Assistance with Id'ing Fake Photographs

[Bill T]

* KODAK-VELOX - (US-owned French Company)

[Bill T]

Some photos from seller: Mister.Kite on Ebay have been popping up for sale that are digitally enhanced (photoshopped). Most are easy to spot, but the person faking these is pretty decent. This subject has been spoken about on another forum, but I believe it to be valuable info to share with other photo collectors.

Examples of the FAKE photos....photoshop added Chaplain cross and another with fake Luftwaffe Panzerkampf Abzeichen!?
(note that the cut on both papers are exactly the same, and the alignment of the actual images on the paper are the same as well.... I only have the reverse shot of the LW photo so far...

[Paul D]

The sad thing is Bill that it is obvious more and more fakers are moving into the photo market and are even photo shopping to catch out the unwary which is very sad !! Even our area of the hobby is being ruined by greedy scum !!

[Scar66]

Hey guys, first of all, thank you so much for this informative thread!

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you have had any experience with eBay seller 27kills? I've bought a number of photographs from them (lots of 10 or 12, as they claim to be selling off their collection of WWII in favor of WWI). They all seem to check out on the most basic tests like UV and makers' stamps, and they're on a large variety of photo paper, most being quite small (2x3 inches or so?). Some appear kind of dark/fuzzy to me, but that may just be me nitpicking, as I am a photographer myself and take clarity and focus very seriously.

I'll try and upload some of the photographs and their reverses in the morning, but it'd at least be nice if anyone else had any knowledge of the seller. Thanks!

[Scar66]

Thank you Bill, it certainly calms my spirits to know that he seems to be an honest seller. I had been thinking of purchasing more from him and wanted to make sure of this first! I'm pretty confident in the photos I already have, knowing that he seems to be an honest seller. They don't show any big red flags.

I've learned a lot from this thread and certainly know things to look out for now! And your good sellers/bad sellers list will come in handy as well.

If I have any questions about photographs in the future, this thread will be my go-to place!

[Lancere]

Hi Guys it has been a while since I last Posted on this thread ,I have been busy on German Ebay and other auction sites . Fake photos are becoming harder to detect ,What constitutes a fake photo ? Well I have recently purchased some nice Albums and I carefully remove the photos to scan them ,I also swap scans with a number of Authors who access to Museums in Europe . 100% of these seem to be original but increasingly more and more fakes appear on various auction sites . What I say is this "If you have the slightest doubt DON"T "
Mike Lancere

[Bill T]

Absolutely right Mike. 99.9% of the time your gut is correct IMO! It certainly isn't getting any easier lately.....just another reason for us photo collectors to stick together and stay up on the latest faking methods

[Bill T]

Inida, feel free to post any of them here (with reverse scans) just to double check. It can be hard to judge sometimes with just scans, but we have some knowledgeable people here that can give opinions.
Also, feel free to share any of them on the "New photo-pick-ups" thread, or related threads if you'd like.....

[Bill T]

I'd like to share another "new" FAKE that is appearing on Ebay.de that is guaranteed to fool new photo collectors!

The reverse is set up ALMOST like period AGFA postcard paper, but it is FAKE. I was very interested in this one when I got it....as I haven't seen this particular fake before.

Characteristics:
- Fake Agfa reverse
- Crude Oversized serrated cut (edges)- fake
- More flimsy than normal Postcard photo paper
- Slightly Larger in size than Postcard photo paper
- Frontside has that raised bumpy finish to it (which is okay on some period photo paper)
- semi-gloss frontside too
- UV POSITIVE (it glows!)

One Major giveaway to look for on these.......is that the Line through the AGFA mark, goes all the way across the edges of the paper on both sides. On period AGFA paper of this style, the lines will stop before the edges. (highlighted in RED)

[Evgeni M]

Any opinions on the this one? Original or not?