Interesting story about a garage sale find in which a gentleman paid $45 USD for 65 glass negatives that are purportedly made by Ansel Adams early in his career. If they are fully authenticated, their value is potentially in the millions. Garage sale find called pricey Ansel Adams lot - Entertainment - The Arts - TODAYshow.com
Update... Looks like they might actually be Uncle Earl's negatives... Photo Mystery: Ansel Adams Or Uncle Earl? - News Story - KTVU San Francisco As Ronald Reagan use to say: "Trust but verify."
Uncle Earl must have been a good photographer to be mistaken for Ansel. I hear tell around the street there was a guy named Earl that Ansel tried to copy. I'm just sayin'!
one thing boggles me The photos are worth millions because they were shot by Ansel Adams and now that it's almost certain that this Uncle Earl shot it, it's now worth a dollar? I though photos should be judged by their quality, not by who shot it?
igi, It's fairly obvious you don't deal with collectors. Watch the auctions and you'll see over inflated prices by name only.
Ansel Adams' Grandson Shows How Alleged Negatives are Fishy The grandson seems like a classy guy who just wants the facts to speak for themselves... Ansel Adams' Grandson Shows How Alleged Negatives are Fishy
Very interesting story ... At any rate, Ansel Adam's prints would be more desirable. He spent lots of time in the darkroom post processing to get the magic, and for sure, no print would be exactly alike (unlike in digital pp), it's like a fingerprint of Ansel himself .
If they are of good quality I would say, because of the history, they should be worth much more than $45. It would be interesting to see them on display. Another contemporary perspective compared to Adams would be very interesting to see.
That talked about the sleeves and writing. No one has really talked about the images themselves. But the again, when $$$$ gets involved, they will be the determining factor.
This all says more about the state of art photography than the worth of the images. If they are by Ansel Adams they are worth a fortune if they are not they are almost worthless. What gives? Surely the images haven't changed. It seems, in this case, the signature is worth more than the images. Says a lot about the sad state of art photography.
It is virtually impossible to define objective standards to translate art into money. So if one tries to translate art into money, things will become absurd rather quickly.
