Be-Hold

Biography

Be-hold has had a unique position in offering vintage photographs for 25 years. We started before the Internet and eBay, and our catalogs were a major source of unusual photographs via our printed catalogs. After the first few catalogs, with direct sales prices, we started to offer photographs at auction, and have continued to develop these auctions for all this time, using the internet but also continuing to issue beautiful printed auction catalogs, and eventually conduct actual live auctions.

At first we specialized in early photographs in the smaller formats that were held in the hand or turned page-by-page in albums, or viewed in stereo viewers. That was part of the significance of our name Be-hold, which has to do with seeing as well as holding. Over time we have become a source of a much wider range of photographs that includes significant larger 19th and 20th century photographs.

Today our unique position within the world of photography auctions is that we are more adventurous than the “major” auctions are forced to be. We have clients who are significant private collectors and institutions, who will strongly bid on material that is of interest to them, but we are also willing to take a chance on exciting material that might sell for a bit lower than the minimum they require.

We are among the few venues that can make a strong major presentation of the entire range of photography. We are specialists in daguerreotypes and other early images, but we have an increasingly successful presence with important as well as interesting but under-appreciated 20th century and even contemporary photographs. We present historical subjects as well as examples of the history of photography as an art. We try to have a strong offering of photographs with significant documentary and social-historical interest, side by side with examples of early and recent examples of photography as an art.

We pay particular attention to presenting material with accurate condition reports and well-researched descriptions. Our reputation is impeccable for accurate presentation and responsible transactions.