Vintage photos gain popularity

Beijing auction houses are busy preparing for their autumn sales. This year, vintage photographs are increasingly gaining the attention of buyers. Now let´s take a look.

The immortal images captured of people and places from other times were in focus at a recent auction preview. They included a portrait of Doctor Sun Yat sen and his wife made in 1924, an overview of Shanghai´s business center in the 1930s, and China's presence at the 1867 World Expo in Paris. All will go under the gavel at the upcoming sale. For collectors of vintage photos, the greatest fascination is often with the stories behind the images.

This year, there's a marked increase in the attention being paid to old photos. More collectors and history buffs are turning their eyes to these more affordable items. An ever growing army of shutterbugs also contributes greatly to the number of would be collectors in China.

A collector said, "These old photos contain lots of information on the evolution of photography's technical aspects. Also there are social and cultural significance in them. I prefer to own a systemic set of images from a certain historical period."

Graphic imagery first became a separate category on the international auction market in the 1970s. In China, the category was not introduced until 2006, thus giving it a rosy future in the art market.