‘I love everything about cameras and photography, from the work of the earliest pioneers, to experimental new ways of producing images. Over the years I’ve been collecting, I’ve homed in on press photos. A press photo is a utilitarian tool.
In the 20th century news agencies sent photographers all over the world on assignment, to places like Vietnam or Korea, deep into the jungle or to the frontline of battle zones. Before digital cameras and the internet, the photographers had to send rolls of film with a courier back to Europe or the United States.
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The film was developed by the agency in a dark room, and then the first prints would be sent out to the larger newspapers, and additional prints were then made for distribution to magazines and regional papers.
It’s so easy to create images nowadays. We end up with thousands stored on our phones or in the cloud. They’re never looked at again. Press photos are the antithesis of all that. They’re not perfect photos, they aren’t nicely framed and weren’t intended to be exhibited in a gallery and sold for investment. Press photos were created in a specific moment in time, for a specific purpose. They come with their own story.
I like the way they make me ask questions: What was the assignment? Where did it end up? How was it discussed when passed around in a press room? How did the photographer manage to take it – what camera and lens did they use? And is it still relevant today?
Thankfully, a press photograph can immediately answer a lot of these – you need to learn to decipher the information on the back. Typically there will be captions, stamps and annotations in pencil and crayon. Sometimes you find instructions for the dark room, or you can see retouching within the photo for subsequent prints that highlight areas, darken shadows or adjust a crop.
Often there’s a code or name, which might link it to a specific press-pool photographer. Occasionally, you can join the dots and work out who took them. I’ve even managed to buy photos by quite famous photographers, like Hungarian-American photojournalist Robert Capa, who documented the Second World War and was famously quoted as saying: ‘If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.’
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One of the joys of press photographs is that they cover every conceivable theme, so even if you have quite niche interests like me, you’ll find something appealing. Sometimes I collect seemingly vernacular pieces just because I fall in love with the image, or I collect photos relating to certain historical events that interest me. I’m particularly drawn to photos that document the nuclear age.
In the decades after the Second World War, global superpowers seemed intent on blowing each other up. And they took photographs of their nuclear tests. In the 1940s and 1950s, the images were often quite grainy, but the technology improved with time.
My favourite image in my collection from this period is a 12in x 15in colour photo of a French nuclear test, taken in the 1970s on a Pacific island. The ocean and the sky are so perfectly blue, the sand so perfectly white and, above it all, is a horrifying mushroom cloud, with the power to end humanity. That photo cost me about €500 from a dealer in Paris, which is the most I’ve ever paid, but I’ve also picked up good photos for less than £20.
I have all my photos on display in the house – it’s not unusual for me to spend more on the framing than the image. Having a relationship with the items you collect is a big part of it for me. I buy from auctions and fairs, and also online. You have to be careful buying from sites like eBay and Catawiki.
However, bargains can be had if you know what you’re doing and ask the right questions. Does the seller know what they’re talking about? Are the pencil marks on the back real? Or is this a 2004 reprint of a 1940s image?
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The more you spend time handling press photos, and talking to reputable dealers or auctioneers, the easier it is to spot a genuine vintage print. I look for things such as the paper quality, the coating or watermarks, the sharpness and tone of the image. Those things can be hard to verify if you’re looking online.
There’s something quite powerful about holding a press photograph in your hands and stopping to properly look at it. They’re battered; it’s obvious they’ve passed through many fingers. That makes me feel close to the source, connected to the photographer who was sent far across the world to cover a story, possibly putting themselves in great danger. They’re not just photographs; they helped make history.‘
Find out more
The Classic Austin especially likes issue #08 of this magazine as it has a great article about the backs of photographs. theclassicphotomag.com/the-classic-08/
Where to buy
Austin buys from auctions, and also tries to support dealers at fairs in London, New York, Paris and Amsterdam.
Chiswick Auctions chiswickauctions.co.uk/department/photography
Dialogue Vintage Photography dialoguevintagephotography.com
Bloomsbury Photograph Fair etcfairs.com/events/bloomsbury-photograph-fair
