Making photos from proofs

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Little D

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Hi All

I have some proof photographs of my parents' wedding which I'd like to somehow get made into a nice album for their anniversary next July. To cut a long story short, the photographer didn't deliver and they had to actually go to the shop themselves and salvage their photographs from the shop floor, along with quite a few other couples.

As with many photographers of the 70's, the photographs all have 'PROOF' stamped on the face of them and most are in black and white, although there are a small number in colour.

I'm sure I could spend ages with Photoshop, but I would really appreciate some help if someone knows a better/easier way. I'm willing to pay if someone knows of a company/person that provides this service (within reason!), but primarily I need to know if it's possible.

I'm told you're a friendly bunch so I look forward to your responses.

Thanks
 
Were your folks able to get the negatives? That'd be a doddle, but I'm guessing you'd have mentioned that. Difficult to say how easy or otherwise it would be to remove `proof` from the images, and there is a question of copyright ownership that would have to be settled.

Do you know what subsequently happened to the photographer? For all we know he could now be a regular on this site!
 
Not sure copyright is an issue. The photographer died before the final pics were developed, which is why they only have the proofs. And you're right about the negatives. That was one of the first things I checked.
 
Little D said:
Not sure copyright is an issue. The photographer died before the final pics were developed, which is why they only have the proofs. And you're right about the negatives. That was one of the first things I checked.
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I'm no expert in this - and it would be best to consult one - but:

Copyright in a photograph lasts for 70 years from the end of the year in which the photographer dies. A consequence of this lengthy period of existence of the copyright is that many family photographs which have no market value, but significant emotional value, remain subject to copyright, even when the original photographer cannot be traced, has given up photography, or died (a problem known as copyright orphan). In the absence of a licence, it will be an infringement of copyright in the photographs to copy them. As such, scanning old family photographs to a digital file for personal use is prima facie an infringement of copyright.
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see here
 
If the proof stamp is in coloured ink like red as it often was, then if you can match the colour of the ink exactly with a lens filter and copy them in black & white, the colour should effectively disappear. I'm guessing you would be very lucky not to get left with some kind of shady smudge, but it would certainly be very much reduced.

You can get gels in a wide range of colours quite cheaply - Lee, Formatt etc.

Edit: pre 1988, copyright belongs to the commissioner of the photos, though negs belong to the photographer.
 
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