Old Photo's

Chicago · September 15, 2011

My father has 40 years of slides in the closet. Quite a few of them are high quality semi-pro level pictures of various Chicago landmarks and buildings. Has anyone here put up photo's like this to sell?
I would like to get a smugmug pro gallery and post the good ones, but am i crazy that people would pay $ for this stuff? Thanks, Roger:D

David_S85 · September 15, 2011

In a city the size of Chicago, there are literally tens of thousands of high quality photos already circulating of all sorts of landmarks, new and old - and I'd bet lots are of pro quality. My guess is that you might find limited success with an online source.

But you might want to try this step first: Looks like you already live in Chicago, or nearby. There should be an photo expert at the Chicago Historical Society available on-call. They might be interested in looking through your collection to check if you have anything in there that is spacial or undocumented. The Art Institute also has photo archives, but those are (I'm guessing) more fine art or arty related.

Don't sell them to the first "expert" that wants to acquire the collection. That's a tip that you might have something more valuable in there. Feel it out, slowly.

Chicago · September 15, 2011

David_S85 wrote: »

In a city the size of Chicago, there are literally tens of thousands of high quality photos already circulating of all sorts of landmarks, new and old - and I'd bet lots are of pro quality. My guess is that you might find limited success with an online source.

But you might want to try this step first: Looks like you already live in Chicago, or nearby. There should be an photo expert at the Chicago Historical Society available on-call. They might be interested in looking through your collection to check if you have anything in there that is spacial or undocumented. The Art Institute also has photo archives, but those are (I'm guessing) more fine art or arty related.

Don't sell them to the first "expert" that wants to acquire the collection. That's a tip that you might have something more valuable in there. Feel it out, slowly.

Thanks. If i did put them on SM, does it make sense to offer DL's for $100 each, kind of like a stock agency?

David_S85 · September 15, 2011

Chicago wrote: »

Thanks. If i did put them on SM, does it make sense to offer DL's for $100 each, kind of like a stock agency?

I won't comment on your price idea because I can't and shouldn't, but do add watermarking and don't offer hi-res onscreen views (original size) just off the bat if you think there's something valuable in there. Save the good stuff! An independent appraisal might also be wise, but you'll have to pay someone for that, of course. Chi. Hist. Soc. might be a good free first step. You might investigate the digital download idea more by reading all the pros and cons, since your customers would expect to get a high quality original and who knows where those will end up eventually. Might depend on how attached you are to the collection. Do you want to keep the original prints and negatives for future ownership and full usage rights (in case there is something special in there) and also sell copies with limited usage rights, or sell the entire physical collection to someone at once? Appraisal or review is really the way to go I think - first (if it was me).

And I should have asked earlier, but, what is your skill level in scanning these? Price when sold = quality offered + subject + uniqueness + desire to own or usage of image. OK, I just made that formula up, but until you really know what you have, it is difficult to put a price on something.

The whole Vivian Maier story comes to mind anytime I hear of someone discovering a bunch of photos.

Chicago · September 16, 2011

David_S85 wrote: »

I won't comment on your price idea because I can't and shouldn't, but do add watermarking and don't offer hi-res onscreen views (original size) just off the bat if you think there's something valuable in there. Save the good stuff! An independent appraisal might also be wise, but you'll have to pay someone for that, of course. Chi. Hist. Soc. might be a good free first step. You might investigate the digital download idea more by reading all the pros and cons, since your customers would expect to get a high quality original and who knows where those will end up eventually. Might depend on how attached you are to the collection. Do you want to keep the original prints and negatives for future ownership and full usage rights (in case there is something special in there) and also sell copies with limited usage rights, or sell the entire physical collection to someone at once? Appraisal or review is really the way to go I think - first (if it was me).

And I should have asked earlier, but, what is your skill level in scanning these? Price when sold = quality offered + subject + uniqueness + desire to own or usage of image. OK, I just made that formula up, but until you really know what you have, it is difficult to put a price on something.

The whole Vivian Maier story comes to mind anytime I hear of someone discovering a bunch of photos.

My scanning ability is average. I have a newer canon flatbed and it does a nice job. The slides are all immaculate and stored well, so there's likely very little issue with them. I don't know if my software aperture will clean them up as well as others, but it's what i have.
I will reconsider the digital copy sale. I might start out just offering people prints and see if anyone asks for a digital copy. THANKS

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