With careful examination, you can tell if a photograph is original.
Original, or vintage, photos are generally more valuable than their reprints. You may want to have an old photograph appraised, or you may just be curious about its origins. Identifying an original photo print involves checking whether the print is genuine and dating the photograph to see if it is authentic. With a little knowledge of the photograph's history and the photography process you should be able to spot a fake photograph.
Instructions
1. Look at whether the lighting in the photograph is consistent. A cursory glance can tell you a lot, but you may need to use a magnifying glass to look for inconsistencies. For instance, if the sun in a photograph is to the left of the subject, but the right of the subject appears washed out with light, the photograph may be doctored.
2. Compare the subject to the background if the lighting is inconsistent. With the magnifying glass, look at specific items in the photograph. For instance, if your photo is supposedly a woman who lived in the 1800s, check to make sure there is nothing modern in the background. It may be as obvious as a washing machine or as subtle as an electrical cord.
3. Look at how the photograph was printed. Early photographs were printed on glass or metal, not paper. While paper prints were used in the 1800s and 1900s, Polaroid prints were not invented until 1963, so if your subject in a Polaroid print is something older, the photograph has been reprinted. Find out exactly what your photograph is printed on and compare it to the time period of the photograph.
4. Look at the photograph through a microscope for dots. If the photograph was printed with a computer or modern printer, it will have patterns of dots, either in a color or black-and-white pattern. If you're looking at an older photograph and it has dots, it's almost certainly a reprint.
5. Check the film negatives. If you have the film negatives, chances are you have an original photograph. To be sure, examine the negatives to see if you can find out any information about a manufacturer or serial number.
6. Download and install a computer program like JPEGsnoop (it's free), and load the file in question. For digital photographs it may be harder to tell whether someone has doctored the photograph. Photo analysis software can examine pixel patterns to tell if a photo has been through a program like Adobe Photoshop. The program will analyze the photograph and tell you the likelihood of its authenticity.
