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Re: lying with pixels and marketing the results



In my last employment, with California State Railroad Museum's curatorial
section, we became aware of the unscrupulous use of pixel/digital
"replications."

The areas currently seeing such fakery seem to be in the odd-lot collectible
paper/ephemera and dining car china markets. Clever thieves select paper
objects such as rare correspondence, travel passes or rare ceramics and the
like (not taking into account that the potential buyer knows anything about
historic forms of paper content or printing techniques; same for china
graphics design and decals/glaze applications, etc) then try to "pawn" these
off as originals.

Most often, such bogus products are surfacing at flea markets, although some
not-too-bright fakers have tried the direct approach. One even sent some
phony railroad depot signs to CSRM with an offer to sell them "on approval."
In the latter case, fortunately I had seen a revelatory notice in a
railroadiana collectors' association magazine which gave us all a "heads
up."

Much as I love Antiques Roadshow (I do find it educating), the show clearly
has stirred a frenzy of national interest in old objects and potential cash
values for almost anything.
Probably best to quote the old maxim, "let the buyer beware!"

Kevin V. Bunker
Student Assistant
California State Archives
kbunker@ss.ca.gov
> ----------
> From:         Butcher Sharon L Contr
> AEDC/ACS[SMTP:Sharon.Butcher@arnold.af.mil]
> Reply To:     Archives & Archivists
> Sent:         Wednesday, June 28, 2000 8:21 AM
> To:   ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
> Subject:      Re: lying with pixels
>
> On "Antiques Roadshow", fraudulent 'lover's eyes', a Victorian(?)
> art/jewlry-form, were evaluated against the real thing. Pixel-mania has
> invaded those areas, creating realistic copies of these objects which the
> untrained collector can be duped into buying. I think that show came from
> Birmingham? It is the special little segment done about half-time where
> some
> expert talks with Jussel about a specific type of antique.
>
> Sharon Lee Butcher
> Reference Librarian
> AEDC Technical Library
> 100 Kindel Drive, Suite C212
> Arnold AFB, TN  37389-3212
> Phone:  931-454-4430
> Fax:  931-454-5421
> e-mail:  sharon.butcher@arnold.af.mil
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Wood, Thomas [SMTP:Wood.Thomas@UIS.EDU]
> > Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2000 10:01 AM
> > To:   ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
> > Subject:      Re: lying with pixels
> >
> > Ms. Knoer is exactly right: photos have been manipulated and retouched
> > since
> > the invention of the medium. Digital techniques merely make it easier,
> and
> > add new tools to the workbench.  On the other hand, traditional
> > photography
> > left obvious physical traces of trickery (as Jaeger's example
> > demonstrates).
> > The danger of digital deceit is that it leaves little or no
> incriminating
> > evidence. And what's worse, those telling alternate and rejected takes,
> > that
> > can provide so much context, are typically deleted.
> >
> > Thomas J. Wood
> > Archivist
> > Archives/Special Collections LIB 144
> > University of Illinois at Springfield
> > P.O. Box 19243
> > Springfield IL 62794-9243
> > 217-206-6520 | wood@uis.edu | http://www.uis.edu/~lib-arch
> >
> > [Massive and shameless copyright violations follow]:
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Mark Jaeger [mailto:markj@OMNI.CC.PURDUE.EDU]
> > Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2000 12:32 AM
> > To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
> > Subject: Re: lying with pixels
> >
> >
> > Ah yes, and there is the famous Robert Capa photo, taken during the
> > Spanish Civil War, showing a Republican soldier in the act of getting
> > "shot." Alas, it too was exposed as a fake when alternate "takes"
> > of the photo later surfaced showing the same soldier being "killed"
> > several times over.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Mark D. Jaeger
> > Purdue University Libraries
> > Special Collections
> >
> > "Can a 'literal truth' be established upon a fundamental falsehood?"
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, 28 Jun 2000, Susan Knoer wrote:
> >
> > > Cal Lee wrote:
> > >
> > > > "Seeing is no longer believing. The image you see on the evening
> news
> > > > could well be a fake/a fabrication of fast new video-manipulation
> > > > technology."
> > >
> > >   Hmm...old news.  Brady photographed a dead soldier form one side and
> > called him Confederate and from the other side of the field and called
> him
> > Union.   Hearst staged Pancho Villa's raids for film crews.  I have a
> > lovely
> > wedding portrait of my grandparents, done after he died  with faces from
> > pictures from before they ever met.  Claudette Colbert always had her
> neck
> > airbrushed in, and old Playboys airbrushed things out.  Hitler never did
> > the
> > two-step dance you see in clips, it was manipulated film.  Lange's
> > "Migrant
> > Mother", the most famous photo of the Depression, had the subject's
> thumb
> > removed.  And who ever saw FDR in a wheelchair?  And of course the
> Edited
> > OJ
> > cover.
> > >   "The camera never lies" only applies to wrinkles and blemishes
> (unless
> > you have an airbrush).  Computers just do it a little better  (though
> I've
> > yet to see believable computer animation...but maybe it's the Turing
> Test,
> > and I wouldn't know sufficiently good animation).  But we're not as
> > skeptical of images as of words; I suppose we've all manipulated the
> > latter
> > but not many the former.
> > >   But a good justification for archiving originals!  I've seen a few
> of
> > the undoctored Stalinist photos, so someone archived the originals
> > somewhere.
> > >
> > >  PS- is Lawyerwannabes Inc the holding company for Dewey, Cheatem, and
> > Howe (PSC)?
> >
> > A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
> >
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> > To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu
> >
> > Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
> >      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
> >
> > Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
>       In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
>                     *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
> To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu
>
> Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
>      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
>
> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

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Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>