Chapter 84: The king of cameras
Half an hour later, Sotheby’s personal vault.
The library area is very quiet, only a private vault door is open, indicating that there are people here!
As you walked into this vault, you could see Ye Tianzheng sitting on the ground with his back leaning against the wall, his eyes shining, with endless excitement, staring at the two storage boxes in front of him.
There was a table in the middle of the vault for people to use, but it was abandoned.
Ye Tian was afraid that if he was too excited, and if he missed the antique camera, the loss would be great, so he chose to sit on the ground to appreciate it, which is undoubtedly the safest.
You can enjoy those two antique Leicas.
"Hoo--!"
Ye Tian let out a sigh of relief, calmed his excitement, reached out and pulled the storage box with two antique cameras in front of him, and then opened the box.
Two atmospheric and luxurious one-shoulder camera bags appeared in front of him, and they instantly caught his eyeballs, even making him ignore the dazzling white light from the camera bags.
This is a limited edition camera bag specially customized for Leica by Schedoni, an Italian high-end leather company. It is a brandy-colored Northern Italian cow saddle leather handmade leather bag, which was sewn carefully by hand for 18 hours!
This premium leather backpack is limited to 100 pieces, each with a limited number of prints. The starting price is 4,500 US dollars. It is extremely rare and is definitely the top luxury item in the camera bag!
In addition, these two camera bags have a history of 20 or 30 years, and they were used by Joel Meyerowitz, which makes them more valuable and rare!
Although I don’t know much about the auction prices of celebrity luxury goods, according to the connotation of these two camera bags, if they are auctioned, a single piece of $100,000 should be no problem.
"Luxury! It's an incomparable tool for force!"
Ye Tian admired sincerely, he could even imagine such a picture.
Carrying this camera bag, holding an antique Leica camera in hand, wandering in romantic Paris, fashionable Milan, and all the picturesque and beautiful cities full of tourists.
Whenever I walk by, I will attract countless hot gazes around, and every gaze is full of envy, and even jealousy!
In addition to admiring the antique Leica in their hands, people must also envy this almost as rare high-end custom camera bag.
That kind of feeling must be very good, it will definitely make people enjoy and indulge in it.
After YY, Ye Tian smiled and recovered his mind, it was time to enter the next more exciting link.
Appreciate the most dazzling star in the camera kingdom, the eternal Leica!
Ye Tian took out a camera bag carefully. The white light emitted from this bag is stronger and older, so I chose it first!
gently put the camera bag in front of him, he did not open it for the first time, but quickly rubbed his hands on the clothes a few times, feeling completely clean and sweat-free, before reaching out to open this luxurious leather bag.
In the next second, a black patent leather, well-made Leica I(A) immediately rushed into view.
Although it just lay quietly in the bag, its reputation, which has been at the pinnacle of photography for nearly a hundred years, is enough to make everyone who knows it crazy.
Fortunately, Ye Tian is not an avid photographer, otherwise he would have started cheering and celebrating!
"As long as you have a Leica, you can do anything"
fascinated and lightly chanting this famous saying in photography, Ye Tian carefully picked up the antique camera in front of him and began to study it carefully.
Leica I (A) is the first mass-produced 35mm camera, the originator of all 35mm cameras. It was finalized in 1924 and introduced to the market in 1925.
With this, the myth of the immortal camera kingdom is officially opened!
Complex and exquisite craftsmanship, black paint sprayed body, nickel-plated external hardware and lens, fonts outlined by metal threads,...
Everything reflects the perfect craftsmanship requirements of the Germans. This is a craftsmanship that only looks at the effect, regardless of the cost, and pursues the ultimate. It is simply a favorite!
While carefully examining the camera parts, Ye Tian also looked through the camera from the inside out.
Although this machine has a history of nearly a hundred years, it is in excellent condition and is intact. Except for signs of normal use, there are almost no flaws.
It can be seen that every owner of this camera cherishes it extremely and treats it with care and storage as a treasure!
Judging from the current overall situation of the camera, as long as it is loaded with film, it will immediately be able to completely restore its former glory and take pictures of all kinds of beautiful picturesque scenery!
"You will belong to me in the future, don't worry! You will never bury the value of your existence!"
Ye Tian stroked the body and said softly, his movements were as soft as touching the skin of a beautiful woman, extremely gentle and lingering!
After appreciating it for about five or six minutes, he carefully checked all the parts. Anything that could be tested was also tested on the spot. After confirming that there was no problem, he carefully put the baby back into the bag.
Then, Ye Tian stood up and opened a small safe, put the camera bag in and locked it.
From this point on, this Leica I (A) and the matching luxury camera bag have become the first two personal collections in this treasure house, rather than a temporary storage of rushing visitors.
The idea of bringing them back to Brooklyn and playing them at home all the time, this thought only came to mind once, and was completely discarded by Ye Tian.
That is definitely asking for trouble, I can't afford to worry about that!
After locking the small safe, Ye Tian quickly sat back on the ground and focused his attention on another camera bag.
Soon, the camera bag was opened, and another Leica camera with the most beautiful appearance appeared in front of my eyes.
This is the Leica II (D) produced in 1932, Leica's first 35mm camera with rangefinder viewfinder and rangefinder.
Its appearance represents the birth of a dual viewfinder camera!
At the same time, it has a more special meaning.
This is the first camera to officially engrave the words'Leica' and'Ernst-Leitz--DRP' on the body. Previously, the font on the camera was'Ernst. Mark Zweizler' (ERNST-LEITZ- WETZLER), and the letters'DRP (German Patent)'
It is for this reason that this camera is also very valuable and can be encountered but not desired!
Next, there is another careful inspection, research and admiration, as well as the ecstasy of harvesting treasures!
And this kind of ecstasy will continue. There are hundreds of master-level photographs in the sorting box next to them, waiting for Ye Tian to enjoy them one by one!
I believe that each one is an unparalleled masterpiece of art, which will definitely make people linger and ecstatic!
……
Ye Tian stayed in the personal vault for two full hours. He didn't remember that he hadn't eaten lunch and had an appointment in the afternoon until his stomach protested severely.
Time to leave!
Ye Tian immediately stood up and began to clean up the master-level photographs spread all over the floor.
He first put a few carefully selected photographic works into the bag, and these will be taken to the ‘House & Vos’ Gallery for appraisal and evaluation to determine their market price.
Then, he repacked the rest of the works in the envelope and locked it into a small vacant safe.
Ye Tian decided to keep all the two Leica cameras as his own personal collection, and use them to experience and learn the art of photography.
Of course, it is not ruled out that they are used on appropriate occasions to show their noble taste!
As for these photographs, he plans to sell the rest, except for the more than two dozen that he particularly likes and will be used to decorate his new house in the future.
Let them meet with more public, bring beauty to everyone, and at the same time bring a lot of dollars for themselves.
While appreciating these photographs, Ye Tian took photos of each one with his mobile phone, which he can show to the appraisal experts of the ‘House & Vos’ Gallery later.
Leaving Sotheby's, Ye Tian first walked to Chinatown.
After enjoying an exquisite Shanghai delicacy, he returned to Sotheby's to get a car, and then went straight to the ‘House & Vos’ Gallery.
At two o'clock exactly, Ye Tian attended the appointment on time.
"Steven, good afternoon, welcome to visit the ‘House & Vos’ Gallery again’
As soon as she entered the reception room, Catherine immediately greeted her and gave Ye Tian a warm hug.
"Catherine, good afternoon! You are getting more and more beautiful, more sexy, and radiant!"
Ye Tian smiled and said hello, and at the same time sent a series of beautiful compliments.
"Hahaha, you are such a gentleman, your mouth is too sweet!"
"These are all true words from the bottom of my heart, and every sentence is true!"
"Thank you for your compliment, congratulations on digging the baby again, you are the luckiest treasure hunter I have ever seen!"
"Hahaha, maybe it's my turn to be lucky recently!"
After a few chats, Catherine began to introduce the other three people in the reception room.
The three people in the room are middle-aged men. Two of them are dressed casually, uncut, and artistic, while the other is in suits and shoes, meticulous, and looks like an elite in the workplace.
"Steven, after receiving your call, I started to make arrangements. This is Dennis, an expert in photographic art appraisal from the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
This is Justin, a photographic art appraisal expert in our gallery, and this is Mr. Harold, Joel Meyerowitz’s art dealer in New York."
Ye Tian stepped up to shake hands with the three of them, and said something polite.
The two appraisal experts could not be more normal here, but the appearance of Joel Meyerowitz’s agent made Ye Tian a little surprised. It seemed unnecessary!
After introducing each other, everyone sat down at the conference table.
Then, Catherine explained the reason for Harold's arrival.
"Steven, our gallery has done Joel's photography exhibitions several times, and we have maintained a very good cooperative relationship with him. After receiving your call in the morning, we immediately contacted Joel.
He confirmed the existence of the warehouse in Hell's Kitchen, including these photographic works, but there is something in the warehouse Joel wants to buy back, so Harold will appear here.
Joel did not say that it was the collection. As for the repurchase, after the appraisal is over, Joel hopes to have a video call with you to negotiate the transaction. What do you think? "
"Of course it’s okay, I look forward to it very much, and I’m honored to talk to a master photographer like Joel. The door to repurchase collections is open."
This is a good thing, and Ye Tian will naturally not object.
Regarding the collection repurchase, he did not worry at all.
No matter who these products belonged to before, but now they belong only to me, it is reasonable and legal! There is no doubt!
Even if I want these collections, I have to exchange them for real money! Joel is naturally no exception!
"Well, Steven, let’s start appraising photographs!"
Catherine said excitedly.
