Rich Ullsmith
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- Jan 26, 2007
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My wife picked up a B&W print at a sale, a shipwreck scene somewhere on the Pacific Northwest coast. There's a horse-drawn carriage on the sand, a man high on the prow with a top hat and walking cane. I assume the negative was glass plate, but this print is on RC paper.
My question is, any way to tell if this was contacted from the original negative, or just a reproduction of an existing print, i.e., photo of a photo. A few observations:
The borders give no clue, as someone had clumsily trimmed it slightly to fit a frame. It's a tad less than 11X14.
It's pretty sharp. Black mast against the washed out sky, even under magnification the lines are sharp.
There are a few perceptible defects that I would have spotted out.
Unable to keep my fingers out of it, I tried to bleach it and sepia tone, but it did not bleach. I assume the existing tone is sepia, not warm. The blacks don't look like selenium to me.
So, any giveaways that could provide some insight? Thanks up front for any comments. I will be away from the computer for a couple days.
My question is, any way to tell if this was contacted from the original negative, or just a reproduction of an existing print, i.e., photo of a photo. A few observations:
The borders give no clue, as someone had clumsily trimmed it slightly to fit a frame. It's a tad less than 11X14.
It's pretty sharp. Black mast against the washed out sky, even under magnification the lines are sharp.
There are a few perceptible defects that I would have spotted out.
Unable to keep my fingers out of it, I tried to bleach it and sepia tone, but it did not bleach. I assume the existing tone is sepia, not warm. The blacks don't look like selenium to me.
So, any giveaways that could provide some insight? Thanks up front for any comments. I will be away from the computer for a couple days.
