Collecting old negatives from unknown photographers

[alanrockwood]

I have been scanning some old glass slides and negatives from my wife's family. Many of them are stereo photos. Most of them are 80+ years old, with some of them almost 90 years old.

 

[Anon Ymous]

I found an entire family archive with at least 300 slides. Half 110 and half 35mm, mostly pictures of safaris in Africa and equestrian shows. There’s elephants, giraffes, lions, impalas, wild hogs etc Heck, even pictures of the now extinct West African Black Rhinoceros. Maybe 25-30% keepers? They’re asking 17$ but I feel I’d be falling for the puppy syndrome.

Hmmm, 25% might be a stretch, but you're obviously the one to judge. The bad thing with such collections is that they have way too many "touristy" shots that are of interest only to those who shot them, maybe their friends and relatives as well. I'm eclectic when it comes to such slides. The subject has to be interesting, otherwise I won't bother. I'm also collecting aviation slides, I have a soft spot for old jet fighters. I found them fascinating as a kid, still do... Those can be found easily in quantity and quality.