Experience of archival image sales and acceptance?

[sb photos]

I'm curious of other contributors success with sales of archival images, how have they done? Obviously it would depend on the subjects.

 

I have a huge number of mainly B&W 35mm negatives from the 1970's, 80's and 90's. For sometime I've been considering scanning a selection, but so far never had the free time. Extensive scanning is a should destroying job. I still have my Minolta Dimage 5400 optical scanner, it produces good images.

 

What renewed my interest again was the fairly recent and untimely death of Magenta de Vine as she was known, as being in the news. She used to be local to me, and I remember photographing her with friends involved in the music industry outside a local music venue around 1970. Other pictures would be of National Front disturbances during election campaigns, one of a prominent NF organiser held over the bonnet of a ford escort by three police. That had press coverage and use in one magazine at the time. Another shows Peter Hain with child in baby buggy speaking to Michael Meacher at the memorial march in Southall a week after Blair Peach was clubbed down by the SPG. They looked so young then. Wether Alamy might be interested or not, I think I'll start looking through the negative files and segregating the interesting ones to form an opinion on what might be viable.

[spacecadet]

Mine sell regularly at a far higher rate than general stock and they're nothing like as historical as yours, so I'd say yes, definitely worth it. I uploaded a few samples and pointed Alamy to them and was approved quite quickly.

Of course what with the live news debacle they might not want them anymore so you might check that the criteria haven't changed.

FWIW mine were copied on an Illumitran- they don't need to pass QC and they wouldn't. Full- scale scanning may not be justified by the returns.

I wish I had 9000 archive instead of a couple of hundred.

[Phil Crean]

Definitely worth scanning and submitting the ones with well known historical figures and events.

I spent a few weeks early last year going through some old stuff and a number have sold very well, in fact I regret not having done it 10 years ago🤔

 

Phil

 

[Kathy deWitt]

Definitely worth it in my experience.  

 

Kathy deWitt

[sb photos]

1 hour ago, spacecadet said:

Mine sell regularly at a far higher rate than general stock and they're nothing like as historical as yours, so I'd say yes, definitely worth it. I uploaded a few samples and pointed Alamy to them and was approved quite quickly.

Of course what with the live news debacle they might not want them anymore so you might check that the criteria haven't changed.

FWIW mine were copied on an Illumitran- they don't need to pass QC and they wouldn't. Full- scale scanning may not be justified by the returns.

I wish I had 9000 archive instead of a couple of hundred.

 

Thanks for replies. On quiet days I'll start scanning the more interesting negs, then contact Alamy with a representative sample. Some of the negs were long ago printed on a Besseler 23c, a wonderful multi format enlarger, long gone. First must fire up the scanner to ensure all is well.

 

Long ago I was in Slough in the shed/office of, if I remember right,  a co-operative of photographers that covered protests and human rights issues, their shelves contained empty CS gas canisters and rubber bullets saved as souvenirs, mainly from European events they covered. Even back then they suggested I should scan and make available. Now too catch a train.

 

 

[Inchiquin]

An additional question for those of you who use the archival route: do you spend any time cleaning and spotting old trannies? I've got thousands but most of them are Kodachrome so there's no possibility of using ICE in the scanner. Cleaning them would be an enormous task, spotting them a thousand times more so.

 

Alan

 

[Phil Crean]

2 minutes ago, Inchiquin said:

An additional question for those of you who use the archival route: do you spend any time cleaning and spotting old trannies? I've got thousands but most of them are Kodachrome so there's no possibility of using ICE in the scanner. Cleaning them would be an enormous task, spotting them a thousand times more so.

 

Alan

 

Short answer; yes...I cleaned with a bulb blower before scanning and spotted afterwards.

I know some on here, maybe Chuck, have used a liquid cleaner, can't remember the name.

 

The biggest time saver is to edit carefully, only scan those that you feel are strong images.

Phil

[Alex Ramsay]

I don't have many archival images, but (as others have said) I do seem to sell a greater proportion of them than of contemporary pictures, and often at better prices

 

Alex

[spacecadet]

21 minutes ago, Inchiquin said:

An additional question for those of you who use the archival route: do you spend any time cleaning and spotting old trannies? I've got thousands but most of them are Kodachrome so there's no possibility of using ICE in the scanner. Cleaning them would be an enormous task, spotting them a thousand times more so.

 

Alan

 

Mine had all been in files so were reasonably clean (1976-2003). A wipe both sides with an antistatic brush and a rocket blower (not sure in which order) got most of it off but I did a moderate amount of spotting as well. Negs too. My limit is a couple of minutes each.

This was via archival so they didn't have to pass QC, of course.

[Martyn]

3 hours ago, Inchiquin said:

An additional question for those of you who use the archival route: do you spend any time cleaning and spotting old trannies? I've got thousands but most of them are Kodachrome so there's no possibility of using ICE in the scanner. Cleaning them would be an enormous task, spotting them a thousand times more so.

 

Alan

 

 

Yes, although I rarely use the archival route, only if the original isn't as razor sharp as it could be ... although still sharp ! I clean with a blower brush, spot and remove scratches and upload the normal way to QC.

Phil ... the liquid cleaner is called Pec 12 .....

[Inchiquin]

4 hours ago, Phil Crean said:

Short answer; yes...I cleaned with a bulb blower before scanning and spotted afterwards.

I know some on here, maybe Chuck, have used a liquid cleaner, can't remember the name.

 

 

As Martyn says, PEC-12. I actually bought some a few years ago as a result of Chuck's recommendations but the thought of getting all my Kodachromes out of their mounts was too much for me at the time and I never got round to investigating whether it would be sufficient or possible to clean them in situ.

 

Alan

[AlbertSnapper]

I applied for the archival route, twice last year. Both times just had the auto response and nothing else so photos elsewhere now.

Pics were looking down from a helicopter at the World Trade Center in NY a year before they were destroyed.

Also had a large UK structure that was a listed building (protected), now since demolished.

Thought they'd be suitable but obviously not.

[spacecadet]

11 minutes ago, AlbertSnapper said:

I applied for the archival route, twice last year. Both times just had the auto response and nothing else so photos elsewhere now.

Pics were looking down from a helicopter at the World Trade Center in NY a year before they were destroyed.

Also had a large UK structure that was a listed building (protected), now since demolished.

Thought they'd be suitable but obviously not.

Are you saying you were actively turned down, or you just didn't pursue it? Perhaps the criteria have changed.

Mine were less interesting than that but still accepted. Buildings and scenes no longer in existence, pigeons in Trafalgar Square, non-high-rise skylines, that sort of thing. Even a couple of now-demolished LV casinos.

 

Edited April 15, 2019 by spacecadet

[AlbertSnapper]

1 hour ago, spacecadet said:

Are you saying you were actively turned down, or you just didn't pursue it? Perhaps the criteria have changed.

Mine were less interesting than that but still accepted. Buildings and scenes no longer in existence, pigeons in Trafalgar Square, non-high-rise skylines, that sort of thing. Even a couple of now-demolished LV casinos.

 

 

The auto response was that they were busy, but would get back to me. A month later I tried again and had the exact same response. Nothing further from Alamy.

 

I've uploaded a couple of old scans (using Kodacolor Gold I think the film was, from 18 years ago) in recent times, using the normal upload route instead.

[spacecadet]

10 minutes ago, AlbertSnapper said:

 

The auto response was that they were busy, but would get back to me. A month later I tried again and had the exact same response. Nothing further from Alamy.

 

I've uploaded a couple of old scans (using Kodacolor Gold I think the film was, from 18 years ago) in recent times, using the normal upload route instead.

Worth persisting (again) I'd say although you'd now be non-exclusive.

Sales rate is ten times that of my general stock, including my highest sale for a while, my first ever billboard, low $$$.

Edited April 15, 2019 by spacecadet

[Alex Ramsay]

Just made a direct sale of an archival pic for $190

 

Alex