eBaywatch, 6th September 2026: vintage photography
Category: Buy Secondhand
Trawling through over 8 thousand sculpture listings last week, I noticed that there are a few old photographs of sculptures lurking amongst the real thing. Alonsgide the odd exhibition poster, I like a sprinkling of photography on my walls. So, naturally, I followed that distraction and disappeared down a vintage photography rabbit hole. Here’s what I found.
There’s a huge amount of old photos on ebay. Many of them have very little chance of being sold. That’s just my opinion, of course, but the demand for old wedding photos, shots of local football teams in the 1930s and pictures of ships, buses and planes of all varieties is, I’m guessing, much smaller than the supply. In total, the site says there are over 180 thousand listings for vintage photographs in the UK alone. Unlike my review of vintage sculpture, I did not look at them all.
So the caveat to this week’s selection is that I may have missed some treasure as I randomly selected pages to review. With that firmly in mind, here are the things that I did spy.
This postcard of a Henry Moore is a good place to start. Small, as you’d expect from a postcard, but the contrast is delicious. Look at those inky shadows.
This seller has a couple of press photos of Barbara Hepworth and her work. But what caught my eye is this unsettling shot of a Jacob Epstein sculpture. I love the juxtaposition of the monolith and the tiny bust next to it.
You can also find architectural photos on ebay, although my search turned up only classical examples. This arcade made me think of Escher.
(Yes, the majority of the search results were black and white photos. Stay tuned for a glorious exception.)
Landscapes are a popular photography subject but, I suspect, one that’s hard to master. A few, like this shot from County Tipperary, I really like. The lines and angles of the road, the horizon and the kid. The horses just hanging around. More lovely contrast.
While the odd collectable piece or work by (semi-)famous photographers certainly command higher prices, as you’ll have seen the majority of these photographs are very reasonably priced. None more so than this charmingly simple shot of a guy looking at St Michael’s Mount. Yes, it’s really battered but who could resist this chap’s knotted handkerchief? As the seller describes it: man, sea, island.
This shot of Stanley Bridge in Kirkby Lonsdale is also simple but there’s something about it that I find mesmerising.
My favourite of the landscapes this shot of a mum and her kids out walking. The tree, the family almost in silhouette, the contrast. (Yes, I love a high contrast photo.) Just gorgeous.
Taking a turn towards abstraction, I really like these trees.
The same seller has this of some gas storage tanks. I’d buy it just for the lens flare.
Continuing the industrial theme, here’s another tank of some sort.
This lot is for two more modern, stylised shots, one of a pylon and another of I know not what.
Back to the figurative, I found this strip of a man walking down the street. It could be a series of frames from a film. A bit Muybridge in the way that all that changes is the guy’s position as he walks.
This shot of cars in the snow made me think of advertising in the 80s and sure enough, it’s from 1985. The photos make it look tiny but according to the dimensions on the listing, the image is about A4 size.
Ebay is full of dealers selling memorabilia and collectors offloading their collections. Consequently, you’ll find plenty of publicity photos of film, TV and music. This press shot of Jeanne Moreau in The Bride Wore Black made me stop.
Saving perhaps the best till last, I said there would be some colour photography. Here it is: a press shot of Diana Ross and The Supremes looking so fabulous that if I didn’t know it was vintage I’d suspect it was AI.
That’s it for this week.
Happy hunting.
Patrick
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