Nice Article in SMR on Photo Collection of Board Member

[Exhibitman]

Nice collection!

[Forever Young]

I have not posted on here for awhile but am compelled to do so to thank the men who commented below.
thanks a lot Gary....

I am truly appreciative and humbled(yes it is possible) by your comments. Some of you are close friends, some of you I have done business with and some of you are collecting peers whom I have never spoken to before. I can say, however, all of you are classy gentlemen. A thread like this is very telling in many ways.

I would like to specifically thank Graig and Jimmy for your thoughtful comments. I respect you both very much and am lucky to have you as dear friends. Thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to comment. I particularly appreciated your candidness. You're both spot on in that I do not take a lot of crap/nonsense
I am certainly better at telling people where to go when they are out of line than I am taking compliments.... no doubt.

Therefore, I will make this brief and get back to fighting for Truth, Justice and the Weingarten way.
That was a joke...... kind of.

It is always nice to see others appreciate things you have worked hard for/building. Thanks again to each and every one of you who have either commented publicly or privately.

As always, I am willing to help(provide advice) anyone who truly needs it. I love discussing original photography with passionate collectors as well as neophytes. I hope the article was useful for both of these groups or at least provided some needed reading material on the potty. Take care and happy collecting.

Peace and Love, Peace and love

Sincerely,

Ben Weingarten

PS:

1) HYEE AUCTION up and running with some great images
2) RMY AUCTION coming up soon too.. so pinch your pennies.
3) DAVID CYCLEBACK-I don't sign autographs. Perhaps you could settle for a hand print?

[Runscott]

Ben, great insight into your thoughts about photo-collecting, and a great showcase of your collection!

Thanks for being a huge part of this hobby.

[Lordstan]

A little late to the party, but Congrats Ben!
It's a very nice article about the incredible collection you've built and the drive, focus, and passion that you have that has enabled you to build it.
You should post more. It's always great to have knowledgeable people like yourself here to share that information as well as the enthusiasm.

Best,
Mark

[Forever Young]

Thank you Scott and Mark.

Mark, I do lurk still and will certainly post if I feel compelled to do so.

I figured since I was warmed up, I would share some knowledge for the greater good.

I have spoken about FAKE stamps created to deceive many times. Well, below is a known Conlon forgery stamp. I do not want people getting taken... stay away is my tip of the day.

Ben

PS: Nice watermark Mark. See Scott G? I am not the only one now

[Lordstan]

Originally Posted by Forever Young

Thank you Scott and Mark.

Mark, I do lurk still and will certainly post if I feel compelled to do so.

I figured since I was warmed up, I would share some knowledge for the greater good.

I have spoken about FAKE stamps created to deceive many times. Well, below is a known Conlon forgery stamp. I do not want people getting taken... stay away is my tip of the day.

Ben

PS: Nice watermark Mark. See Scott G? I am not the only one now

Ben,
Thanks for your input on the watermark. Is Scott G going to come after me now??

That fake Conlon stamp type of crap is exactly why I started to watermark, including the backs. I don't want someone copying a picture or a stamp to try a reproduce it to fool some one.

Jimmy,
Been a long time man. You should post some of Beatles beauties you've been collecting. You can never see enough of the Fab Four.

Best,
Mark

[Forever Young]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

Ben,


That fake Conlon stamp type of crap is exactly why I started to watermark, including the backs. I don't want someone copying a picture or a stamp to try a reproduce it to fool some one.

.

Best,
Mark

Mark,

As you know when we spoke ealier this year, I started the watermark because:

A) Was tired of people copying my images and selling on teh bay(potentially selling as originals(worst case).

B) To attract people to my website so I could buy more. That is why I ended up simply using my website as my watermark.


If someone wants to make a fake stamp, they are going to do it. Showing the back of your photos will not affect this imo. But I guess you never know. Then again, I do don't make a habit of showing the backs anyway.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

That fake Conlon stamp type of crap is exactly why I started to watermark, including the backs. I don't want someone copying a picture or a stamp to try a reproduce it to fool some one.

Mark, I just noticed your comment above. You and others need to understand that the guy who created/used this stamp, did not do it primarily to make laser copies of photos appear to be originals. He put it on the back of REAL TYPE I CONLON prints that did not have Conlon identification marks on them, to raise the value when he attempted to sell them to people who are focused on backstamps and not on actual images. I am always looking for Conlon prints, and if I had ever seen the stamp on the back of a forgery, it would have rang a bell. Honestly, I've only seen this backstamp on two photos out of all the Conlons I've seen, and both were mounted exactly like mine (the other looks good as well).

So I have a beautiful, real, Type I Conlon print that has this stamp on the back of it.

Just wanted to clear that up, as it resulted in me having to send a print back to a customer who was concerned (at first) that it was a forgery because of Ben's "stay away" comment, and then later, that it was not a photo by Conlon, which is dumbfounding to me, but no matter.

Until Ben posted about this backstamp, I had no idea that it was a bogus stamp.

Okay, carry on.