Abroad, photography collection has a long history. After the 1970s, the international image collection market warmed up, and photography auction came into being. Many famous museums have set up special exhibition halls for photographic art. In 2003, the Orsay Museum in Paris, France collected more than 50,000 photographs. In new york, London, San Francisco and other big cities, photography auctions are held regularly every year. In 2002, an old photo with a shooting date of 1825 was purchased by the National Library of France for $398,000. The original photo of the famous French photographer Robert Duval Si Nuo's masterpiece "Kiss in front of the City Hall" more than 50 years ago was sold for $200,000. In February 2006, Moonlight on the Pond, shot by American photographer edward steichen, was sold at Sotheby's in new york for more than 2.9 million dollars.
Experts pointed out that at present, due to the maturity of overseas markets, China collectors are indifferent to old photos, and there is a big price gap between home and abroad. Some foreign collectors have been collecting old photos in China for many years.
Although China's image collection is still on the side, since it officially entered the room in autumn of 2006, after more than two years of cultivation and development, it has established nine categories: representative works of important photographers in China, representative works of China's photography history, representative works of famous foreign artists, artistic photography (also known as artistic photography), contemporary image artworks created by photography media, and old photos of antique cultural relics (famous images in history, images with historical value and collection value).
At the same time, major auction companies have begun to pay more attention to this market. For example, Guardian released a batch of old photos again in the Four Seasons Auction in March, the most important of which was the album China. In this photo album named "CHINA" in English, there are more than 765,438+0 famous photographers' works, including the scenery in northern China (Beijing and Tianjin) and the experience in southern China (Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Hong Kong and Macau). There are both China in the eyes of foreign photographers and China in the eyes of China photographers. Many of these works are not only their masterpieces, but also the historical information contained in each photo is very rich, and the photo album is extremely rare with perfect appearance, with an estimated value as high as 600,000 yuan.
This year's Beijing Huachen auction image section will launch old photos and negatives of famous photographers' antique cultural relics according to the economic environment and market changes, because these auctions are non-renewable rare resources and can only be discovered, excavated and re-recognized. For collectors, investors and collectors' assets, there will be no more if they miss it, such as the full set of original old photos of eight model operas produced in the 1970s. According to the relevant person in charge, the images of rare historical sites will be released on a large scale, providing a new category for the image collection market in China.
The collection of old photos should also consider the following four factors.
First, the center is clear, which means that the photos are of high value.
Old photos are a true portrayal of past social life, and current events are recorded in the language of photography. The clearer the picture, the more representative it is and the higher its value. Old photos of the Great Wall, the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Bund in Shanghai. Are sought after by collectors. They are of great reference value to the study of urban development and architectural history in various places. They are not only loved by individual collectors, but also collected by many museums, and their prices naturally rise.
Among the early photographic works, folk photos are the breakthrough of simple portrait works, and the earliest works out of the studio, which is of great value to the study of social customs at that time. Many folk photos of China street taken by early foreign professional photographers in China sold for1000-2,000 dollars each in the international auction market.
Second, the larger the size, the higher the value.
Due to the limitation of early photography technology, there are not many large-size photos. The larger the photo size, the more difficult it is to save. Therefore, the auction price of many large-size photos with good appearance exceeds 10,000 yuan.
In Guardian's auction in recent one or two years, several different panoramic photos of Shanghai were all more than one meter in length, with the highest transaction price ranging from 30,000 yuan to 40,000 yuan and the lowest exceeding 10,000 yuan. In today's antique market, few photos of the Qing Dynasty are larger than 20 cm square, and larger photos are usually several thousand yuan. General scenery or group photos during the Republic of China, with a length of more than 30 cm, 1000 yuan or more; More than one meter long photos of the Republic of China are all over 4000 yuan.
Third, the fame of a photographer or studio is very valuable.
The same or similar photographic works, with the logo or signature of the photographer or studio on them, can be judged to be the works of famous photographers, and the price is naturally higher than similar works.
In the international auctions of China's early figures and folk photography works, such as the works of the famous photographer Thomson, many of them exceeded $2,000. In the early days of China, there were basically no professional photographers, mostly commercial photographers in the studio. Hongkong and Yichang in Guangzhou are the earliest famous studios in China. Gong Taihe and Su Sanxing in Shanghai, Bird and Liang Shitai in Tianjin are also famous. If you can determine the works of specific studios, the natural price is higher than that of anonymous works.
Fourth, the inscription adds value.
There are two kinds of captions for photos: one is printed on the back plate, and the other is written on the back of photographic paper. In the process of printing photos, photographers in China often add relevant captions by hand. These inscriptions truly and accurately explain the time, place and content of the photos. Because some of the inscriptions and postscripts combine the traditional calligraphy art of China, they also add China color to the photos and artistic features of the photos. Photos with such inscriptions are even more valuable.
Of course, in addition to the above four factors, the value of old photos is also related to whether the photos are published or collected by famous artists. Yan Bingxue said that if it is a pure documentary old photo, the undisclosed price will be higher than the public one. But if it is an old photo with high artistic content and has been published, its price will be higher. If an old photo was once a collection of a famous artist, its price will naturally rise. If the photo is accompanied by the collector's signature or inscription, its price can go up a step.