Copy photography is the practice of reproducing, in some form, another later generation of an image. Each generation distant from the original is usually of poorer quality.

Copy photograph prints are those which are produced in a positive view on photographic paper, either through a traditional film chemical development process, or through a digital reproduction process. Copy photos are different from photocopies in the nature of the paper and the technology to produce the copies, with the photographs generally still being of better quality. However, there are bad copy photos on good or bad paper, produced by traditional or digital means, as well as good quality laser or digital photocopies on plain paper.

Copy negatives are those new generation negatives produced from an existing photograph. They have the advantage of usually being made on film stock which has not yet had time to deteriorate. However, they will usually capture in the new negative all of the flaws of the existing photograph from which the new negative is made.

Overall, the main factor to consider about a copy photo or copy negative is that it is a later generation reproduction of variable quality of an earlier image. The quality of the copied image depends upon the physical condition of the original from which the copy is made. Beyond this are the skills of the original photographer, of the copy photographer, and quality of the reproduction both in terms of the way it is made as well as the paper, ink and equipment used.

This copy photo Collection 185 contains copy photos generally of poorer quality. In most cases, the photo prints in this collection are “contact prints.” This means that the photograph has been produced directly from the image without any adjustment or set up. The main clue to this type of print is often the size matching the negative itself, and/or the dark edges around the image.

The second clue to a poorer quality image is that many of the images appear to have been taken from photographing the image which is printed in a publication, or in a frame, or with other ancillary evidence in the visual image to show that a copy is being made from an existing object. Archival file records may sometime also document the progress of later reproductions back to the original image when first taken. Photographic copies of plates from books, from newspaper or magazine page, or of another graphic, usually do not have the quality of an actual photograph, though it depends upon the quality and time period of the printed publication. Skilled operators of Adobe Photoshop can sometimes improve an image digitally before creating a new version. But, any copy of an image is limited by the quality of the original, and not digitally improved versions of images are found in Collection 185. It is believed that photographs were first created in Grand Rapids in the 1850's. See the James Keeney Photograph Album, Collection No. 250, which may be the earliest known local images in the GRPL Archives. Engraving and lithography processes were used to reproduce images in publication. For those locally produced publications, the library may have an occasional original photograph, which corresponds to the published image.

With the 20th century, photography and publishing were both more widely available, and this is reflected in the increase in the number of overall images, as well as the various formats in which one particular image may be found. Copyright laws provide for the protection of the owner rights for the use of the image, making some distinction between published unpublished images in the implementation of the laws. However, many images produced before 1923 are now considered to be in the public domain, and generally available for use for others. It appears that this was copyright factor was a guiding determination as to what might be included in this collection. However, there are images which may still be protected by copyright in this collection, although no information on the source of the original image has been given, in order to assist in seeking permissions.