would be a Type 1, or possibly Type 2, but we would need to see scans of the front and back to be sure.

Also keep in mind that the term "wire photo" should be reserved for photographs that were actually sent "over the wire" (typically, these will have a caption embedded as part of the front image). Otherwise, "news photo" or "press photo" would be fine as an umbrella term. All "wire photos" are "news photos", but not all "news photos" are "wire photos."

Hopefully that makes sense, and I'll see if I can dig up the previous threads I referred to which will give you plenty of reading material on the subject