He 111 Photo Fakes?
 

Hello,

While updating my blog I noticed three different auctions by three different sellers showing exactly the same He 111 photos. One auction as individual photos and two auctions in photo albums.

When I looked more closely, I noticed that He 111 photos in the albums have a distinctive size and border style other than most of the other photos. Also, the other photos are much less interesting than the He 111 photos. Therefore, I think that these albums might be put together nowadays with less interesting photos and He 111 photo reprints to sell it for more. That's only my opinion and I don't claim this to be the truth. What is your opinion? You can find the three auctions in my latest He 111 post:

http://lwcollectibles.blogspot.com/

Regards
Roger Gaemperle

PS: more updates on my blog will follow later today

Re: He 111 Photo Fakes?
 

Roger,

You have previously written about the photo paper and highlighting how can asses the originality of the photos so I won't enter in to a discussion on that. I've not ventured in to making my own assessment of the items you refer to but the question of seeing the same photo on several occassions is interesting since it do happen now and then.

The occurence of the same photo from different sellers is something that I've seen before a couple of times. I've actually seen the same photo appear up to five times over the years from different sources - each time reaching quite high figures in the EUR 40+ region. Apart from the apparent risk that they are new reprints they could also have been taken by a unit photographer or war correspondent who distributed numerous duplicates to the members of the unit. The later could explain both the appearance of the same photo on several occasions from different sources but also why a specific photo deviates in paper, cutting etc from other photos in an album that were taken by the album owner himself.

If this could apply to the He 111 examples you pointed at, I don't know.

/Mike

Re: He 111 Photo Fakes?
 

And also on Ebay what about that UK seller who continues to sell two particular He111 pictures that are 'copies of photos from my father's amazing collection' or words similar. He states that his father was based in Malta during the war - as if to give credence to the story. Copy after copy, after copy...... some poor soul must be buying them, at least occasionally!

David

Re: He 111 Photo Fakes?
 

Everyone here has differing levels of knowledge about Luftwaffe photos. Alas, there is no guide I'm aware of as to types of photographic paper and trim customs or data about how many period copies may have been made by war photographers or soldier photographers who may have requested additional copies of comrade photos, which are quite common, especially around crashed landed aircraft. In any case, such information could only embolden creators of post-war duplicates.

I'm reminded of the story that aired on television in the United States about a serious watch collector who made it his job to report fake watches being sold on eBay. During the program, I saw several very thick books about watches, and was amazed at the variety. Apparently, his good samaritan actions earned him a few death threats. Terrible what greed can do. As always, buyer beware.


Ed