WWII images--need advise on marketing

[lenser]

Many years ago, I bought a studio from the estate of the owner. Part of the purchase was a box of many dozen negatives from WWII at his various duty and convalescent stations, such as the ones shown here. To my knowledge, he served only in the Pacific theater (I think Iwo Jima) and was hospitalized in Hawaii after a wound. There are also many of what appears to be training that may have been either Hawaii or California locations.

So far, I have not been able to navigate the armed forces web site to get his military records even though that is supposed to be public domain for deceased military personal.

I am getting ready to have all of them scanned with the idea of marketing the images either as the lot of negatives, or as individual prints. I have no experience in anything similar to this so I would greatly appreciate any advice that anyone can offer.

Many thanks! Tim

[goamules]

I don't know how to market them, but I'd probably print some of the best myself. If you sell them on say, ebay, they may never be seen as prints again.

These two, even the double exposure, are fantastic. Whoever he was, he knew something about art.

[Tin Can]

Sell prints, keep the negatives.

Watch for thieves reselling scans on EBay and act on them.

The samples are very cool and very salable. Our WWII fathers and mothers are nearly all gone and these type image will be interesting to many.

[ScottPhotoCo]

What is your end goal? There are many ways to "market" something. But without a specific goal or LOTS of money to "market" success can be very difficult.

[lenser]

Scott, one goal is of course income. Another is to recognize that they are both artistic and historical documents that may have a real audience in both worlds. Marketing funds are very limited, one reason for my asking for advice.

[lenser]

Goamules and Randy: I agree about the strength of these images. There are many more that are tied to camp life, hospital life, and other facets of the military during the war, but interestingly, not much combat. This guy's work with a camera reminds me a bit of Bill Mauldin's memorable work as a cartoonist in the European theater with his remarkable Willy and Joe characters. He was a skilled skilled studio photographer in later life after the war ended, but I know nothing of his photographic training before the war. Sure had a great eye!

Here is another in the series. Apparently the nurses must have been rather friendly and relaxed on their off days. I'd love to know the story about how he got invited along for their skinny dip. AS to the "double exposure" for me it is dramatically evocative of a last patrol of those who did not survive battle, a "Ghost Patrol".

[mathieu Bauwens]

Do prints !

[jbenedict]

Personally, I would find a university library who was willing to curate them properly. Print negatives for yourself and scan them as a complete archive and give that archive to a university library. A library might also have the resources to scan them for you with the proviso that you receive the negatives back and scanned copies of the negatives. A library should also have the resources to archive the negatives properly so they will survive and make the images available to the public.

[Jim Jones]

Consider copyright law when marketing them.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Apparently the nurses must have been rather friendly and relaxed on their off days.

He might have been a she.
.